Luke 4 Lesson

TEMPTATION

Temptation is defined as:

• “The desire to do something, especially something wrong or unwise.” (Source: Google Dictionary).

Many times, in life, we find ourselves in the vulnerable position of thinking about doing something that we know is wrong.

When this happens, we need to recognize these feelings as attacks by Satan and threats to our souls!

Nobody is immune to Satan’s advances.

Not Jesus.

Not the Apostles.

And not us!

Therefore, it is critical that we learn how to protect ourselves against these advances.

We will begin, by looking at how Satan tried to tempt Jesus and what Jesus did about it.

THE THREE TEMPTATIONS OF JESUS

Luke’s Gospel was written in chronological order. 

From his Gospel, we see that shortly after Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit led Him to the wilderness, where He was tempted three times. 

As you read Luke’s account of these three temptations, pay attention to how Jesus handled each situation, and how He used scripture to thwart off Satan’s attacks.

This is the same technique that we should use when Satan tries to tempt us.

TEMPTATION #1

• “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry.  And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”  And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”  - Luke 4:1-4.

TEMPTATION #2

• And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.  Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.”  Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’” - Luke 4:5-8.

TEMPTATION #3

• And he led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here; for it is written, ‘He will command His angels concerning You to guard You,’ and, ‘On their hands they will bear You up, so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”   And Jesus answered and said to him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”   When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.” – Luke 4:9-13.

THREE THINGS JESUS DID WHEN TEMPTED BY SATAN

Jesus had a common response to all three temptations. 

In each situation, Jesus:

1. Applied scripture,
2. Allowed the Holy Spirit to work in Him,
3. Resisted the devil, and the devil fled from Him.

These are the same techniques that we need to follow in our own lives when we are tempted to do something that we know is wrong.  

We will look at these techniques one at a time, and then the lesson will be yours.

APPLYING THE CORRECT SCRIPTURE TO THE SITUATION

The temptations of Jesus were all different. 

One involved food when He was starving.

Another involved power.

And the third had to do with glory.  

In each of these situations, Jesus applied the correct scripture to the situation and let the word of God shape what He did next.

Of course, in order to do this, He had to have a thorough understanding of what the scriptures say.

That is why studying the Bible is so important to our salvation!   After all, how can we apply the correct scripture to a situation, if we do not know what the scriptures say?

In his second letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul encouraged Timothy to:

• “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” – 2 Timothy 2:15.

Being a Christian requires effort.

If we are serious about glorifying God, we need to put out time in to understand what His inspired Word says.

ALLOWING THE SPIRIT TO WORK IN OUR LIVES

Luke’s Gospel tells us that as Jesus was being tempted by the Devil, Jesus was:

1. “Full of the Spirit,”
2. “Led around by the Spirit.” (Luke 4:1).

While on earth and in the form of man, Jesus understood the power of allowing the Spirit to lead Him.

So should we!

The Holy Spirit is available to us through baptism and is here to help us. 

Sometimes our pride gets in the way and tricks us into thinking that we can get through life’s struggles on our own.  

That is a recipe for disaster!  

We would be wise to humble ourselves before God, admit that we need His help, and allow the Spirit to work in our lives in accordance with God's will.

RESISTING THE DEVIL SO HE WILL FLEE FROM US 

We should never underestimate Satan!  

Satan is:

1. Smart,
2. Deceptive,
3. Evil,
4. Relentless in his attacks on our souls!  

This does not mean that we are helpless against his attacks. 

Far from it!

There are things that we can do to protect ourselves from his unwanted attacks.

The best way for us to protect ourselves against Satan’s advances is to put on the“full armor of God”as described by Paul in his letter to the Ephesians:

• “Stand firm therefore,  having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod  your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take  the helmet of salvation , and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ” - Ephesians 6:14-17. 

This armor provides us with all the protection that we need to thwart off Satan’s advances.

But we must trust in God and His abilities, not ours. 

CONCLUSION

Satan is a worthy adversary, and not to be taken lightly!

He tempted Jesus, he tempted the apostles, and he will tempt us!

Jesus did three things when He was tempted by Satan:

1. He applied the correct scripture to the situation,
2. He allowed the Holy Spirit to work in His life,
3. He resisted the devil until it fled from Him.  

These are the same three things that we should do when Satan tries to tempt us. 

We are not alone in our battle against Satan and the evil of this world.

We can protect ourselves by putting on the full armor of God, as described in Ephesians 6:14-17.

We will end today’s lesson with the following scripture taken from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.

It reminds us that although Satan is powerful, he is no match for the almighty God!

• “No temptation has overtaken you, but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able toendureit.” - 1 Corinthians 10:13.