Monday, June 22, 2020

The writings of Luke the physician starting with his version of the gospel - Luke 4:1-13 comments: Satan tries to tempt Christ




Luke 4:1 ¶  And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2  Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. 3  And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. 4  And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. 5  And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6  And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. 7  If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. 8  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 9  And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: 10  For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: 11  And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 12  And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 13  And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.

We’ve already discussed that the person of the Holy Ghost is the very mind of God. Here, the Holy Ghost is referred to in His person and in His activity. Ghost and Spirit are used in the same sentence referring to the same individual. As Spirit is a reference to the actions of the mind of God it is sometimes referred to as it while the Holy Ghost is always referred to as he.

Here is another verse where the two words are used synonymously

1Corinthians 12:3  Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

Here, we have the Holy Ghost referred to as he.

John 14:26  But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

And here where the Spirit is referred to as it.

Romans 8:16  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

The one sin, possible only while Christ walked the earth, that no Jew could be forgiven of, was ascribing the work of the Holy Ghost as from Satan rather than God.

Mark 3:22 ¶  And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils. 23  And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? 24  And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25  And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26  And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. 27  No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house. 28  Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: 29  But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation: 30  Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.

An important point must be made about verse 2. To tempt is to test or try.

Revelation 3:10  Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

When Satan tempts one, tests one, the ultimate goal is to make them fall. God never tempts anyone of His people for the purpose of making them stumble as it says in James.

James 1:13  Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

God tempted Abraham but knew that Abraham’s faith would keep him from disobeying.

Genesis 22:1  And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.

Hebrews 11:17  By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,

A temptation then is not merely a matter of whether you looked too long at the magazine rack at the airport but a test of your faith, a trial. Only who is it from; the Devil, Satan, to make you fall or God to prove your position in Him, if only to yourself? Job’s entire ordeal can be called a temptation. Early Christians were sometimes faced with a demand that they reject Christ or die. This is also a tremendous temptation, an assault on one’s faith, belief in God, and trust in God as can be an illness or pressure from the world. Noteworthy scripture on temptations include;

Luke 11:4  And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

1Corinthians 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

James 1:12  Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

Satan wishes to have Jesus take the Crown before the Cross and subvert His mission as Saviour of the world. He uses His human hunger to begin demanding that He turn stones to bread but Jesus answers with Scripture.

Deuteronomy 8:3  And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

Then, Satan tempts Him with power and the glory of the kingdoms of the world. God has given those over to Satan and the lowest of men rule over nations through him as the god of this world system (2Corinthians 4:4). He demands worship.

Daniel 4:17  This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

One day Jesus will seize these kingdoms.

Revelation 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

Christ replies with Biblical truth.

Deuteronomy 6:13  Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.

Deuteronomy 10:20  Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name.

Satan then tries to tempt Him with presuming on God, to his sense of self-preservation and tries to create a sense of needing to prove at this time His relationship with God the Father. He quotes:

Psalm 91:11  For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 12  They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Jesus replies by alluding to this Scripture.

Deuteronomy 6:16  Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.

In these things, Satan tempted Christ with the lust of the flesh regarding hunger [see Deuteronomy 12:15 for lust and hunger], the lust of the eyes regarding power and glory of man’s kingdom, and the pride of life with the temptation to display His supernatural power.

These are types of the temptation that disobedience to God put in the hearts and minds, the spirits, of Adam and Eve.

Genesis 3:6  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

It is what the Christian must face and oppose to truly love and serve God.

1John 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

On a note of personal opinion I think these passages teach us that it is inconsistent with being a Christian to be constantly employed with seeking to satisfy our physical desires, to seek political power for self-glorification, or to presume on God’s mercy and love for us.

Satan, who understood the prophecies concerning the Messiah in the Old Testament certainly better than the Jews or us, having failed in his desire to subvert Christ’s mission, leaves Him.

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