Teaching of Jesus From The Gospel of Luke (Part 1- While He was Tempted)
By Ben Fronczek
Reading Luke 4:1-13
Today I would like to begin a new series of lessons – lessons that the Lord Jesus left for us as seen in the Gospel of Luke. There are all kinds of good lessons and teachings from God throughout the Bible but I thought it worthy to look at those God thought important enough to preserve for us while He lived among us in the flesh.
The Gospel of Luke is the longest book in the NT. There is much emphasis on the glory of God, prayer, miracles, the divine plan that Jesus fulfilled, believing, discipleship, forgiveness, and God’s Word. About 20 of
Jesus’ parables are unique to this Gospel. Luke also related certain events in Jesus’ life to secular history, and he emphasized Jesus’ final trip to Jerusalem.
Luke also seems to stress Jesus’ concern for all people, especially for individuals that Jewish society of His day looked down at, such as Gentiles, the poor, women, children, and “sinners.”
Someone once wrote concerning Luke’s Gospel account, “In terms of its worldview, its theology, and its practical presentation of principles, this Gospel explains how we can serve God better.”
No one knows Luke’s educational background, but clearly he had training in medicine as well as in Greek composition because he was a very talented writer. Luke used many words that the other Gospel writers did not, and many of them show a wide literary background. He also used several medical and theological terms that are unique.
We can learn lessons from Jesus not only by what He preached, but also by what he did as He lived out His life amongst us. I find it interesting that some of the first lessons taught by Jesus in Luke’s Gospel happened shortly after His baptism, and receiving the Holy Spirit, and the Father’s proclamation that He was His son and that He was well pleased with Him as seen in Luke 3.
The very next scene is where Jesus was being led into the wilderness where He was along and He fasted and was being tempted by the devil.
As most of us already know, Jesus overcame the devil who opposed God’s plans. This story is also edifying because it helps believers understand how to recognize and overcome Satan’s attacks. We do so as Jesus did—by obeying God’s will as revealed in Scripture.
Read Luke 4:1-4 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.’”
Lesson #1. One of the first things we see here is the fact that the devil is actually real. Not only that there isn’t anyone that he will not try to get to sin; which includes the Father’s one and only son.
In the OT there are actually very few references to Satan. There is one in 1 Chronicles, 2 in Zechariah, as well as some references in Job 1 and 2. Actually that’s it, with exception of the serpent mentioned in Genesis 3 which tempted and deceived Eve. Jesus brought the reality of the devil and his evil work right to the forefront. He is the one who wants to tempt and entice people to depart from God’s will. So it doesn’t matter how good you are, all will be tempted to stray from God and His will.
Lesson #2. All three of the tests recorded were an attempt to enticed Jesus to abandon His dependence on God. This first one was a temptation to gratify self, but not by doing something wicked, since eating is necessary. The devil seems to zero in on our appetites; our hunger for food, power, companionship sex entertainment, etc.
Lesson #3. The devil attacked Jesus where (and when) He was vulnerable. He was then “hungry.” We are likewise more susceptible to be tempted when we are weak and tired or even sick. Se we have to be more careful in such times.
Concerning this temptation a commentator wrote; “The Devil seems to suggests that (His) Sonship is a privilege to be exploited. Jesus is tempted to order His own affairs and provide for His own needs, rather than being nourished in and depending on God.” (Nolland)
But in all reality, it’s not always all about us and our needs. As important as food is because we need it to live it’s not the most important thing. Some things are simply more important than food and drink or other material things. How many parents around the world go without so their children can eat. Trusting God is even more important than food even though it may mean physical deprivation.
The temptation sounds innocent enough, doesn’t it? You could almost sense the innocence in the devil’s presentation of this temptation – ‘just make these stones into bread – what’s the big deal? You the Son of God – just do it! There is no law against turning stones into bread. It won’t hurt anything.’Jesus had been without food for almost six weeks! Because he was the Son of God He could have used His supernatural powers to do this. The temptation was very real. Jesus could have done it in an instant and His body was probably screaming, “Man do it.”
In reality Satan was tempting Jesus to disobey the Father’s will by using his divine power for His own purposes.
John Piper says that sin …”gets its power by persuading me to believe that I will be more happy if I follow it. The power of all temptation is the prospect that it will make me happier.” It is the temptation to take things into your own hands and do something for yourself without Father God’s approval.
Jesus Answers (v. 4) “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’” In other words, it’s not all about Me rather its all about Father God and doing His will.
Lesson #4. I guess it makes a difference who we listen to for advice. If it’s advice or a suggestion from the devil or one of his own then we probably should ignore it because there is probably a catch.
We often brag that we are “people of the Word.” But are we really? The question is not how much Bible do we know, but how much of the Bible do we apply in our life.
Jesus lived by the word of God. The key phrase in each of His answers is, “it is written.” He did not allow the situation, or the circumstances, or even the enemy to dictate the truth. Jesus in His answer was saying, “ I will not complain. Neither will I take matters into my own hands and yield to you Satan. I will trust my Father and His word.” This is the 5th lesson we need to remember!
The devil’s ploy in this world is to make us believe that if we want something done we count on God, and therefore need to do it ourselves – and not wait on and trust God.
We regularly are tempted to take things into our own hands and go outside the confines of God’s will to satisfy our personal needs or desires. We do things outside God’s will thinking that they will make us feel good, or make us happier or fulfill us somehow, but in the end we feel guilty or find our self in some kind of trouble. That’s exactly what happened to Adam and Eve.
In the next temptation the devil entices Jesus to take the easy way out.Read (5-8) 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.’”
In this temptation the devil was offering Jesus a kingdom without the cross. ‘Why go thru all that trouble and pain to win the world when it can be handed to you on a silver platter, No suffering, No Struggling, No Sacrifice. But a crown without the cross would mean that there would be no forgiveness for our sins. All Jesus had to do to sidestep all that pain and suffering was pay homage to and worship him and Satan would turn the world over to Jesus.
We do not have to look too far to see the application for today. Our world teaches us to ‘avoid pain, take the easy way, the path of least resistance. Avoid sacrifice. You deserve an easy life and to be happy.’
Our 6th lesson could be: Sometimes the best way is not the easiest way or the way that cost us less. Many times if we don’t pay the price up front it will cost us in the end. Or if we don’t hold out for what’s best we shortchange ourselves. Buy the best you get the best. Put the full time into something and it will pay off in the end.
Jesus knew and so should we, that when it comes to God and obeying His will shortcuts are nothing less than sin and lead to great disappointments.
So then the Devil takes Jesus to Jerusalem and sets Him on top of the Temple. There he made Jesus very tempting offer.
Having seen Jesus defeat him two times by quoting Scripture, Satan now quotes it himself, for his own purposes (Read. 9-13). 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.
For Jesus to survive a fall from the pinnacle of the temple in the full view of the people, in a supernatural manner, it would have immediately identified Him as the Messiah.
This would have been another shortcut possibly keeping Jesus from the cross. But it was also pressing God the Father to act on His behalf to save Him from the fall. So Jesus answers by saying, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’
Jesus understood to start His ministry by dramatically jumping from the pinnacle of the Temple would be completely contrary to the will of God. To do so would be to test God. So He refused to take this shortcut.
Jesus understood to start His ministry by dramatically jumping from the pinnacle of the Temple would be completely contrary to the will of God. To do so would be to test God. So He refused to take this shortcut.
Lesson # 7 There are many subtle ways that we can put God to the test. We may not jump from the top of the church – but we can do it in other ways.
We do it many times when we pray expecting God to yield to our will rather than accepting His will in a situation. We may even get mad that the prayers weren’t answered the way we wanted Him answer them.
Sometimes we even test the boundaries of known sin. Like a parent who tells their child “Don’t touch” we have to test the boundaries and reach out and touch. Jesus said, ‘No, I am not going to test God.’ And that’s another lesson for us: To trust God and His providence. To say, “Thy will be done and I trust you with this or that.”
All of these temptations were designed to somehow destroy His relationship with His heavenly Father, by taking things into His own hands and taking some serious shortcuts. The final verse says that the devil departed but it also indicated that he would be back again. Lesson #8. So there lies our final lesson from this text: Temptations may disappear for a while but he will never give up and he’ll be back another day until we depart from this earth and this life..
So remember to trust God and His will ALWAYS! Because He is the one in control now and for ever more.
For more lessons click on the following link: http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?page_id=566
All comments can be emailed to: bfronzek@gmail.com