This message was inspired by a couple of sermons that I read here on Sermon Central. I do not remember who wrote those sermons, sorry! As is often the case with my sermons I did not write out the closing of this message. After reading the message the Holy Spirit should be able to give you an appropriate closing.
Gospel of Luke 4:1-13
Part 2
We are in a message series on the Gospel of Luke
The word “gospel” literally means “good news”
So, you could say that this series is about “The good news of Luke”
What exactly is this good news?
Simply put, it’s the life story of Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is, without a shadow of a doubt, the most influential person who has ever existed
Even if you’re not a Christian, or even a particularly religious person, you cannot deny this fact
No one life has affected the whole of humanity more than Jesus Christ
Since He has affected the world so deeply you would think that all of us would know a lot about Him, but unfortunately that is not true
Many claim to know about Jesus, but in reality few people really do
The Gospel of Luke details the events of Jesus’ life from His birth to His death on the cross and subsequent resurrection
Luke is written by a Gentile to a Gentile audience
Since the vast majority of us listening to this message are Gentiles I think it’s very appropriate that we study this Gospel
As we jump into our passage today in Luke 4 we need to remember that Jesus had just been baptized by John the Baptist – that’s what our message was about last week – and was ready to fulfill His purpose
But before He began His ministry something else had to take place
Luke 4:1-13 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread." 4 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone.'" 5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 So if you worship me, it will all be yours." 8 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'" 9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written: "'He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; 11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" 12 Jesus answered, "It says: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" 13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
Here we read the story of Jesus’ 3 temptations
Last week we took a look at the first temptation – turning stone into bread
This was basically a temptation of the flesh – focusing only on the temporary
We need to remember that although our physical needs are important, if we only focus on our physical needs we will starve ourselves spiritually
If you missed that message, you can grab a copy in the back before you leave
Today we’re going to take a look at the second temptation of Jesus
Before we do that let me mention that this story of the 3 temptations of Jesus is also mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew, however Matthew and Luke differ slightly
In Matthew the temptations of Jesus are in a different order -
Both Matthew and Luke have the first temptation as the same, but Matthew has the second and third temptations reversed
So, what does this mean?
There are some theologians that have written several pages on the topic, but I think I can sum up the gist of the meaning in two words, “so what?”
I don’t think it makes one lick of difference what order the temptations happened in and it does not change my faith in God or in His Word one bit
Don’t get hung up on stupid arguments like this one – it really doesn’t matter
Now, on to the story of the second temptation as recorded in Luke 4
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 So if you worship me, it will all be yours." 8 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'"
I don’t know about you, but I found some of this a little confusing at first
The Devil takes Jesus to a high place and somehow shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world in an instant
How does the Devil do this? I have no idea and Scripture doesn’t tell us
I do know that the Devil is a powerful being and has plenty of ability to do things like that
However he did it, the Devil showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world
That, in and of itself, doesn’t really freak me out at all – what does freak me out is what happens next
After showing Jesus all the kingdoms of the earth the Devil looks at Jesus and says “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 So if you worship me, it will all be yours.”
Say what? What in the world is the devil talking about?
Have all the kingdoms of the world really been given to the devil?
Sort of
Before we get into what I mean we need to realize who we are dealing with
According to John 8:44 the Devil is a liar and the father of all lies
You cannot take anything the devil says at face value
One of the problems with the devil’s lies is that there is usually just enough of the truth in them to make them believable
That’s exactly what we’re seeing here
So, what is the truth of the situation?
Scripture tells us clearly that the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it (Ps 22:28, Ps 24:1, Isa 37:16, 1 Cor 10:26)
It all belongs to God, however, at the same time the devil has been given temporary authority over it
John 12, John 14, John 16, 2 Corinthians 4 and Ephesians 6 all speak of the devil being the “ruler of this world”
So how can God own it all yet Satan be the ruler?
Let me give you an example that may help clarify things
Could I give your car to someone else?
No – it’s not mine to give
However, if you loaned me your car for an extended period of time I would have authority over it
It would not be mine, but technically I would be in charge of it while it remained on my possession
When you came to get the car back my authority over it would end
This is kind of like what’s going on here – the earth is the Lords – everything belongs to God
However, since sin entered the world back in Genesis 3 the devil has temporary authority over the earth
So, could Satan have given Jesus authority over the kingdoms of the earth?
Yes – even though Jesus, as God, owns it all it is currently under the authority of Satan
So, what was Satan trying to accomplish?
There was a very definite purpose behind this situation
The thing we can never forget is that Satan knows Scripture better than we ever will
He was fully aware of Jesus’ purpose – namely to die for the sins of mankind
The devil also knew that all he had to do was get Jesus to fail just once
One sin was all it would take for Jesus to not be able to fulfill His purpose
This then begs the question -
Why would this have been a temptation for Jesus?
I can understand why turning stone into bread would be a temptation
But this temptation always confused me
Personally I could think of about 5,000 other things that would seem more tempting
Think about it for a moment – how many things tempt you on a regular basis?
Lots
Has any of those temptations ever been to fall down and worship the devil?
My guess would be that the vast majority of us have never been tempted to do that
So why was this a big deal for Jesus?
It was a big deal because of what Satan was offing
Satan was offering Jesus a shortcut
He was offering a kingdom without a cross
He was offering Jesus power without pain
Do not think for a moment that the cross was easy for Jesus
It was the most agonizing and excruciating thing that anyone could possibly imagine
Jesus knew what lay before Him – He knew the pain and torture that were coming just 3 short years away
And Satan was offering Jesus a way to gain authority without going through all of that
All Jesus had to do was fall down and worship Satan
Just once. And nobody else was even around!
No one else would have to know
But Jesus knew the importance of His mission and that there could be no shortcuts
I don’t know what Jesus’ reaction to this temptation was but my thought is that if it was an easy thing to resist it wouldn’t really have been a temptation would it?
It’s very possible that Jesus briefly considered Satan’s offer
It’s also very evident that Jesus wasn’t very interested in the Devil’s offer
Jesus replied with a Scripture straight out of Deuteronomy 6
'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'
Satan’s plan for this temptation obviously fell apart
So, what does it all mean to us?
Is there a lesson that we can learn through all of this?
Of course there is – that’s the entire point of sermons, direct application of Biblical truth to your life
So what direct application of Biblical truth am I hoping that you get out of all this?
The danger of shortcuts
Shortcuts can be very problematic
Have you ever noticed that often times shortcuts often end up causing more problems?
That’s not always true – there are occasionally very good shortcuts
Everything from our finances to our families to our faith
And honestly, who doesn’t like a shortcut?
I’m not afraid of hard work, but I’m also not a huge fan
If there’s a quicker and easier way I’m all for it
But for the most part, shortcuts are not worth the effort
The key is being able to correctly identify shortcuts
I can tell you that there are some areas in which we should never seek a shortcut
Our faith, Our families, Our finances
To be successful in these areas takes time and effort
You will never have a dynamic faith while trying to take shortcuts
You have to put the time into studying God’s Word and listening to His voice
You will never have an awesome family while trying to take shortcuts
You must put in the time to build & maintain relationships
You must put in the time teaching your kids right from wrong
You must put in the time to have fun
You will never be financially secure while trying to take shortcuts
Get rich quick schemes almost never work (and you will not be the exception to the rule!)
You will probably never win the lottery or discover a long lost rich relative
Attaining financial security requires coming up with a plan and being disciplined enough to follow it
This stuff all requires effort, time, and often it can cause pain and inconvenience
This is where the temptations for shortcuts become dangerous
And think about Jesus’ temptation
No one would have had to know – it could have been done in secret
Sometimes those secret shortcuts are hard to resist
But if you’re going to fulfill God’s call on your life you must resist and do what you know you need to do
