Thank you for your faithfulness in coming back for the next episode in our Advent study of Luke’s gospel. Today, we are in chapter 4.
In heaven, Jesus had never faced temptation, but as a human, Jesus was tested in every way just as we are. After Jesus’ baptism, the Spirit led him into the wilderness. God’s enemy met him there. Satan hoped to defeat Jesus’ ministry before it began. Fasting, Jesus faced hunger and thirst for the first time, yet he resisted when Satan enticed him to turn a rock into bread. After 40 days of not eating, Jesus felt physically weak, but he fought the temptation to take a short cut to glory and power.
Before Jesus was born, his earthly father also faced temptation. When Joseph learned that Mary was pregnant, he seriously considered divorcing Mary. Divorce was a quick solution to a problem pregnancy. If Joseph had carried out that plan, Mary could have been stoned for presumed adultery, and inside her womb, the infant Messiah would have also died. Satan would have succeeded in thwarting God’s plan before Jesus was even born. But Joseph resisted the temptation of a human way to resolve the “problem.”
Instead, Joseph chose the tougher road: He tore up the divorce decree and, by faith, believed that this child was conceived by the Holy Ghost.
When Jesus faced Satan in the wilderness, did Jesus recall the example of his human father? Joseph resisted temptation and rescued his son’s life. Jesus resisted temptation in order to save our lives.
What temptations do you face these days? Who has set an example for you to follow? And who is watching your example?
