J.C. Ryle's Devotional Thoughts on the Gospel of Luke Section 21 Christ's Temptation in the Wilderness Luke 4, verses 1-13 And Jesus, being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did nothing. And when they were ended, he afterward hungered.

And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

And the devil, taking him up into a high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them. For that is delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will, I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.

And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan for it is written thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve.

And he brought him to Jerusalem and set him on a pinnacle of the temple and said unto him if thou be the Son of God cast thyself down from hence for it is written he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee and in their hands they shall bear thee up lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone and Jesus answering said unto him it is said thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God

And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.

let us first mark in this passage the power and unwearied malice of the devil that old serpent who tempted Adam to sin in paradise was not afraid to assault the second Adam the son of God whether he understood that Jesus was God manifest in the flesh may perhaps be doubted But that he saw in Jesus one who had come into the world to overthrow his kingdom is clear and plain.

He had seen what had happened at our Lord's baptism. He had heard the marvellous words from heaven. He felt that the great friend of man was come, and that his own dominion was in peril. The Redeemer had come, the prison door was about to be thrown open, the lawful captives were about to be set free.

All this, we need not doubt, Satan saw, and resolved to fight for his own. The Prince of this world would not give way to the Prince of Peace without a mighty struggle. He had overcome the first Adam in the garden of Eden, why should he not overcome the second Adam in the wilderness? He had spoiled man once of paradise, why should he not spoil him of the kingdom of God?

Let it never surprise us if we are tempted by the devil. Let us rather expect it as a matter of course if we are living members of Christ. The master's lot will be the lot of his disciples. That mighty and malicious spirit who did not fear to attack Jesus himself is still going about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. That murderer and liar who vexed Job and overthrew David and Peter still lives and is not yet bound. If he cannot rob us of heaven, he will at any rate make our journey there painful. If he cannot destroy our souls, he will at least bruise our heels. Genesis chapter 3 verse 15.

Let us beware of despising him or thinking lightly of his power. Let us rather put on the whole armor of God and cry to the strong for strength. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. James chapter 4 verse 7.

Let us mark, secondly, our Lord Jesus Christ's ability to sympathize with those who are tempted. This is a truth that stands out prominently in this passage. Jesus has been really, and literally, tempted himself. It was proper that he who came to destroy the works of the devil should begin his own work with a special conflict with Satan. It was proper that the great shepherd and bishop of souls should be fitted for his earthly ministry by strong temptation as well as by the word of God and prayer. But above all it was proper that the great high priest and advocate of sinners should be the one who has had personal experience of conflict and known what it is to be in the fire. And this was the case with Jesus.

It is written that he suffered being tempted Hebrews chapter 2 verse 18 how much he suffered we cannot tell but that his pure and spotless nature did suffer intensely we may be sure let all Christians take comfort in the thought that they have a friend in heaven who can be touched with the feeling of their infirmities Hebrews chapter 4 verse 15 when they pour out their hearts before the throne of grace, and groan under the burdens which daily harass them, there is one making intercession for them who knows their sorrows. Let us take courage. The Lord Jesus is not an austere man. He knows what we mean when we complain of temptation, and is both able and willing to give us help.

Let us mark thirdly the exceeding subtlety of our great spiritual enemy, the devil. Three times we see him assaulting our Lord and trying to draw him into sin. Each assault showed the hand of a master in the art of temptation. Each assault was the work of one acquainted with every weak point in human nature by long experience. Each deserves an attentive study.

Satan's first device was to persuade our Lord to distrust his Father's providential care. He comes to him when weak and exhausted with forty days' hunger, and suggests to him to work a miracle in order to gratify a carnal appetite. Why should he wait any longer? Why should the Son of God sit still and starve? Why not command this stone to become bread?

Satan's second device was to persuade our Lord to grasp at worldly power by unlawful means. He takes him to the top of a mountain and shows him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. All these he promises to give him if he will but fall down and worship him. The concession was small and the promise was large. Why not, by a little momentary act, obtain an enormous gain?

Satan's last device was to persuade our Lord to an act of presumption. He takes him to a pinnacle of the temple and suggests to him to cast himself down. By so doing, he would give public proof that he was one sent by God. In so doing, he might even depend on being kept from harm. Was there not a text of Scripture which specially applied to the Son of God in such a position? Was it not written that angels should bear him up?

On each of these three temptations it would be easy to write much. that it be sufficient to remind ourselves that we see in them the three favorite weapons of the devil. Unbelief, worldliness, and presumption are three grand engines which he is ever working against the soul of man, and by which he is ever enticing him to do what God forbids, and to run into sin. Let us remember this and be on our guard. The acts that Satan suggests to us to do are often in appearance trifling and unimportant. But the principle involved in each of these little acts, we may be sure, is nothing short of rebellion against God. Let us not be ignorant of Satan's devices. let us mark lastly the manner in which our Lord resisted Satan's temptation three times we see him foiling and baffling the great enemy who assaulted him he does not yield a hair's breadth to him he does not give him a moment's advantage three times we see him using the same weapon in reply to his temptations the sword of the spirit which is the word of God Ephesians chapter 6 verse 17 He who was full of the Holy Spirit was yet not ashamed to make the Holy Scripture his weapon of defence and his rule of action.

Let us learn from this single fact, if we learn nothing else from this wondrous history, the high authority of the Bible and the immense value of a knowledge of its contents. Let us read it, search into it, pray over it, diligently, perseveringly, unweariedly. Let us strive to be so thoroughly acquainted with its pages that its texts may abide in our memories, and stand ready at our right hand in the day of need. Let us be able to appeal from every perversion and false interpretation of its meaning to those thousand plain passages which are written, as it were, with a sunbeam.

The Bible is indeed a sword, but we must take heed that we know it well, if we would use it with effect. you