“The testing of God’s Son”

Read Luke 4:1-4

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Immediately after his baptism, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil (1; Mt.4:1; Mk.1:12. The word means tested e.g. Jn.6:6; 2 Cor.13:5). In Eden, Adam’s failure when tested brought death to mankind – in contrast the second Adam, alone in the wilderness, was obedient to God and thus able to restore life (Rom.5:15-17; 1 Cor.15:45-49).

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There is a further “son” contrast, with Israel (Hos.11:1). The forty days recalls the forty years that the Israelites were in the wilderness (Deut.8:2; Ps.95:10) and this is the context for each of the three particular tests. Where Israel had failed, “now the true Son of God, at the outset of his mission, faces the same tests in the wilderness and succeeds” (France).

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In his baptism, God had declared Jesus to be his Son, and now that he was hungry (2-3) the devil urged him to “prove his Sonship by catering for himself” (Spurgeon). But he recognised that he was being tested like Israel (Deut.8:2-5,16) and so his answer (4) came from that passage: “Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord”. Seeing God’s Word as our essential nutrition is key to obedience (1 Pet.2:2).