Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
11 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
12 Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
Luke 4:1-13 (NLT)
THE LAST BOSS
My younger son has recently developed a real interest in playing Mario games on the Nintendo Switch, but he isn’t quite good enough to play them by himself. He often plays a little and then has a routine: “Hey Dad, a little help?”
He loves playing the games and enjoys the characters, including Bowser, the villain. As in most simple video games, Bowser is the final level you have to beat in order to complete the game. However, you have little dust-ups in other levels as the game progresses, which reach a crescendo in the final level of the game.
When we read through this week’s passage in Luke and study the temptation of Christ, we see Jesus exhausted and hungry at the end of a 40-day fast. Then He comes face to face with the one true villain—Satan himself.
Theologian R. C. Sproul described the scene in a message he delivered on this passage. He claimed that Satan was attempting to appeal to and corrupt the human nature of Christ. Jesus, being a fully human representation of God, felt these temptations on a human level but responded to them divinely—rebuking Satan and upholding His purity.
In an interesting note, the passage ends by saying that Satan was defeated temporarily, but that he would return “at an opportune time” (Luke 4:13). In other words, this was the dust-up, not the final level, if you will.
We know how the story ends on this side of heaven. Satan did return, and he brought death upon the Son of Man, sending Jesus to an agonizing and torturous death on the cross. Then, in His truest manifestation of divinity, Jesus was resurrected from the dead and denied evil its victory.
The significance of this for us is that we have a high priest who is sympathetic and understands our temptations and trials, yes—but also One who is capable of defeating our enemy.
We face temptations every day. Some are small; some are big. Intuitively, I am betting you can tell the difference. What is key for us is understanding that we serve a God who defeats our enemy and secures the victory.
You don’t have to be strong enough to overcome all that the enemy throws at you, as long as you remember to follow the One who is. I pray you are able to cling to your faith in Jesus amid any temptation you face today.
Lee Wilson and his wife, Deanna, have been NorthStar Church members since 2010. They are parents to Everett, Henry and Roselyn. Lee is passionate about sports (Go Braves, Go Dawgs) and has the pleasure to serve on the worship team as a bassist.
