The Stalker, Part 3

He became hungry…and the devil said to Him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.’ Luke 4.3 

And He led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here…He will command His angels concerning You to guard You. Luke 4.9,10 

 

I like patterns. My brain thinks in patterns and patterns help me compartmentalize and understand life. Patterns help us learn, process information and make sense of things. 

There is a pattern to the events of Luke chapter 4 where we are devotionally reflecting on the temptation of Jesus. Reflecting on this passage gives us a lot to consider when it comes to Living Scripture Daily. 

 

The Example 

Jesus came from being baptized, which models what happens to us when we are saved. We are washed clean of our sins; the Holy Spirit comes down and dwells within us and the Father is pleased. These events happened to me at the point of my salvation as a young boy and they happened to you as well if you have received Jesus by faith. 

Now that Jesus has been baptized, he continues His transition into public ministry by first fasting and praying alone in the wilderness. But He’s not really alone:  

 

The Father is with Him, the Spirit leads Him and the devil tempts Him.  

When it comes to dealing with temptation, it’s all about the depth of our passion and purpose to live a life that honors God; a life of love, submission and obedience.  

In baptism, Jesus modeled for us the beautiful picture of salvation; being completely justified by God and His work in our lives. We are once and for all, forgiven, cleansed and pure in the eyes of God. 

In the example of Jesus’s temptation, He models for us the pattern of living the victorious Christian life for the rest of our time on our earth. He deals with two fierce forces that we also battle as Christians; our natural, human flesh and the schemes of the devil. 

 

Pattern of 3’s 

Consider the three areas of temptation that we all face, I John 2.15: 

1. The lust of the eyes – what we see 
2. The lust of the flesh – what we feel 
3. The boastful pride of life – what we want

Those three forces have caused many to fall into deep holes of addictions and defeat. These forces have caused patterns of self-destruction that have led to broken lives, broken relationships, broken families and broken communities. 

These three forces will keep us busy for a lifetime in the quest of living the Spirit-filled life. But wait, there’s more… Add to these three forces, the whispers and shouts of the devil that tempt us even further. The schemes of the devil include pouring fuel on the fire of these three fleshly temptations. 

 

A+ For Jesus: Our Example 

The devil tempted Jesus three times using these three areas of temptation. Here’s what the devil did: 

The lust of the eyes – what we see – And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time… 

The lust of the flesh – what we feel – He became hungry…and the devil said to Him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.’ 

The boastful pride of life – what we want – and He led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here…He will command His angels concerning You to guard You. The temple was a public place. The people would have witnessed the amazing miraculous Messiah. 

Jesus countered the temptations of the flesh by fasting: a spiritual means to gain discipline over our bodies and subdue the flesh.  

Jesus then resisted the temptations of the devil. We’ll look at His method of resisting the devil next time as we conclude this series on the temptation of Jesus. 

 

Father, we are reminded that we are in a battle. We are in a foreign land for now but our eyes are upon our home in heaven. While we journey through this foreign land as Your ambassadors of peace and mercy and grace, we need to be ready to fight. It’s a tough battle but You have given us humble confidence through your example. Along with your example, You have given us a strong arsenal of weapons to ensure our victory. Thank you that in You, we are more than conquerors, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen!