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Luke’s gospel, together with the Acts of the Apostles—the
second volume of Luke’s work—is dominated and driven by the theme
of God’s mission to save the world. Luke is, indeed, a narrative work,
which warns the reader, and not least the preacher, that each paragraph, each
event, must be read in the light of its connection with all of the others.
It is in the story as a whole that the message is to be found. Conversely,
each paragraph is to be read and, indeed, interrogated, so as to discover
its individual contribution to the message as a whole. In this way, the whole
and the parts serve as a system of checks and balances upon each other.
There is widespread agreement—as implied above—that
the controlling theme of Luke (and Acts also) is the coming of the salvation
of God. This is the climactic note sounded at the end of the work. “Let
it be known to you then that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles;
they will listen” (Acts 28:28). Significantly, for Luke’s gospel
as a whole as well as the passage we are studying, the same note reverberates
through the first two chapters. “My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior”
(Luke 1:47). “To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior”
(Luke 2:11). “[God] has raised up a mighty savior for us” (Luke
1:69. Cf. Verses 71, 77). Simeon takes the child Jesus in his arms and blesses
God, saying: “my eyes have seen your salvation” (Luke 2:30).
The gospel begins with an explosion of prophetic activity, recounted
in the first two chapters, which indicate that something new and decisive
in God’s saving mission is about to begin. This revolves around two personages
crucially important in the history of salvation: John the Baptist—the
Foreteller; and Jesus—the One Foretold. John’s foretelling ministry,
and Jesus’ work as the One Foretold will have a single consequence: “All
flesh shall see the salvation of God” (Luke 3:6). John’s ministry
is the chief subject of chapter 3, though Jesus’ ministry is mentioned
in significant parentheses (Luke 3:15-17, 21-22, 23).
But before Jesus’ ministry can begin comes the test (Luke
4:1-11). God the Savior is not the only character on the stage. The devil
is there too—as in the Garden at the beginning. The devil has his agenda,
and we do not need two guesses to determine what it is.
There is something stunning but also reassuring in discovering
that Jesus experienced temptation. We might expect him to be “above it”.
But if that were so, he would be “above us”, and so unable to relate
to us. The text makes clear that the triple temptations were but the climax
of the first onslaught (1-2, 13).
As to their character: they are targeted on a single point. Their design and
purpose is to demolish Jesus’ capacity to be the agent of God’s
salvation. Hence they share a common insinuation: “If you are the Son
of God.” It seemed to be a no-win situation. If Jesus complied, he had
crossed over and sided with the devil. If he declined, his divine sonship
was open to question. From Jesus’ perspective each temptation was a challenge
to his fidelity to God’s word and will. Was he God’s obedient servant,
carrying out God’s purposes, not his own?
The temptation of Jesus was not just the Devil’s doing;
in an important sense it was God’s doing also. This appears to contradict
James 1:13: “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted
by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt
anyone.” But what James is denying is that God tries people with evil
intent, tempting them to sin. James 1:12 reads: “Blessed is anyone who
endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown
of life.” Hence Luke says that Jesus “was led by the Spirit in the
wilderness where for forty days, he was tempted by the devil” (Luke 4:1-2).
The temptation which the Devil intends will destroy, is intended by God to
strengthen, to attest, to confirm. Hence, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, the
temptation of Jesus is taken up as the pattern of ours, “Because he himself
was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested”
(Hebrews 2:18).
As we contemplate the temptation of Jesus as his ministry begins,
what should be our response? First, surely, awe and worship at the sight of
his unshakable fidelity to his mission. His appointed role as God’s agent
of salvation lay before him, but he would allow nothing to divert him from
the fulfillment of his task. Second, we should find reassurance that temptation
does not have to win. It need not have the upper hand, and is not irresistible.
If, at times, temptation brings out the worst, it can also bring out the best.
The testing of the soul can be turned into a means of grace.
(For a sermon example
from this text go to www.preachersmagazine.org and click on “Sermons”)
The homiletical lines of approach to the passage are clearly indicated, not
to say dictated, by two features. The first is its place in the structure
of Luke’s Gospel. The second is the internal structure of the passage
itself. As to the first: the placement of the temptation at the launching
of Jesus’ ministry indicates that the focus rests upon the function of
the event in the unfolding story of the history of salvation. The emphasis
therefore falls upon the temptation as a significant happening on Jesus’
way to the cross. Hence it is appropriately positioned as the beginning of
Lent. This also means that the stress must fall on the fact that this is Jesus’
temptation, and his response to it.
As to the structure of the passage: it is clearly built around
the three temptations. That there are three is probably to be explained by
the fact that, to the Hebrew mind, three was one of the numbers which connoted
completeness. In short, these three temptations covered the full range of
the ways in which Satan might and did attempt to cause Jesus to be deflected
from his mission. The heart of the sermon will consist in exploring them,
in laying bare their power and subtle attractiveness, so as to disclose how
Jesus pledged and submitted himself to the will and work of God, whatever
it cost.
Undoubtedly, in learning how temptation came to him and how he repulsed it, we shall also learn how it may come to us, and how we may overcome it. It is possible therefore to construct a sermon from the passage on the principles of temptation: the manner of Satan’s approach insinuates that one is not a child of God unless one can convince the devil of it; the essence of temptation—the challenge to put God’s word to the test simply for the sake of seeing whether it will hold; and the way to resist temptation—by standing affirmatively on the Word of God. This is all sound. The dimension of the passage which it misses, however, is the unique place of this sequence of temptation in the ministry of Jesus. Since this is central to Luke’s concern, as well as to the meaning of the passage, it is better to make application of the passage to ourselves in a subordinate way, leaving the focus on the temptation of Jesus. This is the course which will be followed in the sermon.