Jesus came to succeed where all others have failed

The temptation of Jesus has been subject to all manner of creative interpretations. In Luke 4:1-12 we come to one of those passages, like David and Goliath, that has often been misunderstood. One of the ways it’s misunderstood is by simply applying it to our own lives. Jesus is tempted. We are tempted. Jesus resists temptation by quoting scripture. Therefore, in order for us to resist the temptation we face, we need to learn more scripture. In fact, Jesus quotes parts of Scripture that people don’t really read often (Deuteronomy) so we should learn those parts especially! It’s that simple! Now, I don’t deny that Christians are called to resist the Devil (1 Peter 5:8). I don’t want to come across as though there is not application from this passage. We will get to the personal application, but it will look different than simply placing ourselves in the story.

I also do not deny that Jesus here does show what is needed to resist temptation: a trust in God in all areas of our lives. This is true and is what drives our continuing sanctification: Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” But is that the point of this passage? I do not read the temptations as Jesus giving spiritual self-defense lessons.

Notice the context: first we learned about the baptism of Jesus, then his genealogy, and now his temptation. In Christ’s baptism, he was declared, by the Father, to be the Son of God. In the genealogy, he was shown to be the Son of God and here in the temptations he proves himself to be the Son of God. This is what the temptations were all about, “if you are the Son of God…” Satan says twice.

Remember the one to whom this Gospel is written, Theophilus; the purpose of the Gospel is to give him certainty in his faith. This might have been a struggle for Theophilus. Christ had come and died, and Christians were facing persecution. The fact that Jesus successfully resists Satan’s temptations is early proof that he will also beat him in the resurrection, and proof that he will ultimately crush him when he returns. In this text we see that Jesus resisting Satan’s temptations proves that he is the Son of God. My goal is to consider this passage over the next several weeks. It’s too good to rush through, so we won’t.

As we turn to consider the temptations, there are several questions that need to be answered first. Why did Jesus go to be tempted? Why did it take place in the wilderness and why does the text point out that it was the Spirit who led him there? What were the temptations about and in the end, why did Satan depart from Jesus? Finally, what was the result of the temptation? Was Jesus’ victory simply his victory or is there some way that Jesus’ overcoming temptation can be applied to our lives? We will look at these questions to help us better understand the temptations when we examine them.

To understand what is going on in the temptation, it would be helpful to keep the entire history of Scripture in mind. When we look at the Old Testament’s main characters (Adam, Abraham, Israel, David) and offices (prophet, priest, and king) we see that Jesus fulfills them all. What is clear as you reflect on each of them is that they had all failed. Adam failed. Abraham failed. Israel failed. King David failed. The Priesthood failed. Even Moses, the ideal prophet, failed. Because of sin, every person who had faced temptation failed. This is why Jesus had to come from heaven to earth. He came to succeed where all others have failed.

To start, we can see that Jesus came to succeed where Adam had failed. It is plain and simple: through Adam’s sin, death entered the world. We read of this in Genesis 3, and there we are told that a showdown between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent would have to take place. God declares in Genesis 3:15 that this battle between the respective seeds would take place and that it would come to a climax. This showdown begins here, in Jesus’ temptations, and continues through the crucifixion to be completed in the end.

Pastor Everett Henes, the pastor of the Hillsdale Orthodox Presbyterian Church, can be reached at pastorhenes@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Opinion