Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness

Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil.  And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.  And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."  But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.' "

Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours."  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan!  For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.' "

Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.  For it is written:

'He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you,'

 "and,

'In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.' "

And Jesus answered and said to him, "It has been said, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.' "    Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

- Luke 4:1-13

In yesterday's reading, we read that all the people were in expectation of the Messiah, and they reasoned in their hearts whether John the Baptist was He.  But John said, "I indeed baptize you with water, but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire."  John continued to preach to the people.  But Herod, adding to all of the other things he did, put John in prison for rebuking Herod regarding Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, whom Herod proposed to marry.  This is a great outrage, as John is widely regarded as a holy man of Israel.  When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened.  And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased."

 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil.  Many church fathers have seen in Jesus' leading into the wilderness by the Spirit a type of exodus paralleling events in Israel's history:  after baptism, it is as the Israelites having crossed the Jordan and entering the wilderness.  It has also been seen as "our new exodus of salvation from darkness to light, though yet in this world," says my study bible.  Here is Jesus' preparation for ministry, after the baptism:  an immediate confrontation with "the ruler of this world."  We note that this is a part of His ministry, as He was led by the Spirit into this confrontation.

And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.  And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."  But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.' "  My study bible says, "Satan's attempt here was to exploit the extreme hunger which the Lord experienced in His humanity.  The phrase, if You are the Son of God, shows Satan was seeking to generate self-doubt in Christ concerning His divinity, and to control His actions."  We remember from the temptation in the Garden that the devil is an expert at misrepresentation, especially creating doubt about God's way for us.  So Jesus' quotation here puts it like it is for Him:  we and He live by every word of God.

Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.  Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours."   My study bible says that "the devil claims to be the possessor of all worldly power and wealth, and attempts to turn Jesus from His true sonship and ministry."  Later on in Luke's Gospel, Jesus will declare, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven," after the seventy return from their mission.

 And Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan!  For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.' "  Jesus, my study bible points out, doesn't dispute the devil's claim to be possessor of all worldly power and wealth. But there is a strong declaration here of Jesus' power, and what He has come to claim as His own.  And it's also a warning:  "Get behind Me, Satan."  Furthermore it's a statement of His oneness with the Father, even as Jesus refers back to the Father.  This declaration, points out my study bible, is a declaration for all.  There is only one sovereign to be worshiped for any of us.

Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.  For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you,' and,  'In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.' "  My study bible declares that this third temptation (it is the second in Matthew's Gospel) "concerns self-aggrandizement and vanity.  Is Jesus to base His ministry on new, spectacular acts designed to get people's attention?"  Satan quotes from Psalm 91:11 and 12.

And Jesus answered and said to him, "It has been said, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.' "    Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.  Jesus declares to Satan that one is not to tempt God;  "that is," says my study bible, "to test His providential love and care by thoughtless and vain acts."  Again, it's a more compelling declaration and a bolder one of power and authority than the previous Jesus has made in this confrontation.  Jesus declares His own sovereignty here in telling Satan not to tempt the Lord his God.  We note that none of this changes Satan's mind; "he departed from Him until an opportune time."  He will continue on his same destructive path in opposition to God.

Jesus declares His sovereignty to Satan, the devil, the one called "the ruler of this world" or "the prince of this world."  What is Christ here to do?  What does His Messiahship mean for the world?  The people of God, or Israel, are all over the world, all over this planet where the devil oppresses and tempts.  But Christ is here as liberator for all.  He will displace this kingdom of the strong man, binding him up, so that "the stronger man," Christ, can take His rightful place as sovereign.  What we see unfold in the Gospel, through the missions of the twelve and the seventy, is an unfolding of the power of Christ's kingdom.  And so, mankind is included in this declaration and this kingdom.  Why is Christ's temptation important for us?  Because He sets down the rule.  He goes before us and teaches us what it is to be tempted, and how to deal with it.  The words the Father teaches Him are His commandments, as we read so clearly stated in the Gospel of John.  So we too must hold fast to our faith and trust in God.  The world can manipulate us in many ways, creating not only doubt, but shame, and all the things Christ endured for Himself so that we, too, might understand what this spiritual life, in a battle for hearts and minds, may be all about.  Christ declares His sovereignty to the devil here in today's reading, but really He's setting down a pattern of faith for us, in which we can take an example.  He sticks to the Father's promises for Him.  And so, in the place of prayer and in the place of worship, we can put our faith in the place Christ declares for us in this great economy of salvation.  Jesus has also taught us not to judge by appearances, but to judge by righteous judgment.  Let us seek that place of discernment in all that we do, and hold fast to it.