Tempted Luke 4:1-13
Today we are in the first moments of Jesus ministry. He was just baptized. The Holy Spirit descended on him. And now that same Holy Spirit leads him into the wilderness, to a place with dusty hills and bare, jagged rocks. A place called Jeshimmon which means devastation.
I think the timing of this event can be telling. When we look at our lives we see that we all face times of devastation; those times when we feel spiritually empty. And often these times seem to happen after a great high in our life. The prophet Elijah had just bested 450 prophets of the false god Baal, definitely a high point. The next chapter has Elijah hiding from Jezebel who wanted to kill him. He ran into the wilderness and asked God to let him die. In my own life I had the great joy of being there when our son accepted Jesus and was saved, and then two days later the great devastation as he succumbed to his addiction.
Our readings verse 2, “where for forty days he was tempted.” Forty, it’s a number used in the Bible 159 times and it’s seen as representing a trial or a test or a preparation to do what God asks. When God destroyed the earth it rained for forty days and nights. Moses lived in the desert for forty years before God sent him to Egypt. Goliath taunted Israel for forty days before David killed him. In the Book of Jonah, God gave the city of Nineveh forty days to repent or it would be destroyed. And at the end of Jesus ministry it was forty days between his resurrection and his ascension to heaven. So it is important and appropriate that now at the beginning of his ministry Jesus is in the wilderness for forty days being tested and preparing to do God’s work in his ministry.
There is a belief that the first time something is mentioned in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, it is of utmost importance. And it usually has a counterpart in the New Testament. The first question in the Old Testament is God asking of Adam and Eve after they at the fruit, “Where are you?’
The first question in the New Testament is the Magi asking about the savior, “Where is he?” The first miracle of Moses is when he turned the Nile’s water into blood bringing death. The first miracle of Jesus is when he turned water into wine celebrating life and future.
So knowing this I went back to the first time someone is tempted in the Old Testament, to Adam and Eve. Now before we blame Eve for everything Genesis 3:11, “she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” All of mankind was tempted, all of mankind chooses against God.
When Satan tempts Adam and Eve he does it using three temptations. The first is the lust of the flesh, in this case the flesh’s desire for food. Satan tells Eve that the fruit will be good to eat and Eve succumbs to this temptation. Genesis 3:6, “…the woman saw that the fruit…was good for food.”
Next Satan tempts Eve with a lust of the eyes and she succumbs to this too. Again Genesis 3:6, “…the woman saw the fruit was…pleasing to the eye.”
And then Satan tempts Eve with pride. Genesis 3:5, “For God knows that when you eat from it…you will be like God.”
So now with these three temptations in mind I reread today’s scripture. And we can see that Satan uses the same three temptations on Jesus.
In the wilderness Jesus fasted for forty days and our reading says he was hungry. I’ve missed a meal or two in my time, I was hungry. I don’t think hungry describes what Jesus was feeling. I point this out because we need to know the depth of what Jesus was experiencing so we can gain an understanding of the height of his faith.
Verse 4, “The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.’”
There it is, lust of the flesh. In fact it is exactly the same as the temptation he used with Eve; food. But unlike Eve who gave in to this temptation Jesus responds, “It is written man shall not live by bread alone.”
Verse 5, “And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world.” Lust of the eyes. All the lights, all the vineyards, all the orchards and flocks, all the nations of the future, all the power and wealth of the world laid out in front of Jesus eyes. I know how I feel when the new car models come out, imagine what would go through our minds if we saw what Jesus is seeing. But in order to claim all that was presented to him Jesus must worship something other than the Father so again he brushes aside a temptation Eve gave in to. Verse 8, “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.”
And what of the third temptation; pride, does the devil use it here too? Notice the devil says to Jesus more than once, “If you are the Son of God…” If; now there’s a word that could play into Jesus pride. “If, if I am the Son of God? Back up buddy, I’m about to show you something.” Jesus does not give into pride, he knows God the Father directs all his steps and is the originator of all his blessings. Verse 12, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”
So we see that Adam and Eve succumbed to all three of Satan’s temptations, Jesus brushed them aside by focusing on God.
As I was working on this I started to question why did Satan use these same three temptations both in the Garden of Eden and in the wilderness with Jesus? It’s because these are the only three temptations in Satan’s repertoire. All the temptations we face in life fall into one of these three categories; lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride.
Satan tempts us with a lust of the flesh. Not only by what is normally meant by it; we all know the ruin that can happen if we give into the temptation of someone other than our spouse, but our flesh is tempted with food and drink, perhaps drugs. Giving in to these temptations can have devastating effects; addiction is a terrible disease; people use steroids or suffer from diseases like anorexia all in an effort to make themselves perfect in their own perspective. Giving in to temptations of the flesh can have horrible consequences on our relationships and our bodies.
Satan tempts us with lust of the eyes. We can all want the newest, the biggest or the best. And if we give in to this temptation we can find ourselves doing all kinds of things to get them. We can push aside family. We can push aside God. We can watch all our ideals fall away. We can destroy our lives and the lives of others as we strive to obtain a new idol, money, power or influence.
Satan tempts our pride. We all want to be recognized for the good work we do. “Bob, that deck you built looks great.” “Sandy, that dinner was wonderful.” We want to be recognized by our job, our family, our friends. Now compliments are nice, they show someone appreciates your effort. But if you are doing something just to get a compliment, you’re giving in to pride.
I went to seminary with a man, we graduated together. He had the blessing of being called to a church. After a few years he resigned from their pulpit. He told me he recognized in himself; pride. He stopped preparing sermons to explain scripture, to bring people into God’s family. He saw that he was preparing sermons that were humorous, full of anecdotes, all in an attempt to get a favorable reaction from his congregation. He began to relish the positive feedback more than teaching God’s word. He is spending time praying and asking God for guidance. Will he ever preach again? I’m not sure, but I am sure God will direct and use him for his purpose.
So like this friend of mine, when we realize we are giving in to one of Satan’s temptations
we need to stop, re-evaluate and turn to God.
Last, Jesus is sin free so we can see today that the temptation is not the sin, acting on it is.
We are not perfect. We will all give in to temptation at times. But as believers in Christ, it does not cancel our salvation. This does not mean we have Cart Blanche to give in and do whatever we want.
As a people that gave our lives to Christ we should work on recognizing the temptations in our life and ask God to give us the resilience to push them aside. And if we fall God will forgive. The truth is, by his temptations Satan can cause us to suffer, but if you believe and trust Jesus as your savior Satan cannot separate you from God. You cannot lose your salvation.