Luke
4:1-13 (New Revised Standard Version)
1Jesus, full of
the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the
wilderness, 2where for
forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those
days, and when they were over, he was famished. 3The devil said to him, ‘If
you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.’ 4Jesus answered him, ‘It is
written, “One does not live by bread alone.” ’
5 Then the devil* led
him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6And the devil* said
to him, ‘To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been
given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. 7If you, then, will worship
me, it will all be yours.’ 8Jesus
answered him, ‘It is written,
“Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” ’
“Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” ’
9 Then the devil* took
him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him,
‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10for it is written, “He
will command his angels concerning you, to protect you”, 11and “On their hands they
will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” ’ 12Jesus
answered him, ‘It is said, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” ’ 13When
the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune
time. [1]
*he (Greek)
Luke 4:1-13 (New King James Version)
1 Then Jesus, being filled with the
Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into[a] the wilderness, 2 being
tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and
afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.
3 And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
4 But Jesus answered him, saying,[b] “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’”[c]
5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him[d] all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7 Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”
8 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan![e] For[f] it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”[g]
9 Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. 10 For it is written:
‘ He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you,’ 11 and,
3 And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
4 But Jesus answered him, saying,[b] “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’”[c]
5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him[d] all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7 Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”
8 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan![e] For[f] it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”[g]
9 Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. 10 For it is written:
‘ He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you,’ 11 and,
‘ In their hands
they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”[h]
12 And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’”[i]
13 Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”[h]
12 And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’”[i]
13 Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.
- Luke 4:1 NU-Text reads in.
- Luke 4:4 Deuteronomy 8:3
- Luke 4:4 NU-Text omits but by
every word of God.
- Luke 4:5 NU-Text reads And
taking Him up, he showed Him.
- Luke 4:8 NU-Text omits Get
behind Me, Satan.
- Luke 4:8 NU-Text and M-Text omit For.
- Luke 4:8 Deuteronomy 6:13
- Luke 4:11 Psalm 91:11, 12[2]
- Luke 4:12 Deuteronomy
6:16
ESTABLISHING THE TEXT
Luke 4:1-13 is a rich pericope that tells the story of Jesus being
tested in the wilderness by the devil.
It is a story that illustrates how Jesus refused to be seduced by the
devil and held fast to the word of God.
The New Revised Standard
Version of this text only has one variation.
This variation is replacing “he” with the “the devil” in verses 5, 6,
and 9. However the New King James
Version has a number of variations that are quite interesting.
The first variation between the NRSV and the NKJV is in Luke
4:1. The NRVS says, “and
was led by the Spirit in the wilderness.”
The NKJV says, “was led by the Spirit
into the wilderness.” This slight
variation shifts the meaning of the text.
The NRSV insinuates that Jesus was following the Spirit in the
wilderness as if the Spirit remained in the wilderness as a guide. “In the wilderness” implies that Jesus was
already in the wilderness following the spirit.
The NKJV insinuates that the Spirit’s job was
to simply get him into the wilderness and leave him there by using the words
led into. It implies that Jesus may have
been somewhere else then the Spirit guided him into the wilderness where his
testing would take place.
The next variation is
located in Luke 4:4. The NRSV says, “Jesus answered him, ‘It is written,
“One does not live by bread alone.” ’ The NKJV says, “But
Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by
bread alone, but by every word of God.’” The NKJV adds “but every word of God.” This is completely omitted from the NRVS and from
the NU texts implying that it may have not been an original part of the text
but a later addition added by the writers of the King James Bible to continue
Duet. 8:3 (the scripture where the quote was originally taken). NU stands for “the most prominent modern
Critical Text of the Greek New Testament, published in the twenty-seventh
edition of the Nestle-Aland Greek New
Testament and the fourth edition of the United Bible Societies’ Greek New Testament.”[3]
Luke 4:5 has a major variation between the two translations as
well. The NRSV says, “Then the devil led him up and showed him in an
instant all the kingdoms of the world.”
The NKJV says, “Then the devil, taking Him up
on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment
of time.” The NKJV adds “taking him up
on a high mountain, and showed him.”
This is not found in the NU text; therefore, the NRSV omits it totally. This addition does not change the meaning of
the text but it adds more detail to the story.
It places Jesus in a higher place so that the view of the world is vast. However, the NRSV’s translation could
indicate that the devil showed him some sort of vision since they were not in a
high place and the world was revealed in an instant.
The last variation between the NRSV and the NKJV is in Luke 4:8. The NRSV says, “Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” ’ The NKJV says, “Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.” “Get behind me Satan” is not in the NU text and is omitted in the NRSV. “For” is also omitted by the NRSV translation, the NU text and the M-text. M-text stands for Majority Text.
The last variation between the NRSV and the NKJV is in Luke 4:8. The NRSV says, “Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” ’ The NKJV says, “Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.” “Get behind me Satan” is not in the NU text and is omitted in the NRSV. “For” is also omitted by the NRSV translation, the NU text and the M-text. M-text stands for Majority Text.
Jesus ordering Satan to get behind him
shows that he has some type of authority to cast the devil behind him. They ironic part is that the devil did relent
in his tempting. He had another
temptation to go and after that he left on his own according not at Jesus’
rebuke. It questions the power dynamic
between the two. Maybe the only true
power is God.
Although the NKJV is a more popular,
descriptive, and elaborate text, I will use the NRVS for the remainder of this
paper because of its simplicity and academic accuracy. The additions in the NKJV seem to be
creations of later redactors and this many skew the original meaning of the
text. It’s only purpose here is to show
variations in the temptation of Christ narrative.
VERSE-BY-VERSE ANALYIS
Luke 4:1 says, “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit,
returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness…”
This
verse begins by saying that Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit. According to Strong’s Hebrew and Greek
Dictionary, word full here is the
Greek word plērēs
which means replete, or covered over. Jesus was full and covered, enveloped in the
spirit of God or as the text says, “the Holy (hagios, sacred or pure) Spirit (pneuma, air, breath, soul).”
Jesus then followed the Spirit in the wilderness.
Luke 4:2 continues, “where for forty
days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and
when they were over, he was famished.”
Jesus was tempted (peirazō -
test, scrutinized, or entice) by the devil (diabolos
- slanderer, satan, or false accuser).
Strong’s uses the word transducer as one of the definitions of diabolos. A transducer is a devise that converts one
form of energy to another. This is an
extremely interesting word to use to describe the devil.
It seems as if Jesus is at the mercy of the devil in this
verse. He was food deprived and enticed
or tested for over a month. It is
intriguing that this verse says that although he had not eaten for forty days,
he was hungry after the time of testing.
It implies that he may not have been hungry during the temptation. But if this is the case, was God sustaining
him? Was turning a stone to bread (verse
3) a weak temptation because Jesus’ hunger had not kicked in yet?
Luke
4:3 says, “The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this
stone to become a loaf of bread.’”
The
devil challenges Jesus’ title of the son
of God by using the word if. The
word if puts an element of doubt in the devil’s voice and maybe the devil was
attempting to put an element of doubt in Jesus’ mind regarding who he is. The devil tells Jesus to prove himself by
changing the stone into bread. God has
the power to speak things into being. If
Jesus is the son of God, he should have the same power. Also, if Jesus proved his power by converting
the stone in bread, he would be obeying the devil and that alone is against
God’s purpose for Jesus’ life.
Luke 4:4 says, “Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “One does not live by
bread alone.” ’
Jesus
disregards the devil’s challenge in verse 3 and simply quotes a small portion
of Deut. 8:3. Jesus ignores his human
hunger and fails to be enticed by the devil’s challenge. He knows that humanity is sustained by more
than physical nourishment. If Jesus
would have finished the quote, he would have said that humanity was sustained
by the word of God (see MKJV).
“Since
Jesus has yet to begin his ministry, we may surmise he is struggling with the
nature and shape of his messianic role.
Weakened by hunger, the first temptation is personal but also social:
will this be the ministry Jesus will have?”[4]
Luke 4:5, “Then the devil led him up and showed him in an
instant all the kingdoms of the world.”
The
devil shows Jesus the world in a matter of seconds. It isn’t clear how the devil does this. Maybe the devil uses supernatural means and
creates a vision or illusion. Maybe he
took Jesus to a mountain top like in Matthew.
Whatever the method, he presented the kingdoms of the world to Jesus. Kingdoms represent royal rule and power.
Luke 4:6 continues, “And the devil said to him, ‘To you I will give their
glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it
to anyone I please.”
The
devil raises the stakes and offers Jesus a chance to rule the world. The devil also makes the claim that the kingdoms
of the world belongs to him and that he has all authority over it. He claims that he can give glory and power to
whomever he please and he is offering Jesus a chance of a lifetime, to rule the
political world and all its riches.
The devil offers a stipulation to his
offer in Luke 4:7. He says, “If you, then, will worship me, it will
all be yours.’ Ironically, he wants the
son of the King of Heaven to bow to the King of the earth. This is a bold stipulation. In order to make such an offer, there had to
be a chance that the offer would be taken.
This verse may insinuate that the devil felt that he had more power than
Jesus. “The second [temptation]
is political: will Jesus submit to the
ruler of this world…?”[5]
This insinuation may tie into the devil’s “if you are the son of God”
remarks. Power and authority is in
question here.
Again
Jesus disregards the devil’s offer by quoting Deuteronomy. This time he used 6:13. Luke 4:8 says, “Jesus answered him, ‘It is written,
“Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” ’
Jesus’ answer not only lets the devil know that he will not be worshiped
but also that he is not God.
Luke 4:9 says, “Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him
on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw
yourself down from here…”
Once
again the devil challenges Jesus’ title Son
of God. He asks Jesus to prove his
divinity by throwing himself from the temple.
“The final temptation is religious: will Jesus win Jerusalem and all it
symbolizes…?”[6]
This could also be a way for Jesus to prove to the people that he is the
messiah be performing such a miraculous stunt.
The devil continues in Luke
4:10-11. He says, “for it is written,
“He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you”, 11and “On their hands they
will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” ’
The
devil decides to show his scriptural knowledge and quote like Jesus. He references Psalm 91 and says in so many
words, “If you are really the son of God, the angels will come and protect you
from harm. They will catch you before
you hit the ground. Your toe won’t even
touch a rock.” Strangely, the devil
wants Jesus to prove that he is the son of God by attempting suicide. Maybe he is hoping that Jesus will jump and
become a puddle of flesh, thus ending the battle of good versus evil. Or maybe the devil is hoping for Jesus to obey
God by testing God. The devil reminds
Jesus of God’s protection.
In
Luke 4:12, Jesus disregards the devil’s challenge and answers again with a
quote from the scriptures. This time he recites
Deut. 6:16.
Luke
4:12 says, “Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, “Do not put the Lord your God to
the test.” ’
Luke uses an interesting choice of
words. Jesus could simply mean that you
should not test God by doing insane things like jumping from a building and
hoping to get caught by angels or to the Trinitarian thinker it could be a
claim of divinity by referring to himself as God and being tested. I think the former is most probable.
Lastly,
Luke 4:13 says, “When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him
until an opportune time.”
The
devil concludes his tempting and decides to leave and wait for another
opportunity to test. It is clear that
another time will come and throughout Luke the persecutors of Jesus also waited
for opportune times to arrest him (see Luke 11:14-23).
THEMATIC AND NARRATIVE ANALYSIS
The major theme presented in this
passage is the temptation of the world (the devil) and duty of God (quoting of
scripture). The entire passage is a
battle between flesh and spirit. The
first temptation temps hunger with food.
The second tempts poverty with power and the last one tempts the mortal
and immortal.
The story begins when Jesus is led
into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit.
The narrative tells us that Jesus had not eaten for forty days and then
he was famished. The devil then enters
the picture telling Jesus to turn the rocks into bread. “The singular form of bread implies that the
primary question here is whether Jesus will trust God to supply his needs.”[7]
The devil plays on the human need for food and challenges Jesus to use
his “son of God” power to make some. “The
Greek text could more literally be translated “since you are the son of God”;
the point at issue, then, is not whether Jesus is God’s son, but rather how
Jesus’ status and power before God are to be employed.”[8]
Jesus passes this test by subduing the flesh and nourishing his spirit
by quoting scripture.
The
devil then shows Jesus a vision of the realms of the world. By doing this, he attempts to seduce Jesus
with material riches and power. He
offers Jesus glory and authority over the kingdoms of earth. He offers a material kingdom if Jesus will
only worship him. Jesus is not
interested in material gain and retorts with another scripture stating that
only God should be worshiped and only him.
Again spiritual prevails over the material.
Next
the devil takes him to the temple, the holiest monument to Israelites and tells
Jesus to sacrifice his flesh in faith that the spiritual will rescue him. He tells Jesus to trust his “son of God”
status and prove his power by jumping from the temple so the angels will catch
him. Once again, Jesus quotes
scripture. He passes the test by not
letting the mortal test the immortal.
FINAL INTERPRETATION
“In
spite of the prophesies
regarding Jesus and the preparations…it remains for Jesus to fully embrace his
status and mission as Son of God. This scene thus establishes his commitment and competence to set
forth with his ministry and message by demonstrating his resolve and authority
in the context of diabolic testing.”[9]
This is reminiscent
of Israel
being tested in the wilderness for forty years except that Jesus submitted to
God and Israel
rebelled.
The temptation passage in Luke is
there to show that Jesus is who he claims to be. It serves as a training ground for him to
face the trials and tribulations in his future.
Jesus is presented with tempting scenarios and he succeeds in standing
on the word of God to overcome the devil.
The devil challenges his very identity. Jesus is able to overcome the sinister power
of the devil by refusing to operate independently from God. Jesus uses his power of scripture as his
foundation to withstand the temptations the devil presents. This passage continues the first three
chapters which establish that the Son of God has come into the world. Luke 4:1-13 serves as proof of identity. It reveals that Jesus was filled with the
spirit of God and that he is strong enough to withstand anything. This passage is a rite of passage. Jesus is tested so that he is ready to do
what God requires of him. It prepares
him to walk in God’s purpose, God’s way, and not the way of the devil or the
world.
The devil in this passage symbolizes
the physical world. The gospel of Luke
speaks about materialism and the worries of the flesh throughout. The first temptations magnify many of Luke’s
motifs of worrying about nourishment (6:25, 11:3, 12:22) and seeking riches
(6:24, 12:33-34, 16:19-31). By passing
the devil’s tests, Jesus overcomes his human needs and depends totally on the
word of God. “Jesus demonstrates not only his ability to resist the devil, but
also his allegiance to God.”[10]
If Jesus would have given into the
devil,l he would have been disobedient to God by not trusting God to sustain him
in the first temptation. “The spirit led
him into the wilderness to prepare him for his ministry so eating at Satan’s
instruction would have shown lack of faith in the Father.”[11] By choosing temporary worldly power
and avoiding the cross over eternal power in death and resurrection, in the
second temptation would have been a blatant disregard of God’s purpose. And, by testing God and not trusting him, the
third temptation would have also been detrimental to his ministry. This pericope’s purpose is to teach trust and
obedience. It emphasized God over
glory.
Luke’s overall goal is to set the
stage for Jesus to emerge as the true messiah.
Luke reveals a man who is subject to the human condition and who can
overcome it by trusting in God. Jesus in
the temptation narrative is someone who is tempted but has no fear of the
tempter. Jesus stands his ground each
time something is presented to him and he answers each enticement with
scripture. The power dynamic between
Jesus and the devil is a curious one.
One does not appear to be more powerful than the other. There a few scriptures in Luke where Jesus’
power is related to the devils (Luke 11:14-23).
However, the only true power
shown is the power of God’s word to counter the devil’s offers. In the end, Jesus is left to himself and the
devil goes away plotting their next encounter. This flows with Luke’s warning to stay
prepared.
Bibliography
BibleGateway.com.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+4&version=NKJV (accessed
April 19, 2010).
Day, Colin A. Roget's
Thesaurus of the Bible. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2003.
Horton, David. The
Portable Seminary. Bloomington: Bethany House, 2006.
MacDonald, William. Believer's
Bible Comentary. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995.
Mays, James. Harper's
Bible Commentary. San Franciso: Harper & Row Publishers, 1988.
Miller, Stephen M. The
Complete Guide to the Bible. Uhrichsville: Barbour Publishing, 2007.
New Revised Standard
Version with Apocrypha. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1989.
Oremus Bible
Browser. February 10, 2011.
http://bible.oremus.org/ (accessed April 19, 2011).
Radmacher, Earl, and
Ron Allen and H. Wayne House. Compact Bible Commentary . Nashville:
Publishers, 2004.
Strong, James. The
New Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson
Publishers, 1990.
Tenny, Merrill C. Pictoral
Bible Dictionary. Nashville: The Southwestern Company, 1974.
The MacArthur Study
Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson,
Inc., 1997.
The Nelson Study
Bible New King James Version.
Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1997.
The New Interpreters
Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version with Apocrypha . Nashville: Abingdon, 2003.
The New Oxford
Annotated Bible with The Apocrypha: New Revised Standard Version. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.
Wray, T.J., and Gregory
Mobley. The Birth of Satan: Tracing the Devil's Biblical Roots. New
York: Palgrave MacMillian, 2005.
Youngblood, R. F. Nelson's
New Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers,
1995.
[1]
(Oremus
Bible Browser 2011)
[2]
(BibleGateway.com n.d.)
[3]
(The
MacArthur Study Bible 1997)
[4]
(Mays p.
1019)
[5]
(Mays
p.1019)
[6]
(Mays p.
1019s)
[7]
(The New
Interpreters Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version with Apocrypha, p. 1859)
[8]
Ibid.
[9]
(The New
Interpreters Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version with Apocrypha, p. 1859)
[10]
(Radmacher and House, p. 711)
[11]
(The
Nelson Study Bible New King James Version, p. 1694)
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