Luke 4:1-13
"And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered," Luke 4:1-2. This account is also recorded in Mark 1 and Matthew 4. We will make reference to those gospel accounts as we go through these Scriptures. Here are a few questions we will try to answer as we go through this portion of Scripture. Why is it important that Jesus Christ is tempted? Who is the devil, and what does he do? How does this apply to us? From whence cometh our help?
In our text, Jesus has been baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan river. This is a wilderness area and there weren't many people there. Multitudes came to John to be baptized in the Jordan river. They would gather to hear John preach, but other than his disciples, all the people would travel back home. It is from this wilderness area that Jesus Christ was driven further into the wilderness. The landscape went up from the Jordan river valley. The further you went up into the wilderness from the Jordan river valley, the further you went away from society. We do not know the exact location Jesus Christ went to, but wherever it was, He was alone. There was no man there to help Him. There was no man there to give advice; to encourage; or to fight this battle for Him or with Him. There was no man that Jesus could lean on or depend on.
To make sure we have the right perspective, there was no man Jesus looked for to get help. Jesus didn't go into the wilderness wishing He had a man to bring with Him for help. To further clarify what is going on in our text, Jesus did not go into the wilderness scared. He didn't jump every time the wind blew, or when a stick would break. He wasn't going from one tree to another in hopes that He would not be seen by the enemy. No! Christ charged into the wilderness to accomplish what He was sent there to accomplish. Mark 1:12 says that Christ was driven into the wilderness. He was compelled to go by the Holy Spirit. Christ went into the wilderness full of the Holy Ghost. Christ went fully equipped. "The spirit of God having descended on him at his baptism, and afresh anointed, and filled his human nature with his gifts, whereby, as man, he was abundantly furnished for the great work of the public ministry, he was just about to enter upon; yet must first go through a series of temptations, and which, through the fulness of the Holy Spirit in him, he was sufficiently fortified against." John Gill.
"Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered," Luke 4:2. For forty days the devil constantly solicited Jesus Christ to sin. This doesn't mean that Christ had not been tempted up to this point, or that He wasn't tempted after this. When we looked at the genealogy of Christ, we looked at the temptations thrown at Christ when He was on trial and when He was on the cross. All of these temptations from men were instigated by the devil. All of these who were giving railing accusations against Christ were people who hated Christ. The goal was to get Christ to sin. This is to be expected; but what is not expected is for those who love you to be used to solicit you to sin. Turn to Matthew 16:21-23; Luke 9:51-56. Peter was sure that Christ did not have to die, and James and John wanted to show the world that Jesus is really the Christ by a supernatural act. In both instances the temptation was to deviate from God's plan; to take the easy road.
Why is it important that Jesus Christ was tempted, yet never sinned? Let us turn to Hebrews 2:14-18; 4:14-16. Christ was tempted just like we are, yet He never sinned. Jesus Christ defeated the devil, He defeated death, and He defeated sin. You and I will not defeat the devil, we will not defeat death, and we will not defeat sin. Someone may want to jump up and say they have defeated these things. All you have to do is sit back down and truly examine your life according to the bible and you will see that you sin every day. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us," I John 1:8. We are bombarded by sin, and sometimes the attack increases. We want to live for Christ. We don't want to sin. But, like Paul in Romans 7, we find ourselves doing those things that we do not want to do, and not doing what we want to do. We are in this constant battle. Though all sin is against God, there are some sins that will ruin our testimonies and even disqualify us from service. Have you ever had to pray and beg God for deliverance? Have you ever cried out "Lord, if You do not deliver me from this temptation I will surely fall?" Those of this world will be soliciting you to sin, and even those who love you may unintentionally encourage you to sin. They will say things like, you know, God really wants you to be happy; or, a little compromise won't hurt; or, everyone is doing it.
To add to all the outward temptations to sin, we have to deal with what is on the inside of us. Our flesh continually wants to be satisfied. We are so accustomed to satisfying our flesh, we may not even realize we are doing it. How often do we tell ourselves it is ok to sleep in? You deserve it. Go ahead and get that second bowl of ice cream. It is not a sin to rest, or to eat ice cream. The point I am making is how often do we do what we do because it is appealing to our flesh? We even bring this into our service for the Lord. We serve Him how we want to serve Him, when we want to serve Him. But, what does our Lord and Saviour say? "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it," Matthew 16:24-25. Turn to Matthew 10:34-39. What sacrifices are we making in our lives to live for and serve our Lord and Saviour? When was the last time we were a living sacrifice?
When we truly examine ourselves according to the Scriptures, we see that we fall utterly short. We have failed, and are failing. How many of you, even now, are contemplating sin? You are arguing inside about what to do. Your own desires are trying to convince you to do it. Please do not give in to sin. Listen, we have an Advocate. We have a Way out. "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber not sleep. The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and every for evermore," Psalm 121. Turn to I Corinthians 10:13. You and I look to Jesus Christ. We should know by now that our flesh not only fails us, but it also fools us. Look unto Jesus Christ and obey Him. Turn to John 6:37. Lord willing, next time we will look at the tempter. Soli Deo Gloria.
