공동체와 양육

How does Jesus Handle Suffering… (Lk. 4:1~13)

2019.05.19P. Park

Jesus, the perfect Adam, faced the devil's shortcuts out of suffering by revealing himself as the faithful Son of God and combating every lie with God's eternal word. He then walked through the cross, not around it.

Suffering invites the shortcut (vv. 1-2)

Luke's genealogy leads from Jesus back to Adam, the son of God, the first man who failed. After the Father's words at the Jordan, the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness for forty days without food. That number recalls Israel's forty years, the flood, and Moses' fast, so we feel the weight of it. The devil is no comic figure in red tights. He is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). Godly suffering produces endurance, character, and hope (Romans 5:3-5).

Bread: instant gratification or trust in God (vv. 3-4)

The devil said, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." Hunger was only the surface. He wanted Jesus to use his power for himself and so remove God as provider. He knows our weaknesses and exposes them to shame us. Jesus answered from Deuteronomy 8:3: "Man shall not live by bread alone." Adam had a whole garden and still sinned, while Jesus had nothing and did not. Food, lust, possessions, and identity all fade, and the guilt that follows is not the gospel. Luke 12:28-30 shows that the Father provides.

Power: only God deserves worship (vv. 5-8)

The devil showed Jesus all the kingdoms and offered their authority and glory in exchange for worship. But he was lying. Matthew 28:18 and John 19:11 show that all authority belongs to God. Jesus answered from Deuteronomy 6:13: "You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve." When we sin, we believe the lie that we are in control. Addiction shows how little control we have, as Melody Beattie's definition of codependence suggests. The devil wants to be our dictator, but under God's power there is freedom in Christ.

Protection: do not test the Lord (vv. 9-12)

The devil set Jesus on the temple pinnacle above a drop of about 450 feet. He told him to throw himself down and quoted Psalm 91:11-12. He used Scripture out of context, like an offering envelope that stopped at "God so loved the world that he gave..." Jesus answered from Deuteronomy 6:16: "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test." A commentator wrote that demanding miraculous protection where it is not needed is sin. We test God when we think, "If he really loved me, he would save me from this." Israel failed the law, but Jesus upheld it perfectly.

The cross, not the shortcut (v. 13)

The devil offered instant gratification, instant power, and instant glory, each promising a life without suffering. After every temptation he left Jesus until an opportune time. The same lies came to my wife and me through years of infertility: that we were loved less, that we were failures. They felt real, but they were lies. God's way was never to eliminate suffering but to save through it. No angel rescued Jesus, even when voices on the cross echoed the devil. He died as our perfect sacrifice and rose again, removing our guilt and shame.

Apply to Life

  • Let us recognize the devil as a real liar and refuse to believe his whispers that God loves us less.
  • Let us trust God as our provider in suffering instead of grabbing instant gratification.
  • Let us hold on to the eternal word of God, in its true context, to fight temptation.
  • Let us give up the illusion of control and worship and serve God alone.
  • Let us bring our guilt and shame to Jesus, the perfect sacrifice, and submit to him.

This summary was made automatically from the sermon's captions and may differ from the sermon.

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