Luke 3:23 to Luke 4:14 "The Temptation of the Son of God"

Let’s Pray!

Good Morning, Calvary Chapel Lake City!

Thank you for braving the weather on this brisk and snowy morning.

Three in my family are in Colorado today… at higher elevation… and it was like 60 degrees out there yesterday. How does that happen?

Anyhow, let’s open our Bibles to Luke 3. Luke 3:23-38 and Luke 4:1-14.

For any of you who were growing weary of us only covering two verses in each of the previous two Sundays… we are making up for it today… covering 30 verses.

In the last couple weeks… Luke… for the most part… closed out the ministry of John the Baptist sharing how John was imprisoned by Herod the Tetrarch as John rebuked him for many evils including marrying his brother Philip’s wife.

And then Luke brings Jesus to the center stage sharing two significant events that occur before Jesus’ public ministry begins.

Jesus’ Baptism and His Temptation.

Last time… we discussed the significance of Jesus’ Baptism…

That in it… He identified with sinners.

Was anointed by the Holy Spirit… which was common for priests, prophets, and kings.

And the Father spoke from Heaven identifying Jesus as His beloved Son.

All significant… all prior to Jesus’ ministry…

And in His temptation (which we look at today)… Jesus proves His obedience to the Father’s will… and stands victorious over temptation and Satan…

… which both Adam and Israel failed to do.

And this victory over temptation and sin… also placed just prior to Jesus’ public ministry beginning…

Validates the forerunner’s proclamation, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

And qualifies Jesus as the sinless High Priest… the spotless Lamb of God… the only One who could redeem mankind.

Which is why He came. The Key Verse of Luke’s Gospel… Luke 19:10 states “… for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

And… we’ll see in His genealogy ahead… the Jesus is both the Son of Man… significantly He is from the line of David… a prophetic requirement for the Savior.

And His genealogy states He is the Son of God. He’s the God-Man.

So, Luke documents these theologically significant events and Jesus’ theologically significant lineage… providing confidence Jesus was the Messiah, the Savior.

Which is a key reason Luke wrote this gospel… so Theophilus and all his readers would be confident or as Luke 1:4 states… “that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.”

What a blessing that we have this word… so today… some 2,000 years later… we too can confidently trust in scripture.

Well… let’s peer into these verses before us today in a message titled, “The Temptation of the Son of God.”

And, in reverence for God’s word, if you are able, please stand as I read our passage.

Luke 3:23-4:14 today… 3:23-38 is a Jesus’ genealogy… with many difficult names to pronounce… that we’re not going to read right now, but will discuss in a moment… I hope that doesn’t disappoint you.

But let us read the narrative portion…

Luke 4:1–14 “Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.

3 And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

4 But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ”

5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said to Him, “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. 7 Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”

8 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

9 Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. 10 For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you,’ 11 and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

12 And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”

13 Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

14 Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.”

Praise God for His word. Please be seated.

Well… backing up to V23 of Chapter 3… we see Jesus’ genealogy… and please feel free to read through all the names later today…

… you can do this in the mirror… or gather your family around… have a blast, but pardon me as I just give you the highlights now.

It may feel like placing a genealogy in Chapter 3 of Luke’s gospel is a random placement…

I don’t know if you’ve ever felt like it was odd that this genealogy falls here in Chapter 3, but it’s placed here with purpose… the Bible is very intentional…

So why here? Well… what do we know about what just happened in Luke’s Gospel?… What major shift just occurred in this narrative?

John the Baptist was imprisoned… and Jesus has now come front and center… so NOW… with His ministry about to begin… and Jesus in the spotlight…

As the Father announced Jesus was His beloved Son… Luke now provides the genealogy showing Jesus’ lineage goes all the way back to God… which you can see in V38 “… the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.”

In Luke 3… this genealogy is mostly accepted as through Mary…

There is another genealogy in Matthew 1 which is accepted as Jesus’ genealogy through Joseph.

Both genealogies show Jesus is the son of David… which was important as the Messiah was prophesied to be the ancestor of David with the establishment of the Davidic Covenant in 2 Sam 7:12-16.

In Mary’s genealogy (Luke 3)… Jesus is proven to be of the bloodline of David… yet as through David’s son Nathan in V31.

In Joseph’s genealogy (Matt 1)… Jesus is proven to be of the legal/ royal bloodline… through David’s son Solomon in Matt 1:6.

So Jesus had both legal claim (via Joseph) and biological claim (via Mary) to David's throne…

… which was very important to Matthew’s Jewish audience… and very important for the purpose of Luke’s narrative.

There are a variety of differences between the two genealogies…

They proceed in different directions… Matthew 1 beginning with Abraham and ending with Jesus.

Luke 3 beginning with Jesus and working back all the way to Adam and God.

Matthew stressed to his Jewish audience… that Jesus was from the Jewish race… which began with Abraham.

For Luke’s Greek audience, he emphasized Jesus was of the human race… thus tracing Him back to Adam.

The names of Joseph’s father are different. Joseph the husband of Mary that is… in Matthew 1:16 we read, “And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary...”

The word “begot” (meaning to bring forth in childbirth)… indicates Jacob [not the Patriarch of course… an unknown Jacob] was Joseph’s biological father… thus Matthew records Joseph’s genealogy.

We read in V23 of Luke 3… that Jesus “…being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli...”

Joseph was not begotten by Heli… this was his Father-in-law… Mary’s biological father.

Notice Luke’s Gospel also does not say Jesus was the son of Joseph in V23, but “(as was supposed) the son of Joseph”… giving a nod to the virgin birth.

Which is supported in Matthew’s genealogy… again we read in Matthew 1:16 “And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.”

We don’t read that Joseph begot Jesus… but that Jesus was born of Mary.

Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit. When Mary asked Gabriel HOW she would conceive having never known a man… Gabriel responded in Luke 1:35 “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.”

Which again… Luke shows Jesus in the Son of God… in this genealogy.

Another difference is Mary (nor any other woman) is mentioned in Luke’s genealogy as that was customary to only list men in genealogies at that time.

Matthew broke from custom and included a variety of women emphasizing Gentile inclusion, God’s grace, and "softening" the potential scandal of Mary's virgin pregnancy.

And there are some other differences as well… such as the length of these genealogies… the diverging lines after David…

Luke’s genealogy avoids the “curse of Jeconiah” (Jer 22:30)… none of his descendants could sit on David’s throne… thus Luke avoids that line altogether.

Several other differences.

Some highlights… now looking specifically at this genealogy in Luke 3… in V23… we read, “Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli,...”

Thirty years of age was a common age of beginning service to God in the OT.

Priests at age thirty began to serve in the tabernacle according to Numbers 4:3 & 23.

Joseph was thirty when God had him begin serving before Pharaoh (Gen 41:46).

David was thirty when he began to reign (2 Sam 5:4).

Ezekiel was thirty when he saw visions of God (Ezk 1:1).

Thirty was thought the age in which a male was mature enough to begin ministry, and Luke is establishing this about Jesus… He was “about thirty years of age.”

Jesus was born before Herod the Great died in 4 B.C.… so sometime between 6-4 B.C.

And Luke 3:1 describes John’s ministry beginning “in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar”… which was 29 A.D., so Jesus was likely 33-35 years of age at the beginning of His ministry.

And His public ministry lasted about 3.5 years… placing Jesus’ age of death around 36-39 years of age.

Which doesn’t directly tie to this genealogy… that’s just free information… maybe an extra credit question on the test later.

Looking through the list of names… which I’ve reserved the right not to read and mispronounce… a few that stand out to me…

V27… Shealtiel and Zerubbabel… they are mentioned in Ezra 2:2, 3:8 as leaders who returned to Jerusalem to help rebuild the temple following the exile in Babylon.

V31… the “son of David”… the second king over Israel…

As mentioned Messiah was foretold to come from David…

Isa 9:7 confirms Messiah will come from David… “Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever.”

Jer 23:5-6 reads, “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. 6 In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS”

I’m looking forward to that day of righteousness in the earth… and that day when Israel will dwell safely. Israel whom God has not forsaken… nor replaced with the church.

Replacement theology is not good. God would have to take back a lot of promises to Israel if He replaced Israel with the church… and then what would His promises be worth to us?

No… these promises stand as valid today to Israel.

V33… “the son of Judah”… Jesus was from the Tribe of Judah. In a heavenly scene in Revelation… no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll… and John began to weep…

But an elder said to John in Revelation 5:5 “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”

And John saw in the midst of the throne and four living creatures and in the midst of the elders… stood a Lamb as though it had been slain… He took the scroll…

And all fell down before Him… singing a new song of His worthiness… and redemption… the number was “ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands” [innumerable]… singing loudly “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain...”

And they fell down ad worshipped Him… A little glimpse for you of our future… it’s going to be amazing… if you don’t like singing now… don’t worry… you’ll love it in glory.

V34… “Jacob… Isaac… Abraham”… the Patriarchs to whom the Abrahamic covenant was promised… to whom the promised seed would come…

Gen 12:3 “… in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

V35 Peleg… Genesis 10:25 “To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided...”

Pointing to the division of tongues… the confusion of languages that happened in Gen 11 at the Tower of Babel.

V36 “the son of Shem, the son of Noah”… Noah had three sons… Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Ham’s line was cursed… Japheth’s line would become much of the European countries (most of our ancestors)…

From Shem’s line came Abraham… Israel… Messiah.

V37 Methuselah… to whom is credited the longest life span in the Bible… 969 years (Gen 5:27).

Also Enoch… Genesis 5:24 states, “And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.”

Hebrews 11:5 “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”

Jude 14 tells us “Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied...”

Some see Enoch as a type for the church… taken before the flood comes… as a type for the rapture. I like that typology.

Some see Enoch as one of the Two Witnesses in Rev 11… for Hebrews 9:27 states, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,”

… and Enoch didn’t die… he was taken up to heaven.

It’s a valid argument… I’ve heard good arguments for Moses as well. Most people are settled that the other witness is Elijah.

V38 “the son of Seth...” After Cain slew Abel… Seth was later born to Adam and Eve.

And Eve said in Genesis 4:25 “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.”

No doubt as Eve looked back to when God not only cursed mankind in Eden for disobedience… but also promised redemption…

The first Gospel… the protoevangelium was spoken then by God to the Serpent… Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

And it would seem Eve hoped for that appointed seed to come in her day.

And Satan… the serpent of old… would attempt to thwart God’s plan of Gen 3:15 many times over throughout scripture…

One time which we are about to look at next in the Temptation of the Son of God.

Also in V38 “the son of Adam...” His name means “of the ground”… he was the first man on earth… and was formed from the “dust of the ground” (Gen 2:7)… God breathed life into his nostrils the breath of life… and he become a living being.

Paul wrote Adam is a “type of Him who was to come.” Rom 5:14.

From the first Adam… all have inherited his nature… which is a sin nature. But through faith in Jesus results justification of life.

Romans 5:18 declares, “Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.”

We are all born once physically… but those trust in Jesus are born again spiritually (John 3).

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:45 “And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”

There is physical life and there is spiritual life…

And… we’re all image bearers… either of the first Adam (bearing the sin nature and condemnation)… or the second Adam (Jesus Christ bearing the spiritual nature and eternal life).

1 Corinthians 15:49 a promise only to believers… reads, “And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.”

This is a promise of life… Through faith in Jesus Christ… while you die physically… you live eternally and will be clothed with an immortal body.

And this is only because Jesus’ genealogy does not stop at Adam… His genealogy goes beyond the temporal… and stretches into eternity closing with Jesus is “the son of God.”

Which is all the genealogy in John’s gospel focuses upon.

John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

John1:1-18 does not present a traditional human genealogy but a "divine genealogy," emphasizing Jesus' eternal-existence… Jesus as the Creator of all things… the incarnation…

John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

And because of His incarnation Jesus has a human genealogy…

Fully God… Fully Man. Testified of right here in this genealogy…

… which demonstrates Jesus was a real person… with real ancestry… which stretches out of the temporal and into the eternal.

I like this quote from Morris, “That the genealogy is recorded at all shows Him to be a real man, not a demi-god like those in Greek and Roman mythology. That it goes back to David points to an essential element in His messianic qualifications. That it goes back to Adam brings out His kinship not only with Israel but with the whole human race. That it goes back to God relates Him to the Creator of all. He was the Son of God.”

Thus Jesus is the only One qualified to perfectly keep the law… and to become the sacrificial Passover Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world…

Which is many ways is what we are celebrating in 11 days… it’s the Christmas Story.

Immanuel… God among us…

And as mentioned earlier… this plan of God… long ago foretold of back in Gen 3:15… is a plan that Satan has repeatedly attempted to disrupt…

So… it’s no wonder that as Jesus… at His baptism… was anointed by the Holy Spirit… and proclaimed by the Father “this is my beloved Son...”

And as we have read in His genealogy that He is of the line of David… and the son of God…

It is no surprise that we NOW read of Satan’s immediate attempt to thwart the plan of God… as we now behold the Temptation of Jesus, beginning in Luke chapter 4.

And… I’ve mentioned twice now that Satan has tried to stop God’s plan…

So if you’re not familiar… let me quickly give you some examples…

Straight out the gates… of Eden that is… 1 John 3:12 describes Cain as “of the wicked one” that he murdered his brother because his works were evil and his brothers righteous… So this was an early attempt to end the promised seed.

In Gen 6… fallen angels (no doubt influenced by Satan) intermarry with human women, producing giants and continual wickedness.

The goal here was to corrupt the human gene pool so no pure "seed of the woman" could emerge to defeat Satan.

God responds with the flood, preserving Noah's righteous line.

Multiple times Satan attempted to destroy Israel and the Messianic line… often, as many suppose, by influencing world leaders:

Pharoah attempted to slay all the Hebrew boys (Exo 1-2)

Haman plotted to exterminate all the Jews in Esther.

Athaliah thought she murdered all the royal seed, but Joash was hidden. 2 Chr 22.

Satan was almost successful in stopping the Gen 49:10 prophecy that the royal scepter would NOT depart Judah until Shiloh (or Messiah) comes…

Herod the Great in Matthew 2… ordered the massacre of boys two years and under in Bethlehem… attempting to kill the prophesied King.

In Revelation 12… it was the dragon (Satanic influence) pictured behind this plot.

Revelation 12:4–5 “And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. 5 She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.”

At the temptation Satan will offer Jesus shortcuts to power and worship… an tempt His pride to sin… attempting to ruin His sinlessness and obstruct His messianic mission of obedient sacrifice.

One more example… Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus… and Luke 22:3 states, “Satan entered Judas.”

Perhaps Satan thought death would end the Messiah… but it was the cross that fulfilled Satan “bruising of the heel” Messiah… which led to the resurrection that “crushed his head” as prophesied in Gen 3:15.

Hebrews 2:14 declares “… through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,”

And Jesus said, in Revelation 1:18 “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.”

Satan… since God spoke Gen 3:15… has been trying to stop God’s plan… and has failed over and over again.

And he won’t stop… he is so set on trying to be like God… and stealing the worship of God… and setting up his throne…

And this has been his downfall…

We read the “Fiive ‘I wills’ of Satan”… In Isaiah 14:13–14 That passage reads that Lucifer was cut down to the ground… “For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’”

No he won’t. God replies… Isaiah 14:15 “Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit.”

At the beginning of Rev 20… we read of some unnamed angel… I like to call him, “Angel Bob”… and Revelation 20:2 reads, “He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;”

He cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up.

I wish that were now… that someone would just shut Satan up… imprison him and silence him.

Rest assured… that day is coming.

And near the end of Jesus’ Millennial reign… we read of the end of Satan as he is cast into the lake of fire… (Rev 20:10) where he will be “tormented day and night forever and ever.”

He many plagued us now in this age… he may try to stop the plan of God… but we know his end… and we are on the winning side.

Romans 16:20 promises “And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.”

1 John 3:8 declares, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”

And be comforted… that as we look at Jesus’ temptation… we see Jesus will stand triumphant… setting a model for how we can be victorious as well.

So, again we read in Luke 4:1-2 “Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.”

Interesting… None of the disciples were at the temptation… so Jesus must have told them about this event…

Jesus obviously felt this is an important lesson for them to learn… for us as well.

And all three synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) records the Temptation.

Notice… Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit (which fell on Him at His baptism)… always good to be empowered by the Holy Spirit before starting your ministry…

… which should be what happens in your home… and what you take into the world as Christ’s Ambassador… as salt… as light.

And He was returning from the Jordan river (where He was baptized)…

But… He is re-directed… He is led into the wilderness (which is desert in that geography)… let by the Spirit V2… to be tempted or tested for forty days by the devil.

Sometimes we get this notion that if I’m full of the Holy Spirit… and God is leading me… than life will be easy.

We think life will be hassle free… prosperous… full of health and wealth…

And we could wish it were, but this account testifies of something else.

Sometimes it’s right after the mountain top experience that we find ourselves being thrust into the wilderness to face the devil.

And Jesus was not exempt from this. It was God’s will to test Jesus… and Jesus obeys…

Proving He was obedient… and qualifying Him to enter His ministry to sinners, yet without sin.

Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

And notice after Jesus’ forty day fast… when the fast had ended and Jesus was hungry… this is when the Devil tempts Jesus.

And Satan is a good observer. His temptations are often based upon cues that he gathers from us.

Jesus is hungry… thus this first temptation will focus upon feeding His hunger.

In Job chapter 1… we read in V5 that Job would rise early to offer sacrifices for his children and Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.”

So… Satan geared trials against Job to see if he would curse God. Satan said to God in Job 1:11 “But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”

And if you look at HOW Satan tempts… how he tempted Eve… how he tempts Jesus… his temptations come in the form of what we read in 1 John 2:16 “For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.”

Satan knows these are effective for they brought him down…

We read this as we looked at the “5 I Wills of Satan” in Isa 14… Satan desired a throne higher than God’s… and to be worshipped…

In Ezk 28… God rebukes Satan and says in Ezekiel 28:17 “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty...”

Pride came before his fall.

So Satan knows what works and aims to appeal to our flesh… and there are basic things mankind falls prey to… pride, power, prestige, wealth, physical lust, emotional affection, and so forth.

And different seasons of our life… young, middle aged and older… seem to gravitate towards these lusts…

The young lust after the flesh… in mid-life we see what we have and what we still aspire to obtain… and pride sets in deeper in old age.

And of course these cross over to all seasons of life.

And Satan influences societies to dangle these lusts and pride in front of us… or even more devious… he can target specific individuals…

And, when that which the flesh desires… beholds that thing in the world… that’s a recipe for disaster.

So many OT heroes fell into sin because they were tempted by something in the world that was forbidden.

Eve saw the fruit.

Lot saw the land.

Dinah saw the daughters of the land.

Samson saw the Philistine women.

David saw Bathsheba.

James 1:14–15 states, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”

And death… be it physical death or death to our intimacy with God… is the goal of Satan.

And we live in a day… where Satan is still on the prowl…

Peter exhorts believers in 1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

We have to demonstrate self-control and watchfulness… because there is an opportunistic hunter out there looking for easy prey.

You watch animal shows on lions… and you see them stealthily creep up on the herd… and they try to isolate one… a young one… a hurt one…

Don’t let that be you… don’t forsake assembling together… be in fellowship… be as iron sharpening iron to one another…

Abide in the vine… remain in Jesus… and His word… and prayer…

Because our enemy is not kind… we read in Job… that as soon as Satan has permission from God to test Job…

And yes, Satan must submit to God… not willingly in the sense of loving obedience, but he is subordinate to God's sovereign authority and cannot act beyond the limits God imposes.

And in Job… the LORD permits Satan to test Job (Job 1:12), but initially God restricts physical harm to Job.

So… Satan destroys all that Job holds dear… his entire livelihood and he kills all his ten children.

Satan is no gentleman… he hits hard… doesn’t pull his punches… and doesn’t fight fair… he will kick you when you’re down.

But we can defeat him… you can read the counsel to kings in Deut 17 to keep their hearts from turning away… write the law… read it all their days… fear the LORD, observe the law…

In Rev 12… the accuser of the brethren is defeated as we read in Revelation 12:11 “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”

And here… we see how Jesus will defeat Satan as well.

V3 “And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

Jesus is hungry… so Satan detects this vulnerability and appeals to the lust of the flesh.

Just as Eve saw that the “tree was good for food.”

And Satan says “if”… which more accurately should be rendered “since” You are the Son of God…

And Satan is not challenging Jesus’ identity… he’s challenging Jesus to display His identity… and use the power of God for selfish purposes.

He once again wants to see Man eat ‘forbidden fruit’… which for Jesus would be to fulfill his hunger (a legitimate desire) in an illegitimate way.

And had Jesus fallen for this lust, He would have sinned and would have disqualified Himself as the spotless Lamb of God.

And Satan would have won.

And has Satan not tried to play on our relationship with God to draw us into sin as well?

“If you’re a son or daughter of God… why are you sick? Why aren’t you healed? Why are you struggling? Why are you afraid? You should curse God… you should stop trusting Him and take matters into your own hand.”

Does he not say these things today?

Jesus looks back as Satan and knows He can defeat Satan without misusing His power as the Son of God.

He is the Son of God, and He wins this round with the word of God.

V4 “But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ”

Jesus quotes Deut 8:3… a passage that speaks about God humbling and allowing Israel to hunger and feeding them manna in the wilderness… so He might make them know that “man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.”

What an appropriate passage as it points to 40 years of Israel being in the desert and God faithfully providing and bringing them into the promised land.

With this citation… Jesus tells Satan He trusts His Father in heaven to provide for Him as well.

This was not just the logos word… this was a Rhema word… a verse that spoke right into this situation pointedly… and powerfully.

And look… we need to have passages of scripture hidden in our hearts.

Psalm 119:11 “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.”

And the Holy Spirit John 14:26 “… will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I [Jesus] said to you.”

This is why we’re a bible teaching church! Scripture is so important. And Satan hates the word… because it’s powerful… it’s God’s word that he is powerless against. So use it.

vv5-7 “Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. [some kind of vision] 6 And the devil said to Him, “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. 7 Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”

Satan now appeals to the lust of the eyes… just as Eve saw the fruit was “pleasant to the eyes.”

He shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world… and dangles before Him a shortcut to rule… to have His kingdom now… without the cross.

But then there would be no sacrifice for sin… no propitiation or satisfying God’s wrath on sin… and without sacrifice… there would be no redemption… and Satan would have won.

And how audacious of Satan? Asking the Creator to worship His creation. Ezk 28:13 speaks of so many advantages and beauty that Satan had “on the day [he] was created.”

And there’s a great difference between the economy of God and the economy of Satan.

Satan wants you to have things now… to focus on the temporal… to “have it your way”… to enjoy the “passing pleasures of sin”…

God so often will bless us and fulfill the desires of our hearts now… if they are not sinful… but He looks beyond this vapor of a life… and seeks what’s best for us for all eternity.

If you recall… at the wedding feast of Cana (John 2)… the way of the world was to serve the best wine first… but Jesus served the best wine last.

V8 “And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

Jesus now quotes… again from Scripture… Deut 6:13; 10:20…

And Jesus essentially says, “What you worship you serve.”

If Jesus worshipped Satan… the kingdoms would just be on loan… for He would serve Satan.

And without Jesus death and resurrection the keys to hades and death… the transfer of power and authority would not have happened.

Satan would have retained the authority over the world that he gained with the fall of Adam… and he would have won.

vv9-11 “Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. 10 For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you,’ 11 and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

Satan now appeals to the pride of life. Eve’s pride was tempted as she saw the “tree to be desirable to make one wise.”

And Jesus’ pride is tested… in what feels like a ‘double dog dare’ to me.… but also if Jesus did this and was saved… it would have been a miracle, but would have drawn the wrong kind of wonder and it would not have honored the Father.

Josephus states the lowest foundation on the eastern side (overlooking the Kidron) reached 300 cubits (approx 450 feet) high in places… so we could imagine how tall the pinnacle of the temple would be.

And look how crafty Satan is here… now he quotes scripture to Jesus.

Keep in mind that not everyone who quotes scripture is of God.

And so often when the ungodly quote scripture it is out of context… and they weaponize it searching for loopholes… searching to justify sin… and searching to mock God and His people.

Satan quotes, but takes away from scripture… which is forbidden.

Deuteronomy 12:32 reads, “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.”

And Satan quote Psalm 91:11 “For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.”

Satan omits “in all your ways.”

Which are God’s ways… Satan doesn’t want the reminder of following God’s will.

He twists the scripture to make it seem like angels would rescue Jesus even if He put God to the test.

V12 “And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”

Jesus quotes scripture right back citing Deut 6:16… and properly using scripture to letting him know it is forbidden to tempt or test God in a sinful way.

If this were a fight… there were three rounds… and all were scored in favor of Jesus.

But it was no fight… as some imagine God and the Devil interlocked in headlocks.

Remember we read earlier… that it’s not even God that locks Satan up a thousand years. God sends an unnamed angel (Angel Bob)… for that task.

V13 “Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.”

I do wish this verse read differently. Instead of Satan departing from Jesus until an opportune time.

I would much prefer if Satan was defeated and exploded… or some angelic nuke fell on his head. Or he became a pillar of salt that Jesus took a baseball bat to.

Selfishly… I would have rather seen the end of Satan. I don’t existing at the same time as him.

I wish we read what is in Rev 20… that he were tossed in the lake of fire.

But God still has a purpose for Satan, but Satan’s day is coming… and he knows it. So, be sober, be vigilant.

Know that Satan doesn’t come as a red skinned, with horns and hoofs… He’s a deceiver… He comes as an angel of light (2 Cor 11:14).

Know the word of God… and recite it to Satan… and you’ll stand victorious.

And I love the simplicity of how the next verse begins…

(worship team please come)

V14 “Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.”

Jesus was led into the temptation by the Spirit… and now that He overcame temptation… He returns to begin His public ministry “in the power of the Spirit.”

Acts 1:8 promises believers, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Ministry is effective when a Holy Spirit empowered believer is a witness to Jesus wherever they go.

I pray that is you… as you enter this week ahead.

Let’s pray!

If you need prayer for anything, we will have people to pray with you on the sides before you go.

The LORD bless you and keep you;

The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you;

The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’

God bless you in this week ahead!