The Famous Temptation of Christ
Luke 4 verses 1-13 relate the temptation of Jesus.
Luke is very interested in showing us that Jesus was not only
the “Son of God” but also the “son of man.”
Our Christianity is no good and our ministry is not effective if it will not stand up to temptation. Jesus shows us how to do it.
Here he was at thirty years old, freshly baptized and full of the Spirit, just beginning his ministry and going away in the desert for his “quiet time” of fasting and prayer…but the devil was there!
See, the devil not only wants to kick you when you are down, he likes to topple you down from your moments of joy and victory, too.
Can anyone relate already?
Have you ever tried to have a quiet time every day?
Unless you attempt it before daybreak you will certainly get interrupted and never manage to get back to your plan.
But Jesus had had 40 days of success with His plan and it was getting tough by now to stick with it. In fact, “40” in the Bible refers to a time of completion, such as the 40 days involving Noah and the Ark, and the 40 years of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness.
So maybe Jesus was on his way out, and then Satan came to Him at a very weak moment physically.
The first temptation Jesus faced was to satisfy his hunger.
Since Jesus had not eaten for 40 days the devil challenged him to turn the stones into bread.
Just looking down at those little smooth loaf-shaped stones must have made Jesus really hungry.
He knew he could produce food to feed not only himself but multitudes with as many rocks as were found in Jerusalem!
He would have been politically popular with this “feed the hungry” program.
Perfect living then and now is associated with plenty of food and wine.
Remember the “Promise Land” was said to be flowing with milk and honey.
But he remembered his ministry was to feed the people the true and living bread of life and he would not settle for a mere physical ministry.
He said, “Man cannot live by bread alone…
This is interesting to me because many folks can quote this part of what Jesus replied but they have no idea what the rest of that sentence is.
Could you complete the sentence without looking back in your Bible?
It is “Man cannot live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Father.”
The first sin in the world was yielding to the temptation to choose food
(the forbidden fruit) instead of listening to what God had said.
We still tend to just focus on the physical provision and do not comprehend or attempt to satisfy the spiritual hunger pangs in our lives.
A current trend in weight loss plans is to try to discover why you overeat. The diet gurus say we have a deeper problem we are trying to mask with the comfort of food. A spiritual emptiness can never be filled except by the Spirit of Truth Himself.
Man’s most urgent need is not physical, yet that is what our prayer requests always center upon. We need to focus on the deep spiritual hollowness in our souls.
II Satan could not succeed again on the food temptation now, so he tried another angle.
“Worship me and I will give you authority over all the kingdoms of the world.”
Jesus had been stripped of all his heavenly splendor and authority when he entered this physical body. He was not used to being “just one of us”…
It was tempting to take back authority and give Satan the boot…..
Compare this to being a retired CEO. Now all of a sudden you are just one of the many folks living here on the lake. You are not in charge and no one just automatically moves to do your bidding. You find yourself obeying rules instead of making them. It would be tempting to get back into the game. What’s a little shady deal going to hurt if it gets you back in the money and power politics?
Again Jesus remembered that his purpose in coming was to teach us to worship and serve “only the Lord your God.”
He must wait to have his authority and worship restored at a later time after fulfilling this earthly mission.
You see, that is one of the devil’s most clever tools he uses against us.
He tempts us to take NOW what the Lord has planned for us to have later.
He makes all things beautiful in HIS TIME, but we can mess up God’s timetable for our lives and end up hurting others.
Are you grasping for greatness or silently serving? The devil throws out shrewd and self-seeking “half-good” things to thwart God’s wholly-good plan for you.
Jesus delayed gratification of his hunger for food as well as fame.
III One more time the devil tried to get Jesus to do something to stray from his course
He asked him to just prove he was the Son of God by jumping off a cliff and surely God would send angels to rescue him.
Jesus must have really felt the tug of being in a physically limiting body.
He could always “fly” without the help of angels before, but now, he had to stay “grounded” and live within the limits of the law of gravitation like the rest of us. Jump off a cliff? Hmmm, maybe this had never occurred to him.
Did you know the devil can quote scripture, too?
But he misquotes it and uses it out of context.
We must “rightly divide the word of truth.” (II Timothy 2:15b)
Psalm 91 11-12 mentions this “angelic safety net” is around us when we are DWELLING IN THE SHELTER OF THE MOST HIGH and ABIDING UNDER THE SHADOW OF THE ALMIGHTY……
(not when we are jumping off a cliff to see if God will catch us!)
(You’ve heard about the man who said he was afraid to fly in airplanes because the Bible just said “Lo” I am with you always.”)
Jesus refused to “test God” with a senseless act.
Jumping off a cliff would not have been a “helpful” miracle,
only a “showy” one. So He overcame the temptation to fly, too.
Jesus lived a life of faith in his heavenly Father’s care, just as we must do.
Now the scriptures tell us, “the devil left him until a later time.”
(He never leaves anyone alone permanently!)
That is why we are warned in I Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour.”
You must “put on the whole armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” (Ephesians 6:11)
Many scholars hem and haw about the truth of certain stories recorded in the Bible. But have you ever thought about the fact that this whole scene of temptation had to have been told by Jesus himself since no one else was there? He wasn’t bragging, he was building the disciples’ faith.
Luke has repeated what Jesus reported to build our faith, too, so that we know that Jesus passed the test of being fully human.
He stuck to his calling to come and suffer and sacrifice for us rather than dazzle us with his power and glory.
Now let’s summarize the lessons from this passage.
Remember a temptation is always something that is POSSIBLE for us to do
but also possible for us to RESIST.
1 Corinthians 10:13–“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
Jesus overcame temptation to win the battle for you and me.
Hebrews 2:18 “For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.”
Hebrews 4:15–“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”
It is not a sin to be tempted. It is a sin to YIELD to the temptation.
As they say, “You can’t help it if birds fly over your head, but you CAN prevent them from making a nest in your hair!”
“Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world.”
You can overcome all of Satan’s sinful or distracting suggestions the same way Jesus did: throw the BOOK at him!
Psalm 119:11 “Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against God.”
Jesus quoted from the book of the law Deuteronomy 6-8 because that was the word of God that was written by then.
We overcome him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.
We have both the cross and the New Testament scriptures to dispute Satan’s claims now.
This is the season of Lent now when many folks take a temporary vow to abstain from something they enjoy in order that they might more closely identify with the sufferings of Christ.
The desire for food (in quantities greater than our body requires) is a common problem. Jesus can satisfy your overeating from inner stress.
The desire for authority and adulation is universal among us.
Jesus can either put you in a position of authority or make you satisfied to be free from it.
The desire to do wonders and show off beckons many.
Jesus has a unique purpose for your life that makes you special.
Jesus taught that when we seek FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all of these things will be added unto us.
1. He knows we need to be fed, but warns we need spiritual nourishment as well.
His word is “sweeter than honey from the honeycomb,”
And Jesus said, “I have meat to eat you know not of” (John 4:32)
meaning the fullness of joy we feel when ministering the word of life to others.
2. He knows we like to have our accomplishments applauded and rewarded
but He wants us to discover the joy of worshipping God and serving others.
Try casting the spotlight on someone else and hear, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”
3. He knows we want to do miracles, but promises that because we are the sons and daughters of God, we, too, will be guarded by angels and someday will defy gravity and not fall into the pit with the devil, but be drawn heavenward to be with our Father who is the King of the universe.
Meanwhile, we are told to “resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
(James 4:7)
Man’s most urgent need is not physical.
Jesus’s most urgent mission as well as ours, is not physical.
Remain in the Word and cling to the promises.
Jesus had to face temptation to discern the will and voice of God and overcome his self-will. The battle was in his mind and soul as it is in ours.
Hebrews 12:1-2–Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
The “author” means he is the architect and has the plans for your best life.
The “finisher” is a carpenter’s term that means you may need a little sandpaper to rough you up and smooth you off to be the finished product He has in mind.
Your life matters to God and to others.
How are you handling temptation? Are you trying to go it alone? Or are you leaning on the resources that God has given to you? We have the example of Jesus. We have the whole armor of God. We have the Word of God. And we have Prayer. We have the Holy Spirit.
Our moral and spiritual commitments will be challenged repeatedly, but by leaning on God’s strength and His word, we can live victoriously…and if we fail, there is grace!
