LUKE 4:1-13
NASB
1Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around [a]by the Spirit in the wilderness 2for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry. 3And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” 4And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
5And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of [a]the world in a moment of time. 6And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and [a]its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7Therefore if You
[a]worship before me, it shall all be Yours.” 8Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”
9And 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; 10for it is written,
‘HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU TO GUARD YOU,’
11and,
‘ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP,
SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.’”
12And Jesus answered and said to him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
13When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.
4:1 [a]Or under the influence of; lit in 4:5 [a]Lit the inhabited earth 4:6 [a]Lit their (referring to the kingdoms in v 5) 4:7 [a]Or bow down before
NLT
1Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,[*] 2where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.
3Then the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.”
4But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.’[*]”
5Then the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6“I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,”
the devil said, “because they are mine to give to anyone I please. 7I will give it all to you if you will worship me.”
8Jesus replied, “The Scriptures say,
‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’[*]”
9Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said,
“If you are the Son of God, jump off! 10For the Scriptures say,
‘He will order his angels to protect and guard you.
11 And they will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’[*]”
12Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’[*]”
13When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came.
[4:1] Some manuscripts read into the wilderness. [4:4] Deut 8:3. [4:8] Deut 6:13.
[4:10-11] Ps 91:11-12. [4:12] Deut 6:16.
Temptation is a universal human affliction. Even as the first man and woman enjoyed the uninhibited goodness of God’s creation, evil lurked in the trees of paradise, seeking an opportunity to corrupt His most precious creatures. Before the first sin, there was the first temptation. Just like temptation today, that first temptation involved four distinct phases:
1. The Appeal: Something forbidden promises fulfillment apart from God’s provision.
2. The Struggle: Tension builds between the appeal of sin and belief in God’s goodness.
3. The Response: A decision is made either to disobey or to wait on God.
4. The Aftermath: The consequences of sin breed despair; the fruit of obedience multiplies blessing.
When seen in this light, it’s all so objective isn’t it? Having dissected temptation, it’s easy to see the utter stupidity of sin and to appreciate the goodness of God—yet how feeble we become when tempted! Dietrich Bonhoeffer made this insightful statement about the sinister appeal of temptation:
In our members there is a slumbering inclination towards desire which is both sudden and fierce. With irresistible power desire seizes mastery over the flesh. All at once a secret, smoldering fire is kindled. The flesh burns and is in flames. It makes no difference whether it is sexual desire, or ambition, or vanity, or desire for revenge, or love of fame and power, or greed for money, or, finally, that strange desire for the beauty of the world, of nature. Joy in God is in course of being extinguished in us and we seek all our joy in the creature. At this moment God is quite unreal to us, he loses all reality, and only desire for the creature is real; the only reality is the devil. Satan does not here fill us with hatred of God, but with
forgetfulness of God. And now his falsehood is added to this proof of strength. The lust thus aroused envelops the mind and will of man in deepest darkness. The powers of clear discrimination and of
decision are taken from us. . . . It is here that everything within me rises up against the Word of God.[38]
As God incarnate, Jesus was fully human and therefore subject to temptation. He battled sin’s appeals daily and emerged victorious, entrusting Himself to God the Father.
— 4:1-2 —
As John the Baptizer fades to the background, the ministry of Jesus comes into focus. At the beginning of His public ministry, the Spirit led Jesus away from public view for forty days.
Jesus was young: only about thirty years old. He was inexperienced: He lived in a tiny, remote town far away from the turmoil of Jerusalem. He was alone: In the wilderness, He didn’t have a supporting community to hold Him accountable. He was hungry: His body needed food, which also
affected Him mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Nevertheless, Jesus was
“full of the Holy Spirit,” meaning He habitually acted in concert with the mind and will of God. While the Spirit did, indeed, dwell within Him, the force of this expression describes one’s decision to obey God (cf. Gal.
5:16).
After His baptism, Jesus “was led around by the Spirit in the
wilderness.” Luke’s phrasing recalls the Exodus experience as the Israelites followed the Lord’s leading into the wilderness, only to find themselves in desperate need of water (Exod. 17:1-7). The people did not lack water because of disobedience; the Lord led them to a place where there was none. He then miraculously supplied what they needed. It was a lesson God would teach His people time and again throughout their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land (e.g., Exod. 15:22-25; 16:1-4, 8-13). Even so, they did not learn. Their failure to trust the Lord’s provision kept them from entering Canaan, and they wandered the wilderness for forty more years (Num. 13:25-33; 14:33). These forty years then became a time of testing for the nation (Deut. 8:2).
Similarly, Jesus followed divine leading into the wilderness, where He suffered physical deprivation. And in this weakened physical state, the devil found an opportunity for temptation.
The term “the devil” (diabolos [1228]) is an adjective used as a noun and means “accuser” or “slanderer.” When it occurs in the New Testament with the definite article, as it does here, it specifically refers to Satan—evil personified.
The devil attacked Jesus in three ways:
1. A personal temptation (Luke 4:3) 2. A power temptation (Luke 4:5-7) 3. A pride temptation (Luke 4:9-11)