Luke 4:1-13 (NIV)
1Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
3The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
4Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
5The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
8Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”
9The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
11they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
12Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
13When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
Reflection
We are attracted to products backed by a 100% lifetime warranty. There is no risk because even if it breaks we can get our money back. But that’s just it, it can still fail and we are planning for contingencies. What we have in this passage is a 100% flawless guarantee.
What we see is a testament of Jesus’ commitment to be totally dependent on God for and in all things. This testament is our 100% flawless guarantee, it is our hope and promise that we too can also live dependent on God and find our lives sustained and blessed by Him.
Responding to the Transmission
Wilderness experiences are no longer simply battles with temptation, but they are encounters with the One who sustains and strengthens our lives for God’s even more awesome glory. Let’s pray that we would have this dependence on God. Let’s confidently bring the areas of our lives that need to know afresh his sustaining and strengthening power.