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Jesus’ Temptation and the Beginning of His Ministry

This week’s lesson—Luke 4—begins like this:

To fully appreciate this, we need to recall the end of last week’s lesson about Jesus’ baptism. Reading from Luke 3:

Although Jesus at a very early age seems to have at least an elemental knowledge of his person and mission (2:49), there’s no indication he acted on this information; instead, he lived the first 30 years of his life as an almost-normal human being (2:51, 3:23). But now—at his baptism—this! What an extraordinary experience it must be! What an intense moment, with the first appearance of the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—together, and an acknowledgement from heaven that Jesus is indeed the Son of God. This is Jesus’ first formal appearance as Messiah, and the beginning of the world-changing ministry toward which he has been focused and destined since his conception!

Jesus is on a spiritual high . . . filled with the Holy Spirit. Returning to Luke 4:

Jesus’ temptation doesn’t just happen. Jesus is "led" by the Holy Spirit into the desolate desert of Judea—where he eats nothing for 40 days—to be tempted by Satan. Why?

Theologians compare Jesus with Adam (cf 1 Cor 15, Rom 5:14). Adam was created sinless, but Satan tempted him to sin . . . and bad things happened. All humans have a tendency to sin—so-called original sin. We can never fully suppress this (cf Rom 3:23), and the punishment for sin in death (Gen 2:17, Rom 6:23). Jesus’ task is to succeed where Adam failed. Jesus is also created sinless, and if he lives a sinless life, he can die to take the punishment for our sins . . . he will restore the right relationship between man and God. But if Jesus is ever tempted to sin, he can’t die for our sins, because he will die for his own! Hence it’s crucial to the ministry of the Messiah that Jesus resist temptation . . . and it’s equally crucial to Satan’s plan that he tempt Jesus to sin—as he did Adam! The fate of mankind hangs on this confrontation between Jesus and Satan!

But why does the Holy Spirit lead Jesus to be tempted? Is he sadistic or something?

One of the study questions is to reflect on when we are most tempted to sin. The answer is: at the highs and lows of our lives. Proverbs 30 says it so well:

If we feel rich or successful, we can be tempted to think we did it ourselves and don’t need God. If we feel poor or failed, we can be tempted to think God doesn’t care about us, and hence breaking His laws won’t matter.

But why does the Holy Spirit lead Jesus to be tempted at this time? Because Satan is going to tempt Jesus sometime . . . and better to do it now at a time and place of God’s choosing. Jesus is at a point of maximum vulnerability to Satan’s temptation: on a vast spiritual high, weakened by 40 days of hunger. Set up or not . . . Satan can’t let this opportunity pass . . . it may never come again. So Satan takes the bait and attacks.

We don’t have time tonight for a comprehensive discussion of the details of the three temptations of Jesus. However, someone has said all temptations to sin can be characterized as: Greed, Pride, or Unbelief. Jesus’ temptations reflect these categories.

The first temptation—to make bread from stones in a case of severe hunger—is related to "greed" . . . in the sense that Satan tempts Jesus to want more than God has provided.

The second temptation is related to "pride": Satan offers Jesus all the kingdoms of the earth. Notice Jesus does not question Satan’s authority to make this offer (4:5-7); Satan is king of the earth (Jn 12:31, 14:30, 16:11). The deal sounds very attractive the way Satan presents it: why endure 3 years of persecution and a horrible, excruciating death to have a kingdom? . . . Jesus can "have it all and have it now"!

The last temptation is related to "unbelief": Satan tempts Jesus to jump off what is essentially a 4-story building (shown on the web site), so God can prove His love for him as His son. This temptation is the most sinister, because Satan quotes the bible out of context. That shows why it’s so important for each of us to read and understand the bible . . . because one of Satan’s worst temptation comes from those who interpret scripture to their own selfish ends . . . then demand that we be "obedient" to scripture. We see examples of that later in the book of Luke with regard to Jesus and the Pharisees.

Notice that all three temptations include unbelief—a lack of trust in God. It might even be said that unbelief underlies all temptation to sin.

Also notice that Jesus’ weapon against Satan—in every case—is to quote scripture, confirming Ephesians 6: "the sword of the Spirit . . . is the word of God" (Eph 6:17).

Finally, note the last verse in Jesus’ temptation:

One of the study questions is to interpret that. The conventional answer is that Satan’s last temptation of Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, when—just before his crucifixion—Jesus prayed that God might "take this cup" (22:42). Jesus was vulnerable again, facing a horrible, painful death, for which Satan could give him a "way out" . . . but we mustn’t get ahead of the story.

The gospel of John (Jn 1-4) records what Jesus does immediately after he resists temptation. He calls his first disciples; he performs his first miracle: turning water into wine at Cana (near Nazareth). On his next trip to Jerusalem for Passover, he chases the merchants out of the temple, he performs more miracles, and he talks with Nicodemus about the Holy Spirit and the need to be "born again from above." He preaches in the Judean countryside, and his disciples baptize in his name (Jn 3:22, 4:2). Traveling through Samaria, he meets an immoral woman at Jacob’s well in Sychar, and tells her—straight out—that he is the Messiah. (The Samaritans believed in the Jewish Messiah.)

Jesus returns to Galilee and "began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near’" (Matt 4:17). This is a very similar message to that of John the Baptist; I sometimes wonder if 21^st century Christians overlook the "repentance" part of Jesus’ message, and focus too much of the "love" part. Jesus returns to Cana, and heals a boy miles away in Capernaum.

Jesus goes Nazareth; "on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom" (4:16). Jesus is an observant Jew, just as his parents were (2:39,41): he goes to the synagogue every Sabbath. During the service, he stands up to read, and is handed the scroll of Isaiah, which he unrolls to 61:1-2. Study bibles and commentaries speculate why Jesus read in the synagogue on this occassion—and if he chose the passage or if it was chosen for him . . . but we won’t ask why; we’ll just describe what happens.

Jesus reads, he rolls up the scroll, and he sits down to teach—in the custom of a rabbi. Isaiah 61:1-2 was understood by the Jews to describe the ministry of the Messiah, and Jesus’ teaching is simple and to the point: "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing" (4:21). Jesus is proclaiming plainly: "I am God’s promised Messiah."

How do Jesus’ neighbors react? . . . those who watched him grow and mature for 30 years? "All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. ‘Isn't this Joseph's son?’ they asked" (4:22). The key word may be "amazed." The Nazarenes surely remember Jesus as a precocious child . . . a 12-year-old who "amazed" the teachers in Jerusalem with his understanding of the bible at his bar mitzvah 18 years before. Why does his wisdom "amaze" them now? They can’t seem to get past the fact that Jesus is from a family of tradesmen . . . not a family of learned rabbis. Perhaps they recall that Jesus is thought of as a "5-month baby, " considered illegitimate among 1^st century Jews; how can the Messiah be an illegitimate child? For whatever reason(s), Jesus senses they want him give a powerful sign to prove he is Messiah: "Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum" (4:23); but instead he coins that famous phrase: "No prophet is accepted in his hometown" (4:24).

Jesus then criticizes the people of Nazareth for expecting special treatment—the same criticism John the Baptist directed against Jews in general (3:8). He quotes two instances in which Elijah and Elisha each performed a miracle to help Gentile dogs (cf Matt 15:26), when there were plenty of Jews the prophets might have helped. This is—rhetorically—like throwing gasoline on a fire. The people are so angry they want to throw Jesus over the cliff just outside of town. It would have been murder . . . which means—to me, at least—there was something in Jesus’ words they considered blasphemy, since this was one method used to carry out death by stoning: throw someone from a high place, then pummel him with stones to finish him off.

Jesus supernaturally eludes the mob, and travels to Capernaum. This is the last time he visits Nazareth; and this incident—together with Jesus’ application of the stories of Elijah and Elisha—surely foreshadows rejection of Jesus’ gospel by Jews, and its acceptance by Gentiles.

In Capernaum, Jesus teaches in the synagogue on the Sabbath . . . and the people notice something different about him: "his message had authority" (4:32). In our 21^st century American mindset, most of us fail to appreciate the meaning and importance of this.

The Jewish Oral Law of the Pharisees came from the bible . . . but in reality it consisted of rabbinical opinions interpreting the bible in various situations, usually based on analogy with a situation having specific biblical instructions. Rabbinic debate typically centered on the best such analogy. And when a rabbi was asked to apply God’s law, he normally quoted the opinion of a more prominent rabbi, and based his opinion on that. Jesus’ teaching with authority was different because he went straight to the bible and to the intent of God’s law, rather than the opinions of other rabbis. As we said last week, Jesus’ fundamental claim as Messiah was that as the son of God, he had a superior understanding of the intent of God’s laws (Mk 7:13), and hence had the authority to overrule the traditional 1^st century oral law of the Pharisees.

How does Jesus prove this authority to a skeptical audience? Partly by showing he has the power to do God-like miracles . . . such as casting out a demon from a man in the synagogue that Sabbath (and even more impressive miracles which we’ll discuss next week). Which raises a second fundamental point about Jesus’ ministry: the role of Jesus’ miracles. Jesus’ is not a traveling magic show or "Doctors Without Borders." Although Jesus is filled with compassion, his miracles are not done strictly from compassion. The purpose of Jesus’ miracles is to establish his credentials as Messiah, by showing that he has the power and authority of God (Matt 12:28; Jn 10:38, 14:11).

When Jesus casts out a demon in the synagogue of Capernaum, the demon immediately recognizes Jesus as Messiah! "I know who you are—the Holy One of God!" says the demon (4:34). The people in the synagogue are convinced; they are "amazed and (say) to each other, . . . ‘With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!’" (4:36). When the synagogue service concludes, Jesus goes to Peter’s home, where he heals Peter’s Mother-in-Law. (Notice that no one challenges Jesus for healing or casting out a demon on the Sabbath . . . that comes later!)

Just how impressive is Jesus’ demonstration of power and authority to the people of Capernaum? We see that when the sun sets. The sunset means the Sabbath has ended . . . and with it the travel and work restrictions of the Jewish oral law. (On the Sabbath, from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday, Jews were not allowed to travel—except to and from a nearby synagogue—and were prohibited from work such as carrying a sick person on a litter.) But Jesus’ power and authority is so impressive that in a few short hours the word "spread throughout the . . . area" (4:37) like wildfire. Hence "when the sun (is) setting" (4:40) and Jews are allowed to travel again, multitudes come to Peter’s house, asking Jesus to heal sickness and cast out demons. So many come that Jesus must work all night to heal and exorcize demons . . . demons who "knew (Jesus) was the Messiah (Christ)" and "’the Son of God!’" (4:41)!

At daybreak Jesus tries to slip away to a solitary place . . . but the people follow him! They even try to keep him from leaving Capernaum, so they can have their own resident healer/exorcist; but that’s not why Jesus "was sent" (4:42).

Next week Jesus officially calls disciples . . . including a tax collector. He steps up his healing to a higher level . . . including leprosy and forgiving sins. And he begins to elicit the criticism from the Pharisees that dogs his ministry until his death; Jesus is accused of consorting with a tax collector . . . of presuming to forgive sins . . . and of not conforming with the minutae of some of the more obscure laws of the Pharisees.