Temptation, Round 2 (Luke 4:1-13)

I'll examine each of the 3 temptations of Jesus by first making some observations about the temptation, then take a look at the Scripture that Jesus quoted in response to Satan's temptations. Being the best Old Testament scholar that will ever walk the face of the earth, it must have been cake for Him to answer Satan by quoting each verse in context. Let's take a look...

Temptation #1: Luke 4:3-4

3And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."

• Challenges Jesus to prove that He is the Son of God
• This is very odd. If we "cheat" a little bit and think forward in the gospel account, we know that evil spirits recognized that Jesus is the Son of God. One example is in this very chapter: Luke 4:34! Certainly, the devil knew that Jesus is indeed the Son of God and did not need proof.
  
• Jesus is legitimately physically hungry as He was likely fasting while in the desert. The devil preyed upon it.

Now here's the context of the Scripture Jesus' quoted...

Deuteronomy 8:1-3

1"All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to give to your forefathers.

2"You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.

3"He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.

I think this passage really gives us some insight as to why Jesus was led into the desert by the Holy Spirit. The Israelites spent 40 years in the desert before entering the Promised Land. In fact, none of the original Israelites that left Egypt entered Canaan due to their repeated disobedience to God, but the next generation entered. Further, they were going into a land "flowing of milk and honey"- a land of abundance compared to the desert. I'd paraphrase Deut. 8:3 like this, "When you are living in the land of abundance, remember that true living is not gluttony, but obedience to God's Word."

Where the Israelites failed miserably, Jesus succeeded marvelously. In Exodus 15, not long after God divided the Red Sea, the Israelites grumble that they having nothing to drink for the waters they found at Marah were bitter. God turns the bitter water in sweet water and then said to the Israelites, Exodus 15:26-

If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer.

What a commentary on Deut. 8:3! In fact, after the this, the Lord provides manna to the people! We need to only listen and obey the Lord and He will provide for our needs. No one listened to God better than His very own Son.

Temptation #2: Luke 4:5-8
v6:

I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.

• My Bible has a cross-reference to 1 John 5:19- "We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one."
• Jesus would come and rule the earth, but not now.
• Simply put, the devil is tempting Jesus w/ the easy path to become ruler now, without going through the suffering on the cross.

Jesus responds w/ Deut. 6:13. Here's the context...

Deuteronomy 6:10-13

10"Then it shall come about when the LORD your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build,

11and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied,

12then watch yourself, that you do not forget the LORD who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

13"You shall fear only the LORD your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name.

14"You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you,

15for the LORD your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; otherwise the anger of the LORD your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth.

16"You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested Him at Massah.

This is such an awesome metaphor of N.T. living by the Spirit and not of the flesh. The Israelites would enter into a land ready to inhabit- I mean, re-read v11 above and just imagine what it would have been like to be there. It all came for free- no down payment necessary and no work to build up a city- God gave to them all for free. But God reminds them to worship Him and Him alone (v13) and this is the verse Jesus cites to answer the devil's second temptation. Jesus will inherit all from the Father in due time, He need only obey. As we know, the Israelites repeatedly struggled in their singular devotion to the one true God. Where they failed, Jesus succeeded.

Temptation #3: Luke 4:9-12
v9-

And he led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here;

• Again, this is a challenge to Jesus' to prove His deity, as in the first temptation.

Finally, Satan figures out Jesus' tactic and attempts to turn it against Him: Scripture vs. Scripture. Satan must have known it was a losing proposition before it even began, but he probably felt he had to try. Satan quotes from Psalm 91:11,12-

11For He will give His angels charge concerning you, To guard you in all your ways. 12They will bear you up in their hands, That you do not strike your foot against a stone.
13You will tread upon the lion and cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.

But I wonder if he was in denial about Psalm 91:13 since stopped at v12? That verse re-calls Genesis 3:15, how the seed of the woman would one day crush the head of the serpent!! Nonetheless, it appears Satan is citing the verses in context. (Click here to read Psalm 91.)

The battle is already lost by Satan as Jesus merely quotes another verse from a passage He had already used, Deuteronomy 6. This time it's Deuteronomy 6:16. (see above) So the natural question to ask is what happened at Massah? See Exodus 17:1-7.

Unsurprisingly, the Israelites were complaining about the lack of water yet again. Deja vu! The last part of Exodus 17:7 is the key part, "... they tested the Lord, saying "Is the Lord among us, or not?"" In both the temptation by the devil and the incident at Massah, the "tester" wanted to prove the presence of God. In Luke, the devil challenges Jesus again to prove that He is indeed God. In Exodus, the Israelites quarreled with Moses for water, not God! Sure, at this time it was Moses who interceded with God for the people, yet they easily forgot the presence of the Lord. How could they? Remember that the Lord's presence was clearly evident to the people as He "was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light." (Exodus 13:21)

This last temptation is alarming. The devil is the deceiver, as he deceived Eve in the Garden (Temptation, Round 1). Do you think he knows Scripture? I bet he does and knows it well. It was clear in the garden he knew God's words (instruction) to the man and woman and then proceeded to call it into question, "Did God really say...?" Whereas Eve did not re-call God's word precisely, Jesus did. Thank God! I desire to know God's Word well- cover-to-cover; for the enemy will try to use my lack of knowledge against me. At that time, may I re-call the Word that has been hidden in my heart.

Update: I just wanted to clarify something in response to Kayan's comment. Though I emphasize that Jesus knew the Word well, the fact that He was able to use it at the right time, in the right way to overcome the temptations demonstrates the integrity in His life and it is certainly by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit that led Him into the desert in 4:1, and when He leaves the wilderness Luke says, "Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit..." (4:14). Contrasting their wilderness experiences, the Exodus Israelites failed in their flesh, while Jesus triumphed by the Holy Spirit. (Re-call the Israelites proclamation after hearing the Law in Exodus 24:7, "We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey." This was followed by the 40 years in the desert due to their repeated disobedience to God.) And all you MasterLife veterans know that we are to crucify the flesh and live by the Spirit!