The Temptation of Jesus – Part 2
Luke 4:1-13 (3-4)
December 17, 2017
Last week we introduced this new section in Luke’s gospel
Which details for us THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS.
We looked at some of the basic principles of temptation that are apparent here and we looked at how Jesus overcame them.
This morning we’re going to begin looking at
The specifics of that temptation.
There are, however, two more things that I think need to be said
In a somewhat introductory sense.
Last week we mentioned some of the purposes behind this temptation.
• We said that it was God’s purpose to reveal the righteousness of Christ.
• We said that it was Satan’s purpose to ruin the righteousness of Christ.
We understand that Christ’s righteousness if of the utmost importance to the work of the gospel, and so proving that is primary to Luke’s point.
And we also understand that since Christ’s righteousness is so important that Satan would certainly seek to ruin it.
There is however one more very important purpose that we need to be aware of as to why God subjected Christ to such temptation.
The writer of Hebrews explains this to us:
Hebrews 5:7-10 “In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.”
It has been a reoccurring issue of debate that the writer of Hebrews
Insinuates that Jesus “learned”.
“He learned obedience from the things which He suffered”
• Was there actually something that Jesus didn’t know?
• Was there actually some piece of information that Jesus had to travel to earth to find?
The answer has to be YES.
But not in a factual sense, rather in an experiential one.
Jesus didn’t come to learn theology or facts or doctrine or truth,
He came to learn what it was like to be human.
He came to sympathize with humanity.
He came to “walk a mile in our shoes” that He might be better able to minister to us as a “merciful and faithful high priest”
That is a very big part of what is occurring here.
Jesus is obtaining His priesthood training.
Hebrews 4:15-16 “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Hebrews 2:18 “For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.”
You need to understand that as you look at His temptation.
• He is facing what you face
• He is overcoming what you fail at
• He is equipping Himself to help you succeed next time
NOW ON THAT NOTE, this reality becomes even more vivid to us
When we understand the history of Israel
And that Christ ultimately came to redeem them.
When Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt,
We are aware that they were continually a rebellious people.
Because of their disobedience, God ultimately confined them
To wander in the wilderness for a period of 40 years.
If you read the book of Numbers (which I know you love to do)
You are aware that that period was fraught with temptation and failure.
In fact, in the New Testament there are 3 main points of failure
During that time period that are highlighted.
TURN TO: 1 CORINTHIANS 10:6-13 (read it)
• You probably most quickly recognize that passage as the famous teaching on temptation.
As examples you will notice that Paul lists 4 monumental failures of Israel.
• Now the first is found in verses 6&7 and it speaks of the golden calf incident which occurred before the wilderness wanderings.
• But the last 3 speak of the 3 big temptations, failures, and judgments that fell upon Israel during that 40 year period of wandering in the wilderness.
Let me refresh your memory on those.
(8) “Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day.”
Numbers 25:1-9 “While Israel remained at Shittim, the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab. For they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and the LORD was angry against Israel. The LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.” So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you slay his men who have joined themselves to Baal of Peor.” Then behold, one of the sons of Israel came and brought to his relatives a Midianite woman, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, while they were weeping at the doorway of the tent of meeting. When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he arose from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand, and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and pierced both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman, through the body. So the plague on the sons of Israel was checked. Those who died by the plague were 24,000.”
Numbers 31:16 indicates that this plan of Midian was actually devised by Balaam.
The plan was to seduce the Israelites with the women of Midian
To pull them away from devotion to God
And to draw them into the worship of Midianite gods.
And it worked.
• Israel succumbed to the temptation, they worshiped other gods, and God’s wrath fell on Israel by means of a plague that killed 24,000 people.
Another major failure Paul mentions in verse 9
(9) “Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents.”
Numbers 21:4-9 “Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey. The people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.” The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and you; intercede with the LORD, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.” And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.”
At that place Paul said the people TRIED THE LORD.
They sought to force God to give them the food they demanded.
They sought to make their own desires sovereign
And God’s powers at their disposal.
• The result of their testing God was serpents that arose from the sand which bit and killed many until they looked upon the bronze serpent and were healed.
The last major failure of Israel which Paul mentions is
(10) “Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.”
The grumbling began with men named Korah, Dathan, and Abiram
Who perceived that God and Moses were doing a pretty pathetic job providing for the people and they wanted new management.
Numbers 16:3 “They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”
Moses confronted these men, and Dathan’s response is especially telling.
Numbers 16:12-14 “Then Moses sent a summons to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said, “We will not come up. “Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to have us die in the wilderness, but you would also lord it over us? “Indeed, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Would you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!”
If you remember the story you know that God opened up the ground
And swallowed those men alive along with their families.
But that wasn’t the issue Paul refers to.
The issue Paul refers to is
The response of the people to Korah, Dathan, and Abiram’s death.
Numbers 16:41-49 “But on the next day all the congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You are the ones who have caused the death of the LORD’S people.” It came about, however, when the congregation had assembled against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the tent of meeting, and behold, the cloud covered it and the glory of the LORD appeared. Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting, and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly.” Then they fell on their faces. Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put in it fire from the altar, and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone forth from the LORD, the plague has begun!” Then Aaron took it as Moses had spoken, and ran into the midst of the assembly, for behold, the plague had begun among the people. So he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. He took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was checked. But those who died by the plague were 14,700, besides those who died on account of Korah.”
The issue was dissatisfaction with God’s leadership and provision
Which caused them to try and take matters into their own hands
By supplanting Moses and fixing the problem themselves.
And even when God killed Korah that did not stop the people from grumbling which incited the glory of the Lord to start killing people.
14,700 died before Moses and Aaron were able to make atonement for the people.
Those are Israel’s big failures as they wandered 40 years in the wilderness
• They worshiped other gods
• They put God to the test
• They grumbled about God’s provision
Now we see that Jesus will spend 40 days in the wilderness
Where He will face the same temptation.
Luke records that Jesus will face “every temptation”
• But perhaps now you know why Luke chose to highlight these 3.
The 3 temptations listed here correlate to the 3 big failures of Israel.
Just as Israel was:
• Jesus will be tempted to worship other gods
• Jesus will be tempted to test God
• Jesus will be tempted to be dissatisfied with God’s provision
The difference?
Where Israel stumbled, Jesus will prevail.
And so you understand what the writer of Hebrews said:
Hebrews 5:8-9 “In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation,”
He is going to succeed where they failed.
He is going to maintain righteousness where they forfeited it.
And because He remains perfect,
He will be qualified to make His righteousness available to them.
“the source of eternal salvation”
So do you see how this all fits with the plan of the gospel?
Now I know that has been a large amount of preliminary information regarding this temptation, so let’s begin looking at.
There are 3 main temptations which are highlighted, so let’s look at them.
#1 THE TEMPTATION TO IGNORE GOD
Luke 4:3-4
“And the devil said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE.”
Of course you realize where the temptation is coming from.
Luke says, “the devil said to Him”
“devil” translates DIABOLOS
Which means “slanderer”
He is one who delights in slandering and gossiping against others.
We read of him in the Revelation as “the accuser of the brethren…who accuses them before our God day and night.”
• He was the one who accused Job of only serving God because of God’s immense blessing in his life.
• He is the one who stood beside the High Priest Joshua in Zechariah 3 pointing out his filthy garments (unrighteous character)
And here he shows up again,
Only this time to accuse God of doing a lousy job of provision.
It is the same temptation which he whispered
In Korah, and Dathan, and Abiram’s ears.
He told those men to look at the desolate state of the wilderness where Moses had led them.
• He pointed out that there was limited water
• He pointed out that there was limited food
• He pointed out that they were not in the Promised Land
• He pointed out that the land did not flow with milk and honey
And he whispered that they should take matters into their own hands,
Overthrow Moses, ignore God’s instruction and fix the issue themselves.
THEY TOOK THE BAIT AND IT RESULTED IN THEIR DEATH
AND THE DEATH OF NEARLY 15,000 ISRAELITES.
Satan is pulling that temptation out of his bag again
And throwing it Jesus.
“If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
A better translation is “SINCE You are the Son of God”
Satan is not doubting who Jesus is,
Rather Satan in insinuating that as the Son of God
He should not be subjected to such deprivation.
Was that not the issue with Korah and the Israelites?
Let me read Korah’s initial statement to Moses again:
Numbers 16:3 “They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”
Do you hear how flattering they are regarding the nation of Israel?
“all the congregation are holy, every one of them”
They have a very high view of their own self-worth and value.
I wonder who put that thought in their head?
Can’t you just hear the devil whisper to Korah, “Since you are the holy chosen people of God, I don’t think it’s right that you should live in such harsh conditions”?
That is what the devil is now doing to Jesus.
I don’t think it’s right that the Son of God be subject to such harsh conditions.
• You did after all leave heaven…
• You were born in a barn…
• You have lived as a perfect human for 30 years…
• Looks like to me that the least God could do is give you a piece of bread…
Satan was seeking to appeal to His selfishness.
Of course the problem for the devil is that JESUS, although human,
Does not possess the fallen nature of Adam and IS NOT SELFISH.
And so when this temptation hits the mind of Jesus,
He instantly overcomes it by turning to the truth of God’s word.
(4) “And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE.’”
I absolutely love this!
Jesus takes His thoughts and evaluates them
Through the filter of God’s perfect word.
Paul spoke of this:
2 Corinthians 10:3-6 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.”
What a great statement: “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ”
That is to say, we force every thought or idea or speculation
Through the filter of God’s word to test it.
That is what Jesus did.
The verse which steered Him forward was: Deuteronomy 8:3
Now, let’s look at this for a second,
Because it helps us better understand the issue.
TURN TO: DEUTERONOMY 8:1-6
Did you catch what Moses said?
• Not only did God lead you into the wilderness, but He did so to test you.
• He even let you get hungry as part of that test.
• And when God did feed you, He fed you through unconventional means
And the reason was this:
(3b) “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.”
What was the point of God allowing the trial?
What was the point of God feeding them unconventionally?
God was trying to teach them this:
YOU CAN LIVE WITHOUT BREAD, YOU CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT ME
God is to be sought over and above the things of the world.
And that is what Jesus quotes here in the wilderness.
“I can live without bread, I cannot live without God”
The Devil was tempting Jesus to
Ignore God and take matters into His own hands,
Jesus saw that as a foolish decision.
SO HERE IT IS:
• Satan tempted Jesus to ignore God.
• Jesus overcame by believing that God is SATISFYING
Jesus overcame by believing that having God without bread
Was better than having bread without God.
Do you understand that?
This is actually KEY FOR US:
John Piper said, “Sin is what you do when you are not satisfied with God.”
• We are not satisfied with where God has us…
• We are not satisfied with how God has provided…
• So we usurp God’s plan and step outside His bounds to seek to seek satisfaction outside of Him.
It is to actually worship the things of the world, instead of God.
John Calvin wrote:
“Though we are convinced, that all our support, and aid, and comfort, depend on the blessing of God, yet our senses allure and draw us away, to seek assistance from Satan, as if God alone were not enough. A considerable portion of mankind disbelieve the power and authority of God over the world, and imagine that every thing good is bestowed by Satan. For how comes it, that almost all resort to wicked contrivances, to robbery and to fraud, but because they ascribe to Satan what belongs to God, the power of enriching whom he pleases by his blessing? True, indeed, with the mouth they ask that God will give them daily bread, but it is only with the mouth; for they make Satan the distributor of all the riches in the world.”
(Calvin, John [Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke; Volume First; Baker Books; Grand Rapids, MI; 2005] pg. 220)
That is to say,
• We have a population of men who say that God provides and God blesses, and even ask God to do so.
• However, their quick willingness to resort to sinful behavior to obtain those blessings only reveals that while they say God is their provider, they really think Satan does it better.
• For they are quicker to do the things of Satan than the things of God if it provides what they want.
Is that not the temptation?
Now, let me tell you WHY THIS OCCURS SO EASILY in our lives.
This occurs when we are accustomed to
Only seeking God’s hand instead of God’s face.
It happens to us so easily because we are really more interested in what we can get from God than we are in simply enjoying God.
There was a sermon entitled “Ten Shekels and a Shirt” by Paris Reidhead
In which he asks this main question: “Is God an end or is God a means?”
Do you see God as the One whom you seek?
Or do you see God as the One who can simply provide what you seek?
AND THIS IS THE ISSUE BEHIND THIS TEMPTATION.
ISRAEL DIDN’T SEEK GOD,
They sought comfort, they sought a land flowing with milk and honey,
They sought water and bread, and peace and safety.
They followed God because
They saw Him as the One capable of supplying all of that.
So God purposely let them get hungry as a test of their devotion.
Do they want Me or do they just want bread?
WHAT DID WE LEARN?
God was not an end for Israel, God was a means.
And the second God failed to perform up their expectations,
They were ready to cast Him aside and do it themselves.
We certainly saw this throughout the Old Testament with Israel.
But do you realize that the same mentality was alive and well even in the days of Jesus?
They didn’t want Jesus, what did they want?
“A Sign”
Luke 11:29 “As the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah.”
They didn’t want Jesus, they just wanted what Jesus could provide.
You’re going to see that again in a few weeks when Jesus enters His hometown.
• He will flat out tell them that He is the Messiah who has come to preach the
gospel, (READ LUKE 4:17-21)
• And look at their response: (LUKE 4:22) they were all excited!
• But Jesus knew why they were excited (LUKE 4:23) They didn’t want Him,
they just want miracles.
But there is one story in the New Testament
That emphasizes this like no other.
TURN TO: JOHN 6:26-36
For a backdrop you should know that John 6 begins with Jesus feeding the 5,000.
And trust me, in Jesus’ day hunger was the big issue.
The equivalent today would be like Jesus clearing out a cancer hospital.
Hunger was their biggest burden and their greatest concern,
And yet Jesus so easily handles it.
That explains why in 6:15
They want to take Him by force and make Him king.
However Jesus leaves
Actually walks on water to the other side of the lake
The next day, He encounters a new crowd, and the old crowd
Which He had fed travels around the lake looking for Him.
This is a big crowd all seeking Jesus, but notice what Jesus reveals.
THE REBUKE (26-27) – That was Jesus in effect quoting Deuteronomy 8:3; don’t seek bread, seek Me!
THE SELFISH ANSWER (28) – They don’t get it. “Well fine, if You’re not going to give us bread, then show us how we can do it ourselves.”
THE SECOND REBUKE (29) – Quit focusing on bread, and focus on Me!
ANOTHER SELFISH ANSWER (30-31) – What a statement, “Well before we can seek You, we’re gonna need a sign, like say, You giving us bread from heaven like Moses did!”
THE THIRD REBUKE (32-33) – I am the bread! Seek Me!
AND YET ANOTHER SELFISH RESPONSE (34) – It’s still all about the bread.
THE FOURTH REBUKE (35-36) – You refuse to get it.
Do you see their sin?
Do you understand the problem?
Jesus wasn’t enough, they only wanted what Jesus could offer.
They didn’t seek to enjoy Jesus, they sought to use Jesus
To satisfy their own selfish and worldly desires.
If Jesus would continue to give what they wanted, they’d gladly follow.
• They’d follow around the lake…
• They’d make Him king…
• They’d hail Him with palm branches in Jerusalem…
But if He wasn’t going to satisfy their desires
Then they really had no use for Him
And would just as soon see Him crucified.
Do you understand the temptation?
Do you understand the failure?
You need to because Satan is using this temptation all over America.
We call it THE PROSPERITY GOSPEL
Radio and Television and Internet are saturated with this age-old whisper. (The same thing Satan whispered to Korah and to Jesus)
• God should give you bread!
• God should give you water!
• God should give you a promotion!
• God should give you a prosperity!
Satan is using these preachers in bucket loads
To convince people that they have the power to turn stones into bread
And they should not hesitate to use it!
It is a doctrine dedicated to getting people
To focus on the hand of God instead of His face.
It is produces people who actually worship the things of this world
And they congregate to God because
They see Him as a means of acquiring it.
BUT LISTEN FRIEND,
If all you are seeking God for is because He can accomplish for you,
Then you have made God and idol and you are ripe for the picking.
GOD IS THE END, NOT THE MEANS
Listen to the David
Psalms 27:4 “One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple.”
Listen to the sons of Korah
Psalms 84:1-2, 10 “How lovely are Your dwelling places, O LORD of hosts! My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God…For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”
Remember Asaph in Psalm 73?
• He was angry at God because God didn’t give him all the prosperity that the wicked enjoyed.
• But when God showed him the end of all that earthly prosperity, we remember well what
Asaph said:
Psalms 73:25-28 “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For, behold, those who are far from You will perish; You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You. But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works.”
Listen to the Apostle Paul:
Philippians 3:7-11 “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
And we could go on and on and on here.
Jesus is that treasure in the field, Jesus is that pear of great value.
The reason we fall into temptation is because we are not satisfied with God alone.
• Our flesh is our master, and we are really only interested in satisfying it.
• If God will help, then sure, I’ll follow God.
• But if God walks me through the wilderness, then forget it.
Israel failed there and 15,000 were killed.
Jesus however overcame, because to Jesus God was enough.
And according to the writer of Hebrews, because He overcame “He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.”
• He now has untainted righteousness available for all of us who have so
miserably failed.
• We place our faith in Him, and His perfect righteousness is credited to us.
And then, as we seek to live this life, He also knows how to come to our aid, “since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.”
That’s good news isn’t!
