Man's Temptation, Round Three. Whom do you Trust?

Good morning!

Thank you to Alex, Lizzie, David, and Carey for leading us in worship.

Last week we went back and looked a bit deeper at the baptism of Jesus.

We learned about how quickly we forget about the things that God does in our lives.

While the birth narrative and the baptism of Jesus are close to one another in our bible, the events are actually separated by approximately thirty years.

That is a lot of time, and based on the rest of biblical history and our own history, we know that it is very likely that the people of Jesus’ day had forgotten all the things God did at the birth of Jesus.

We also learned that the baptism of Jesus is a paradigm-shifting moment.

Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise to redeem his people.

God spoke and sent His Spirit into Jesus to confirm that Jesus was his son and the promised Messiah.

Today we are going to pick up on the heals of that passage and look at the next thing that Jesus does.

Before we get into that, in Luke 4, I want us to take a look at a passage from Isaiah so we can remember who God said Jesus would be.

I want us to get in the mindset of the kind of person Jesus was said to be.

We need to think about this because it is the mindset of those that heard that Jesus was the Messiah.

Their minds would have thought back to these prophecies as excitement built in their minds about what all this meant.

Isaiah 11:1–9 CSB

1 Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— a Spirit of wisdom and understanding, a Spirit of counsel and strength, a Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. 3 His delight will be in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, he will not execute justice by what he hears with his ears, 4 but he will judge the poor righteously and execute justice for the oppressed of the land. He will strike the land with a scepter from his mouth, and he will kill the wicked with a command from his lips. 5 Righteousness will be a belt around his hips; faithfulness will be a belt around his waist. 6 The wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat. The calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf will be together, and a child will lead them. 7 The cow and the bear will graze, their young ones will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like cattle. 8 An infant will play beside the cobra’s pit, and a toddler will put his hand into a snake’s den. 9 They will not harm or destroy each other on my entire holy mountain, for the land will be as full of the knowledge of the Lord as the sea is filled with water.

This has got to be so exciting for the nation of Israel!

To hear that this is finally coming to pass.

Before all that can begin, Jesus has to be vetted.

As most of you know, I’ve been working on a project for Super one in Pineville and this week was the final week of our project.

We are opening tomorrow morning.

Like many other construction projects, the last week is the time where all the work that has been previously done is inspected and tested.

We have had a full week getting all of that done.

Specifically, there is a third party company that comes in and makes sure that the critical components work properly.

They test the tanks, sumps, and lines to make sure they are liquid tight. i.e. gas can’t spill into the ground.

If any of these components fail, we have to fix it immediately or the site can’t open, the project is delayed, and we are going to start losing money on the project.

This is a big deal and everything has to be working or we don’t get to launch the site.

Our passage today is a similar process for Jesus and his Messiahship.

It is Jesus’ moment of testing and verification.

If he fails any of the tests, he can’t be the Messiah.

Jesus’ ability to overcome temptation is what makes him different from any other man and is the basis of his ability to forgive us of our sins.

Jesus is about to show that he can do what no other human before or after has been able to do.

We are going to look at the first temptation of Jesus today, and we will address the other two in later messages.

Open your Bibles, and let’s look at Luke 4:1-4 together.

Luke 4:1–4 CSB

1 Then Jesus left the Jordan, full of the Holy Spirit, and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over, he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” 4 But Jesus answered him, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone.”

We are going to learn three things today.

Jesus is led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit.

The amount of time Jesus spent fasting was intentional.

We are reminded that God is our greatest need.

In the story of Jesus’ temptation, there are some very intentional references to specific moments in the story of God’s people.

I decided to slow down our progression in this study so that we could take time to fully digest the connections that God and Luke are trying to make through this section.

As we move through each temptation, we will call those out and discuss what God is doing through Jesus in each.

Let’s start with verse one.

Luke 4:1 CSB

1 Then Jesus left the Jordan, full of the Holy Spirit, and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness

Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit.

How have you experienced the leading of the Holy Spirit recently?

Has God ever given you a sense of urgency with his leading, and how did you respond?

What did you learn about God in response to your obedience?

It is so important that we see that God initiated this.

Jesus wasn’t duped into the wilderness; he went there on purpose.

The Spirit leads Jesus to be on the offense against the devil.

Since Adam and Eve, the enemy has been the aggressor, but Jesus goes out and humbles and weakens himself to do battle.

We will talk about this more in the next point.

Luke wants us to see that Jesus was intentional about his mission and this first step in the process of proving himself.

Luke: An Introduction and Commentary Luke 4:1–2

The activity of the Spirit shows that it was in God’s plan that right at the outset Jesus should face up to the question of what kind of Messiah he was to be.

Mark 1:12 even says that Jesus went there not only with intention but also with urgency.

Mark 1:12 CSB

12 Immediately the Spirit drove him into the wilderness.

Jesus is on a mission to save his people.

God had already put the plan in motion, and upon the leading of the Spirit, Jesus acted quickly.

This kind of urgent, intense action is not one that is lost on us.

We move in this way with our children or others if they are in danger or near danger.

This week I had gone into Super 1 to get something and when I was walking out, there was an older lady with several grandchildren in the first parking spot.

This is next to where all the traffic passes between the store and the parking area.

As I was walking toward them, I could hear the lady telling a small child not to get out of the car.

I could see the look on the child’s face, that look of defiance, and then the child leapt out of the car and towards the oncoming traffic.

Without thinking I jumped towards the child with my arms out ready to catch her.

It was a compulsion that is just in me as a parent to care for children.

You guys know what I’m talking about.

I didn’t think, I just acted.

The child stopped when she saw me moving toward her and the grandmother ran around of the back of the car and intercepted the child before I got there.

The lady smiled sheepishly, and thanked me as she put the child back into the car.

This is the kind of action that we see Jesus taking as he goes into the wilderness.

Jesus is moving quickly to save his children because of the compassion that is in Him.

Jesus is abiding in the Father and is compelled to go into the wilderness to begin the battle over the souls of His children.

Not only does he go into the wilderness, he spends a tremendous amount of time there preparing and then doing battle.

Jesus fasted for forty days in the wilderness.

As you probably already picked up on, the mentions of 40 days reference both Israel’s time in the wilderness and a standard time of fasting that is found through scripture.

Last week we read some passages from Exodus to remind us of how easily we forget.

What Jesus is doing in the wilderness is to fulfill what Israel failed to do in the wilderness.

God’s intention was for Israel to learn to trust God, but as we read, they did not.

They grumbled against God and Moses and wished they were still in slavery in Egypt, yet God was faithful to them.

Let’s look at some more of that story.

Open up your Bibles to Exodus 16 and we are going to look at several passages.

We are going to pick up where we left off last week in verse four. Exodus 16:4.

Exodus 16:4 CSB

4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. This way I will test them to see whether or not they will follow my instructions.

On the heels of Israel's incredibly unappreciative and rude complaints, God tells Moses that he will care for them.

God says that he is doing this so that He can test them.

But what was the test?

What did God ask them to do?

How has God ever tested your faithfulness and obedience?

Exodus 15:26 CSB

26 He said, “If you will carefully obey the Lord your God, do what is right in his sight, pay attention to his commands, and keep all his statutes, I will not inflict any illnesses on you that I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.”

God wanted to see if they would obey him.

So God did what he said and gave them what they needed.

Exodus 16:9–15 CSB

9 Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the Lord, for he has heard your complaints.’ ” 10 As Aaron was speaking to the entire Israelite community, they turned toward the wilderness, and there in a cloud the Lord’s glory appeared. 11 The Lord spoke to Moses, 12 “I have heard the complaints of the Israelites. Tell them: At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will eat bread until you are full. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.” 13 So at evening quail came and covered the camp. In the morning there was a layer of dew all around the camp. 14 When the layer of dew evaporated, there were fine flakes on the desert surface, as fine as frost on the ground. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they asked one another, “What is it?” because they didn’t know what it was. Moses told them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.

Once again, God proves that he is going to be faithful to Israel.

He delivered them from slavery and brought them into the wilderness.

We are brought to the wilderness to know God better than we did before.

God delivers people that don’t really know him.

They have lived their whole lives under the rule and religion of Egypt.

God wanted to use this time in the wilderness to reveal Himself to the Israelites.

If you feel like God has you in a “wilderness” time, it is because there is something He wants you to learn about who He is.

But we know the rest of Israel’s story; God reveals himself over and over again.

There was ample opportunity for them to know God and His provision.

Yet, when they get to the promised land, they refuse to go in.

Israel failed to be faithful to God and to obey Him.

Jesus entered the wilderness to do what Israel could not.

Jesus was faithful to obey God and to wait for His provision.

God had Jesus fast to set up the opportunity for this first temptation.

Forty days was a standard time for fasting, and we see Moses doing this when on the mountain with God receiving the ten commandments.

Exodus 34:28 CSB

28 Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did not eat food or drink water. He wrote the Ten Commandments, the words of the covenant, on the tablets.

But what is fasting, and why is it important to the story?

Have you fasted in the past, and what was that experience like for you?

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Jesus and Fasting

The Gospels record Jesus fasting, perhaps to express reliance on God in times of temptation or spiritual warfare (e.g., Matt 4:1–2; Luke 4:2).

The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary Fast, Fasting

FAST, FASTING. Fasting is the deliberate, temporary abstention from food for religious reasons. In the biblical material, fasting is total abstention, and is thus to be distinguished both from permanent food restrictions, like those against unclean animals, and also from occasional abstention from certain foods, like meat on Fridays, a practice adopted by the later Christian Church.

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Fast, Fasting

His temptation was born out of the context of struggle. Immediately after his baptism, he was cast out into the wilderness by the Spirit to face as the Second Adam the temptation of Satan. In the midst of his temptation, he fasted and prayed, quoting from Deuteronomy 8:3 and Psalm 91:11, 12. His fasting is associated with dependence upon God.

Jesus fasted to completely weaken his physical body in order to humble himself before God and rely completely on God.

This is the opposite of what we see Israel do in their wilderness.

They complained, grumbled, and made it about themselves.

Jesus obeyed God and relied on Him completely.

The result of this reliance is concurring of temptation and, ultimately, of Satan.

God has shown himself faithful and will provide all that we need if we will trust Him.

How has God proven Himself as a faithful provider in your life?

Deuteronomy 8:1–10 CSB

1 “Carefully follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase, and may enter and take possession of the land the Lord swore to your ancestors. 2 Remember that the Lord your God led you on the entire journey these forty years in the wilderness, so that he might humble you and test you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then he gave you manna to eat, which you and your ancestors had not known, so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothing did not wear out, and your feet did not swell these forty years. 5 Keep in mind that the Lord your God has been disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. 6 So keep the commands of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and fearing him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with streams, springs, and deep water sources, flowing in both valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat, barley, vines, figs, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land where you will eat food without shortage, where you will lack nothing; a land whose rocks are iron and from whose hills you will mine copper. 10 When you eat and are full, you will bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.

God’s intention was not for Israel to wander for forty years.

That was the result of their lack of faith in God.

God’s intention was for Israel to know Him.

Why did God want Israel to know Him?

God is our greatest need.

When the enemy tempts Jesus, he is picking at his weakest spot.

He was hungry.

But Jesus was prepared because of his time of fasting and prayer.

He was abiding in the Father, and that is what God wanted for mankind all along.

When Israel was in the wilderness, not knowing where their next meal or drink would come from, this was intentional so that they could learn to trust God.

Adam and Eve, in the garden, not providing for themselves but enjoying the blessing of God’s provision.

In both of these examples, the need is not for food and water but for God.

God uses our natural need for food and water to remind us of our ultimate need for Him.

This is what the first temptation was all about.

Satan wanted to, once again, take the focus off the real need and put it on something lesser.

In response to the temptation to shortcut God’s plan, Jesus responds to Satan with a very intentional scripture, Deuteronomy 8:3.

Deuteronomy 8:3 CSB

3 He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then he gave you manna to eat, which you and your ancestors had not known, so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

Jesus is defeating Satan’s attack by reminding us that our greatest need is not a physical one.

Our greatest need is God.

Do we need to nourish our bodies?

Of course, and Jesus even addresses that when asked about how to pray.

Luke 11:3 CSB

3 Give us each day our daily bread.

We need to eat and drink, but we need to remember that God is able to provide what every person needs.

Remember that the result of Adam and Eve’s sin was that Adam had to work the ground to provide food for his family.

Adam lost God’s provision when he disobeyed God.

They no longer got to live in the garden.

Israel also lost God’s intended provision when they disobeyed God and wouldn’t go into the promised land.

God had planned for them to go right to the promised land, but because of their disobedience, they had to wander in the desert for 40 years.

When we disobey God, we are robbing ourselves of God’s best for us.

God wants us to know Him.

He wants to reveal Himself to us.

He is what we need.

The enemy has the same playbook he has always had.

He is going to try and manipulate God’s word and creation to steer us away from God and towards ourselves.

He wants to take our attention from God and put it anywhere else.

The enemy’s goal is to destroy God’s creation and His union with it.

We fight that battle the same way that Jesus did.

We walk in obedience, we prepare by spending time with God, we remember the promises and character of God, and we abide in Him.

We let the things that God has done in the past inform our hearts about the character of God and His promise to take care of all our needs.

This first temptation had nothing to do with food.

It was about trust.

Satan was asking Adam and Eve, Israel, Jesus, and now you, do you trust what God says?

This is a temptation that all of us face every day.

How does your pattern of life and decisions answer the question, do you trust God?

What needs to change in your life, or what do you need to learn about God to move that more toward total trust?

Do you trust God to guide all of your decisions?

Whom do you trust, God or yourself?

Let’s pray.

Announcements:

Juneteenth

M-fuge is coming in July, so be thinking about projects they can work on.

JJ is going to be here next Saturday to work on the fascia outside. Let’s put a crew together to help with that.

Tear out, put back, painting, clean up, etc.

Offering