Luke 4:1-13 · Genesis 3 · Deuteronomy 8:3 · Deuteronomy 6:13 · Deuteronomy 6:16 · Psalm 91 — Luke
Temptation
Jesus withstands the same temptations that defeated Adam, demonstrating his true Sonship and showing believers how to trust God, worship him alone, and resist testing his goodness.
Introduction
Some of us learn through observation. We watch someone else do something and then we learn how to do it as well. With practice we get better. Many hold a hammer the way their father holds a hammer, having watched him as a child. Some cook in the same way as they watched their mother cook—a pinch of this, a bit of that—and when asked for measurements, they respond, “I’m not sure, I just put the ingredients together.”
We learn through observation spiritually as well. We observe those that we admire and we mimic their spiritual lives. Most of us learned to pray listening to others and then made the prayers our own over the years. We admire the wise among us and try to mimic what we observe to be true in their lives. Spiritually we are encouraged to watch Jesus and to learn from him. In Luke 4, our author wants us to learn from Jesus as he withstands the temptations from Satan. May we learn as we observe Jesus today.
Contrast
Luke’s arrangement of material provides us some insight. In 3:22, Jesus comes out of his baptism and we are told that God declares that Jesus is his Son and that the Father both loves and is pleased with Jesus. We have God’s declaration that Jesus is the Son of God—his true spiritual son. But then Luke gives us the perceived physical genealogy of Jesus. Starting with Joseph, Luke goes through the physical line winding his way back to Adam who is declared to be the son of God.
In this way, Luke has the two beginnings brought together. The beginning of Jesus’s ministry is paralleled with the beginning of life itself with Adam. As readers we are to gain an appreciation that the Son of God is like the son of God who started in this world. God created and pronounced that he was well pleased with his creation including Adam. But now God pronounces his pleasure in the person of Jesus. So we have Adam and Jesus standing next to one another. Both sons of God but only one the true Son of God. And like Adam one of the first events in Jesus’s life following God’s pronouncement of pleasure is a series of temptations.
Three distinct occasions emerge when Jesus can deny his Sonship. While we have the temptation of Eve in Genesis 3, the parallel is found with Adam because according to Genesis 3 Adam also participated in giving in to temptation. Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness. This was a time of testing for Jesus. Luke says that he had 40 days of temptations. We are told about three specific events, but there are contrasts between Jesus and Adam in this section.
Adam did not fast; Jesus did. Adam could eat from any tree except one; Jesus was denied food. Adam was in paradise; Jesus was in the wilderness. Adam had what he needed and still gave in to temptation. Jesus has only one thing—God’s declaration of who he is: “You are my Son.” The contest is real. The Son of God receives the brunt of Satan’s full attack. Weakened physically, the first temptation is to turn stones to bread. This is more than having the power to get something to eat. This temptation has to do with Jesus’ connection with God.
Jesus had been led into the wilderness by the Spirit of God. Being led by God means that if God is taking us somewhere then he is going to provide what we need in that place. The temptation has to do with Jesus trusting God to provide what he needs when it is time.
This is the same temptation used in the garden. The serpent whispers into the human’s ear, “Are you sure that God is treating you well?” He is withholding some fruit from you.
Jesus even in a weakened state is going to declare that he trusts God to provide when it is time. He quotes part of Deuteronomy 8:3. But by quoting the part he includes the whole. Listen to Deuteronomy 8 starting in verse 2. God led Israel for 40 years. Jesus says I will trust him for 40 days. God fed the people with food that they had never experienced before. Jesus says I trust God to feed me when it is time.
This is our temptation as well. We think that God is depriving us in some way. Do you trust him? The first Adam took the forbidden fruit and ate it because he didn’t trust God. Jesus refuses the bread trusting God to feed him. Which “son” are you?
The second temptation has to do with the relationship between God and Jesus. Satan offers Jesus the world on a platter. All Jesus has to do is to declare that Satan is Lord not just once but continually. Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:13. Jesus restates that he is tied to God. Nothing will sever that relationship.
This, too, is our temptation. Not only will we trust God but will we worship him alone. In the garden, the serpent whispered that by eating the fruit the human could become his own god. And the human ate. We have all eaten the forbidden fruit thinking ourselves god.
But Satan lies. The kingdoms of the world do not belong to him. They belong to God. While he has influence and certainly has power to work evil among the kingdoms, it is God who brings about his will and purpose. Only God can be the true God.
Instead we make ourselves god. We worship at the shrine of “what I want” regularly. We want power—but not the type of power that rules; but the type that brings us a sense of control in our lives. We are lonely, so we seek instant pleasure through images on a computer, or we give our bodies so that temporarily we don’t feel lonely. But we have to do this over and over for the loneliness to be held at bay and we worship at the feet of another “savior.” We want, so we exchange our family for getting more. We want to fit in, so we exchange our God’s declaration that we belong to him for the acceptance of temporary acquaintances.
The third temptation has to do with God’s faithfulness and protection. Satan takes Jesus to the highest point of the temple and quoting Psalm 91 says that God is obligated to protect his anointed one. Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:16. Do not test God as you did at Massah. What happened at Massah? The people were thirsty. They questioned God’s goodness. They demanded that God produce water to satisfy them.
Satan whispered in the human ear in the garden that God was jealous of the human. God stood in fear of the human finding out the truth. Test him. And the human listened to Satan’s whisper and ate the fruit.
Jesus refuses to test God. But this is our temptation as well. Prove that you are near we say to God. Prove your goodness. And we put God to the test withholding what is rightfully his because of our uncertainty.
What Shall We Do?
Jesus stands in the place of the first Adam and shows us how to say “no” to temptations. These are the same temptations which we all face—temptations which we have said “yes” to at some point in life. What Jesus demonstrates is that he is the true Son of God.
But we are sons of God as well. He calls us his children. God is faithful. Do we trust him? God alone is worthy of worship. Do we bow the knee to our selfish desires? God is good all the time. Do we test his goodness? Listen to what God says about you: “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, Abba. So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.”
Sons of God—each one who calls on the true Son of God. Invitation.
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