The King Passes the Test

Luke 4:1-2 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.
 
THIS is the first of five lessons on the devil confronting Jesus in the Judean desert. The first fact to consider here is the Holy Spirit’s role in Jesus’ ministry and the entire temptation confrontation. From Jesus’ Holy Spirit’s anointing at his baptism, the Holy Trinity is at work. The Father has ordained the plan. The Spirit empowers the plan. The Son will work the plan.
   With the power of the LORD God Almighty, wouldn’t it make sense for Jesus to go directly to Jerusalem to proclaim his kingship? Not in God’s plan. There is a different work that must be done. Thus, in a very surprising beginning to Jesus’ kingdom ministry, Jesus was led by the Spirit in the desert  to encounter a human life-threatening trial and temptation. Jesus, fully man, will suffer severe thirst and hunger. He will be scorched with the desert sun. The Judean desert is no place to be without food and water for a few hours not to mention days. Only under the miraculous care of the God’s Creation Spirit could one survive. Our Lord will suffer terribly. Why?
   As we remember God’s Story, there are two primary reasons for Jesus’ suffering. First, God had prophesied the suffering since Eden in Genesis 3:15 that Satan would “strike (the Savior’s heel).” The Amplified Bible interprets God’s prophecy to Satan, “You will lie in wait and bruise his heel.” Satan has awaited Jesus’ appearance, and he will strive to corrupt the Son of God as he corrupted Adam, the son of God.
   Jesus’ suffering is explained in Hebrews 2:10 “In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.” In this desert suffering as on the cross, our Lord would know the profound misery of the human flesh. He would exhibit humility and submission to God’s Word to obey the Father under great distress.
   This obedience is the second reason for the desert suffering. As Jesus resisted the devil amid the hardships, Jesus teaches us the profound power of God’s Word. In Jesus’ miserable, deprived condition, Satan cannot persuade Jesus to move “the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. (Matthew 5:18-19) This is in eternal contrast to Adam and Eve. Satan’s slightest question to the first couple amid the plenty of Paradise caused them to doubt God’s Word. Their prideful disobedience opened the door for suffering and death to infect God’s creation. In contrast, Jesus’ perfect obedience in his suffering would open the door for joy and life into God’s new creation.
   Thus, Jesus becomes the new Adam. Romans 5:15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! (Underline is mine.)
          Spirit-empowered and Word-enriched, Jesus remained sinless. As you pray, “Lead us (me) not into temptation, but deliver us (me) from the evil one.”  know that you need the Spirit and the Word to turn away Satan as did Jesus. He is your King, who has shown you the way to righteous living with God.