For the next several days we will be studying Luke 4 and
the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. As we approach this chapter, we need
to remember that Luke is presenting Jesus to the world as the person Son of Man
and at the same time proclaiming that He is indeed the Son of God and Luke is
presenting several witnesses to attest to His deity. Already in Luke 2, John
the Baptist has declared Jesus to be the Messiah, the Son of God. Also the
Spirit and the Father in heaven state this reality when the Spirit comes down
on Jesus like a dove and the Father speaks from heaven stating, “This is My
Beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased”.
Now, in chapter 4, even the enemy must admit that Jesus is
the Son of God. "If You are the Son of God" (Luke 4:3, 9) is
not a supposition but an affirmation. It means "in view of the fact that
You are the Son of God". In fact, the fact of His deity was the basis for
the first of the three temptations. "Since You are the Son of God,"
Satan argued, "why be hungry? You can change stones into bread!"
Satan wanted Jesus to disobey the Father's will by using His divine power for
His own purposes.
The time, the place, and the circumstances of the Lord's
temptation were all chosen by the Holy Spirit. The Lord returned from His
baptism and His anointing filled with the Spirit. Immediately, He was "led
by the Spirit into the wilderness." The Devil could not have relished
the encounter that he was about to have with Christ. Man, born in sin, had been a pushover all of those years. But Jesus was God,
and the Devil knew Him to be God. And although Jesus was to be tempted as a
man, Satan had never met a man like this Man, a Man anointed of God, filled
with the Spirit, and absolutely without sin or any desire to sin.
The Devil, once the anointed cherub and now the roaring
lion, the god of this world, the prince of the power of the air, and the fallen
angel of light, is undoubtedly a great force. And yet, when all is said and
done, he remains only a creature. Jesus knew all about him. He did not
underestimate him, but He was filled with the Holy Spirit. Satan has never been
a match for the Spirit of God.
Satan’s temptations to Jesus were the same as his
temptations to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. All three of the devil’s appeal
to lead any of us to forget the Word of God and the will of God for our lives
have always been the same over the course of mankind. The Apostle John warns
and alerts us to this in 1 John 2:15-17; “Do not love the world or the
things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not
in him. For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the
eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world. And the
world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God
abides forever.”
We will see that Satan tempted Jesus with “the lust of the
flesh”, “the lust of the eyes” and “the pride of life” too!
Jesus was prepared for Satan’s temptations! As we said in
the previous chapter, Jesus was preparing for three and half years of ministry,
where He would take head on the kingdom of Satan. Jesus would cast out demons,
heal the sick, give sight to the blind, calm the storms, feed the hungry, and
raise the dead! He prepared by His obedience the Father’s will in being baptized
and identify with us. He waited for the anointing of the Holy Spirit and approval
of the Father.
You would have thought that after His baptism, Jesus would
have headed for Jerusalem to proclaim that He was the Messiah at the temple to
the multitudes! But no, Jesus submitted to the leading of the Holy Spirit by
going to the wilderness for forty days of fasting and prayer and temptation.
Jesus did not fall into temptation.
He was prepared for it. And for sure, temptation will also come
our way after we obediently surrender our lives to the Lord and His will for
our lives.
Are you prepared for Satan’s temptations today?
God bless!
