At his baptism (3:21-22) Jesus is identified as Son by the voice from
heaven and anointed by the Spirit to empower his coming ministry (4:18). Now before
his ministry begins-his filial obedience is tested in the wilderness, separated
from all human provision and support. Strengthened by the Spirit he faces the
Satanic seductions. Echoes of the testing of God's son Adam (3:38) in the
'garden and of God's son Israel in the wilderness permeate the account. But it
is with a greater Son that we here deal. Luke reports three temptations at the
climax of the forty-day encounter with the Devil.
When Jesus is hungry the Devil suggests that such hunger does not
befit his dignity as Son, that sonship should be treated as a privilege to be
exploited. Jesus should see to his own needs. He has the power to make stone
into bread; he should not neglect his opportunities. Jesus replies with words
from Deut 8:36. The Israelites had pined for the bread of Egypt (Exod 16:3),
but the attention of an obedient son should be on the kingdom (Luke 12:31), not
on bread. God will provide, as he had with the manna. The desire for bread should
not determine the Son's use of the possibilities and privileges that are his.
The Devil takes Jesus up and treats him to a dazzling display of his
extensive influence in the kingdoms of the world: the Devil is a power broker
who sees to the disposition of glory in the world. His influence is
co-extensive with the influence of evil in the fabric of human affairs, and he
works through every form of the desire for self-aggrandizement. The Devil
entices Jesus to come over to his way: to gain glory for himself in this world
by compromise with the demonic forces that control it. But Jesus has been
appointed a kingdom as one who serves (22:24-29). He seeks not for himself but
only for his God. He will worship God alone and not the idols of the nations
(Deut 6:13). The third place of temptation is at the temple in Jerusalem, the
central place of the divine presence and protection (1 Kgs 9: 3; 2 Chr 7: 16;
Ps 61: 4-5; etc.). Here the Son of God is to insist upon the protection of God
by throwing himself down from a great height. We must read this temptation in
relation to the Lukan recognition of a divine timetable for Jesus' life (Luke
9:51; 13:32-33) which leads to a facing of death in Jerusalem. Jesus is tempted
to force the issue of divine protection, to demand in this provocative way the
divine protection of the godly man promised in Ps 91. By the Devil's logic
there should be no martyrs. But the divine purpose for Jesus, as for certain
others, is that they should he preserved through death, not from death (Luke
21:16 with vv 18-19; 22:39-46 contrasted with the Petrine denials vv 54-62). Jesus
will not put God to the test (Deut 6: 16). He will believe that the faithful
God will do well by his Son.
The Devil has tried every kind of temptation, but he will be back. Jesus'
whole ministry is marked by temptations (trials; Luke 22:28), but particularly the
passion period will be a time of special onslaught by Satan (22:3, 31, 53, 39-46)
as Jesus' ultimate act of obedience (22:42) draws near. (John Nolland, Luke
1-9:20 [Word Biblical Commentary 35A; Dallas: Word Books, 1989], 182-83)
