Luke 4:13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

We don’t know how the temptation of Jesus came to be recorded. It seems most probable that he told some or all of His apostles about it at some point. It is important to note that the three temptations listed match the three categories given by John in his letter: “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” (1 John 2:16) It is extremely important to note that these temptations aren’t for things that are necessarily bad in themselves, but the moment they come into conflict or opposition to God, they are temptations to sin. Physical hunger, such as Jesus very naturally had after a 40-day fast, certainly isn’t sinful, but gluttony is. For that matter, the physical desire of a husband and wife for each other isn’t sinful, but there are countless distortions of that impulse that are sinful. Ambition, the desire to accomplish great things, isn’t bad, but the devil uses it to get us to follow him instead of God, and that is disastrous. And the third temptation encountered by Jesus is the most tricky: testing God. At times God tells us to test Him, famously in Malachi 3:10, but we are all too capable of misapplying Scripture, as the devil did here. We are to trust God, but not be presumptuous. We aren’t to “proof text” Him, demanding He fulfill some Scripture on our schedule, to meet what we would like. It can take real spiritual maturity to distinguish deep faith from presumption, but we should certainly desire to do so. The final lesson we are to take from this record is what is recorded in the letter to the Hebrews: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” Hebrews 4:15) Jesus understands us, and He doesn’t look down on us for our weaknesses, even as He is the perfect standard for us to emulate.

Of these three areas, I’ve had the least trouble with ambition, I think, but I’m not entirely innocent there, either. As a pastor, I deal constantly with people who are struggling in all these areas, and I am never to look down on them for it. At the same time, I am not to excuse them, any more than God excuses me. I am to lift up Jesus as the example, because He too was fully human, but He relied on the Holy Spirit to keep Him straight. That same Holy Spirit has been given to all honest believers, and my goal is to listen more and more accurately to Him, and to encourage others to do so as well. Just yesterday I downloaded a paper on “Keys to Leadership,” and one of those was, naturally enough, setting an example. Like Paul, I am to follow the example of Jesus to a degree that I needn’t hesitate to tell others to follow my example. Temptation is a given in this life; yielding to it isn’t.

Father, thank You for this clear reminder. May I recognize temptations for what they are and walk in full commitment to You, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!