Open your Bible and read Luke 4.
The story in verses 1-13 could only have come from Jesus because there were no other witnesses. It was a deeply personal and intense experience, yet He must have told His disciples the story at some point, and now Luke shares it with us.
Just think about that for a moment. Today, you get to read about a private and pivotal conversation in Jesus’ life only because He chose to share it.
This passage shows us that Jesus was human. He was physically weak and hungry (v. 2). And He was tempted, just like we are.
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15, ESV).“
Satan offered Jesus a crown without the cross (v. 6-7). If Jesus had given in to this temptation, you and I would be lost forever, condemned to Hell without hope of salvation. Oh, how grateful we must be that Jesus overcame the temptation!
At the end of this passage, we learn that Satan left Jesus alone until a later time. So Jesus has shown us how to get Satan to leave you alone for a while.
- He was full of the Holy Spirit (v. 1).
- He was full of the Word of God (v. 4, 8, 12).
- He obeyed the Word of God (v. 1-12).
“We effectively resist temptation in the same way Jesus did: filled with the Holy Spirit, we answer Satan’s seductive lies by shining the light of God’s truth upon them. If we are ignorant of God’s truth, we are poorly armed in the fight against temptation.” – David Guzik, Study Guide for Luke 4
Are you sufficiently armed for the fight against temptation? Do you carry the sword of the Spirit wherever you go? This is an excellent motivation for memorizing Scripture!
“Your Word have I hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You (Psalm 119:11, NKJV).”
“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7, ESV).”
We resist the devil by recognizing his tactics, discerning his lies and countering them with the truth of God’s Word. And we resist him by walking in obedience to God’s Word. We must become doers of God’s Word and not hearers (or readers) only (James 1:22).
“Satan is not stupid; he will not continually put his limited resources into an ineffective battle. If you want Satan to leave you alone for a while, you must continually resist him. Many are so attacked because they resist so little.” – David Guzik, Study Guide for Luke 4
