Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Luke 4:1

"And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led in the Spirit in the wilderness" — Luke 4:1 (ASV)

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.