Fresh Bread

Guest (Male): You are listening to Fresh Bread, Dr. Harry Reeder's daily devotional from the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals.

Harry Reeder: We now go to chapter 4 in the gospel of Luke. And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit. How do we know he's full of the Holy Spirit? Because he was conceived by the Holy Spirit. The spirit of God supervised his childhood. And thirdly, we are also told that the spirit of God was poured out upon him at his ordination as prophet, priest, and king in his baptism.

And so Jesus, now full of the spirit, commissioned by the Lord with the words, "this is my son in whom I am well pleased," this Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, which would have been Bethany by the Jordan, and was led by the spirit into the wilderness for 40 days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days, and when they were ended, he was hungry.

And the devil said to him, "If you are the son of God, command this stone to become bread." And Jesus answered him, "It is written, man shall not live by bread alone." And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time and said to him, "To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you then will worship me, it will be all yours."

And Jesus answered him, "It is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve." And he took him to Jerusalem and set him up on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, "If you are the son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, he will command his angels concerning you to guard you and on their hands they will bring you up lest you strike your foot against a stone."

And Jesus answered to him, "It is said, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test." And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. It's interesting that we have recorded the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness where the spirit of God led him, and this is a very powerful statement that we find. But should it amaze us?

Did not the genealogies support the fact that he is of Adam? And wasn't Adam tempted in the garden? And how does Satan tempt? Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, boastful pride of life. Do you see that with Adam in the garden? And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food—lust of the flesh; it was a delight to the eyes—lust of the eyes; and it was desirable to make her wise that she could be like God, she took from its fruit and she ate, and so did her husband with her.

Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. Well, here the same thing is brought to the second Adam, Jesus. And this second Adam is now tempted as Satan comes to tempt him three times in this temptation as he is not in a garden; he's in the wilderness. He is not with every good food around him; he has now fasted for 40 days.

And in the midst of all of this, Satan comes to tempt him. "Hey, you hungry? Get some bread." And he says, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word." "Oh, you want to quote the Bible to me, and you say the Bible is important? Well here, let me take you up to the temple, cast yourself down. Doesn't the Bible say he'll hold you up? Prove who you are." And then, of course, he shows him all the kingdoms of the world and offers them to him.

And he says, "Begone from me." And then the spirit of God took him out, and the devil left him for a while. Do you see all three again? Lust of the flesh—are you hungry? Lust of the eyes—he showed him all the kingdoms of the world. And then the boastful pride of life—"Hey, if you're who you say you are, just cast yourself down. Doesn't the Bible say?"

And by the way, notice Satan doesn't mind using the scriptures incorrectly in order to tempt us and distract us. He does it all the time. But Jesus said no. First Adam said yes, and we all plunged into sin. Jesus said no. And now this one who will be perfectly righteous will go to the cross and be free to take our sins because he has none.

Praise God, the tempter had no place with the Son of God and was no match for the glory of God revealed in Jesus, full of grace and truth. Well, you be with the Lord's people this Lord's day and join me again on Monday for another slice of Fresh Bread.

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