Luke 4:1-13

Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness

1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 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 shall 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; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 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 is said: ‘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.

As we read this, we come to the understanding that the Holy Spirit will lead and guide us.  We see here in verse 1, the Holy Spirit has lead Jesus into the wilderness, as we continue reading we see the devil followed Jesus to tempt Him for forty days.  Jesus did not eat the whole time.  He was going through this time of testing.

Wow, there is a lot just in these few scriptures.  Let’s break them down and run through seeking what it is the Lord wants to enlighten us with.

Okay, we see that the Holy Spirit is guiding Jesus.  Now if Jesus is God, does He really need to be guided or can God just guide Himself?  My point exactly, this is for us.  This scene is to give us hope and guidance and to reassure us that the Holy Spirit lies in Christ.  So as long as we are seeking the Lord and asking to be lead than yes the Holy Spirit will lead us according to the will of God.

The next thing we see is that Jesus ate nothing and that for this 40 day period He was tempted by Satan.  This tells me that we can be on God’s plan and lead by the Holy Spirit and still have a difficult path to travel.  We see Jesus was tempted over and over and over again by the devil of which he was unsuccessful in every attempt.  Jesus was here on a mission, a mission to fulfill the great commission: 

Matthew 28:16-20 – The Great Commission 

16 Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted!

18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

His 40-day journey as described in the scriptures was a difficult road, tough times, a time of spiritual growth, a time of reflection, a time of overcoming spiritual attacks.

If you take notice to this point of the scripture Luke 4:2 “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,” why does he tell us that he ate nothing?  He ate nothing to deny his flesh.  Our flesh is corrupt, it’s not the spirit, it is our sin suit which we need to take control of.   The flesh struggles with the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.

1 John 2:16 “For everything in the world–the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life–comes not from the Father but from the world.”

We are told in the scriptures to deny our flesh in Galatians 5:16 “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”

This is the perfect example of denying our flesh to be led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted by Satan the whole time, all while eating nothing.

This makes me think of the TV reality show Naked and Afraid, only they are allowed to eat if they can find the food.  Now imagine you take away the food, I’m certain none would make it.  Those contestants can barely make it as it is.

We must allow time as Christians for the spirit to grow and our flesh to decrease.  The reason we struggle so much in life is our lack of faith, our lack of spiritual guidance, and our lack of the self-control of our flesh.

Jesus is perfect and this example of how to overcome Satan is perfect.  It’s a perfect recipe to become a spirit-filled overcomer.  So let’s put this into practice today.  For one: Let the Spirit guide us and realize that difficulty, problems, and attacks are not a sign that we are off God’s path.  Two: Let’s build our spirit man by denying our fleshly wants and overcoming temptations when we are weak.

Go be the super warrior Jesus was.  Grow your Spirit person and deny your flesh.