Luke 4

Chapter 4. The Temptation of the Son of ManWe have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. (Hebrews 4:15)Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (Hebrews 2:18)The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not given to us primarily as an enduement of power for service. This is one of the mistaken teachings that are abroad today. Undoubtedly power for service is one result of this blessing, but it is primarily given to us for personal character and holiness; for what we are to be, rather than what we are to do and say. This is surely demonstrated by the fact that, after receiving the baptism of the Spirit, our Lord—our Example and Forerunner—did not immediately begin His public ministry, but first went alone for a personal conflict with the adversary, and for the testing and establishing of His own personal victory and righteousness. The 40 days of Christ’s temptation mean a good deal more than 40 days in the experience of His disciples and cover the whole experience of our Christian life in the conflict with sin and Satan. Indeed, the supreme factor in our service is personal character and experience. It is only the men and women who have been there themselves, who can lead others through the conflict and into the victory.

Section I: the Elements of the Temptation

Section I—the Elements of the TemptationThe Fact of Temptation The fact that Jesus Christ was tempted is the most emphatic proof of His actual humanity. It was in our nature that He was tempted, for “God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone” (James 1:13). It was as the second Adam, and the representative of our struggling race that the Lord Jesus entered the battle that day with the great adversary and proved that no mortal again need ever despair. Temptation is still a fact in every human life. But, it is also true that “no temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). The Agent in the Temptation The agent in the temptation is called the devil. The Bible has a way of calling things by their right names which we would be wise to follow. The devil has achieved no greater triumph than to succeed in hiding his identity from this advanced age. If a brigand could only succeed in posing as one of a tourist party whom he intended to rob, he would have little difficulty in carrying out his plans. This is just what Satan has attempted and accomplished in many quarters today, and while men are laughing at the idea of a devil he is playing off his disguise and leading men captive at his will. Doubtless he came to Jesus as he still comes to us, not in some open and repulsive form, but in deep disguise and probably by such subtle suggestions as could easily be mistaken for the promptings of His own mind. The Circumstances of the Temptation The first great test came to man in a paradise of beauty and delight, but it ended in a tragedy. The second came in the desolate wilderness, but it led up to Paradise restored. The adversary chooses his battlefield with wise discrimination. He came to Christ when His body was enfeebled with long fasting, and His spirit perhaps clouded with the gloomy surroundings of His situation. He will always attack us at our worst. When the frame is worn with sickness, the body racked with pain, and the spirit depressed with discouragement and sorrow, then look out for the crafty and cruel adversary. The Time of the Temptation It was after a great blessing and before a great service. Jesus had just stood at the open heaven and received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and the message of His Father, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22). And He was about to begin His great life, and His mighty assault upon Satan’s kingdom. Therefore all the forces of hell were roused against Him. It was when David was crowned king in Hebron that “the Philistines… went up… to search for him” (2 Samuel 5:17). An old writer has said, “So long as Jesus was occupied with the chips of the carpenter shop, the devil paid little attention to Him; but when He came forth in the power of the Spirit to conquer him, then the gauge of battle was drawn.” Let us look out for danger in the hour of spiritual elevation and glorious blessing, and let us especially be prepared for the wiles of the enemy when we are planning some high service for God and our fellow men. The Purpose of the Temptation Why was Jesus tempted of the devil? Why is temptation permitted to come to any man? Why does not God with one lightning stroke destroy our cruel foe and clear our way from every adversary and obstacle? If two young men were placed in a position of responsibility and trust, and the one permitted every opportunity to be dishonest, and the other so hedged about that all graft and dishonesty were made impossible, and both came forth at the end of their period of probation with an irreproachable record, which would have the higher moral standing? Surely, the one that had been tested in the face of temptation. The moral character of the other would still be a matter of absolute uncertainty. Therefore it was necessary that the human race should be tested in the first creation, and it is still necessary for the development and confirmation of character that we should pass through the ordeal of the tempter. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials [temptations] of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4). All the more was this necessary in the Master’s case, because His righteousness was not for Himself alone, but was to be imputed to all His followers as the ground of their acceptance, and it must be proved even in the face of the gates of hell to be without a flaw. Furthermore this conflict was a great representative battle in behalf of the race. It was the decisive conflict of human history and destiny. It was the second Adam taking up the issue where the first had failed, and winning back all that he had lost. It was as necessary for Christ to stand victorious in the wilderness as it was for Him without a murmur to lay down His life upon the cross. Both were vicarious offerings—the one the suffering of His righteousness, the other of His life. And by both He has conquered hell and opened heaven to all believers.

Section II: the Method and Process of the Temptation

Section II—the Method and Process of the TemptationIn many respects it was the very counterpart of the first great conflict in Eden. The Attack On His Faith The first attack was made upon the faith of our Lord. “If you are the Son of God” (Luke 4:3), the devil sneered; as much as to say, “You the Son of God! Well, did I ever hear anything so absurd! The Son of God left by His Father in this desolate wilderness, exposed to wild beasts and starving for bread? Why, You are deluded. You must be insane. Come, let us dispel this dream; or, if You be the Son of God, let us have some proof of it.” And so the devil dared the Lord to prove His character and claim. Remember the subject of this temptation was a real man with a mind as liable to discouragement, despondency and the depression that come from physical weakness as yours and mine. Remember also that it is your faith that the enemy assails, and discouragement is usually the gateway to doubt and unbelief. Your worst faults and falls are not so important to the great enemy of your soul as the use which he intends to make of them in crushing your spirit and destroying your confidence. Remember, therefore, the stirring message of one who himself was sorely tempted: “Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings” (1 Peter 5:9). Remember, also, the words of another victorious soldier of the cross, “In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16). “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded” (Hebrews 10:35). The Attack Upon His Physical Nature The second assault was upon His body and His physical appetites and desires. “Tell this stone to become bread” (Luke 4:3). And so the first experiences of temptation are often through our physical nature or our temporal circumstances. How often he comes to us through sickness and the choice is between his prescription and the Lord’s help. How blessed to remember at such a time the Master’s answer to the enemy, “Man does not live on bread alone” (Luke 4:4). There is life in God for our bodies as well as for our spirits, and it were better even not to live than to live by the devil’s help. How often the temptation comes through financial pressure. One of his fallacies is to say, “You must have a living and therefore you must do something to help yourself in this emergency.” It is not always true that we must have a living. There came a time when the three Jewish men of Babylon dared to say, “the God we serve is able to save us…. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up” (Daniel 3:17-18). The Attack Upon His Ambition The next attack was upon His ambition. In some way the glory of earthly power was brought before Him in a moment and the possibility of His attaining it, if only He would put Himself under the direction of the arch fiend. Satan was the first political boss, and ever since he has been trying to make men his dupes. Oh, how many have sold their souls for power, ambition or graft! Doubtless, in the case of our Lord, he made it all appear beautiful and beneficent and pointed out, perhaps, the splendid use He could make of such power in bringing to an end the wrongs of His people, the cruel oppressions of earth’s tyrants and the manifold evils of humanity. But again Christ refused the tempting bribe simply because He would not take anything from Satan. Just as He would not have the devil’s bread or the devil’s medicine, He would not have the devil’s crown; and the day came when from the Father He received a mightier dominion and could say without any thanks to the devil, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). An Appeal to Spiritual Pride The climax was an appeal to His spiritual pride. The devil first attacked His body, next His soul and finally His spirit. “Cast Yourself down,” he cried, “from this lofty pinnacle of the temple, and God will work such a miracle for Your deliverance that the world will immediately flock to Your feet and hail You as its deliverer and its God.” And then he began to quote some Scripture, but again Jesus met him word for word with the same weapon that he had used: “It says: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test’” (Luke 4:12). The principle of the temptation, and the principle of the victory was the same as in the other assault. He refused to take Himself out of the place of a real man. He refused to turn aside from the will of His Father and even work a miracle to save Himself. Had He done so it would have been the rejection of the cross and the renouncing of the pathway of lowly humanity and suffering through which He was to redeem the race. As a man He had gone into that place of trial, and there He should remain until deliverance came to Him not through His own rash act, but through His Father’s loving hand. How perfect the picture of humanity. How truly He “has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).

Section III: the Secret of Victory

Section III—the Secret of VictoryThe Word The Word was His weapon. “It is written,” was the sword of the Spirit which again and again He wielded with such resistless power. We cannot hope to stand in the evil day unless we know our Bibles and are taught by the Spirit how to use them. The remarkable fact about His use of the Bible was that most of His quotations were taken from the book of Deuteronomy, the very book which the devil and higher critics have always tried to depreciate and discredit. Jesus took the very weakest of all His weapons and used it to crush the serpent’s head. The Holy Spirit Jesus “was led by the Spirit in the desert” (Luke 4:1), and He went forth in the power of the Spirit. “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him” (Isaiah 59:19). It is only as we walk in the Spirit and follow Him closely, that we can expect to overcome that crafty foe whose wisdom is too deep for us alone. Devotion to the Will of God The deepest secret of Christ’s triumph was His devotion to the will of God. “I must be about my Father’s business” (Luke 2:49), was the keynote of His life. He sought nothing for Himself. He would accept nothing for Himself. Nothing could tempt Him from the path of suffering to which He had given Himself in obedience to His Father’s will, and this was the sheet anchor of His safety. This is that breastplate of righteousness wherewith we shall be armed against the great enemy. It is a great and profound truth that Jesus Christ won His victory over Satan and won our redemption, not by brilliant wisdom, or superhuman power, but by simple righteousness. It was a moral triumph. Had He for a moment failed, our redemption would have been lost, and He and we together would have perished in the ruin. Remember, the mightiest thing in your life is to be right and to do right at any cost. Against such a purpose the gates of hell cannot prevail.

Section IV: the Results of the Temptation

Section IV—the Results of the Temptation"Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit" (Luke 4:14). He was stronger for the battle. And so will we be. Every victory won imparts to you the strength that you have taken from your conquered foe. And by and by there will be added the crown of recompense and the eternal reward which God is preparing not only for those that have worked for souls, but for those that have stood true in the evil day. “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12). Christ’s Fellowship with Us in Temptation This is the chief lesson of all this story. True to Luke’s great purpose, the Son of Man appears in the conflict of the wilderness as our Brother, our Champion and our great Example. For us He won back the victory that Adam, our first father, had so shamefully lost; and with us and in us, still He overcomes as we follow His footsteps through temptation and trial. “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews 2:18). How tender and solemn His message to Peter, His tempted disciple, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:31-32). And how faithfully Peter, in his turn, sought to fulfill this trust and help the tempted ones. Conquerors Through Him The supreme lesson of all that we have been considering is that only in Christ can we hope to overcome our subtle foe. All who try this unequal conflict alone will surely fail. The sinner has ventured on the devil’s territory and Satan has a right to every man who sins. There is One only who can set us free, and those who refuse His help must fall. The most fearful thing about the condition of ungodly men is that they are unable to give up sinning and are bound to fall under the power of the wicked one. “The Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment” (2 Peter 2:9). One of my saddest memories is the case of a man addicted to drink, who persistently refused to accept the Lord Jesus as his Savior, declaring that he needed nothing better than his own manhood to give him the victory. In the last interview I had with him he closed the conversation by saying, “I don’t want your Jesus, I can save myself.” A few months after this, the awful tidings suddenly came that he had dropped dead in a drunken spree in one of the saloons in the city, and gone to his account with all his transgressions upon his head. There is but One who can succor and save you. The Son of Man who conquered for you once, and is ready to conquer in you again. Fainting soldier of the Lord, Hear His sweet, inspiring word— I have conquered all thy foes; I have suffered all thy woes; Struggling soldier, trust in Me, I have overcome for thee.