And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” 5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God,
and him only shall you serve.’”
9 And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle 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 guard you,’
11 and
“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.
Jesus Begins His Ministry
14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. 15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. Luke 4: 1-15 ESV
Luke 4: 1-14
Full of the Holy Spirit - Jesus is very God, and yet He condescends to walk in obedience as we should have walked. He does not see it like men do, but rather as men should, an honor. Watch His life, it is a constant communion with the Father in prayer, saturated in the word, and from this He draws out incredible teaching and fixed determination towards His cross.
15But if you keep on biting and devouring one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another. 16So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want.… Galatians 5: 15-17
We can say – certainly for the most part, and perhaps entirely – that Jesus lived His life and performed His ministry as a Spirit-filled man, choosing not to rely on the resources of His divine nature, but willingly limiting Himself to what could be done by the guidance of God the Father and the empowering of God the Holy Spirit. - E Word
And He ate nothing during those 40 days - This is coming to the close of His 40 days of temptation in the wilderness, though not the end of attempts to tempt Him.
Command this stone to become bread - Not only the perfect temptation for a hungry person, which after 40 days would be beyond significant, but also it is a temptation to not trust God the Father. Jesus being God the Son has the power to do this, and Satan knows this, but Jesus taking on humanity's short comings by being perfectly submissive to the Father's will would be violating this process by not waiting for God's timing.
…18Because of this, the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him. Not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. 19So Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself, unless He sees the Father doing it. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does. 20The Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does. And to your amazement, He will show Him even greater works than these.… John 5: 18-20
…7but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross. 9Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names,… Philippians 2: 7-9
Man shall not live by bread alone - This is the way of the apostates, Satan comes at Christ with Scripture, but out of context, for he cares not about the whole counsel of God. Jesus corrects Satan with sound doctrine, the proper use of Scripture.
…15From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.… 2 Timothy 3: 15-17
Jesus used Scripture to battle Satan’s temptation, not some elaborate spiritual power inaccessible to us. Jesus fought this battle as a Spirit-filled, Word-of-God-filled man. He drew on no divine resources that are unavailable to us.
ii. We effectively resist temptation in the same way Jesus did: filled with the Holy Spirit, we answer Satan’s seductive lies by shining the light of God’s truth upon them. If we are ignorant of God’s truth, we are poorly armed in the fight against temptation. - E Word
To You will I give all this authority - This is a creepy appeal, and Satan has found no legitimate hold in the Son of Man, nothing to latch onto, and so he appeals to His other nature, Christ's deity. "I get this, You're the Messiah, the Son of David, but I will give You an easier way to the throne, one that avoids the cross." Now you may wonder from what premise the devil speaks, how can he act as though these kingdoms are his? He did not create the earth, did not make man after his image, but man in his fallen state, though made in the image of God, now no longer reflects God's glory. This is what Christ has come to restore as the new Adam, bringing mankind out of this present Egypt, this slavery to sin. God is light and when we love the darkness rather than light, when we choose the lie over the truth, we no longer reflect His image, and Jesus pointed this out to the Pharisees as well.
…30In response, Jesus said, “This voice was not for My benefit, but yours. 31Now judgment is upon this world; now the prince of this world will be cast out. 32And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw everyone to Myself.”… John 12: 30-32
1And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2in which you used to walk when you conformed to the ways of this world and of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.… Ephesians 2: 1-3
…43Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you are unable to accept My message. 44You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies. 45But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me!… John 8: 43-45
If You then will worship me - How disgusting for the Creator to worship the creature. Jesus is the Eternal Son of God, and is not a created being. In fact, we can be very certain of this in that Scripture tells us no less, that all things were made through Him. He is before all created things, the eternally existing Word, and every created thing comes by way of Him. In His role as the Son of David He has only added humanity to His deity, a body that was created for Him.
15The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.… Colossians 1: 15-17
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made.… John 1: 1-3
You shall worship the Lord your God - Again He takes Satan back to a real understanding of Scripture. The devil is not stupid, he knows the word better than you or I, but his goal is to always twist things, to remove context, to put his spin on what he would like you to think it means. He is just like so many tv evangelists and "faith healers" out there today, misquote upon misapplication, and so many eat that garbage up, but Jesus sets the records straight and all His true followers want the Author's intent in Scripture, not their own whims or that of others.
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. Galatians 1: 6-9
…4The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We tear down arguments and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, as soon as your obedience is complete.… 2 Corinthians 10: 4-6
14But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be shaken.” 15But in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give a defense to everyone who asks you the reason for the hope that is in you. But respond with gentleness and respect, 16keeping a clear conscience, so that those who slander you may be put to shame by your good behavior in Christ.… 1 Peter 3: 14-16
He will command His angels concerning You - The Son of God could call down legions of angels, but He is not going to submit to the will of the devil. There have been many people that thought such foolishness to be signs of their faith, to draw men to their stunts and then themselves, but splattered on the ground and rightly so. Again, Jesus came to do the will of the Father. Satan is quoting from the Psalms here.
…11For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. 12They will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. 13You will tread on the lion and cobra; you will trample the young lion and serpent.… Psalm 91: 11-13
And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’” Jesus answered Satan’s misuse of Scripture with the proper use of the Bible, quoting from Deuteronomy 6:16. As Jesus rejected Satan’s twisting of Scripture, He rightly divided the word of truth, understanding it in its context.
i. Jesus understood from His knowledge of the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27) that Satan twisted this passage from Psalm 91. Jesus knew how to rightly divide the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).
ii. Jesus understood that Satan enticed Him to take a step of “faith” that would actually test (tempt) God in an ungodly way. “The temptation may have been to perform a spectacular, but pointless miracle in order to compel wonder and belief of a kind.” (Morris) - Eword
Until an opportune time - Satan doesn't want Christ to fulfill His mission on the cross. He wants Him to fail, and so this time of temptation ends but he is still looking for opportunity, and we will even see him use those closest to Christ.
…22Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. “Far be it from You, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to You!” 23But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” 24Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.… Matthew 16: 22-24
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