In His Place

Seeing through Jesus’ eyes

How many of us feel like we are being tempted away from Jesus every day? With the Book of Luke we are given an example for resisting that temptation and living an exemplary Christian life in the person of Jesus. This week’s focus will be on how Jesus resisted temptation and the methods that he showed us for living a Christian life.

Take a moment to read Luke 4:1-13. What are the three temptations that Jesus faced? Is there a time in the Gospel that Jesus does do the things that the devil is tempting him to do? Does the temptation have a parallel in the Hebrew Scriptures?

Each of these temptations works on more than one level. The first level addresses abuse of power and the second level is to show that Jesus would not use theatrical demonstrations. In other words, when Jesus performed a miracle it was not for his own gratification but for God’s and that it helped those around him.

The first temptation is to turn stones into bread. Remember that Jesus had just spent 40 days in the desert and had not eaten. Jesus had the power to turn stone into bread but he refused to do it for his own good.

Think about the feeding of the 5,000, which appears in Luke 9:12-17 and the other three Gospels. According to Luke, Jesus took five loaves and two fish, “looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them,” before distributing them to the crowd. When the leftovers were gathered 12 baskets of broken food remained. But something interesting occurs before this, Jesus tells the disciples: “You give them something to eat.”

Inside this temptation is an allusion to Exodus 16:15, when the Israelites are being led across the desert by Moses and they first receive manna from God. Like the Israelites traveling across the desert who were tempted countless times, the 5,000 people who Jesus fed would not be satisfied merely by being fed one meal.

So when the devil tempts Jesus to turn stone into bread, Jesus replies “'Man does not live on bread alone,” which refers to Deut. 8:3.

In the second temptation Jesus is offered all the kingdoms of the world, if he will just worship the devil. If Jesus will just worship Satan, then he will have earthly reign. But Jesus does not give in to idolatry, saying “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only,” paraphrased from Deut. 6:13 and 10:20.

Yet Jesus as the Son of God gains authority over all the nations by remaining true to God. Think of it this way: Had Jesus given in to the devil for earthly authority, would we ever have heard of Jesus?

The third temptation has the devil telling Jesus that God will protect him if he throws himself from the pinnacle of the temple. Angels will protect Jesus “so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.”

And Jesus responds:?“Do not put the Lord your God to the test.,” which refers to Deut. 6:16. Yet we know that Jesus will indeed be harmed when he gives up his life on the cross.

What do all of the temptations have in common?