Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Luke 4

Jesus is in the desert for a period of forty days. This probably parallels Israel’s experience in the desert after the exodus; it may also allude to Moses’ forty days without food on the mountain . The parallel with Israel becomes stronger if it is meant as a comparison between Israel as God’s “son” (Exodus 4:22–23; Hosea 11:1), who failed when tested, and Jesus as his unique Son, who conquered temptation. God led Israel into the desert; likewise the Spirit led Jesus. In the former case, God tested his people; now God allows the devil to tempt his Son. It is important here to distinguish between three kinds of tempting.

(1) Satan tempts people, i.e., lures them to do evil. God never does this nor can he himself be tempted in this way (James 1:13).

(2) People may tempt (test) God in the sense of provoking him through unreasonable demands contrary to faith. This is what Israel did in the desert (cf. v.12).

(3) God tests (but does not tempt) his people, as he did in the desert (Exodus 16:4). In this temptation by the devil, the Lord Jesus shows the validity of what God had just said of him: “With you I am well pleased” (3:22). In this section we see several contrasts. Israel failed God’s test, while Jesus fully obeyed his Father. John also contrasts Jesus, who is both filled with and led by the Spirit (note Luke’s emphasis on the Spirit), and the devil, who opposes both Christ and the Spirit. Finally, Luke implies a contrast between Jesus as “hungry,” i.e., physically empty, and yet as “full of the Spirit.” Our own experience is usually the reverse.

Jesus is in the desert for a period of forty days. This probably parallels Israel’s experience in the desert after the exodus; it may also allude to Moses’ forty days without food on the mountain . The parallel with Israel becomes stronger if it is meant as a comparison between Israel as God’s “son” (Exodus 4:22–23; Hosea 11:1), who failed when tested, and Jesus as his unique Son, who conquered temptation. God led Israel into the desert; likewise the Spirit led Jesus. In the former case, God tested his people; now God allows the devil to tempt his Son. It is important here to distinguish between three kinds of tempting.

(1) Satan tempts people, i.e., lures them to do evil. God never does this nor can he himself be tempted in this way (James 1:13).

(2) People may tempt (test) God in the sense of provoking him through unreasonable demands contrary to faith. This is what Israel did in the desert (cf. v.12).

(3) God tests (but does not tempt) his people, as he did in the desert (Exodus 16:4). In this temptation by the devil, the Lord Jesus shows the validity of what God had just said of him: “With you I am well pleased” (3:22). In this section we see several contrasts. Israel failed God’s test, while Jesus fully obeyed his Father. John also contrasts Jesus, who is both filled with and led by the Spirit (note Luke’s emphasis on the Spirit), and the devil, who opposes both Christ and the Spirit. Finally, Luke implies a contrast between Jesus as “hungry,” i.e., physically empty, and yet as “full of the Spirit.” Our own experience is usually the reverse.

The “devil” (Gk 1333) has several names in the Bible: notably the OT name “Satan” (e.g., 4:8; 10:18; 11:18). He opposes God and God’s servants (1 Chronicles 21:1; Job 1:6–12; Job 2:1–7; Zechariah 3:1–2). He may seem to be ubiquitous but is not omnipresent. Sometimes he works indirectly through the evil spirits who form his domain (cf. 11:14–20). The devil begins his temptation by picking up on the declaration of Jesus’ sonship in 3:22. The reference to bread is probably a temptation for Jesus to satisfy his own need and gratify himself. But since bread is not inherently evil (cf. 11:3), the main issue is not one of allurement to perverted self-gratification (as in Jas 1:14– 15), but a challenge to act apart from faithful dependence on God. Jesus’ reply is brief, a partial quotation of Dt 8:2, where Moses was reminding Israel of God’s testing of them for forty years. The next verse specifically refers to hunger and the provision of manna, which the Lord gave Israel so that the people might know that humans need not merely bread but the sustaining word of God. Thus, while he is being “tempted” (GK 4279) by the devil, Jesus is also proving faithful to God, in contrast to Israel’s response when they were “tested” by God in the desert. Jesus is dependent on God and obedient to his word.

The “devil” (Gk 1333) has several names in the Bible: notably the OT name “Satan” (e.g., 4:8; 10:18; 11:18). He opposes God and God’s servants (1 Chronicles 21:1; Job 1:6–12; Job 2:1–7; Zechariah 3:1–2). He may seem to be ubiquitous but is not omnipresent. Sometimes he works indirectly through the evil spirits who form his domain (cf. 11:14–20). The devil begins his temptation by picking up on the declaration of Jesus’ sonship in 3:22. The reference to bread is probably a temptation for Jesus to satisfy his own need and gratify himself. But since bread is not inherently evil (cf. 11:3), the main issue is not one of allurement to perverted self-gratification (as in Jas 1:14– 15), but a challenge to act apart from faithful dependence on God. Jesus’ reply is brief, a partial quotation of Dt 8:2, where Moses was reminding Israel of God’s testing of them for forty years. The next verse specifically refers to hunger and the provision of manna, which the Lord gave Israel so that the people might know that humans need not merely bread but the sustaining word of God. Thus, while he is being “tempted” (GK 4279) by the devil, Jesus is also proving faithful to God, in contrast to Israel’s response when they were “tested” by God in the desert. Jesus is dependent on God and obedient to his word.

The second temptation involves similar issues. In a vision, the devil takes Jesus to a “high place” and offers him the world. Once again, what the devil offered was legitimate in itself. The Messiah would one day rule all the world, possessing all “authority and splendor.” In this temptation the devil claims to possess the world, a claim that Jesus neither challenges nor acknowledges. Had Jesus accepted the devil’s offer, our salvation would have been impossible. First, Jesus would have sinned by giving worship to the devil and thus could not have offered himself a perfect sacrifice for our sins. Second, Scripture teaches that the Messiah should first suffer and only then “enter his glory” (24:26). Had Jesus listened, he would have been avoiding the Cross. By quoting Dt 6:13, Jesus responded as the perfect human being should respond, worshiping and serving God alone. Both of the OT texts Jesus quoted so far (vv.4, 8) are more than weapons against the devil; they apply to Jesus himself.