Bible In A Year | Read: Luke 4
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; 11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Luke 4:9-11
Overview of Chapter
Just like Matthew, Luke tells of Jesus’ temptation. He then tells of the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus goes to his hometown of Nazareth and is asked to read from an Old Testament scroll. Jesus lets them know the reading is about him and his ministry on earth. They have been around him since he was a boy and are horrified that one of their own would make such a claim. Jesus moves on to Capernaum, which will be his main location for much of his ministry. Jesus confirms that he is who he says he is by showing his power over demons and disease.
The chapter makes it clear that the powers of darkness are real. It could be in the form of temptation or direct power over a person. We need to stay close to Jesus and rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to battle Satan and his demons.
Thoughts on the verses
Just because you know the Bible that does not mean you truly know Jesus. In fact, Satan and demons know the Bible very well. The Bible is a spiritual sword. Like any weapon, you’d better know how to use it so that when you are attacked, you can defend yourself. In this battle with the devil Jesus repeatedly quotes from memory the Book of Deuteronomy. Jesus models a vital principle: we must combat sinful temptation with biblical meditation.
In every age there are people who want to say yes to sin and temptation, so they search for what sounds like a biblical justification for inexcusable behavior. Many times this is in relation to sin with demonically empowered arguments supporting such behavior, often with a philosophically compelling case.
Why? Because when new cultural norms disagree with the Bible, they tell us it’s OK to change the Bible rather than change our behavior. That’s demonic.
Jesus modeled for us how to combat sinful temptation with biblical meditation. He so filled His mind with the Scriptures that when tempted He could quote the exact Scripture correctly. This allowed Him, and allows us, to defeat the enemy.
Action Steps
Bible: What is God showing me? What am I going to do about it?
Bless: Serve one person through word, action, or gift today.
Have you ever thought it would be cool to hear some C3 leaders discuss the daily verses, share about their lives and mostly just talk about nonsense? Of course not!…even though nobody has ever thought that we are still doing it. You can follow along with us each morning in a brand new podcast – Tough Tuesday during Holy Week.
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