The Temptation of Christ

INTRO

The theme of the Gospel of Luke: Jesus is the Son of Man. Luke portrayed the humanity of the Son of Man, who was sent to redeem humanity after the fall. Luke 4:1–13 covered Jesus’ temptation by Satan in the wilderness. How did Jesus overcome this temptation? By the Word of God.

TEACHING

Luke 4:14–15: Luke said that Jesus, filled with the Spirit, returned to Galilee after being tempted in the wilderness. He taught in their synagogues and was “acclaimed by everyone.” In other words, everybody liked Him: other rabbis, teachers, and the Jewish people. They had no problem with Jesus at this point in His ministry. Nothing He had said had stirred the pot.

Luke 4:16: Jesus came back to Nazareth “where He had been brought up.” He entered the synagogue “as usual.” Everyone was accustomed to seeing Jesus come into the synagogue. But on this day, Jesus announced His calling. Mark and Matthew cover the event, but in much shorter accounts. For background on this event, let’s talk about seven elements or parts in a Jewish synagogue service (similar to an order of worship):¹

1. An invocation for God’s blessing, and maybe some singing from Psalm 145–150.
2. Reciting traditional Hebrew confessions, such as the Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4–9 or Deuteronomy 11:13–21.
3. Prayer (pulled from a collection of 18 prayers).
4. Prescribed readings from the Law (Torah) and the Prophets.
5. Brief sermon on the reading given by someone in that synagogue or a visiting rabbi.
6. Benediction given by the priest. Otherwise, a layman would pray and bless the people, such as the blessing in Numbers 6:24-26.
7. The meeting was dismissed.

Hebrews 10:19–25 encourages us to draw nearer to God. Specifically, verse 25 urges us not to stay away from our worship meetings. This is the only statement in the New Testament encouraging people to gather in worship. Although the disciples didn’t prescribe it, they modeled it.

Luke 4:17: Jesus read from the scroll of Isaiah from the prophets (#4 above). Jesus then revealed the mission of the Messiah.²

Luke 4:18–19: Jesus’ mission was described in Scripture, which Jesus read from Isaiah 61:1–2. But Jesus didn’t finish reading verse 2. Why? It was all about God’s timing. This was the first stage, not the second stage. Jesus had come to “proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Isaiah 61:2a; Luke 4:19), but “the day of our God’s vengeance” (Isaiah 61:2b) would come later.

Luke 4:20–21: Jesus rolled up the scroll and returned it to the attendant, then He sat down and everybody focused on Him. Jesus then said, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.” Jesus said He had fulfilled what Isaiah had written hundreds of years earlier. Imagine being in the synagogue that day and hearing Jesus’ words. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had proclaimed, “Don’t assume that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17). Whenever Luke emphasized “today” it was a big deal. In Luke 2:11, he emphasized, “Today a Savior was born.” In Luke 5:26, the people who witnessed Jesus’ miracles said, “We have seen incredible things today!”

The mission of the Messiah was just beginning. Jesus had many things before Him:³

He came to preach the gospel to the poor. This wasn’t just the financially poor but included all those who were poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3), who would humble themselves and listen to the gospel. April 2, 1739, was the first time John Wesley decided to leave the church building and go out to preach the good news to the poor. He left everything they had been doing, left the building, and went to find the people who were open to the gospel.

He came to proclaim freedom to the captive. Nelson’s Commentary said Jesus was going to find the prisoners, referring to all the people who were in bondage. Bondage comes in many forms—money, Satan, guilt. Jesus came to set them free. We have to change things up and go find the people. We have been anointed to do this.

He came to bring recovery of sight to the blind. This could be talking about physical sight. In the Gospels, Jesus did the miraculous. Luke 7:22 says Jesus physically restored sight to the blind. Jesus wanted to see physical sight be restored. He also wanted them to begin to see the spiritual world. In Acts 26:18, Paul said that Jesus had sent him to “open their eyes so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.” Jesus’ role was to open their eyes.

He came to set free the oppressed. Oppressed meant crushed, broken in pieces, weighted down by the world, the flesh, the enemy, until you feel broken. Jesus didn’t fail at taking away that weight. He urged people to, “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

He came to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor (v. 19). The year of the Lord’s favor was the Year of Jubilee. It was the seventh and fiftieth years when Israel’s debts were cancelled, and slaves were freed. Jesus said He came to cancel all their debt—their spiritual debt to give them a fresh start. Up to this point in His ministry, Jesus had not stirred the pot—until this day. Nelson’s Commentary said, “Jesus offers a total cancellation of spiritual debt and a new beginning to those who respond to His message.”⁴

As we draw nearer to the end times, to the coming of the Messiah, we need to know the Word of God so we can pursue prophecy. There might be parts we are to play in the end times, but we can’t because we don’t know the Word of God.

Luke 4:22–24: Although they spoke well of Jesus, they also began to question who He was. Jesus knew they were wondering if He would do the same things in Nazareth that He had done in Capernaum. He knew they were mocking Him. And He responded: “No prophet is accepted in his hometown.”

Luke 4:25–27: Jesus’ next words stirred the pot even more. He reminded them that there were many widows in Elijah’s day. But Elijah was not sent to the widows in Israel but to a widow in Zarephath. God sent the prophet to a Gentile because the widows in Israel wouldn’t receive him. Likewise, in Elisha’s time, many in Israel had skin diseases but none healed—only Naaman the Syrian. Jesus meant the message was not only for Israel, but also for the Gentiles.

Luke 4:28–30: “When they heard this, everyone in the synagogue was enraged.” They drove Jesus out of town, intending to hurl Him over the cliff. But Jesus passed right through the crowd and went on His way. It was all about timing.

CLOSING

Jesus’ mission is to the poor, the prisoners, the blind, and the oppressed - to set them free. His message of freedom is for both Jews and Gentiles. Jesus came to walk this out. The question is, will we do the same?