If You are the Son of God . . .

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

Yesterday, we read that as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, John answered, saying to all, "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."  And with many other exhortations he preached to the people.  But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison. 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."  The lectionary then skips over Luke 3:23=38, which gives us the genealogy of Jesus.

Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and as led by the Spirit into the wilderness, . . .   My study bible calls this the "exodus of Jesus" into the wilderness following His baptism.  It says there is a dual symbolism here:  "(1)  it fulfills the Old Testament type, in which Israel journeyed in the wilderness for forty years after its 'baptism' in the Red Sea; and (2) it prefigures our own journey through the fallen world after baptism as we struggle towards the Kingdom."

. . .  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.'"  We note the "forty days" as another "type" of Israel's time in the wilderness for forty years.  The fasting is symbolic of the testing of Israel's faith at that time, in which they came to rely on manna from heaven.  Here, Jesus is tempted, but responds with quotations from Deuteronomy (here, it's Deuteronomy 8:3).  My study bible says, "Note each time Christ rebukes the devil, it is with the truth and power of Scripture.  This teaches the faithful to become immersed in Scripture in order to resist and drive away every temptation (see Psalm 119:11)."   We also note that here the devil challenges Jesus' relationship to the Father as Son; the question here is a challenge to the announcement of the Father at Jesus' baptism (in yesterday's reading).  The desire is to separate Father and Son.  In His divine nature, Jesus "can do nothing of Himself" (John 5:30) apart from the Father - and is in one will with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  As human being, He possesses free will and "at all times must choose to remain obedient to the divine will of the Father," says my study bible.  Here Jesus also rejects "earthly" comforts (bread) in order to stay true to the will of the Father; this 'overturns' the act of Adam in so doing.  My study bible calls Christ the "new Adam" who "conquers all temptation by the divine word, giving human nature the power to conquer Satan."

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 explains that God's Kingdom isn't one of earthly power and possessions -- so, in the devil's test, Jesus was being asked to choose worldly power over the Kingdom of God.  It notes:  "The devil is the 'ruler of this world' (John 12:31), 'the god of this age' (2 Corinthians 4:4), because the whole world is in his power (1 John 5:19).  Jesus refuses the road to earthly glory, which would lead Him away from His suffering and death for the redemption of the world."

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 firmly rejects temptation of an earthly kingdom, and points instead, as He always does throughout the Gospels, to the Father.  The quotation is from Deuteronomy 6:13.

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 explains:  "Seeing that Christ had defeated him through the power of the Scriptures, Satan vainly tries to use the Scriptures to put God's power of protection to the test.  See also 2 Peter 1:19-21.)"  The devil quotes from Psalm 91:11-12.  My study bible also notes that although Satan tries to use the Scriptures, he understands neither their truth nor their power.  (The Pharisees actually try to do the same in John 7:52).  A note says, "Knowing and quoting Scripture without true understanding is worthless at best and ultimately condemnable."

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 replies with a rebuke that quotes once again from Deuteronomy (6:16), a passage that again comes from the time Israel was tempted (and sinned, in contrast to Jesus, in the wilderness).   My study bible says, "Trials and temptations come on their own; we should never intentionally expose ourselves to danger in order to test or prove God's protection.  To do so is to tempt the LORD."  Regarding an opportune time, my study bible cites passages during which Jesus is most sorely tried:  Luke 22:40-46, 23:35; and Matthew 16:21.

This passage sets out our own temptations in life.  They come when we are stressed in some way.  They come when we are tested by trying to hold fast to what we believe God is asking of us.  That Jesus would quote Scripture gives us a hint about our own strengths (or lack of them), and how we can also help ourselves by studying and pondering Scripture, turning to read when we need strength for our own faith.  The temptation starts with our own needs, perhaps playing on the fears that we will not have enough, and that it's not "good enough" to wait upon God or rely on our faith to get us through.  It's kind of the ultimate test of our need for security at certain very trying times.  In other ways it reflects fears that can strike even in the midst of abundance.  Also implied in the question about bread is an antagonism:  Jesus is challenged to prove Himself.  Ultimately, the temptation in each case is a way of asking us who's in charge in our lives.  Can we make decisions to serve God, regardless of temptation?  We can try, we can live our faith, and maybe more importantly we have help to call upon to do so.  Authority, power, and glory together form another kind of temptation, one that figures very prominently in the Gospels, and feeds the envy of those who will seek to put Jesus to death.  The need for the "praise of men" also feeds very strongly on our need for security, to be accepted in the "group."  But this desire becomes a truly slippery slope, when pleasing what we perceive to be public opinion (or our image in the eyes of others) leads us away from our own integrity -- our faith and what is truly in our hearts.  It's a very common temptation in a world now fueled by the images of instant communications on so many levels, and we can see the "train wrecks" that may be produced by such temptation every day.   Do public opinion polls really help people to act with integrity?  Better to have humility before God, in prayer, and in the assistance of those whom we trust to help us do what is truly best for us and who share God's love with us in so doing.   In another subtle sense, that is also a temptation to "prove ourselves."  Finally, to tempt God is a familiar way of behavior, particularly to those who are in highly stressed circumstances.  One may truly be "on the edge" psychologically and come to believe that this form of irresponsibility is a way out of one's problems that are too overwhelming to handle alone.  But it's a false way, that may land us in worse trouble than we're already in.  These temptations, and Christ's response, continue to call us back from the brink of giving up on our own capacity for strength, for making our way through difficult situations, for giving up our ultimate responsibility for making choices and retaining faith.  We're not meant to be all-powerful, nor all in control of our lives.  We're not called to prove something to others.  Temptations and hardships will come.  But faith doesn't ask of us to be a superhero.  Faith asks us, in fact, to be aware of our own weaknesses, our need for constant strengthening, our dependence upon God and those who will share with us that love that is of God in the first place.  Even if we have no one to turn to, we may have Scripture, and there is boundless help within the completed mission of Christ:  we are never truly alone.  We have access to this strength via prayer, no matter where we are and no matter the circumstances.  Let us work to understand ourselves and where our strength comes from.  This Man tempted in the wilderness died so that we may have that strength with us always, and a Helper to call upon.  His battle with these temptations gave us tools and spiritual strengths to gain a foothold over "the prince of this world."  Let us remember that His temptations are for our sake, similar to all that we may go through in a modern world that is so seemingly changed from Jesus' world.  But the temptations for power and authority, worldly goods, the seeming need to prove ourselves and even to tempt God's love for us, all remain with us.  His defeat of the devil stands in for us in all our own challenges; the whole body of the "great cloud of witnesses" are also present to help us in prayer, to intercede.  The Helper is always with us, as are Christ and the Father as well.