Jesus As A Man

Introduction

Alright everyone, we are going to dive right into it today. I think this message tonight is pretty straight forward and simple…and flows right out of last week’s message.

If you weren’t here, or you need a refresher, last week we began our first real dive into the Gospel of Luke.

I told you we’d be meeting every week in this gospel to learn more of who Jesus is. And last week we titled the message Jesus As The Prophesied One.

Meaning, he was this long awaited savior that had been predicted and prophesied about for thousands of years. We looked at what that meant for not only the Jews of that time, but for us now.

There was a big focus on the need to repent and believe in Jesus as the one whom God has promised for our salvation.

That was Luke 3, but Luke doesn’t end with that account. Go ahead and open your bibles or get your device out and turn to Luke chapter 4. We are actually going to be looking at the end of Chapter 3 first, so make sure you have that in view as well.

Now, go ahead and take a look at Luke 3 verse 23.

Right there, Luke states that Jesus was about 30 years old when we began his ministry (which is what is about to kick off in the following chapters), and Luke goes on to list Jesus’ entire Genealogy from Jesus to Adam…the first man created by God.

There’s a ton of reason why Luke could have chosen to put this here. Some of them are certainly to prove that Jesus actually existed, that he was a jew, that he descended from the line of David…all things that accent what we talked about last week, with Jesus as the Prophesied One.

But here’s the reason we are going to focus on tonight…Luke’s writing of the geneaology, and stating how old Jesus was…emphasizes that Jesus was a man. Not, male. A man. As in human.

That’s the focus of tonight…and tonight’s message Title. Luke 4: Jesus As A Man

Jesus was 100% man. and 100% God. If that intriques you and you’d love to know more about how we come to that, and how all that works, and you want to talk about some of the questions that arise from that…stick around. Because in the coming weeks we will be talking about Jesus as God, and that’s where we will dive into some of these complications.

But for now, Luke is showing us that Jesus was a man. He was human.

He ate, slept, breathed, walked....all of it.

And tonight, we are going to talk through 3 implications of what it means that Jesus was a man. But first, let’s dive into our scripture tonight.

Look again at Luke 4:1-13

Luke 4:1–13 ESV

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. 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.’ ” And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’ ” And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Big passage for us to cover tonight…but, we aren’t going to break this down verse by verse. Instead, we are going to see just some of the truths that can be drawn from it…specifically the ones that relate to Jesus being a man.

So I said, 3 implications of what it meant that Jesus was a man. Here’s the first one.

Jesus was a man that followed the Holy Spirit.

This is extremely important and extremely underrated. In fact, it’s a fact that many people miss. I remember it didn’t really stick out to me until my new testament class in Seminary, where we studied the themes of the gospels.

And the thing that I’m talking about…is Jesus’ reliance and following of the Holy Spirit. Luke is super intentional to emphasize that in this passage.

Look again at verse 1 of chapter 4. Luke 4:1

Luke 4:1 ESV

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness

The text doesn’t say…and Jesus…being God, knew to go to the desert in order to be tempted by satan.

The text says ...Jesus was led. by. the. spirit.

Which is exactly the same way that we would describe when one of us does something according to God’s will.

When we raise up and send missionaries to go to the nations for God’s glory among them…we say that spirit led them to go...

When we started up this college ministry we would say that the Spirit led us to do so.

When Pastor Rob and his wife sold their home and left everything they had to come plant this church from nothing in 2004…we would say that the spirit led them to plant the church?

Why do we say it like that? Because we are emphasizing they we are human, and we are relying on God’s spirit to guide, protect, teach, and lead us.

We are emphasizing that we are not the divine, but that we are following the divine’s will.

And Luke..in this passage…is choosing to emphasize Jesus’ humanity and reliance on the Spirit of God.

The exact same spirit, that any of you who truly call Jesus Savior and Lord have residing in you right now. We call him the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, or the Spirit of Christ.

Luke says in chapter 11, which we will get to this series, that the Father gives the Holy Spirit to those who call on him.

Jesus says in John 14 that that spirit dwells in believers forever.

Paul writes in Ephesians...

Ephesians 1:13–14 ESV

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

The Holy Spirit resides in you, as a downpayment of your inheritance. As a guarantee…like a finder’s fee. We’ll pay you half now, half later…the Holy Spirit is that half now. A sign of good faith and the thing that will allow you to get through the rest of the journey to receive the ultimate prize…if you would only follow him.

Just as Jesus followed him.

That’s the point of application from this point.

Jesus was a man that followed the spirit. So should you.

That was the first implication.

Here’s the second.

Jesus was a man that fought temptation.

The whole subtitle that the editor’s of the ESV put on this passage is “The Temptation of Jesus”.

It’s the main thing of this passage. Jesus being tempted by Satan. And not just little temptations…but the strongest temptations out there. The root of all idols and things that cause us to worship something other than God.

Three things Jesus was tempted with:

Jesus was tempted with comfort. The comfort of a full belly and satisfaction of food.

Jesus was tempted with power. The power to control all the earthly kingdoms.

And Jesus was tempted with control. The ability to control his own fate and manner of life or death.

Temptations that we today still constantly struggle with. Why do you desire a good paying job? Comfort. Why is being out of your parent’s sight or even their house so appealing? Control. Why do you want to work your way up the corporate chain? Power.

And these things mix together, sometimes we desire the power over something simply so we can control it…or that we can comfort ourselves in it.

The point is…the temptations are real…and whether you’re willing to admit it or be introspective enough to see it…they are real in your life as well.

I just bought a new car. Well…new to me. I decided to get rid of my 2018 Nissan with only 50,000 miles on it for a 2012 Chevy with 89,000 miles on it.

Why? Because we need a bigger vehicle for our family. And just Brittany having the bigger vehicle wasn’t going to be enough.

So…it was a good reason to buy it. One that I would say the spirit was leading me in (like we talked about earlier). It’s a bigger vehicle…my payments will be lower…but it was a struggle to actually think about doing it.

Why? These idols. These temptations.

By going to a vehicle with higher miles I’m losing a sense of comfort in knowing it won’t break…a sense of control in having to trust the Lord that this vehicle will see me through and not be a financial pit for me....I’m losing a sense of power going from a spotless shiny white care to an older scratched up, dirtier, and slightly dented car.

Those are how those temptations have fleshed there way in my life this past week…and I’m certain that if you spend enough time…you’ll see how they show up in your life.

So why does it matter that Jesus also was a man and also had these exact same temptations?

Hebrews 4:15 ESV

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

So…the writer of Hebrews is saying here that Jesus has been tempted just as we have…just like an ordinary human…like anybody that’s a part of the human race…Jesus as been tempted as we have…and yet didn’t sin in it. And so the writer of hebrews goes on to say

Hebrews 4:16 ESV

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

So because Jesus was tempted and didn’t sin…we should have the confidence to draw near to his throne (aka draw near to him)…knowing that we may find mercy and grace…because he gets it…and he beat it...

Jesus was a man that fought temptation. Draw near to him.

And our last implication.

Jesus was a man that relied on God’s Word.

Look back at the text with me. In response to every temptation, Jesus quoted the word of God. What we know today as the Bible.

Verse 4, Jesus says “as it is written.”

Verse 8 “And Jesus answered him “it is written”

Verse 12 “Jesus says “it is said”

Three temptations. Three scriptural responses.

Even when Satan himself tries to use scripture again Jesus…does Jesus try to logic his way out of it? Does he just try to think of philosophize himself into a better situation?

No. He responds honestly with the word of God.

Now…you have to remember…Jesus IS God. Jesus is 100% man and 100% God. So if he is God…why does he need to “quote” the word of God? Isn’t everything he says technically the word of God? Aren’t his words God’s words?

Couldn’t he have just responded with a new command? Or couldn’t Jesus have said “well I say...”

Yeah…he could have. But he didn’t. Why?

Because Jesus in this moment of his ministry, life, and particularly in this passage in the gospel…is living in his humanity.

Jesus is a man, relying on God’s word to get him through difficult times of trial and temptation. He’s a man that has studied God’s word enough to know it, memorize it, and apply it to the situation he is in.

Jesus was a man who relied on God’s word. You should to.

So…just to recap tonights message to help you notate it, and apply it.

Luke shows us Jesus’ humanity in this part of his gospel. What he reveals is that.

Jesus was a man that followed the holy spirit. So should you.

Jesus was a man that fought temptation. So draw near to him.

Jesus was a man who relied on God’s word. Learn and love it too.