Luke 4:1-5
Luke 4:1 (KJB)
And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the
Spirit into the wilderness,
Immediately after His baptism, the Lord Jesus Christ was led into the wilderness
by the Holy Spirit. The fact that Jesus was led of the Spirit revealed two major
tenets of this event. First of all, it was God’s desire that Jesus would undergo
these coming temptations. It was a test which was designed to show all of us
that Christians will undergo all kinds of testing in this life. Secondly, Jesus
would confront Satan, the chief tempter and be victorious over him. (John
14:30 KJV) Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world
cometh, and hath nothing in me. This showed that Satan did not have any
authority over Jesus plus these smaller tests and victories would be the prelude
to the greatest triumph over the devil and that would be Jesus going to the
cross and ultimately defeating him.
Luke 4:2 (KJB)
Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and
when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
The temptations did not start immediately but first Jesus underwent a period of
forty days and nights of fasting. No doubt this was also a time of prayer as He
prepared Himself for the ministry. It seems that during the forty days, Satan
had come tempting Him. When Jesus reached His goal of forty days and nights of
fasting, then He had become hungry. I am sure during that fast, Satan had tried
to get Him to break the fast with all kinds of temptations of food. According to
Luke 4:2 above, Jesus did not eat anything during His forty day fast.
Luke 4:3 (KJB)
And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that
it be made bread.
Satan had now come to Jesus knowing that He was hungry, tried to force Him to
perform a miracle by turning the stones of the wilderness into bread. Satan uses
the conjunction “if” and it is being used with the words “thou be” which is in
the Indicative Mood in the Greek which means that Satan is basically saying to
Jesus, “If you are who you claim to be…” Satan wanted Jesus to prove by works
what He said in words. Jesus had just identified with the human race by means of
being baptized by John and now Satan wanted Jesus to break that relationship by
satisfying his hunger in a way that man could not, by means of a miracle. If
Jesus would have done what Satan told Him to do, it would have set a precedent
and Jesus would not have gone to the cross plus He would have frustrated the
Father’s plan.
Luke 4:4 (KJB)
And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word of God.
Jesus would not entertain the idea of obeying Satan because Jesus was obedient
to His Father. (John 8:28 KJV) Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have
lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing
of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. The total
obedience of Jesus to His Father gave Him total victory over Satan. Jesus did
not stand there and argue with Satan concerning turning the stones into bread,
instead He quotes from Scripture. (Deu 8:3 KJV) 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. It was not just a question of the stones being turned
to bread, it was the fact that we are to live by the words of God. The word of
God not only speaks to our physical needs but it also speaks to our spiritual
needs, that is, of a Savior because we are lost. (Rom 14:17 KJV) For the
kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in
the Holy Ghost. Then we are told that God will be our guide even unto death
and His guidebook is the Scriptures. (Psa 48:14 KJV) For this God is our God
for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.
Luke 4:5 (KJB)
And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, showed unto him all the
kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
Now this temptation may have been one of a spiritual nature. There are no
exceedingly high mountains in the area of Israel. This temptation may have been
a vision. He took Jesus to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of
the world. This could only have been accomplished through a vision because the
whole world was in view along with the individual kingdoms and the glory
associated with them. What Satan failed to realize was that the whole world was
given to Jesus by right. (Psa 2:8 KJV) Ask of me, and I shall give thee the
heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy
possession. The true Gospel would eventually go out to the whole world and
when the last one becomes saved, then comes the end, and a new Heaven and new
Earth will be created and Jesus will reign in both of these places.