Luke 3-4: When You're Being Tempted

We read Luke 3 and 4 and watch Jesus step into public ministry through baptism, genealogy, and a face-to-face fight with temptation. I connect Luke’s focus on Jesus’ humanity to everyday pressure around provision, power, and the way Scripture can be twisted. 
• John the Baptist’s baptism of repentance and his demand for real fruit 
• Practical repentance for crowds, tax collectors, and soldiers 
• Jesus’ baptism and the Father’s delight over the Son 
• Why Luke traces Jesus’ genealogy back to Adam 
• The three wilderness temptations and what they reveal about our lives 
• Jesus’ Nazareth reading from Isaiah and the hometown backlash 
• Jesus’ authority in teaching, deliverance, and healing in Capernaum 
• Why knowing Scripture in context matters more than isolated verses 

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Transcript

Welcome And New Season Focus

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This is the Out Loud Bible Podcast, and I am Mike. And we recently started a new phase of the podcast. We mentioned a couple episodes ago, and we're starting in the book of Luke, because I believe Luke and what I like to call Luke Part 2, the book of Acts, give us a great overview of the New Testament in terms of what happened. We've got Luke, which tells us the story of Jesus. Specifically, I think Luke focuses on what Jesus felt, really tried to emphasize Jesus' humanity. And we're going to see that come into play here as we read a couple chapters of Luke today. And then his second book, the Book of Acts, outlines how the church came to be after Jesus left this earth, and the church being God's plan A for the redemption and the reconciliation of the world now. So we're going to be focusing our reading on the New Testament in this season of the podcast, and Luke and Acts provide a great foundation for that. So let's keep reading in the book of Luke. We're in Luke chapter three and four today. Remember, I mentioned Luke seems to focus on what Jesus felt and trying to convey to us the humanity of Jesus. Not to take anything away from the fact that he's God, of course, but really focusing on the humanity who had feelings and emotions just like us and had human connections just like us. Last episode we read about how Jesus entered the world, the Christmas story, from Luke chapter 2. And even that chapter was running somewhat parallel to the story of John the Baptist and his miraculous birth as well, which we read about in Luke chapter 1. So now in Luke chapter 3, we're revisiting John the Baptist as he's now beginning his ministry, and then we'll talk about how Jesus begins his. So this is Luke chapter 3 and 4 in the New English Translation. In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was Tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was Tetrarch

John The Baptist And Repentance

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of the region of Itaria and Trachonidas, and Lysanius was Tetrarch of Abilene, during the priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas. The word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan River, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, the voice of one shouting in the wilderness, Prepare the way for the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be brought low, and the crooked will be made straight, and the rough ways will be made smooth, and all humanity will see the salvation of God. So John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath. Therefore produce fruit that proves your repentance, and don't begin to say to yourselves, Oh, we have Abraham as our father. For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones. Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So the crowds were asking him, Well, then what should we do? John answered them, The person who has two tunics must share with a person who has none, and the person who has food must do likewise. Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, Teacher, what should we do? He told them collect no more than you're required to. Then some soldiers also asked him, and as for us, what should we do? He told them, Take money from no one by violence or by false accusation, and be content with your pay. While the people were filled with anticipation and they all wondered whether perhaps John could be the Christ, John answered them all, I baptize you with water, but one more powerful than I is coming. I'm not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clean out the threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his storehouse, but the chaff he'll burn up with inextinguishable fire. And in this way, with many other exhortations, John proclaimed good news to the people. But when John rebuked Herod the Tetrarch because of Herodias, his brother's wife, and because of all the evil deeds that he had done, Herod added this to them all, he locked up John in prison. Now, when all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized, and while he was praying, the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in

Jesus’ Baptism And Genealogy

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bodily form like a dove, and a voice came from heaven. You are my one dear son. In you I take great delight. So Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years old. He was the son, as was supposed, of Joseph. Now, of course, that as was supposed is a little nod here to the fact that we understand that Jesus was not biologically Joseph's son. But of course, culturally, he was accepted as Joseph's son, because, frankly, a lot of people didn't understand that he was born of the Virgin Mary and the Son of God. So culturally, Jesus was understood to be in the family line of Joseph. And that family line of Joseph is described here in a genealogy that Luke writes out from verses 23 down to 38. And I'll spare you all of the names here, but the point of this genealogy is to help, again, prove the humanity of Jesus. And it also serves people to recognize that he is the Messiah. He fits the genealogy that was understood the Messiah to come from, where we see that Jesus, the son of Joseph, was also in the family line of King David, who, and that was an understanding that the Messiah would come from the kingly line of David. And David, of course, was in the family line of Judah, the son of Jacob, is the tribe of Judah, who is the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham. And Luke even goes beyond Abraham to all the way to he was the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. So Luke traces Jesus' genealogy all the way back to the first human. So while Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit making him fully God, Luke is emphasizing the point that he also was adopted into this family line of Joseph, making him fully man and fully king. Therefore, all things considered, fully Messiah. Let's keep reading here in Luke chapter four. Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he endured temptations from the devil.

Temptation In The Wilderness

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He ate nothing during those days, and when they were completed he was famished. The devil said to him, If you are the Son of Man, command this stone to become bread. Jesus answered him, It's written, Man doesn't live by bread alone. Then the devil led him up to a high place and showed him in a flash all the kingdoms of the world, and he said to him, To you I'll grant this whole realm and the glory that goes along with it, for it's been relinquished to me, and I can give it to anyone I wish. So then if you'll worship me, all this will be yours. Jesus answered him, It's written, You are to worship the Lord your God and serve only him. Then the devil brought him to Jerusalem, had him stand on the highest point of the temple, and said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written He will command his angels concerning you to protect you, and with their hands they'll lift you up so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. Jesus answered him, It is said you are not to put the Lord your God to the test. So when the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from him until a more opportune time. Then Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and news about him spread throughout the surrounding countryside. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by all. Now Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom, and he stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah

Nazareth Rejects Jesus’ Mission

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was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and the regaining of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him, and then he began to tell them Today this scripture has been fulfilled even as you heard it being read. All were speaking well of him and were amazed at the gracious words coming out of his mouth. And they said, Isn't this Joseph's son? Jesus said to them, No doubt you'll quote me the proverb, Physician heal thyself, and say, What we've heard that you did in Capernaum, do here in your hometown too. And he added, I tell you the truth, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's day, when the sky was shut up three and a half years, and there was a great famine over all the land. Yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to a woman who was a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, yet none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian. When they heard this, all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, forced him out of the town, and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. But he passed through the crowd and went on his way. So he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he began to teach the people, and they were amazed at his teaching because he spoke with authority.

Authority In Capernaum And Healings

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Now in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, Ha ha Leave us alone, Jesus the Nazarene. Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. But Jesus rebuked him. Silence, come out of him. And then the demon threw the man down in their midst, and he came out of him without hurting him. And they were all amazed and began to say to one another, What's happening here? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out? So the news about him spread into all areas of the region. After Jesus left the synagogue, he entered Simon's house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her, so he stood over her, commanded the fever, and it left her. Immediately she got up and began to serve them. As the sun was setting, all those who had relatives sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus. He placed his hands on every one of them and healed them. Demons also came out of many, crying, You are the Son of God, but he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Christ. The next morning Jesus departed and went to a deserted place. Yet the crowds were seeking him, and they came and tried to keep him from leaving them. But Jesus said to them, I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to other towns too, for that's what I was sent to do. So he continued to preach in the synagogues of Judea. Well, as we've said, Luke is emphasizing the humanity of Jesus. How he is, yes, fully God, but also fully human. And that gives us a God that we can relate

Why Jesus’ Humanity Matters

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to. Because God the Father, frankly, we can't we can't possibly comprehend. Our brain blows up a little bit in our skull when we try to understand and relate to God the Father, because he's just too big and spirit, and I we we're at a loss for words. However, Jesus, also fully God, became a human so that we have a way to relate to God in terms and in ways we can understand. And he also experienced pain and temptation, as we saw today, the same way we do, so that yes, while our humanity is marred by this sin nature, and that sin nature is what keeps us from God and keeps us from really experiencing humanity and the fullness of humanity the way God created it. And so Jesus gives us an example of what it's like to be human without the bonds of sin and sin nature. And he gives us an example that we can be like, not in our own strength. He allows it and makes it possible and helps us in the process of becoming more like him. But he says this is what it means to be human. Jesus loved us so much he wanted to become human so that he could help us relate to him even more. And so he experienced as a human all the things that we can experience as a human, including, as we saw in Luke chapter 4, temptation. What do we learn from Jesus' temptation in the wilderness? Well, a couple things. First of all, it's not a sin to be tempted. Jesus didn't sin, but he was tempted. That's Satan trying to tempt and find

Three Temptations We Still Face

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reason to accuse and find accusations against you, trying to lure you away from your purpose. Jesus experienced the same thing. Satan tempted Jesus in three different ways, and I think we can relate. One, first, Satan tempted him regarding provisions and security and safety. This idea of like, oh, you're hungry, God's not taking care of you, you're going to need to do something about this. Now we can't command stones to become bread, so that's not something that Satan's going to tempt us to do. But how is Satan tempting you to try to provide for yourself outside of what God is doing for you? How is Satan trying to tempt you to think that God is not taking good enough care of you? And that you can't trust him to provide for you, so you better do something on your own. All of a sudden that's much more relatable, isn't it? Secondly, the devil tempts Jesus with power, authority, and glory. He offers to give him the kingdoms if he would just worship Satan. Now here's the thing, I don't think Satan is lying about his ability to do this. He knows who he's talking with, he knows who Jesus is. He's not gonna lie to Jesus. I believe Satan really does have the authority of the earthly kingdoms temporarily. As he says, it's been relinquished to me, I can give it to anyone I wish. I don't think he's bluffing here. Because this is how we see the world working. Have you noticed how the people who seem to have nothing to do with God actively work against God's way and God's plan, seem to be just having the world go well for them? They seem to be having entire empires and followings and authority and power in this world, and we're like, how how is this happening? Well, I believe Satan gives this to people who are willing to make that trade. Satan tempted Jesus with a shortcut. It's like, all right, I know what you gave up in heaven, and I'm sure you want this back. And you know what? I know even someday you'll have the authority, whatever. How about right now, though? You want to establish a kingdom, we can make that happen right now. You want power and influence in this world? I can give that to you. You want authority so people just follow you and do what you ask them to do, I can make that happen. You don't have to wait for God's timing to do the things that you want to do. Sounds tempting for us today, doesn't it? The third temptation, at the top of the high point in the temple where Satan tried to convince Jesus that he could jump and be safe, I don't think has to do with safety. I think there's something more devious at play here. I think the devil is tempting Jesus to use God's words against him, to try to manipulate God into doing what Jesus wanted him to do, with the backing and the justification of, well, it's written in Scripture. Satan quotes a Bible verse. Christian, this should be alarming to you. Satan knows the Bible better than you do. He will take any

When Scripture Gets Weaponized

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given verse and try to make a point out of it that it's not saying. All with the purpose of trying to bolster your confidence to do what you want to do instead of what God is actually saying to do. I've said it before, when you read the Bible, do not read a Bible verse. Every verse has a chapter, every chapter has a book, every book has a context, and you need to know it if you're going to correctly apply the Word of God to your life. You might say, Oh, I read the Bible every day. I got a verse of the day app in my app that like shows me a verse of the day. I read that and that okay, okay. But if your only interaction with the word of God is a verse a day, there are so many verses. Let's assume your app or your verse of the day or whatever goes through all of the verses of the Bible and doesn't leave any out, it's gonna take you 80 years to hear or read all of the Bible if you take one verse a day. And you have absolutely no idea how to actually understand and apply those verses or what the whole grand scheme of the Bible is about. The only way to avoid succumbing to temptations is to know the word of God. Every attempt of Satan was met with Jesus properly understanding and applying Scripture. We're gonna be tempted to worry about our own provision. We're gonna be tempted to take shortcuts to try to achieve the power and the authority and the status that we want. We're gonna be tempted to use the Bible to make it say things that it never intended to say so that we can manipulate other people or convince ourselves or even try to convince God to do something that He we think he should do for our purposes. That's why I'm so passionate about what we do here with Out Loud Bible, because it's so important in order for us to be like Jesus that we know what the Bible says, that we understand it, and we actually do something about it. It's not enough to know a Bible verse, it's not enough to read a verse a day. If we go out into the world armed with nothing more than our daily Bible verse, we don't stand a chance against Satan who knows that verse and many more. And if Satan knows the Bible better than you do, then you are an easy target. Jesus came to show you a better way. Are you gonna follow it? Are you gonna follow him? That's the Thinking Out Loud thought for the day. Thanks for joining me today. We'll see you next time on the Out Loud Bible Podcast.