Temptation 2 - Lead Us Not... (Luke 4:1-13) Calvary Baptist Cb

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The ancient Greek noun that gets translated to ‘temptation’ is peirasmos. Sometimes it is translated into English as ‘temptation’ and sometimes as ‘testing’ depending on the context. There's a big difference between the two ideas of temptation and testing. 

When scripture talks about being drawn towards doing something that we should not do because it is wrong, translators use the word temptation.  

I want to focus a bit more on the second translation: testing. Same original word in the original language, but it gets translated differently. 

God does test us. He does bring things into our lives that challenge us and make us marshall everything we've learned and the strength that we have built. He gives us the opportunity to flex the spiritual muscles that we've been building to overcome a test so that we know that we are ready for what he has for us next. 

When He enters the wilderness, Jesus has lived for 30 years. He's an adult. He's had experience of the world. He knows who He is. He has learned, and become stronger. God has revealed to Him some of the reality of what Jesus’ own story is going to be. And Jesus is ready to start what's next. He's ready to begin that next three years of intensive ministry in the world, so the Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness to experience peirasmos. Not temptation, but testing. However, the enemy, being the enemy, knows an opportunity when he sees one and he moves into that testing with some temptations that, he hopes, will put a dent in Jesus.  

We're going to look at each of these three temptations one by one: asking what was the temptation, what was the devil's scheme, and what was Jesus' way of escape?  

First: 

Then Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for 40 days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” But Jesus answered, “It is written, “Man shall not live on bread alone.””

The first temptation was turning stones into bread. Which is kind of odd because there's nothing actually sinful about miraculously producing food, something that Jesus went on to do later in his ministry. So why did Satan think that this was a temptation that was worth focusing on? And why did Jesus resist it?  

First of all, Jesus would probably resist it because Satan suggested it. That would be clue one. But I would suggest that the devil's scheme here was distraction. He was trying to distract Jesus.  

Jesus was hungry. He was without food for 40 days, probably hungry for 39. So Satan comes along and he goes, hey, are you hungry yet? Are you hungry yet? Are you hungry yet? Are you hungry yet, oh look! Food!  

But Jesus was there to prepare for His ministry. Fasting was an important part of that. For the next three years of His life, He needed to have a solid foundation. He needed to understand Himself. He needed to have refined His ability to obey and recognize the voice of God so that He could do His calling and work. And part of that preparation was this time of fasting. 

Jesus’ precedent for these 40 days goes back to Moses, who led Israel out of captivity in Egypt, then for 40 years in the wilderness, and to the promised land. Moses spent 40 days alone with God, without food (Exodus 34), a time of preparation for what was next... An explosion of stuff that God gave his people to do. Moses came back from those 40 days with the 10 commandments. With instructions on how to build the tabernacle, their portable house of worship that they would carry with them for generations until it finally found a home in Jerusalem under the reign of David. Instructions for making the Ark of the covenant—the emblem and the anchor of God's presence among His people. All of this happened after Moses’ 40 days of fasting.  

That's Jesus’ precedent. What Moses did, He is going to do, but the devil is trying to pull Jesus away from that focused time with God by appealing to Jesus’ human vulnerability by going, “Hey, what's in the fridge?” 

So if the scheme was distraction, what was the way of escape? To quote Moses’ words in Deuteronomy 8:3 which remind the people of Israel of a time when what they needed to do the most was to go without, to stay hungry for a time. He reminded them that God will provide what is necessary, but sometimes what is necessary is not satisfaction. Sometimes what is necessary is trust. Jesus’ way of escape was to remember what was most important, what He was there to do.  

Jesus says to Satan in effect, “I know what I'm here to do and I know it's not supposed to be easy, but I'm gonna do it anyway. No distraction.”  

Second: 

Then the devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. The devil said, “I will give you authority over all these kingdoms and all their glory, for it has been relinquished to me and I can give it to anyone I wish. So if you worship me, Jesus, it will be all yours.” Jesus answered, “It is written, “Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.”” 

The second temptation is to take authority over the world. And honestly, is that a bad thing? Jesus actually in charge of the world. I could vote for that—getting rid of human corruptibility and fallibility and just having Jesus in charge. That sounds like a win to me.  

What scheme did Jesus recognize in this temptation? I would suggest that it was taking a shortcut. This is a temptation that the enemy had used before and very effectively. It worked out nicely for him in Genesis 3:5. The serpent said to Eve and to Adam, “Do what I tell you and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  

The serpent was burying the fact that they were already like God. They were created in His image, and given a share in His work in the world—in stewardship and in partnership and in friendship with God. So Satan offered them a shortcut to knowledge they had not earned. And whether you're talking about the garden of Eden or Jurassic Park, we know that that does not end well.  

Shortcuts are a temptation. So what was Jesus’ way of escape? Knowing the path. He knew He had a long road to travel. Like Eve and Adam, Jesus already had what Satan was promising—authority over the world. In Psalm 8:5-6 the writer says about humanity in general, “You made him ruler of the works of Your hands. You have placed everything under his feet.” The apostle Paul takes that same verse in Corinthians 10 and applies it directly to Jesus. “You have placed everything under his feet.” Jesus was all ready given rulership of the world. 

But He doesn't get sucked into debate. He doesn't argue the point. Jesus instead cuts to the chase and shuts it down, saying in effect to Satan, “I know what you want me to do. I know what God wants me to do and I will take the path He has set for me. I will serve Him only. And I will take no shortcut.” 

Third: 

Then the devil led him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple. “If you are the son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here, for it is written, “He will command His angels concerning you to guard you carefully and they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” But Jesus answered, “It also says, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.””

Prove it. You say you believe in God, prove it. Make me believe it.  

Again, believing the Bible is not a bad thing. Jesus responds to each temptation by quoting from the Bible. So what’s the scheme? I would suggest that it was the temptation to take the wheel.  

First, Satan takes scripture out of context. The fact that Satan quotes scripture should not come as a surprise to us. He's our primary and enemy, and the scripture is our primary resource. But he's taking this verse from Psalm 91 out of context. Yes, it is a promise for God's protection, but it is conditional. “If you dwell in the shelter of Most High... If you rest in His shadow... If you make Him your dwelling... If you hide under His wings... If you trust... If you take refuge... If you acknowledge His authority... Then He will guard you.” There's nothing in there about jumping off a cliff. Jesus knew what the promise was, and He knew what the promise was not, and it was not what Satan was suggesting.  

Second, (and this is debated, but it's something to think about) among some rabbis it was believed that when the Messiah came, one of the ways that Israel would recognize him was that he would appear standing on top of the temple. Satan may have been playing into that cultural expectation. He may have been saying, “Look, the end justifies the means. If you're the Messiah, you want people to know. Go for it, take the wheel. Don't just stand up here on the roof. Make God prove his promises by literally stepping out in faith.” 

So what was Jesus’ way of escape? Again, He turns to Moses. After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, of being guided by God, of being protected, corrected, shaped, refined by God, Israel was finally standing on the shore of the Jordan river. Their toes were wet, and they were ready to cross. But Moses had some last words for them (because he wasn’t going with them) largely recorded in Deuteronomy which Jesus has been quoting from. If you could summarize it, it would basically be, “Don't play games with God. Don't put God to the test. He will test you. You will not test Him. Don't make arrogant little fist-shaking demands of the God of gods. Obey His law. Remember, teach, live His law. Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”  

Jesus is responding, “I know who I am. I know whose I am. I will stand where I have been told to stand. I will not take the wheel.”  

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