Temptation – First Sunday of Lent, March 9th 2025
Palpatine, (Star Wars prequel trilogy) White Witch (Narnia), the Ring (Lord of the Rings) show us evil at work, don’t they? The Witch – direct, attack, as well as temptation to Edmund (providing him what he needs food, warmth Turkish delight); the Ring continually whispering, twisting fears of Boromir; Palpatine, speaking to Anakin, saying they are keeping things from you, you can be so much more, you can have what you want…needs, fears, wants / ambitions.
Encouragement.
We can be encouraged. Jesus has faced what we face. Hebrews says:
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to feel sympathy for our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin. (Hebrews 4:15).
Luke shares the temptations of Jesus. Have you ever thought, how we have this story? Who shared it? It is something Jesus we assume shared for his disciples, for us to learn from his experiences and his examples. We all understand temptation, and we remember how Jesus knew it would be part of our lifelong experience as his followers – he included that final line in the Lord’s Prayer: lead us not into temptation but deliver us
from evil…
The Spirit
After his baptism, the temptations take place. He is led by the Spirit in the desert. We note how it does not say – led to the desert / wilderness – but led in the desert / wilderness. GK can also be translated – led around the desert. The Lord is guided through his entire time in the wilderness by the Spirit.
We note also the phrase – full of the Holy Spirit. When we read other versions of the temptations, and we see what Luke adds, it reminds us, this is a point worth noting because Luke includes it as a point worth noting!
Jesus is ‘’full of the Spirit’’. This phrase catches us, for in Acts chapter 2, Luke will describe how from Pentecost onwards, Christians are filled and to be filled with the Spirit and Paul will in Ephesians chapter 5 say we are to be continuously filled with the Spirit. And how in Acts 7 and 11 Stephen and Barnabas are described as believers ‘’full of the Spirit’’ – same GK word used there as used here to describe Jesus.
It grabs us and says at the start – as Jesus experiences these temptations, he is equipped with the Spirit’s fullness. So as we face our temptations, already Luke is saying: Christian,
you need to face these not in your strength and wisdom alone but with the presence, the power, and the leading and all the Spirit can give you.
The Devil
Jesus is tempted by the devil. As a Christian I believe in a real devil, that there is Satan. He is no myth.
I believe not only because the church down through the years have believed in evil in the form of Satan and demons, not just because we look through history and we know that all the evil that has happened – Genocides in Rwanda and in the Balkans, the Holocaust, the cruelty of ISIS etc – cannot have come purely through human selfish interest, and not just because of people I’ve met who have seen the demonic first hand.
I also believe because we have our Bibles – which point to his existence in the Old Testament. At the start our bible, in Genesis chapter 3 we note how it is he who tempts Adam and Eve and they did the one thing God said they could not do, ignoring all the permissions they had.
We see his activity during the ministry of Jesus and also his activity and threat in the days of the Church. After the resurrection, Peter writes “be self controlled and alert, your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour, resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers and sisters throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” (1 Peter 5).
Paul in Ephesians chapter 6, talks of the need for spiritual armour, as part of being a faithful follower, “put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes,”(6:10). And he goes on to say: “when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, ” (v13).
And in Revelation, we see the devil active and violent through individuals and political mechanisms, until the Lord returns. You could say – Jesus, the apostles all believed in a real personal devil, and his demons and that position hasn’t changed today.
So we have an opponent outside of us, as well as the personal struggles we may have from within us.
The three temptations.
The three temptations. The first. The Lord is in the most unfavourable circumstances – he is hungry, famished – I don’t know if he was as hungry as our kids claim to be when they come home from school – but he was hungry.
The devil says: If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
Jesus has just been baptised, he has heard his heavenly father say: “this is my Son, whom I love, with you I am well pleased.”
An attempt to put doubts into his mind. “If you are the Son of God, and God is pleased with you and loves you, why are you famished, and why are you in this unpleasant wilderness, away from family and friends? Surely the outward signs say that God
doesn’t love you, and he isn’t pleased with you?”
Doubts. It is one of his tactics against us. We see it again with Adam and Eve, The devil says to Eve, “did God really say…” (Genesis 3).
There are doubts, that naturally happen in life.
I don’t know what that part of the Bible means…I’m not sure if I can do that role at work.
Some doubts are natural, we aren’t sure, we lack confidence, we are genuinely looking at ourselves and thinking I can’t do that.
But the devil is attacking Jesus relationship with God. And we need to be careful when doubts come into mind and stick there about our relationship with God – does God love me, when all that is going on around me, is not good? Am I forgiven? Does his Spirit live in me? Does God have a plan for me…
Then the second part of temptation –you could say the devil invites Jesus to use his power, and tempts him, ‘’well, why not make things easier, I mean no one is watching. Go ahead, eat.
Meet your needs.
Why trust God to provide, just take things into your own hands. Ever come across those thoughts in our heads?
The response of Jesus: as in all his responses is using Scripture and each time it is from the book of Deuteronomy. It is written: “Man does not live by bread alone.” The verse is from a section which goes on to say: “but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord,” (Deuteronomy 8:3).
It is striking how Jesus does not argue from common sense, tradition or experience; his response is on the Word.
We stand on what the word of God says, rather than on what our feelings say, and where tradition clashes with the Word, the word is that on which we stand, and where experience clashes with the word, we stand on the Word.
How do we know the right thing to do? Many would say: the answer is in your heart what feels right or doesn’t hurt anyone. But Jesus example and model would be, the ultimate answer has to be what the Word says.
So it suggests a constant challenge for us to be growing in our understanding of the Bible. If you don’t know where to start – why not join in with our daily devotionals as we journey through Luke’s Gospel.
It also suggests, that where I have constant doubts, it is worthwhile discovering the verses of the Bible which relate to that area of doubt, so example, if we doubt if God is a loving
heavenly father, then we would search out the descriptions of God’s character in OT or what Jesus says or in the letters etc.… and choose maybe 6 or so, reading them each day speaking them out loud, that despite what the doubts say, what the Word says is true.
We choose to believe in what the Word says, that what the thoughts in our head are telling us. The response of Jesus to temptation is based on the bible.
Second temptation.
The Lord is taken to a high place and shown all the kingdoms of the world and Satan offers them to Jesus if only Jesus will worship him. He is offered the kingdom if he will compromise.
An offer to achieve the aim with out suffering and no struggle. No suffering and no cross.
It may sound completely ridiculous, I mean how would Jesus ever consider worshipping the devil. But think. You get what you want, the process doesn’t matter… does the end justify the meals, right goals, wrong approach, wrong motives. We see these all the time.
You get what you want, but some shortcuts here or there don’t matter. Now that is a real temptation we regularly face isn’t it?
Could be illegally downloading a film – hey they are rich what does it matter. Or driving – hey your sat nav / tom tom / phone tells you there is no speed camera there, why not go a bit faster, everyone else is, and …. What we need to remember, process matters just as much to God as goal. For Jesus, process and goal are together, there can be no kingdom without a cross, there can be no Messiah unless he suffers, dies, and then raised back to life.
Jesus response: Worship the Lord your God and serve him only. Jesus is clear, for all of us, only one deserves our loyalty, our worship and our service it is the Lord. Colossians 3:23 “whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord…” Whatever in life, work, play, rest, family, retirement, church, holiday, whatever, work at it, as working for the Lord.
This statement by Jesus also means: he has committed himself to the way of suffering and death, and he will not bow down to the powers of darkness, but will resist them.
Third temptation.
He is taken to the highest place at the temple. Satan quotes from Psalm 91, and suggests if he throws himself off, “if he is the Son of God.” Then God is bound to rescue him. Jesus’ response: ‘’you shall not put the Lord your God to the test’’.
He will trust God’s faithfulness. He does not need to test to see if God will be faithful to him as he begins his ministry. He will do God’s work in God’s way.
Note Satan quotes Psalm 91. I find this important. Firstly Satan can use or twist Scripture. In Garden of Eden, Satan says: “Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden?” Now God never said that, God only said: “you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” So, reminds us of the need to know the Word and know what it really says than what we think it says.
One scholar noted how Satan omits ‘in all your ways’ from the verse he quotes. Psalm 91 would suggest that that ways of the writer are to be ways following the Lord God… rather than what he or she wants. …
So my omitting, is Satan twisting the promise further – just do what you want it will be all fine, while the promise in Psalm 91 is connected really to living in God’s way, following his paths.
It says then Satan left him for an opportune time. Satan will later seek to tempt Jesus through Peter, and then Satan will enter Judas to initiate the final events which leads to his trial and death.
The temptation in the desert is the first round of many victorious rounds for Jesus. He will be faithful in walking with God wherever God leads him, even if it means testing times, and in the midst of all this he will trust him, be loyal to him, worship him, serve him and lean on his Word.
Hebrews 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to feel sympathy for our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16) NIV.
During Lent after each sermon we will keep a minute or two of silence before we affirm our faith.
In this silence, I invite you to think about… What spiritual attacks or tests or temptations are you facing right now?
How are the whispering voices trying to lure you off course, into doing the right thing in the wrong way, or the wrong thing altogether?
Where will you look in scripture to find help and strength?
Will you approach God’s throne to find the mercy and grace you need…
Closing Prayer:
“Lord, you know the temptations I face,
give me strength not to give up;
Give me strength to reach for your word,
to remember what you are calling me to be,
help me to remember what you are calling me to do,
and with your help, help me persevere through whatever tests
and temptations may come.
In Jesus name, Amen.”