Tempted by the Devil

Or, A Battle of Wills

If the theme of Luke’s gospel is that the found would be faithful, then we’d benefit from an example of being faithful. Before that, actually, we need one who is faithful for us, faithful when we were lost. We need a faithful representative, someone who is better than Adam, someone faithful from beginning to end.

We learn a lot in the account of Jesus’ temptation in Luke 4:1-13. Luke includes it as part of the preparation section before Jesus begins His public ministry. Starting in Luke 3:18 the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus at His baptism fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy. Then the Father spoke His pleasure in the Son establishing identity. Then the genealogy showed Jesus’ human ancestry, not only with royal blood, but human blood, a “son of Adam” (3:38). Now Jesus will be tested in a spiritual battle against the great and ancient rebel. It is a battle of wills. Can the devil get Jesus to act on His own will instead of His Father’s?

The devil got the first man to fall. He didn’t beat Adam by force, he pulled at Adam’s will; Adam preferred his own way over God’s Word. The first man was in a garden with all sorts of food and with a woman to help. Jesus is alone, in the wilderness, hungry. Adam was tempted at a point of strength, Jesus is in a position of weakness. This comparison between men partially explains why Luke put the genealogy before the temptation account. The two sons of God are similar, and thankfully, also not.

Scripture records only a few direct battles between the devil and a man: Adam, Job, and now Jesus. But the devil came at Adam through a serpent, and he came at Job from behind the scenes; neither man saw his enemy. Only here does the devil come face-to-face.

There are three final temptations that come at the end of 40 days without food. Mark and Luke indicate that there had been testing throughout the 40 days (Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13), but these three appear together at the end. Matthew and Luke have the same three, but put in a different order. Matthew ends with the devil promising kingdoms, Luke drives toward Jesus in Jerusalem.

It stands out that incarnate Word quotes the inspired Word in response to all three tests. God’s Word is relevant. It’s also remarkable that Jesus uses three quotes from Deuteronomy. I’ve thought many times about this question from Howard Hendricks in Living by the Book,

“When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1–11), He defeated the devil three times by saying, ‘It is written.’ All three responses are quotations from the book of Deuteronomy. I’ve often thought, If my spiritual life depended on my knowledge of Deuteronomy, how would I make out?”

There is more here than all the demons in hell can stand, so it’s worth our time to meditate. We’ll take the first temptation in context today. The question to keep asking: whose will wins?

Divine Test: Led by the Spirit (verses 1-2)

The specific test doesn’t come until verse 3, but it depends on the context. Jesus hadn’t eaten for almost six weeks.

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. (Luke 4:1–2 ESV)

Not only had Jesus done nothing wrong to be in this position to be tempted, He was in this position to be tempted by divine appointment. He was full of the Holy Spirit, and being led by the Spirit. Could the second Person of the Trinity ever be disconnected from the third Person? Not in deity. But in His humanity, the Spirit descended on Him like a dove and was part of this testing outside the public eye.

Remember that Israel was tempted for 40 years in the wilderness, in between the exodus from Egypt and the Promised Land. The wilderness was “great and terrifying…with fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground” (Deuteronomy 8:15). They also hungered, and complained, and made idols. “They soon forgot [God’s] works; they did not wait for His counsel” (Psalm 106:13).

Verse 2 says the length of time and that during that entire time He was being tempted by the devil, an ongoing, or at least reoccurring thing.

Devil is diabolos, from which we get the diabolical. This name emphasizes him as the slanderer, the accuser. Matthew also refers to him as “the tempter” (Matthew 4:3). He twists words to lead astray.

Halfway through verse 2 a new sentence starts. Jesus ate nothing during those days, so when 40 days were done he was hungry, “famished” (NET). Matthew wrote that Jesus had been “fasting” (Matthew 4:2), intentionally food-less for sake of prayer and communion with God. Would He keep on depending?

It’s good to avoid triggers to temptation. Don’t put yourself in the way of evil. As we sing, be careful little feet where you go. And, in this case, not only was the environment Spirit chosen, Jesus had been faithful to this point. Faithfulness had put Him in a position to test His faithfulness. We need Him to not make excuses now.

Scriptural Text: Fed by the Word (verses 3-4)

They know each other. They’ve been at it for a while. What have the temptations been so far? Did the devil mock His servant suit (Philippians 2:7)?

The devil said to him, “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.’” (Luke 4:3–4 ESV)

This taunt is not a test of Jesus’ identity. It tests Jesus’ motivation. There are different ways (in Greek) to form a conditional if/then statement, and the way it’s phrased assumes as true that Jesus is the Son of God. The devil isn’t asking for a show of supernatural power in the miracle of turning a stone into bread. The devil is asking Jesus to use His power to serve Himself, like the Father isn’t providing.

“Don’t worry about the Father. Do what you know you need for you.”

This is why Jesus answers the way He does. He doesn’t respond to prove who He is, He responds to prove that He is submissive.

It is written, leads to a quote from Deuteronomy 8:3. And in context, Moses reminds the people that the Lord took care of them in the wilderness. He gave them manna, but they had to depend on Him. They had to trust His Word, that He would provide, and He did, every day. Matthew quotes the rest of the verse: “but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). Would you rather have a tent full of bread over God’s promise to give daily bread?

Note: “Your word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against You” (Psalm 119:11). The Word is a shield, a light, and food. Deuteronomy 8:3 affirms it’s a type of food. The Word was part of Jesus’ arsenal. How much more do we need the Word for as food and sword against the evil one?

The deeper point is stronger than “know your Bible”: all three replies to temptation come from Deuteronomy 6–8, Moses' sermon to Israel about their wilderness testing. Jesus isn't reaching for random proof-texts; He's consciously standing where Israel stood, forty days for their forty years, retaking Israel's exam and passing it. The LORD tested them to know what was in their hearts, whether they would obey or not (Deuteronomy 8:2).

It was a battle of wills. The devil wanted Jesus to act on His own will instead of His Father’s.

Conclusion

Whose will wins? That was the battle, and it is still the battle. Jesus passed the test that Adam failed in a garden of plenty and that Israel failed in the wilderness. The devil wanted Jesus to act on His own will; the Son would live on nothing but His Father’s Word.

Don’t let the devil convince you that he can get you a good thing faster than your Father in heaven. We know we can’t eat devil’s food, but we are tempted to get good things that it seems God is slow to give. Think: a spouse, vindication of your reputation, fruit from sowing and sacrifice.

So for your own battles, two things:

You don't get the devil himself, thank God.
You might get hellish trouble, trust God.

And trusting God in the trouble is not the easy road. Resisting is the only way to find out how strong temptation is.

“No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later.” (Mere Christianity)

Jesus resisted to the very end, so He is the only one who knows temptation’s full strength, and He is the one who helps the tempted.

For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (Hebrews 2:18 ESV)

Don’t give in, AND, don’t think that being faithful is easy. Follow in the footsteps of the Faithful One.

Charge

Jesus said that in this world we would have afflicting trouble. He knew what He was talking about. He walked into and against the fiercest storm the devil could hurl at Him. Jesus also said, TAKE HEART, I have overcome the world (John 16:33). Beloved, He is faithful, so walk ...