Jesus’ Temptation in the Wilderness

— Luke 4:1-13

sermons index at http://nlife.ca/audio

  • Andrew Fountain — Aug 9th, 2011

The story so far…

  • Jesus is baptized by John
  • Voice of the Father: “You are my beloved Son—with you I am well pleased.” —(This is going to be a key event because it is Jesus’ relationship with his Father that is going to be Satan’s point of attack.)
  • the Spirit comes… and expels him into the wilderness
  • Jesus had no conflict till the Spirit came
  • The early church had no conflict till Pentecost
  • Careful when you pray for the Spirit
    • He will turn you into a soldier for the king!

Luke 4:1-13

  1. Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
  2. where for forty days he endured temptations from the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were completed, he was famished.
  3. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
  4. Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man does not live by bread alone.’
  5. Then the devil led him up to a high place and showed him in a flash all the kingdoms of the world.
  6. And he said to him, “To you I will grant this whole realm—and it’s glory, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I wish.
  7. So then, if you will worship me, all this will be yours.”
  8. Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You are to worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’
  9. Then the devil brought him to Jerusalem, had him stand on the highest point of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here,
  10. for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’
  11. and ‘with their hands they will lift you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’
  12. Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.’
  13. So when the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from him until a more opportune time.

(Net Bible)

1. This was not just another man being tempted

  • Each time Jesus was tempted, he responded by quoting from Deuteronomy: precisely from the part of the story where Israel are being tested by God: Deut 8:
  1. And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.
  2. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

2nd & 3rd temptation, Deuteronomy 6

  1. then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
  2. It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.
  3. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you—
  4. for the Lord your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.
  5. You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.
  1. They made a golden calf and worshipped it
  2. At a place called Massah they tried to pick a fight with God over whether he would provide water for them to drink

The Strong man bound

  • His victory broke Satan’s power (Strong man bound) —Matthew 12:28-29
  1. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
  2. Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.
  • Jesus broke the power of Satan
    • (ultimately broken, of course, at the cross. But even now something radical had happened.)
  • We don’t have to face temptation alone
    • Jesus is with us and he can laugh at Satan as one who is defeated

2. The three aspects of Temptation

  • 1 John 2:
  1. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.
  • Genesis 3 has the same three kinds:
  1. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

A. The Desires of the Flesh

  • All our physical needs and wants
  • Satan suggested that Jesus (like Adam) had a legitimate complaint against God
  • Jesus was hungry and God hadn’t provided bread for him—why shouldn’t he provide for himself?
  • Have you ever felt like that?

Solution:

  • Usually there is a deeper problem, an emptiness within, that we are trying to fill with the flesh
  • Often a feeling of being unloved and worthless
  • The only real answer is to know how much God loves us
    • We need him to speak these words deep into our hearts through the Spirit
  • This is exactly what Jesus received: God spoke the words of love into him before he began this temptation
    • We need to ask for the same thing—an impartation of a tangible feeling of God’s love for us

B. The Desires of the Eyes

  • Culture, art, science
  • houses, gardens
  • cars, home electronics
  • Films, literature, drama, music
  • education, technology
  • & the great achievments of mankind

Solution:

  • Jesus says in Matthew 6
  1. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.”
  • Realize all these things will turn to dust one day
  • Solomon was a prime example of this temptation —he explored every aspect of art, culture and technology available to him—-In the end he said it was all emptiness
  • But the main solution is to see true beauty in Jesus —to catch a sight of the true glory and then the “glory of the nations of the world” will seem as nothing.
    • Once again, our relationship with Jesus is the answer to this temptation
      • He is simply better

C. The Pride of Life

  • To be worth something—to be recognized
    • This is to a large extent relational: wanting to be thought highly of
  • It is what is behind exaggeration
  • Gossip (“I am someone who knows lots of things about people—you will find me interesting to talk to!”)
  • Telling stories that set you in a good light —(e.g. “Yesterday I was chatting with the Queen, and she said ‘what a great guy you are Andrew’”)
  • Desire for power, fame & recognition
  • Jesus was tempted to get instant fame as hundreds of angels came and caught him as he jumped off the temple

Solution:

  • God’s “Well done”
  • you can’t fake it with him
  • It would be silly to try and exaggerate!
  • He is not impressed with who you know or what you know!
  • But with him you are significant, precious and deeply loved!
  • The only real answer to this temptation is to hear God’s Spirit speaking deeply into you:
    • You are my son, you are my daughter, I have chosen you and you are precious and important to me.
    • That is what Jesus heard his own Father say, and what we need to hear!

Conclusion —I want to end by looking at a few other verses:

  • The purpose of trials: to teach us dependence on and obedience to God
    • Deut 8:3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
  • Our wilderness experience
    • This can be very hard
    • But we don’t go through it alone—even Jesus didn’t—he had the words of his Father echoing in his ears.

James 1:2-4 & 12

  • My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials,
    because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
    And let endurance have its perfect effect,
    so that you will be perfect and complete,
  • Happy is the one who endures testing,
    because when he has proven to be genuine,
    he will receive the crown of life that God promised to those who love him.
    -There is actually joy in this at the end—this is how we grow

1 Corinthians 10:13

  • No trial has overtaken you that is not faced by others. And God is faithful: He will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear, but with the trial will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it.
  • Sometimes sin can seem to trap us.
  • I was once talking to someone who had sinned and then enmeshed themselves in lies
    • To tell the truth might bring very destructive consequences
    • But the only way of escape was to do what was right and trust God with the consequences

Jesus, the great high priest: Hebrews 4:14-16

  • Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens,
    Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.
  • For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses,
    but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin.
  • Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help.

Pray that through the Spirit...

  • We will have an impartation of the love of the Father into our hearts
  • We will have a sight of the beauty of Jesus, so much better than all the glory of this world
  • And we will really know how important we are to God, how special and significant every one of us is to him

Updated on 2011-08-09 by Andrew Fountain