Tempting… | Sunday, April 13, 2025

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.'" (Luke 4:1-4)

The wilderness temptation reveals the spiritual battle every believer fights — and the only way to stand and win.

A Palm Sunday Look Before the Ministry Begins

This may seem like the wrong passage for Palm Sunday. Two thousand years ago we commemorate the day Jesus entered Jerusalem at the beginning of Holy Week — the high point of His ministry before its lowest point on Friday, which turns out not to be the lowest point at all because of what we celebrate next Sunday. Described in Luke 19, He came down from the Mount of Olives, through the Kidron Valley, and up into Jerusalem while the multitudes waved palm branches and sang from Psalm 118, "This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it," crying "Hosanna" — save now — "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord."

What we have here in Luke 4 is before Jesus's ministry even begins. And the words, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God," are the first recorded words of Christ in this Gospel. Fascinatingly, they weren't spoken to people or a multitude. They were spoken to a spiritual entity called here the devil.

A World Beyond This World

This clues us into something important about the Gospels. The gospel of Christ is a spiritual story that inclines us toward spiritual realities. We live in a society — especially since the Enlightenment — where naturalism is the ideology of our time. We want a verifiable, empirical explanation for everything, because we assume there is nothing beyond this world.

But the Bible reveals a greater reality: a world beyond this world, imperceptible to sensory experience. We need revelation, and the Bible gives it. Christians do not see the world the way the average naturalistically oriented person in 2025 sees it. We see it as the Bible presents it. Because that world cannot be validated in a laboratory, our culture scandalizes it. Yet Scripture speaks of it plainly.

The tangible things that happened at the triumphal entry — palm branches, shouts of praise — indicated things happening in the spiritual realm as well. When the Pharisees told Jesus to silence the crowd, He said that if they were silent, even the rocks would cry out. Something spiritual was taking place. And something spiritual is clearly taking place here in Luke 4, because Jesus is having a conversation with a non-physical, spiritual being. We should recognize that there are spiritual things happening in this very room at this very moment.

You Are a Spiritual Being

The very fact that you are conscious is a spiritual reality. I was talking with my son about this recently; he's been reading Descartes in school. Descartes gave us the cogito — "I think, therefore I am" — and said the one thing you can know for sure is that you are conscious. Scientific naturalism has no tight explanation for consciousness. They call it "the hard problem of consciousness." Cognitive science cannot explain it.

But it is not a hard thing for the Christian. Genesis 2 reveals that God breathed into man the breath of life, and man became a living soul. There is something distinctly different about you from other breathing beings. You have a soul in which your consciousness, intellect, emotion, and will reside. That is the true nature of who you are. And it is your soul that experiences temptation — the place where the enemy comes to deceive and tempt at the level of intellect, emotion, and will. Your dog does not experience that in the same way.

Temptation Is Common to All

What we read here adds an interesting layer of understanding about the spiritual realm, because Jesus is tempted spiritually by a spiritual entity — and what He experiences is the same thing you experience every single day of your life. You may be experiencing it right now.

First, temptation is common. Everybody experiences it. Paul wrote, "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man" (1 Corinthians 10). Second, the spirit who tempted Jesus is the same kind of spirit who tempts you, using the same schemes employed against humans throughout recorded history. The temptations in Luke 4 are the same kinds used against Eve in Genesis 3, and the same ones you will face this week. Paul says we are not unaware of his schemes (2 Corinthians 2:11).

These fall into the same categories John names in 1 John 2: "All that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life." Because Jesus overcomes every temptation — which the vast majority of humans do not — this text is eminently applicable to you and me. And He overcomes by the Spirit's power, using the Word, and humbly relying on the Father.

You Can Overcome — But Not Alone

Temptation is the normative experience of all human beings. You will be overcome by it if you do not respond effectively — but you can overcome it, and Jesus is our perfect example. James writes, "Blessed is the man who endures temptation" (James 1:12). We all want to be blessed and to receive what James calls the crown of life, which I believe is connected to abundant life.

Yet so often when tested, we fail. Without the power of God's presence by His Spirit and the working of His Word, you will fail. Now, James also addresses a common confusion: when tempted, let no one say he is tempted by God. God is not in heaven trying to make you fail. I think the test of temptation is actually a test not of your endurance but of God's faithfulness — that as we rely on His Spirit, His power, and His Word, He proves faithful to enable us to stand. Paul promises, "With the temptation God will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it" (1 Corinthians 10).

A Mighty Helper

How do we overcome? The opening words of Luke 4 give our first clue: "Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness." The Spirit is mentioned twice.

Point one: overcoming temptation requires the help of a mighty helper. The Holy Spirit is called the Helper, and that indicates I am weak in myself. We hate admitting that. There are men here who still have back pain because at one point they thought, "I got this," and they didn't. I once tried to carry a foam king-size mattress upstairs by myself thinking, "I don't need anybody's help" — and I still have back pain from it. We must recognize we are powerless and need a mighty helper.

At His baptism in Luke 3, the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in bodily form and remained on Him. John the Baptist predicted One mightier who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. When you trust Christ, He baptizes you with His Spirit. Can I test it with laboratory equipment? No. Jesus told Nicodemus the Spirit is like the wind — you can't see it, but you can see its effects. One of those effects is the enabling power to stand against temptation.

Saved, Being Saved, Will Be Saved

This is part of being saved. When you become a Christian, you have been saved from the punishment of sin — Jesus took your sin on the cross, which we commemorate Friday. But He is also presently saving you through the sanctification of the Spirit, redeeming you from the power of sin. And one day He will redeem us from the very presence of sin. I'm looking forward to that.

The problem is, you live with you every day, so you don't always see the progressive sanctification at work — you see the failures and falls. But sometimes you bump into someone you used to run with who says, "I can't put my finger on it, but something's different about you." That's the Spirit sanctifying and cleansing you by the washing of the water of His Word. Without His abiding presence, you are powerless. Jesus was full of the Spirit and led by the Spirit; He wants us full and led the same way.

The Lust of the Flesh

The enemy is very good at tempting. He knows when to show up — when you're tired, when you're hungry, when you've had a victory and now think, "I've got this," or when you're isolated and alone. So even though Jesus is the Son of God, He is also fully man, and in His earthly body He experienced weakness. For forty days He ate nothing, and afterward He was hungry. If someone is really hungry, what do you tempt them with? The devil said, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."

Here's a practical point: do not grocery shop when you're hungry. Self-control begins at the supermarket — once it's in the cart and the cupboard, you're done. I made the mistake the other night of walking past the freezer aisle, saw Tillamook ice cream on sale, and bought four "for the kids."

John writes that all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh — we are tempted by the appetites of this body. Those appetites are not bad; God created them to perpetuate life. But they are hackable, and the enemy is good at hacking them toward things that are not good, or not the right thing at the right time. James says each of us is tempted when drawn away by our own desires and enticed. You won't be tempted by something you don't desire — none of you are tempted by the latest Lego set, but your grandkid might be. And when the enemy finds something that works, he uses it again and again until it becomes a life-dominating, besetting sin — what Hebrews calls "the sin which so easily ensnares us."

But Jesus was led by the Spirit, and Paul says, "Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5), for the flesh wars against the Spirit. Romans 7 describes the struggle: the good I want to do, I don't, and the bad I don't want to do, I practice. If I walk in the Spirit, I will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

The Right Thing, the Wrong Way

Would it have been wrong for Jesus to eat? I don't think so. Point two: sin isn't always doing the wrong thing — it may be the right thing in the wrong way at the wrong time. Jesus's body had a legitimate appetite. He was being tempted to use His power and authority in the wrong way, at the wrong time. Later He uses that very power to multiply bread for the multitude. He had the authority; this simply was not the right way, the right time, or a reliance on His Father.

So Jesus responds, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'" Note the pattern. First, He was filled with and led by the Spirit. Second, He responded with Scripture — "It is written" — going back to Deuteronomy 8. Our flesh wants what it wants when it wants it; it does not want to wait or trust God for provision. When Abraham faced famine in Genesis 12, his inclination was to go down to Egypt to meet the need in his flesh, and he fell into sin because he did not trust God as provider. He later learned Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord who provides.

The only way to respond to temptation with Scripture is to know Scripture, which Paul calls the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6). How well do you know it? Point three: overcoming power in temptation is supplied by the Spirit and depends upon the Word. The three keys are the Spirit, the Word, and humble reliance on the Father. It is God in all ways who enables us to stand. Jesus one, Satan zero.

The Lust of the Eyes

The temptation isn't over. "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, '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 me, all will be Yours.'"

Notice Jesus doesn't argue when the devil claims authority over the kingdoms. Many theologians believe humanity was given dominion over creation in Genesis 1 and 2, then ceded it to the enemy in the fall of Genesis 3, so that the enemy now holds jurisdiction over this world.

This tactic — the lust of the eyes — is exceptionally effective, especially against men. Solomon, the wise king, wrote, "Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, nor let her allure you with her eyelids" (Proverbs 6:25). I wonder if he had his own parents in mind — Bathsheba and David. In 2 Samuel 11, David rose and walked on his rooftop, saw a woman bathing who was very beautiful, inquired about her, and took her. What followed was adultery and the murder of her husband. If only David had heeded Job, who said, "I have made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I look upon a young woman?" (Job 31:1), or his own Psalm 119, "Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things." Jesus said whoever looks upon a woman to lust after her has committed adultery in his heart. The lust of the eyes has been the downfall of many.

How do we withstand it? "Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve'" (Deuteronomy 6:13). Point four: overcoming the lust of the eyes requires redirecting our gaze to God and His glory. The word "worship" comes from "worth-ship" — ascribing value. It means redirecting from what we acknowledge as worthless to what is worth more, turning our gaze from the distracting temptation to God, who is of greatest value. I think of the old hymn: "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace." Jesus two, Satan zero.

The Pride of Life

"Then the devil brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said, '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."'"

Notice: the enemy knows the Bible better than you, and he will twist it to get you to justify sin. It breaks my heart how many colleagues in ministry who have fallen in sin justified it with Scripture. That came as a temptation from the enemy.

This is the pride of life — an appeal to Jesus's desire for glory and recognition, something every one of us has. Fascinatingly, in Genesis 3 it was the pride of life that seemed to push Eve over the edge. She saw the fruit was good for food (the lust of the flesh) and beautiful (the lust of the eyes), but then the serpent said, "You shall be like God" — and she saw it was desirable to make one wise, and she took and ate. Jesus is attacked at the point of pride. I don't know your point of pride, but the enemy does. He has been probing to find it, and he will use it as long as it's effective.

Jesus answers, "It has been said, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'" The root of so much sin is pride. It triggered Eve's fall, and it was central to the fall of Lucifer himself (Ezekiel 28; Isaiah 14). Point five: the enemy's attempt on our pride fails when we humbly rely upon God and His Word. Jesus has the Spirit upon Him, the Word as a sword, and heavy reliance on the Father. The most effective response to pride is to humbly rely on God for His enabling power. Jesus three, the devil zero.

Until an Opportune Time

When you experience victory — even over the very thing that has gotten you every time — take heed when you think you stand. "Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time." He will look for another opportunity today, this week, to take you out.

Therefore Peter says, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." And Paul says, "Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." There will be days when, filled with the Spirit and ready with the sword of the Word, you stand victorious. But in this life, before you are delivered from the very presence of sin, you will still fail. And in those moments the enemy rushes in with condemnation: "You couldn't do it. He wants nothing to do with you. Stay away." That's what Adam and Eve did — they hid from God's presence.

But God says, "If you confess your sin, I am faithful and just to forgive you and cleanse you of all unrighteousness." Jesus has the power to forgive because He bore our sin on the cross, where His body was bruised and His blood shed — for without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. And once He forgives, His desire is to cleanse us of all unrighteousness so we can walk in what is right and good and true for His glory.

Coming to the Table

So we close in the most appropriate way: by partaking of communion, remembering that by His body and His blood we are forgiven — and not only forgiven, but given the abiding presence of His Holy Spirit to strengthen us in the day of adversity. As we follow the example of Christ, we can, by the Spirit's power and through the Word, stand in the face of temptation.

The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed — celebrated this Thursday, traditionally called Maundy Thursday — took bread, and when He had broken it, gave it to His disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of Me." In the same manner He took the cup and said, "This is the cup of the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." Let us partake together.

Closing Prayer

Father God, we praise You for the good news in this text, and Jesus, for the example. You were tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin. We rejoice in that, and ask You to help us by Your Spirit and by Your Word to stand, humbly relying upon You this week.

We thank You for Your grace and mercy, displayed so beautifully on the cross, where even there You prayed, "Forgive them, Father; they know not what they do." We rejoice in Your goodness and Your grace. We are thankful for the forgiveness You give as we come before You — You take away our guilt and shame, clothe us in a robe of righteousness, and call us to go and sin no more. Help us by Your Spirit and the working of Your Word to be trained in righteousness, that we would walk in a way that brings glory to You, fully relying upon You. Pour out Your Spirit upon Your people today. Bless them, we pray, in Jesus's name. Amen.