Luke 4:1-13
The Spirit-led Son defeats temptation by trusting the Father and standing under the written Word.
1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness
2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. He ate nothing in those days. Afterward, when they were completed, he was hungry.
3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ”
5 The devil, leading him up on a high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6 The devil said to him, “I will give you all this authority, and their glory, for it has been delivered to me; and I give it to whomever I want.
7 If you therefore will worship before me, it will all be yours.”
8 Jesus answered him, “Get behind me Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’ ”
9 He led him to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down from here,
10 for it is written, ‘He will put his angels in charge of you, to guard you;’
11 and, ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest perhaps you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”
12 Jesus answering, said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”
13 When the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from him until another time.
The Spirit-led Son defeats temptation by trusting the Father and standing under the written Word.
Luke presents Jesus’ wilderness testing to show that the beloved Son, full of the Holy Spirit, resists Satan’s temptation by faithful trust, Scripture-governed obedience, and undivided worship of God.
This narrative follows the genealogy that ends with 'Adam, son of God.' The temptation directly tests the Sonship affirmed at baptism. Luke uniquely concludes with Jerusalem as the final temptation setting, foreshadowing future conflict there.
The temptation follows Jesus’ baptism, the Father’s declaration of sonship, and the genealogy reaching back to Adam. Jesus is full of the Holy Spirit and led in the wilderness for forty days, where he is tempted by the devil and eats nothing.
The Spirit-Anointed Son Tested, Rejected, and Proclaiming the Kingdom
Jesus, the Spirit-anointed and Scripture-obedient Son, overcomes temptation, announces God's fulfilled salvation, confronts unbelief, displays authority over evil and sickness, and presses forward in the mission of proclaiming the kingdom.