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Luke 4:3–8
“The devil said to [Jesus], ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone” ’ ” (vv. 3–4).
Having been baptized, Jesus went into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil (Luke 4:1–2). Today’s passage presents two of the specific points at which Satan tested our Lord.
First, the devil tempted Jesus at a point of physical need. Our Savior had been fasting for forty days and was hungry when Satan came to Him (Luke 4:2). Apparently, the enemy saw a potential opening here, calling Jesus to turn stone into bread and satiate His hunger. Why would this be wrong? After all, it is ordinarily no sin to feed ourselves. The answer lies in what Jesus’ exercise of supernatural power would represent. God the Father, by the Holy Spirit, sent Jesus into the wilderness, sustaining Him during His fast until the Father would say that the probation was over. If Jesus turned the stones to bread before the Father told Him to eat, He would be doubting His Father’s promise to sustain Him in the wilderness and would be operating independently of the Father. This He refused to do (see John 5:19–20). Furthermore, there is a connection with Israel’s experience in the wilderness. To rebuff the devil, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 8:3, the background of which was the Israelites’ complaining about their lack of food (see Luke 4:1–2; Ex. 16). Israel—God’s son by adoption (Ex. 4:22)—doubted that God would provide for them in the wilderness, so they grumbled against God. Now, Jesus—God’s Son by nature (Luke 4:3)—is being tempted to repeat Israel’s error and believe that God would not provide for Him. Jesus decisively rejected such unbelief (Luke 4:4).
Next, the devil pledged to give Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if He would worship Satan (Luke 4:5–8). The devil does have a limited authority over the world in the present age (2 Cor. 4:4), though we would be right to question whether he, a mere creature, could make good on his offer. In any case, the temptation here is for Jesus to receive the kingdom promised to Him not by fulfilling His vocation but by seizing it for Himself through unlawful means. What could be more unlawful than worshiping the devil? The Father promised to give the Messiah a kingdom, but only through the Messiah’s successful fulfillment of His mission of suffering (Ps. 2; 22; Isa. 53). To take it in any other way would be to reject God’s promises.
We are tempted to doubt God’s provision for us and to try to take things for ourselves in ways that the Lord has not approved. Jesus resisted these temptations, and we can as well if we trust in Him.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
John Calvin comments, “The Son of God did not choose to undertake any contest of an unusual description, but to sustain assaults in common with us, that we might be furnished with the same armor, and might entertain no doubt as to achieving the victory.” Because Jesus endured the same kinds of things that we do, He can equip us to persevere under temptation (Heb. 2:18). Let us turn to Him today for help in resisting sin.
FOR FURTHER STUDY
- Psalm 146:5–7
- Amos 8:11–12
- Matthew 4:1–4, 8–10
- John 6:35
THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
- Leviticus 17
- Matthew 27