Luke 4:1-13
RTNT 2021. It’s true that we can read Scripture over and over again and see something new each time. When we read intently two years ago I had three items that I noticed. So this time around I’m reading the same passages and wondering if I’ll notice the same things. And yes, I picked up again on each of the items that I posted two years ago. (See below.) But there were also two new items for me, clearly the first of which I had never seen before! (BTW, Mark’s gospel also covers Jesus’ temptations, but in a short two verses only that we read a week ago.)
…for forty days, being tempted by the devil. (v. 2a) When we read these temptation accounts many of us can name the three temptations that Matthew and Luke cover. But Luke writes that Jesus was being tempted by the devil for forty days! (Matthew has the devil coming to Jesus only after the forty days were over.) I can imagine Satan following Jesus around in the wilderness, engaging Him on many occasions when He was tired, when He was hungry, asking Him challenging questions: “Why did you leave your comfortable home in heaven?” “How can you think that mankind is worth all the trouble that you are going through?” “Why forty days? What are you trying to prove?” All we typically notice is the culmination of these forty days, yet Jesus withstood the devil time and time again – and would continue to do battle with Satan for His next three years on earth. This is a Savior worth following!
…for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. (v. 6b) Was it Adam’s and Eve’s sin that “delivered” the kingdoms of the world to Satan? And if so, how could Satan claim all that authority just on the basis of one failure in the Garden? These questions don’t really matter. That one failure and their exile from the Garden left us where we are – we are living in that world. And even though Jesus has conquered sin and death Satan continues to do what he can to exert his authority. We are in constant need of that “Savior worth following”!
See also: January 25 / Luke 4:1-13
Having just finished breakfast, and having previously only fasted for only 24 hours, I cannot imagine 40 days! Fast forwarding to your question as to how the devil could offer “all the kingdoms of the world”, you must remember that this was just another of his lies. Having failed to woo Jesus to the dark side, the devil went away, but he was surely plotting his next possible coup… I wonder just how long I could withstand such an assault. Certainly not for 40 days! I am weak and He is strong!