The Temptation of Jesus

When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, his cruelty was unrelenting. What are you doing here starving to death? If you're the Son of God, you shouldn't have to put up with this—humiliation, self-denial. If you're the Son of God, you should be able to look at these stones and change them into bread and have the breaking of the fast, have breakfast from these stones. Many of you are probably familiar with this dramatic episode in the life and ministry of Jesus.

You know the end of the story. He passed the test and resisted Satan's best efforts to bring him down. But are you familiar with why Jesus had to go through such torture in the wilderness?

Today on Renewing Your Mind, Dr. R.C. Sproul turns to the gospel of Luke to help us understand how Jesus' temptation is a necessary and crucial aspect of our redemption. When His disciples came to our Lord, they asked Him this question, Lord, teach us how to pray. And in response to that request, as we know, Jesus gave to them a model prayer that has since been called the Lord's Prayer, in which He gave to them those matters of priority for which they should entreat the Almighty in their prayers. And among those petitions is one that is sometimes confusing to us, for Jesus said to them, when you pray, say, Lord, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

In the very English translation of that text, we have something of confusion in it. In the first place, there is nothing more repugnant to the Christian mind than the idea that the holy and perfect and righteous God would ever lead anybody to be tempted to sin. God never entices us to disobey Him. As Saint James tells us, let no one say when they are tempted that they are tempted of the Lord, but rather our temptations arise from within.

They may be excited and flamed by outward voices, but God Himself never inclines us to sin. And the second part of that petition, lead us not into temptation, is translated, but deliver us from evil, evil in the abstract. Evil in the abstract, evil in general would be found in the Greek word poneron. But in this case, it is the Greek word poneros, which literally means not evil in general, but the evil one.

The word poneros is a title ascribed by sacred Scriptures to the Prince of Lies, to Satan himself. And so Jesus is saying, pray that you not be put to the test, that you may be protected from the hands of Satan. Now throughout biblical history, we see those occasions where people are put to the test, but nowhere in Scripture do we see tests as significant as the test that was given to our earthly parents, Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden, and now here at the very beginning of the ministry of our Lord Jesus, when He is driven into the wilderness there to be tempted by Satan. We've already seen in this gospel the link between the first Adam and now this new Adam. And so we read here in sacred Scripture that after Jesus had been baptized, was filled with the Spirit, His return from the Jordan, and then He was led, He was driven into the wilderness by that same Spirit that descended upon Him like a dove at the Jordan River. It was the Holy Spirit sent by the Father to drive the Son into this place of testing in the Judean wilderness.

It's the blitzkrieg of hell coming against our Savior. On the first instance as we looked at this in Matthew's gospel and others that we see certain strong contrasts between the occasion of the temptation of Adam and Eve and the temptation of Jesus, consider the setting. The setting for the test of Adam and Eve was a glorious garden of paradise.

A gourmet feast was set before our first parents. Of all of the trees of the garden, they could eat freely in this beautiful place that showed no evidence of the fall of nature, no briars, no thorns, no pain, no death. And Adam was subjected to his temptation while he was in the presence of his helpmate where he had companionship and was not exposed to the wiles of the serpent while he was alone. His belly was full.

His partner was there, and he had encouragement and support. But Jesus was driven into the Judean wilderness, if you've ever seen it. It's one of the most God-forsaken pieces of real estate, a place that is deserted even by normal wildlife, not the garden of Eden but the Judean wilderness. And Jesus was sent there not with a helpmate, not with a companion, but being, as it were, in solitary while He was exposed to Satan. Again, Adam was tempted on a full stomach. Jesus was subjected to a fast that lasted forty days. Jesus went on a hunger strike, as it were, that went almost six weeks in duration without a single morsel of food. The Scripture sometimes is the master of understatement, and they tell us that after this time He was hungry. Of course He was hungry.

Any human being would be hungry after starving for forty days. And so we see the radical differences between the circumstances of the test that came to our first Adam and now the test that comes to the second Adam. But as I've mentioned before, and I want us to see again this morning the similarities in the test. The point of attack of Satan on Adam and Eve and on Jesus was at exactly the same place. When Satan came into the garden with his craftiness and with his guile, he approached the woman with a question. Hath God said? Did God say that you can't eat of any of the trees of the garden? Of course, God didn't say that. Satan knew he didn't say that. But the suggestion was implicit there that if He put one restriction on you, He may as well put them all like Jean Paul Sartre.

If you're not autonomous, you're not really free. And Eve's first response was to fight for the angels and for the integrity of her Creator, saying, no, no, no, no, Mr. Serpent. He didn't say that. He said of all of the trees of the garden, we may freely eat.

But he did put one restriction. He said if we touch that one over there, we will surely die. Now the subtle implication becomes an explicit contradiction. Satan said, oh, no, you will not die. God says, eh? Satan says, non-eh. God speaks the truth. Satan utters the lie, the lie that contradicts boldly and clearly the veracity of what God said.

Do you see what's at issue in the original temptation? Eve, who will you believe? Who do you trust? Who speaks the Word of truth?

Who do you trust? And now as the Son of God in the wilderness of Judea hears the words of the devil, the same point of attack as Satan comes and said, if you are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread. If you are the Son of God, what are you doing here starving to death? If you're the Son of God, you shouldn't have to put up with this, humiliation, self-denial.

If you're the Son of God, you should be able to look at these stones and change them into bread and have the breaking of the fast, have breakfast from these stones. If, that is, you really are the Son of God. What were the last words that Jesus heard at His baptism before the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness?

Do you remember? The heavens opened, and the voice of God was heard audibly. This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. God's Word came to Jesus at His baptism, at His anointing to be the Messiah, and that pronouncement from God was this, You, Jesus, are My Son, My beloved Son, My Son who fills me with pleasure.

Fills me with pleasure. And then Satan comes with the suggestion that God's Word is not true, that God's Word cannot be trusted. And at what time do you lodge that temptation than in a time of pain, in a time of suffering, in a time of want, when He is hungry in His humanity? And in His humanity, He has to be wondering, if I am the Son of God, what am I doing in this God-forsaken place? It's a wonderful suggestion, Satan.

I just have one small problem with it. It is written, which words among the Jews was code language for the Bible says. It wasn't just written in the Midrash, in the Talmud. It was written in sacred Scripture. So Satan's temptation is countered by Jesus quoting the Bible. It is written, man shall not live by bread alone. Oh, Satan, bread would taste so good right now, but I don't live just by bread, but by every word that comes from the mouth of my Father, and right now my Father will not allow me to eat that bread.

So you can forget about that. Well, Satan is not undaunted. He then takes him to a high mountain, shows him all the kingdoms of the world in a second of time. And the devil said to him, all of this authority, all the authority that goes with the monarchies of every kingdom on this planet I will give to you because it's mine to give. I am the prince of this world, and I can give authority to kings, to politicians, to whomever I please, and I'll give you all of the authority of every nation that you see. And all I ask, Jesus, is that you worship me. Just for a second. Nobody's looking. Bowel just one knee.

A slight genuflection is all that it takes. You don't have to go to a cross. You don't have to suffer and die in order to be king.

You don't have to walk to be a Dolorosa to receive authority. It's just a little bended knee right here and right now. It's all yours. Jesus said, fabulous offer, but please get behind me, Satan, for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve. Satan got tired of hearing, the Bible says, the Bible says, the Bible says, but Jesus was like some backwoods fundamentalist. That's all he could say under this temptation.

The Bible says, I can't do this because the only one I'm allowed to worship and to serve is God. And so Satan gets it. He says, wow, this guy's really connected to the Bible.

If I'm going to trip him up, I've got to fight fire with fire. And so Satan decides to quote some verses of his own. Oh, Satan has the book memorized. He knows the Bible better than you do. He knows the Bible far better than I do.

It's at his fingertips. It's just that first principle of hermeneutics, and you all know what hermeneutics is? Hermeneutics is a plumber that lives in a popka. No, hermeneutics is that law or rule of interpreting sacred Scripture. And the first rule is that Scripture interprets Scripture, which means the Holy Ghost is His own interpreter. You don't set one portion of Scripture against another. And so Satan ignored that as he said to Jesus. The Bible says He'll give His angels charge over you to keep you in their hands. They'll bear you up lest you dash your foot against the stone.

This is on the pinnacle of the temple. And he says, let's see, let's see if you can really trust the Word of God. You keep quoting to me, the Bible says it. You believe it, that should settle it. And if it's really true that the angels are being given charge over you, jump off the temple pinnacle here.

You have nothing to worry about. Normally you aren't able to fly, but you're the Son of God. And that great fall to the ground if you don't sprout wings on the way won't do any damage to you because the angels can fly, and they'll bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone. Jesus answered and said to him, your quotation of Scripture is accurate, but your interpretation of it conflicts with everything else the Word of God says. And if I jumped from this pinnacle, I would be putting God to the test, and it is not allowable for me to test God.

He's testing me. And I don't have to jump off of this temple to know that the angels will guard me because my Father says it. I don't need to test it, and I don't need to test Him because as Jesus would say later, His Word is truth. And now Satan in his frustration leaves the Savior, but his departure is not permanent, but only temporary. Throughout his earthly ministry, he's lurking in the shadows, hiding behind every bush, speaking even through the lips of his own disciples, where Jesus has to recognize it in Peter's protest against our Lord's going to Jerusalem to be delivered. Peter said, never. Jesus said, get behind me, Satan. That's not you talking, Peter. It's the same old guy. It's the same old message, but I know in whom I have believed, and I trust Him.

And like Job in the middle of his test said, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. And amazingly, in the other accounts, as soon as Satan departed, suddenly the heavenly host that had been there the whole time manifested themselves to Jesus and ministered to him. He received the angelic support, the angelic chorale of triumph that would have been given to the first Adam had he not succumbed to the temptations of the devil. Before he ever began his earthly ministry, as soon as he was anointed for it, the Messiah had to pass this test, and He passed it at every point, not only in those forty days, but up until He drew His last breath in which He said, Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit. The whole world attacks the Word of God.

They're in the enemy's pocket. But we as Christian people are to live by every word that comes from His mouth. Jesus showed us what it means not only to believe the Word of God, but to put it into practice.

We've heard a message from Dr. R.C. Sproul's verse-by-verse sermon series from the Gospel of Luke today here on Renewing Your Mind. We're grateful that you've joined us. We return to this series each Lord's Day, and I hope you're getting to know this gospel more deeply week by week.

You can find this same detail in Dr. Sproul's commentary on Luke's gospel. Contact us today with a donation of any amount, and we'll be happy to provide you with a digital download of this nearly 600-page commentary. Our offices are closed on this Lord's Day, but you can give your gift and make your request online at renewingyourmind.org. Our purpose here at Ligonier Ministries is to awaken as many people as possible to the holiness of God by proclaiming, teaching, and defending God's holiness in all its fullness. We do that by providing quality teaching on theology, the Bible, church history, apologetics, and Christian ethics. Your financial support allows us to continue this effort around the world, so we are grateful for your financial gift. Next Sunday we'll hear about the amazing account of Jesus reading from Isaiah in the synagogue and revealing that the prophecy is about Him. Join us as we continue our study from the Gospel of Luke here on Renewing Your Mind.