Amy C Walters

The Temptation of Jesus – Luke 4:1-13

Some of the ways the devil tries to tempt Jesus might seem odd or even like they’re not a big deal. But all three temptations have something in common: they try to shortcut God’s work done in God’s way.

In the previous post, we talked about how Jesus launches his public ministry of his life-saving mission on earth by going into the wilderness and being tempted by the devil. The story also tells us that Jesus ate nothing during those days, and by the end of that time, he was hungry.

That’s probably the biggest understatement in the entire story, “he was hungry.” Yeah, probably really hungry after 40 days of not eating! 

So Jesus is physically depleted. He probably hasn’t slept well out there in the wilderness. Jesus is running really low physically.

And so the devil’s first temptation of Jesus is not a big surprise. He says, “If you are the son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” 

That would be really tempting. Jesus is very hungry, and he’s got the power. He is the Creator God. He has the ability to turn those stones into bread.

And at first, this looks like no big deal, right? What’s wrong with feeding yourself? God doesn’t want you to go hungry. 

So many of Satan’s temptations at first look like no big deal. But let’s peel back some of the layers to see what the devil is really saying. 

He starts off with, “If you are the Son of God.” He does the same in the third temptation. He starts off with this question of Jesus’ identity. And layered in with that are all kinds of assumptions and implications. “If you are the Son of God…”

• Does a Son of God suffer the way that you have suffered?
• Shouldn’t you have everything that you want or need immediately available to you?
• You have rights and privileges, you could just exercise them.
• You have authority of your own. You don’t have to go along with the Father’s plan.
• You can meet your own needs right here, right now.

The devil is calling into question the Father’s plan here. If you are the Son of God, you shouldn’t have to suffer. You should have everything that you want. You should be able to make your own way.

It’s also calling into question if God’s plan really is the best way. Isn’t there a better way to do this? Is God really taking care of you by letting this situation happen? The devil is trying to create doubt. 

The devil knows full well that Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus, too, knows it. We have just had this scene in Luke 3 where Jesus is baptized by John, the Holy Spirit comes down like a dove, and the voice of God says, “This is my Son, in whom I am well pleased.” They both know Jesus is the Son of God.

What the devil is saying by this, then, is, take your rights and privileges as the Son of God. Don’t go through suffering. You know the best way, follow it. It’s calling into question God’s plan, God’s purposes, God’s ways. And it’s tempting Jesus to meet his immediate needs at the cost of the mission.

You see, there is a lot at stake here, because a sinful person cannot save other sinners. Only a sinless Savior will do.

We read in the Book of Hebrews that Jesus is the great high priest because he was tempted in every way yet was without sin (Hebrews 4:15). To give in to temptation is to forfeit the mission.

So there is a lot at stake here, even though the devil makes it seem like a simple thing–just eat a little bit of bread, you’ll be fine. But the consequences are enormous.

Jesus rightly rejects this first temptation. So the devil brings another temptation. He takes Jesus to a high place, and in an instant shows him all of the kingdoms of the world. And the devil says to Jesus, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, because it was given to me, and I can give it to whoever I want. So if you worship me, all of this will be yours.” 

So the temptation here is a little more clear and obvious, at least on the surface. “Worship me, and I will give you all the power and the glory. You can have it all, and you can have it all right now.”

You know what’s interesting? God the Father has also been promising Jesus that one day God would make all those nations Jesus’ footstool (Psalm 110:1). God has promised throughout Scripture that one day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:10). This power and authority and glory and splendor that the devil promises here, God has already promised that to Jesus. But it’s got to happen in God’s way and in God’s time.

So the temptation here that Satan is trying to lure Jesus with is to shortcut all of that. “You don’t have to wait all that time. You don’t have to go through all this pain and suffering to get to power and glory. I can give it to you now. All it takes is your allegiance.”

The devil is trying to shortcut God’s work in God’s way in God’s time. And again, Jesus rightly rejects this offer. He chooses to wait on the Father to deliver the promise.

So we come to the third temptation that the devil lobs at Jesus. The devil leads him to Jerusalem and has him stand on the highest point of the temple. The temple backs up to a cliff. So if you stand on the highest point of the temple, you look straight down 450 feet. This is a dizzying location! 

And the devil says to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will guard you carefully. They will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

The temptation? Jump off of here and see what God does.

At first, this seems like, how is this tempting? Who wants to jump straight down 450 feet and see what happens?

But the devil is saying here, “Okay, Jesus, you say that you trust God, prove it! Make God catch you.” 

There’s also a temptation to make a big show in front of a big crowd. The temple is full of people gathering to worship God. Imagine the instant following if a crowd saw such a spectacle. 

But again, God has a plan for Jesus’ ministry. Performing some big sign is not part of the plan. Jesus has a more challenging road to follow. He is going to be rejected by people. He is going to have people following him for all the wrong reasons. Jesus is going to build a following more intentionally than that.

The devil is calling him to make his own path, to shortcut the difficult road that God is calling him to follow and take the easy way out. “Prove who you are to me and to all these people, and then you can have everything you want right now.” 

The thing that all three of these temptations have in common is this call to shortcuts. Shortcut your suffering and feed yourself now. Shortcut getting all of the nation’s power and glory by worshiping me now. Shortcut your mission here on earth by getting all the followers you could ever want right now just by throwing yourself off of the temple. Don’t do it God’s way. God’s way is long and difficult and challenging and painful. Take a shortcut. Make it easier on yourself.

The devil makes it seem like there will be no consequences. He makes it seem like the shortcut is so much easier. It’s pain free.

But to take the devil’s bait would have been to disqualify Jesus from the mission he was sent to earth to do. The consequences are actually huge. And Jesus knows this and he refuses to fall to temptation.

Our key truth for today is beware of shortcuts.

We are tempted all the time to shortcut our faith, to shortcut the difficult route that maybe God is taking us on. And yet God has purpose in it.

I recently taught a Bible study about waiting. We looked at different characters in the Bible who waited on God. Some of them waited well, and they discovered that God himself was their reward. And other people did not wait well. They took shortcuts. They wanted to relieve the immediate tension and frustration and pain that they were feeling.

So they took shortcuts. And yes, it did relieve the immediate problem, but there were always consequences to those shortcuts. Consequences that led to more chaos, more heartbreak, the loss of what God wanted to do in them and give to them. They forfeited the good things that God had in store because they sought a shortcut and immediate relief to their situation.

These days there are many life hacks. They promise simpler, cheaper, easier lives. 

But there are no spiritual shortcuts. There is no way to hack your walk with Jesus. And when we start applying those life hacks to things like our relationship with God, then we miss out. We forfeit the incredible things that God is trying to do in us.