A TEMPTATION OR A TEST? (LUKE 4:1-13)
When I was a boy in west Texas, we lived on the west fork of the Brazos River. In the summertime there was not enough water in the stream to rust a shingle nail. It was dry. In the wintertime, however, you could have kept a battleship afloat in it. One year we had a flood, and it washed out a railroad bridge over the river. Santa Fe railroad workers came immediately to build a new bridge. When the bridge was completed, they put two engines on the bridge and tied down the whistles. In our little town we had never heard two engine whistles blow at the same time, so everyone raced to the bridge, all twenty seven of us. One brave fellow in the crowd asked, “What are you doing?” The engineer replied, “We are testing the bridge.” “Do you think it will break?” queried the young man. “Of course it won’t break,” the engineer said with almost a sneer. “If you know it won’t break, why are you putting engines on the break.” The young man wondered. “Just to prove that it won’t break,” said the engineer. (J. Vernon McGee, Luke (The Gospels)
Jesus’ inauguration into pubic ministry was accompanied by the Spirt (Luke 3:22) and acknowledged by the Father (Luke 3:22), And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased). The Spirt, specifically never left him from His baptism in Jordan in the previous chapter (Luke 3:22) to His temptation in the wilderness (Luke 4:1) and into Galilee (Luke 4:14) after the temptation.
What is a temptation? How does the devil test us? Why in the Greek language is a temptation that drowns us is no different from a test to develop us?
Be Cautious and Commanded by God
1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’” (Luke 4:1-4)
Alexander MacLaren, in a sermon entitled “Faith Tested and Crowned,” distinguished between being tempted and being tested or tried. He said that, “the former word conveys the idea of appealing to the worst part of man, with the wish that he may yield and do the wrong. The latter means an appeal to the better part of man, with the desire that he should stand. Temptation says, 'Do this pleasant thing; do not be hindered by the fact that it is wrong.' Trial or proving says, 'Do this right and noble thing; do not be hindered by the fact that it is painful.' The one is a sweet, beguiling melody, breathing soft indulgence and relaxation over the soul; the other is a peeling trumpet-call to high achievements.”
After Jesus was baptized but before His ministry began he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil for forty days and forty nights (v 2). There are 14 instances of the verb “tempt” in the gospels, but surprisingly all but one was directed at Jesus and one from Jesus to test the disciples (John 6:6), so the Lord was fully tempted and truly understands our temptations. The Bible translates temptation and test interchangeably, a temptation when it is negative to defeat and disgrace us but a test when it is positive to develop and discipline us. Unlike our temptation which could be a test in disguise, Jesus’s temptation from others was all negative. Hebrews 4:15 says Jesus was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. The sources of Jesus temptation in the Gospels include the devil (Matt 4:1), Pharisees and the Sadducees (Matt 16:1), the disciples of the Pharisees and the Herodians (Matt 22:16-18) and scribes (John 8:3), a lawyer (Matt 22:35) and others (Luke 11:16). He was not above tempting or testing the disciples (John 6:6), but none with the wiles of the devil – his seduction, sophistication and smartness. Jesus was never tempted by men but by Satan in the Bible. The wilderness suggests a barren, bleak and backward place, a place of dehydration, death (Ex 14:11), deprivation, desertion, desolation (Joel 2:3) and distance. The temptations include acting on pride, aiming for power, abusing the privilege, abandoning God’s purpose and avoiding the pain.
There were striking similarities between Israel’s and Jesus’ temptations. First, they were both in the desert. Second, they were tempted. Third, the number forty is repeated forty years versus forty days (v 2). Fourth, they were both hungry (Deut 8:3). A careful comparison of Jesus’ answer in verse 4 (“man shall not live on bread alone”) with Deuteronomy 8:2-3 paralleled by two “to” leads to the subject of obedience.
to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.
In the previous chapter the voice from heaven said, “Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased (Luke 3:22). His purpose earth was to please the Father and not placate the devil, to delight to do His will and not to determine to depart from His word, to be set apart for Him and not to be short in your obedience. Ultimately the test is not in the stomach or mouth but in the heart (Deut 8:3) and being of man.
The devil lured Jesus with the entitlement of Sonship, exemption from suffering and end of starvation, sacrifice and stress. The wilderness was always just a test, never a temptation to Jesus, to test if their obedience and faithfulness and trust are genuine or grudging, in good and bad, in poverty or lack, have and have-not. The test was to rely on God and resist the devil.
Jesus could have unveiled his glory, unleashed his power, underlined his credentials, but He chose not to react, but to rely on God, resist the devil and reap the reward, not to give in to the desires, drives and decadence of the devil.
Be Content and Committed to God
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’” (Luke 4:5-8)
Matt 4:8-11
8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
Definition of power:
? the ability or right to control people or things. (Merriam-Webster)
? The capacity or ability to direct or influence the behaviour of others or the course of events. Cambridge English Dictionary
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.” ? Abraham Lincoln
“Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are (powerful), you aren't.” ? Margaret Thatcher
“The measure of a man is what he does with power.” ? Plato
'We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it.' —George Orwell
'Ultimately, the only power to which man should aspire is that which he exercises over himself.' —Elie Wiesel
Ronald E Riggio differentiates between socialized power to benefit others and personalized power for personal gain, yet these two forms of power are tricky:
“Yet, leaders can delude themselves that they are working for the greater good (using socialized power), but engage in behavior that is morally wrong. A sense of power can cause a leader to engage in what leadership ethicist, Terry Price, calls "exception making" - believing that the rules that govern what is right and what is wrong does not apply to the powerful leader "for other people, this would be wrong, but because I have the best interests of my followers at heart, it's ok for me to...." Leaders can also become "intoxicated" by power - engaging in wrong behavior simply because they can and they can get away with it (and followers are willing to collude and make such exceptions "It's ok because he/she is the leader"). (“How Power Corrupts Leaders,” Psychology Today) https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cutting-edge-leadership/200908/how-power-corrupts-leaders
A comparison of the setting of Luke 4 (4:5 “high place”) with Matthew 4 (4:8 “exceeding high mountain”) reveals that in Matthew the devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. The only similarities are the verb “showed” and the phrase “all the kingdoms,” even the noun “world” (Luke’s kingdom versus Matthew’s world) is different in Greek.
Jerusalem is a city of hills and mountains. Mount Zion is the largest of the hills in Jerusalem, it stands 2,550 feet high. Can you imagine what a showpiece, a spectacle, a splendor, a skyline, a scope, a surrounding, a sprawl, a stimulus and a scenery “all the kingdoms” is? The “kingdom of heaven” in its 32 instances in the Bible, all in the Gospels, is always singular, in plural, its only usage. The “kingdom of God” in 69 references in the Bible are also singular. The noun “kingdom” is never plural in the Gospels except in its two recorded temptations of Christ (v 8, Luke 4:5), so what the devil offered in not the heavenly kingdom but a secular kingdom, not a godly kingdom but an atheistic kingdom, and not a divine, holy and spiritual kingdom, but a materialistic, worldly and political kingdom. The minority translation for “glory” (v 6, doxa) is worship (Luke 14:10), honour (John 5:41), praise (John 12:43).
There are three “all” in this temptation - all the kingdoms of the world (v 5), all their authority and splendor (v 6) and “all be yours” (v 7)(Matthew has two “all”). There are two power words (vv 6, 14) to distinguish the devil’s power (exousia) and the Spirit’s power (dunamis) authenticated at His coming (Luke 21:27, Luke 22:69).
Satan’s kingdoms are an allusion to power, pride and possessions. His power (exousia) is limited to this world as he is the “prince of this world” (John 12:31; John 14:30; John 16:11) and “the god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4). The Lord rejected the authority of the devil as much as HE resisted the devil. The devil is to be rebuked, and not respected.
Jesus did not give the devil an inch. He would not subject Himself to the devil, strike a bargain with Satan nor share His glory with him because the devil’s authority is derived, downtrodden, doomed, destroyed, and deficient.
Be Comforted and Confident of God
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; 11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” 12 Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. (Luke 4:9-13)
I started writing this message six months ago when good friend Cheng asked me to preach Saturday night but the preparation work stopped when Doris died on May 22, 2016, because, as I related to Cheng, I decided I cannot preach a text with no passion for it, meaning or relationship to my life after my wife Doris died. However, I wrote in my blog on August 16:
“On Friday (Aug 12) God answered my prayer for a Saturday night sermon in October in a wondrous way. I had no heart in me to preach on Jesus’ temptation from Matt 4 that I had started. I had too much going to bother about kingdom, power and glory issues. After searching for the subject of the greatest prayers in the Bible, the related passage of Psalms 91 popped up with the subject “Ten Greatest Psalms,” so I reverted instead to Luke 4 where protection of God is the climax unlike Matt 4. My struggle with Doris death can be addressed!).”
The imperative is “cast” (v 9), and the devil’s backup verbs from Psalms are “command, “to guard,” “lift” and “strike” (v 10). The verb “guard” makes its only appearance in the Bible, but the prefix is thorough (dia) and the verb is guard or keep (KJV), which is translated as observe (1 Tim 5:21), ware (2 Tim 4:15) and save (2 Pet 2:5). The verb “strike/dash” (v 6) is traditionally translated as dash (Matt 4:6), beat (Matt 7:27) or stumble (John 11:9). It is the temptation to reject the role as Savior and Suffering Servant and Sacrifice to the world.
In the Old Testament Psalms, the devil picked and chose one “because” but not the other two “because” in the psalm:
Ps 91:11-12 “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.”
14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
Psalm 91:14 is crucial because God ad set His love upon the Messiah, so the Son need no proof from the Father, It was a fact, not fiction. Satan’s temptation is for the Christ to be a peaceable, powerful and protected Messiah, to be free of persecution, passion (suffering) and pain.
How did Jesus overturn the temptation to be a test? It is a test of trusting God unconditionally, uncompromisingly and unceasingly. The biggest but most common temptation in suffering is to tie obedience to outcome, equate reassurance with assurance, confuse cause and consequence.
Since the Lord is fully God and fully man, the first temptation to the Word who became flesh is to satisfy His earthly hunger – His limitations versus His liberty. The second is with God and the last is the world. The first sees him as a selfish person. The first questions his methodology, the second His motivation, and the third His might.
Conclusion: Worship belongs to the Master alone, not to material things; to God, not goods; Creator, not creation. There is no substitute because He is superior to all, the source, supplier and savior of all.
Humility is knowing how very fragile, feeble and frustrating we are. Our challenge is to accept our limitations, lack and lowliness in the face of God’s strength, sufficiency and sovereignty. God does not want us to choose integrity, intercession and submission the indirect, improper and immediate way to satisfy our needs, but impatient impulsive ill-advised -behaved and –conceived.
Victor Yap
Bible.ryl.hk (Grammar Bible)
Preachchrist.com (sermons)
