Luke 3:23-4:13
Good morning, RTB’ers!
Jesus’ genealogy and temptation in the wilderness. Luke’s genealogy is very different from Matthew’s. In fact, only a couple of ancestors are the same. To me the major difference is that Luke had Jesus descended through David’s son, Nathan, while Matthew has him descended through David’s son, Solomon. I’m sure that hundreds of scholars have studied these genealogies through the ages, but, thankfully, it’s neither my interest nor my chore.
There are two other accounts of Jesus’ temptation, in Matthew 4:1-11 and a very short version in Mark 1:12-13. We often hear that one of the benefits of Jesus’ incarnation is His temptation in the wilderness – that He was humanly tempted and was able to withstand the devil’s tests. So, too, we also have the tools to resist temptations. We are occasionally encouraged by John S. to engage in Scripture memorization. Thankfully, one verse that I did memorize some years back is I Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you except that which is common to mankind; and God is faithful, He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you will be able to endure it.” As above, I’m sure that hundreds of scholars have looked at Jesus’ temptation through the ages. For us, it sounds like another good discussion topic for our gathering this coming Sunday, the 14th.
A phrase that struck me this time was the devil’s offer, “I will give You all this domain and its glory, for it has been handed over to me…”, especially the claim he makes that “…it has been handed over to me…” (v. 6a). It is troubling to consider that this world has been handed over to the devil, but apparently that’s what happened when Adam and Eve sinned and were cast out of the Garden of Eden. We know that Jesus has defeated Satan and that He will reclaim this Earth when He comes again, but until then those temptations that Satan used on Jesus will also continue to test us. However, “No temptation has overtaken you except that which is common to mankind; and God is faithful; He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you will be able to endure it.”
Blessings!
A daunting reality, that this world is handed over (even though temporarily) to our souls’ enemy, but a glorious reality that Jesus has overcome all that the Enemy can fling at us! And he has given us these same tools to RESIST, STAND FIRM, and FIGHT.
I loved the cross-reference (in Search the Scriptures) to the whole armor of God from Ephesians!
Here’s the thing about I Corinthians 10:13… It requires context, not just the rest of I Cor. 10, but of the entire New Testament. (Otherwise, I can assure you that God most certainly gives us more than we can handle! We need Jesus and His Holy Spirit!) It requires faith in Christ. It requires a heart and mind given over to repentance and surrender to Christ. That is, it applies to those who are actively seeking “the way of escape” from temptation. So long as we are instead inclined toward sin, secretly hoping not to escape… well, guess what?
We must, in fact, cultivate repentance. We must lean entirely on Christ, our great High Priest Who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:14-16)