Luke 4.1–21
The second talk in a series titled The Man They Crucified given at Kalbarri Anglican Church 15 October 2023
What would Jesus do when he learned he was to rule the world? We don’t have to guess; the first three Gospels tell us. He retreated into the wilderness and fasted for forty days. The question is why?
It seemed obvious to me at one time that Jesus would wish to pray over the strategy he would follow to achieve his goal. I still think that is so, but why this extraordinary fast? We need to factor in the great movement he has just stepped out of: John’s warning of looming judgement, and his appeal for national repentance.
The axe is even now at the root of the trees; every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and cast into the fire.
Luke 3.9
This is no Sunday sermon, warning that one day we will all die. This is urgent. The axe-man is about to start chopping.
His winnowing fork is in his hands; he will clear the threshing floor; he will gather the grain into his storehouse, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.
Luke 3.17
The end of the age is approaching. John is announcing the day of judgement.
But it didn’t happen. Jesus came into Galilee announcing God’s good news.
The time has come, and the kingdom of God is at hand.
Mark 1.14
In Luke 4 Jesus is in the synagogue in his hometown; he announces “the acceptable year of the Lord” . This is the time of mercy and salvation. What has become of the judgement? His announcement comes from Isaiah 61, but he leaves out the bit about “the day of vengeance.” (Isaiah 61.3). No wonder they were amazed at his “words of grace.”
Jesus’ ministry was so unexpected that even John thought something must have gone wrong. He sent messengers to speak to Jesus.
Are you the one who is to come or should we look for another?
Luke 7.20
John was bewildered, and understandably so. I heard a preacher explaining that John was obviously mistaken. But all the Gospels say he was a prophet, and Luke says it all began when “the word of God came to John.” (Luke 3.2) Jesus said John was the greatest man who had ever lived. He surely spoke as God told him—and fearlessly. This is the puzzle that is before us now. And it is serious; the truth of the gospel, and the integrity of God are at stake.
I can only think that something happened between John preaching and Jesus’ appearing in Galilee with his announcement of the kingdom. Is that what his time in the wilderness is all about? Did god change his mind? But can God’s will be changed? In certain circumstances it can. “In forty days Ninevah will be destroyed,” God commanded Jonah to proclaim. The people believed him, the king called a fast, the people repented, and Ninevah was not destroyed. There3 was no change in God’s eternal plan, but the human story is real, and involves a real relationship. Could that be a clue to what Jesus was doing? John has announced the looming destruction of all unbelievers. Jesus has just learned that he is to be the judge. He withdraws into the wilderness for forty days to fast and pray.
If you examine the Old Testament you will see that people fast when they are convicted of their sins and fear God’s anger—like the Ninevites. Could it be that Jesus spent those weeks in the wilderness pleading with God to spare his people—petitioning for a stay of execution?
This is more that a guess. The Gospel writers assume we will understand what fasting means. Also, Jesus told a parable later about a man who had a fig tree that never bore fruit. He ordered his gardener to chop it down. Can you hear the echo of John’s preaching here: “The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Luke 3.9). But the gardener begs him,
Leave it alone just one more year and let me manure and water it—give it all the care I can. If it still does not bear fruit, then, yes, cut it down.”
Luke 13.6–9
Jesus told this parable when he was warning people of the urgent need to repent. He knew that for all of John’s warnings, Israel was not ready for the Judge. He is describing his own strategy. He had pleading with the Father to give his people a last chance, and God has granted his request. Does that explain the great change? Does it explain why Jesus came with a message of forgiveness and encouragement—at the same time as he warns that, if there is no repentance, judgement is inevitable? Does this explain why the early Christian preachers called people to repent, because,
God has set a day on which he will judge the world—by the man he has appointed, and has given proof of this by raising him from the dead.”
Acts 17.31
If this is anywhere near the truth, something big happened there in the wilderness: human history took an unexpected turn. God was about to bring history to a close, but Jesus asked for a postponement, and the Day of Judgement was pushed back.
Now let us return to the riverside and the moments after Jesus’ baptism. God anointed him as Israel’s king—also as king of the world. But why did he do it then? Could he not just as well have commissioned him the Saturday before at the synagogue service? No, something special happened at his baptism; Jesus had to decide whether to go forward as one of the sinners, or to hold back, since he had no sin—perhaps go along with John’s suggestion and become the baptizer himself. But he chose to identify with sinful Israel. He was one of them, and if they faced judgement, so did he. It was at that moment that God said, “I am now appointing you as their king.” Now, as one of his people—as representative of a nation—of a world under judgement—Jesus’ first impulse is to withdraw into the wilderness and pray for our forgiveness. It was an impulse that would eventually take him to the cross.
The wilderness of Judaea is a barren place. You would not think anything could live there, but wherever you go you will find a Bedouin boy with his flock of goats. There are surprising places where water will gush out of a hole in the rock, where otherwise there is bare earth and rock. Jesus had no distractions; he prayed. And yet there were distractions. For, at the very time when he wished to be alone with God and learn about his mission, Satan interrupted his thoughts.
The Jesus story makes no sense for those who do not believe there is such a one as Satan. When we first heard of Hamas’s massacre, I thought of something Roméo Dellairre said at the time of the Rwanda genocide. He said he had never been a religious man, but when he looked into the empty eyes of the men who planned the massacres, he knew the Devil was real. Jesus knew him to be desperately real, and so did the men who recounted his story. Matthew and Luke give us details about the temptations he faced. Mark does not. For him the significant thing is just that Jesus came up against the Devil and was tempted. He says something which does not mean much to us, but spoke volumes to Jewish readers.
He was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals and angels were ministering to him.
Mark 1.13
This reminded them of their stories of Adam. Mark wants us to see the connection (so does Luke): when Adam was made king of the world, Satan stepped in and turned things upside down; now another king has been appointed, and he will try to do the same.
Once again, we see that events of cosmic importance are taking place. When Adam was defeated, he took the whole world with him. Sin reigns over us all. The creation groans under a sentence of death. But now a man has arisen who is without sin, and he too must face the great enemy of humankind, and what will be the outcome?
We easily become confused at this point. We say that Jesus was—is—God, and we have difficulties believing that temptation could have been serious in his case. And just here we run into the mystery of the Trinity and how the Bible describes the incarnation. The Son of God, who is the Almighty Lord who created the universe himself, became a human being—a man, Jesus. So, what sort of a man was he? He wasn’t a superman. He became a man in every way like us, including tiredness, sickness, and temptation; his obedience was not automatic. From a human point of view our salvation hung in the balance as Jesus battled with the Evil One in the wilderness, just as it did later at the time of his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. He overcame in the desert, but not without struggle, weariness, and great personal anguish over what his decisions would mean in the future. And the struggle was not over after the wilderness experience. Luke says the Devil withdrew, waiting for the right moment to strike again.
Jesus was tempted along three lines; perhaps there were others, but these were what he later shared with his disciples. First he suggested he turn stones into bread to satisfy his hunger. Second and third—I will deal with it in Matthew’s order—he challenged him to throw himself from the top of the temple to demonstrate his power, and then Satan offered to make him king himself, if he would worship him. Jesus refused each of these temptations.
Let’s think about temptation for a bit. I don’t imagine for a moment that Satan stood in front of Jesus swishing his black tail. The Devil is cleverer than that. No, Jesus was tempted the same way we all are, by the world, the flesh, and the Devil. Satan doesn’t appear to us, or speak audibly, he simply puts suggestions in our mind, just as the world does, and our flesh. Our flesh is our natural human nature. We desire something. Perhaps we are hungry. There may be different ways to satisfy our hunger and most of them will not be wrong. But some ways will be: stealing, helping ourselves before the time. To desire to be loved is natural and good. We were made to be loved. But our hunger for love may suggest things that are not good—perhaps we should buy it, steal for it—even murder. These are examples of how our flesh makes suggestions. The world also suggests things to our mind. My mailbox is suddenly getting messages with photos of people I could match up with. I didn’t ask for it, and I have tried to discontinue, but it won’t stop. If I took the time to look at them, one of them might appeal: an evil suggestion from the world, reinforced by my flesh. Our education, television, the books we read, the things people say, the newspapers, are always bombarding us with suggestions. Some of them are OK, but many are not. That’s the world and the flesh, but the Devil can also put suggestions into our mind. We have no way of stopping that; but we must fight it.
This was how it was for Jesus. He has been told to establish the kingdom of God. The thought comes to him that he could come to power by giving people what they need, or think they need: in other words, buy his way into leadership. He recognized that Satan was to source of the suggestion. Buying power is one of the commonest methods. The Caesars in Rome kept their position only by games, and dishing out free bread to the citizens. There was a government department to deal with this. The grain was stolen from Egypt. Things are not much different today. Our elections are like an auction sale, each party offering more that the other. The joke is that it all comes from us anyway. Taxes get higher and higher so leaders can offer more.
Jesus was hungry; he had been fasting for six weeks. God had placed the power of the Holy Spirit at his disposal. That stone looks just like a loaf of bread. His hunger is a driving force. Use his God-given power to turn that stone into bread. If he could do that, couldn’t he outbid the Emperor? But no, a kingdom bought that way would not be the kingdom of God. Humans always crave for more. God is the last thing in their thoughts. But the kingdom of God is where God is at the centre—because friendship with God is what meets people’s greatest need. Jesus turned his back on that idea.
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which comes from the mouth of God.
Matthew 4.4
I don’t not know what suggested to him he might jump from the top of the temple—perhaps a high pinnacle of rock—but in his mind he is in Jerusalem at the temple. The Jewish books said that when Messiah came he would prove himself by standing on the top of the temple and shining his light across the land. If he threw himself off, and God saved him, surely everyone would believe in him. Demonstrate your power, show them miracles; that’s what they want. But Jesus could see that the demand for signs was not that different to the demand for food, and entertainment—never enough. It doesn’t lead to trust when God must keep on proving himself. Jesus turned his back on that suggestion.
And then in his mind he was on top of a high mountain and imagining all the countries in the world. “Worship me and I will give it to you; it is mine, and I can give it to whomever I will.” Jesus knew that was true. Everyone alive has surrendered himself or herself to the Devil’s suggestions—over and over. By leveraging this—using his methods—Jesus could make himself king. This would entail deception, lies, terror, cruelty, and war. These are Satan’s specialities, that he uses again and again. Would Satan really have suggested such a course to the Son of God? It is hard to imagine this could have been a temptation to Jesus, but it was; the alternative was to do it God’s way, and that meant suffering and death. Perhaps this was the toughest thing to turn his back on: “Con them; let them carry you to power; then you can fix the world without danger to yourself.” The end justifies the means.
Jesus survived the ordeal. He emerged from the desert still as God’s man: the one human person who has ever achieved what Adam failed to do: stand up to the Devil’s deceptions, and not surrender his right to rule.
Listen to the words of Martin Luther’s great hymn.
Did we in our own strength confide,
our striving would be losing,
but for us fights the proper Man,
the Man of God’s own choosing.
You ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is he;
The Lord Sabaoth’s Son,
he and no other one;
must conquer in the battle.
Jesus emerges from his ordeal in the wilderness as the king who will establish God’s kingdom. He has rejected the common ways of obtaining power. It will be interesting to see how he intends doing it himself.