Luke
4:1-13 Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the Devil.
(Parallel passage in Matthew 4:1-11 is essentially the same). The Devil tempts
Him three times, and each time Jesus responds with a quote from Deuteronomy.
(Luke 4:4 Jesus quotes Deut 8:3, Luke 4:8 Jesus quotes Deut 6:13, and Luke 4:12
Jesus quotes Deut 6:16) In the third temptation the Devil twists a verse from
the Law (Luke 1:11-Satan quotes Psalm 91:12) to tempt Jesus, to which Jesus
responds with a quote from Deuteronomy (Luke 1:12-Deut 6:16) that places
everything in context.
I have heard it suggested that these
three temptations map to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the
boastful pride of life. There is some substantiation for this interpretation.
After fasting forty days, turning stones into bread so He could eat would
satisfy a natural fleshly appetite. And there is nothing wrong with this
appetite, except that the Holy Spirit had led Jesus into the wilderness so it
would have been a failure to do what the Holy Spirit said. And so it is with
all of our bodily appetites. Food was created for the stomach and the stomach
for food. (I Cor 6:13) Later, in John 4:32,34 Jesus will explain to His
disciples that doing the will of the Father is food that they do not
understand. Fasting enables us to experience this truth of transcendence. There
is nothing wrong with physical food that nourishes the body, but when we obey
the leading of the Holy Spirit, we receive spiritual nutrition.
We should not pass by the lusts of the
flesh that modern man is tempted by. Although fasting from food is a rare
discipline in our day, we are also inundated with sexual stimuli to a degree
unimaginable to the people of Jesus' day. The media of communications are, at
the physical and transport layers, amoral as to content. But they enable, at
the service layer, and especially at the application layer, the dupes or
willing co-conspirators of the devil to not simply tempt, but overwhelm the
senses of, any post-puberty male with images and suggested activities that sate
the fleshly appetites. There is a legitimate satisfaction of sexual appetites
in marriage. In fact, in several places, the passion of marital love is used as
a Biblical metaphor for the relationship between God and His people. But
context is everything, and the spiritual transcends the physical.
When the devil offered Jesus dominion
over all the kingdoms of the world in exchange for Jesus worshiping him, we
have the divine equivalent of the lust of the eyes. Jesus desired to rule the
world but ... Jesus desires to set everything right. Worshiping the devil
would be exactly wrong. Adam had handed the world over to Satan in the garden
of Eden, and metaphorically, each one of us has done the same thing. But Jesus
did not. And we would be blessed if we do not continue to repeat the same
surrender over and over again. Jesus would eventually defeat Satan on Calvary,
and will one day rule over all the kingdoms of the world, and He will set
everything right. But it will be according to the plan and direction of the
Holy Spirit, in accordance with the Father's will.
The boastful pride of life would have
been exemplified if Jesus had forced the Father's hand. Because Satan had
correctly interpreted Psalm 91:11-12 as applying to Jesus, although it applies
to any who trusts in God's protection and takes shelter under His wings. But if
Jesus had thrown Himself down from the pinnacle of the Temple, in order for the
plan of salvation to be accomplished, God would have had to intervene
supernaturally. The Son would have forced the Father's hand. But Jesus again
quoted the law of Moses, to put this in perspective. And when we are tempted to
show off spiritually, to show our special relationship with the Father, we must
always remember that we should not test God.
There is a difference in context that
should be considered. When Moses spoke the words of Deut 6:16, he was referring
to the Israelites' complaints at Massah (Exodus 17:2-7). In that event, the
Israelites accused Moses, and implicitly YHWH, of bringing them out in he
desert to kill them through lack of water and starvation. It was this insult to
God's character that evidently Moses referred to as putting God to the test.
But Jesus used this verse in a circumstance about forcing God's hand. What is
the overarching principle? Whenever we believe we can put our judgment above
God's, to judge His actions or to try to get Him to act in a way that He has
not chosen, we are testing Him.
Contrast Jesus' temptation in the
wilderness by Satan to Adam's temptation by Satan in the garden. Both were
tempted by Satan but Adam fell into the trap at the very first temptation, the
one about food. Jesus gave example of how to handle temptation, successfully
rejecting Satan's offers by quoting scripture. Adam, on the other hand, saw
that the food was good to eat and partook of it. He chose his judgment above
God's, with tragic consequences. He never even
struggled with the other two temptations because he had already fallen.
What is it about food? Is there a link
between the modern world's rejection of God and the gospel, and the obesity
epidemic that sweeps it? In looking at material causes, some point to processed
foods or the high sugar content of many foods. And certainly there are other
material causes. But behind all that, there is the efficient cause of the
lifestyle that chooses convenience and immediate sensory gratification - food
that tastes good. And behind that is the final cause that the modern world has
lost contact with God and His view of life, so that the most important thing is
earthly or physical needs. When Adam ate
of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:6), he hid himself
from God. So it appears that when Adam decided to disregard God's instructions,
he had already fallen. Food was merely the instrument by which this happened.
When Jesus refused to turn stones into bread, He had not fallen, but remained
faithful to the truth that He knew from God's revelation to Moses. Man does not
live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
When we have our priorities in order, that is passing this first test.
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