If you are... | Jesus Begins 5

In which John and David explore the opening challenge to Jesus in the wilderness. Having just been affirmed by his father, what should we make of the opening challenge to Jesus by the Devil of "If you are the Son of God"? Listen in as we explore Luke 4 some more.

Episode 46 of the Two Texts Podcast | Jesus Begins 5

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Music by Woodford Music (c) 2021

Transcript

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[00:00:00] David: Well, hello, John.  

[00:00:02] John: Hey, David, how are you?  

[00:00:04] David: I am well, we're going to talk about Jesus again in Luke's gospel, which is always going to get as excited. 

[00:00:14] John: Absolutely. Absolutely. I'd have to say David, I'm loving your early morning coffee voice. It's marvelous. for our, for our listeners, I w I'm I'm sort of, I've got a leasurly afternoon of chatting with you, but you're a very, very early to be a recording with me before your, your serious day starts. So, yeah.  

[00:00:32] David: The joys. 

[00:00:33] John: Dean you're siding rather, rather Husky. So  

[00:00:36] David: Yeah, well, the joys of international podcasting, huh? And, and I'm in shock. I'm in shock. I always like to give broad updates about the weather here in in Calgary. But I, I was out last night with my run group and we were running in short sleeves and it was 17 degrees. And as I walked downstairs to make my coffee before coming to record with you, I looked outside to a blanket of snow. 

[00:01:01] So we we've gone from plus 17 to snow overnight.  

[00:01:05] John: Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. So.  

[00:01:08] David: Last time we were talking about Jesus and his baptism and his genealogy and all of the sort of layers of things that might be happening in that. And then speaking of whiplash, Luke takes us in Luke chapter four. From essentially this story of Jesus and his genealogy, and then bang we're in the desert. 

[00:01:31] And there's this showdown between Jesus and the devil. The forces of evil are taking him on it's quite, it's quite a shift.  

[00:01:39] John: It is an effect. There's a beautiful sort of chapter three chapter four gear change, really. Cause at the end of chapter two, we see Jesus disappearing back to Nazareth As a 12 year. And Luke tells us that, he returned to Nazareth and was obedient to his parents. And he grew in wisdom stature favor with God favor with man. 

[00:01:59] And then we have 18 years of silence till, chapter three, verse 21 and Jesus reappears. And it's this incredible sort of explosive dynamic moment. Father, holy spirit song in directing in the Lukin text. And then you get this sort of almost gentle genealogy moment. And then we hit overdraft. 

[00:02:23] We are, we are like off and running and it's moving very, very fast from, from what seemed to be a gentle. We're now on the move. So it does feel like a big as you read the end of chapter three into chapter four, it does feel like we are, we've had a significant gear shift. We are accelerating. I ended the story quite profoundly. 

[00:02:44] David: As we come to read this through just now I do wonder whether some of the narrative that we talked about in the last episode about sort of Jesus, he status. And, I talked a little bit about the sort of the potential honor and reputation establishment going on. I wonder if that. As foreigners to the text, we come from a different context and time that piece might help us see how Luke's almost presenting Jesus facing these various challenges almost showing to his audience that Jesus is jumping, the various challenges presented to him. 

[00:03:20] He's he's as a young man arguing well with the rabbis in the temple Then he's got God's honor ascribed to him at baptism. He's got this good genealogy that affirms that. And now we kind of move up to sort of, level three tests. Now we're never going to head out into the wilderness and, and take on the forces of evil. 

[00:03:40] It's, there's potentially a connection, a way to look at the story that Luke is, is defending Jesus to us in a very ancient style.  

[00:03:49] John: Yeah, totally. And it helps our helps our listeners because one of our dangers of course, which we, we keep going on about on and on and on is, but it's still worth repeating is that you jump into chapter four. So when you're doing your daily devotions, you jump into chapter four. You forget what happened in chapter three, you forget to connecting ideas in chapter two, and then you sort of read this as a vacuum. 

[00:04:14] Oh, this is Jesus, like just being tested, right. But if you've then disconnected these moments of testing from the previous trajectory, then, then we lose something of the richness of what is going on, not just on the surface. And of course there is an on the surface understanding of this, but then there is a, there's an under the surface world, which, which I hope all of our listeners are getting to really, truly appreciate that the Bible is written at one time. 

[00:04:44] There's a story here in chapter four of Jesus being tested, but then there are layers underneath this that if we will dig a little, there's just some powerful, powerful ideas that I think Luke is picking that up. I think he's, he's doing both. So without knowing those layers, you can just read the story and appreciate it with knowing those layers. 

[00:05:04] It becomes a very, very rich 

[00:05:06] multi-colored text that helps us really appreciate Jesus even more. I think.  

[00:05:11] David: And so that cue there, perhaps let's us jump into reading the text. So, John, do you want me to read this? I'll jump in at Luke chapter four and read this story for us.  

[00:05:23] John: do it, do it.  

[00:05:24] David: Let's do it again. So Luke chapter four, I'm going to read from verses one through to 13 and Had he didn't my Bible, the temptation of Jesus. 

[00:05:36] It says Jesus full of the holy spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the spirit in the wilderness where for 40 days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days. And when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, if you were the son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread. 

[00:06:00] And Jesus answered him. It is written. One does not live by bread alone. Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant, all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, to you, I will give their glory and all this authority for it has been given over to me. And I will give it to anyone. I please, if you then will worship me, it will all be yours. 

[00:06:29] Jesus answered him. It is written worship the Lord, your God, and serve only him. Then the devil took him to Jerusalem and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple saying 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 protect you and on their hands, they will bear you up so that you will not dash your foot against the. 

[00:06:56] Jesus answered him. It is said, do not put the Lord your God to the test. When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time. 

[00:07:11] John: Wow, come on. so standard. Isn't it an incredible and of course I, I think it's, it's, it's worth just a little mention easily missed, but, but worth a little mention is that I love how Dr. Luke puts it. He says, he says that were for 40 days, he was telling. And of course, where we're only going to be dealing with three of those temptations because there are the three we're given, but there seems to be a definite sense in the text. 

[00:07:40] If it, that Jesus was really put through the ringer. Throughout the 40 days, it's not just, he's having 40 days in the wilderness and there's an occasional test. Dr. Luke seems to be suggesting this is a pretty relentless experience. And with that, we would imagine we would have. Who can into the writer, to the Hebrews that Jesus was tempted on every conceivable level as a human physically could we say emotionally, could we even say sexually and spiritually, Jesus has put through a phenomenal task, then it's easy. 

[00:08:15] I think when we're rushing to the three temptations under incredible, but when we're rushing to the three, we tend to sort of, if we're not careful, only think of three. When the implication is he was tested in all things, as we are, is the writer to the Hebrew says Yes. 

[00:08:32] without sin. Is that, is that worth the, we know just cause it's easy to miss that as you rush to the rush to the three.  

[00:08:38] David: I think that that definitely aligns with Christian tradition and reading of the Bible. Doesn't it? That there's this, this depth of the experience of Jesus. I mean, I even think when I look through his, in that line, he was famished. At one level kind of obvious it was a 40 day fast. It's quite likely he was famished in that process. 

[00:09:01] But I think even that speaks to the humanity of Jesus, it speaks to the reality of this situation. And if, if it wasn't for that, these are these lines. I've mentioned this in this series before, but these little lines. The, he was famished actually is so important within church history. His reflection on Jesus is Jesus, fully human, and here, Luke points out a very obvious. 

[00:09:29] Feature, which of course has, has cascading impact. He is very hungry. What are humans like if they're hungry? Well, it's bad enough dealing with any temptation, but add hunger to that. And your, your processing is down. Your, your temper is up. Your emotions are challenged that your exhaustion, all these sorts of things are, are functionally changed by you being hungry. 

[00:09:56] And so I think that is worth noting that Jesus he's testing is testing is testing. As a human it's Jesus he's testing and experience in the human condition. For me, I think that Luke is setting something up in this gospel. That's going to be so important for him when he gets to acts that Jesus does what he does through the power of the spirit. 

[00:10:22] And that's going to be so important because by the time we get to acts, Luke is going to show us how the early church does what it does. Through the power of the spirit. So there's, I think Luke is writing this aware of there's lessons to be taught here. And I need to make sure that I tell these stories properly so that you can learn these lessons that are the RM play. 

[00:10:46] John: I think that's brilliant. And, and of course this, this, that little expression of his humanity is some waged between the words of the father. You are my son, an affirmation of his deity. And of course, as whereabout Dalene into. A challenge to that day at home, if you are the son. And, and so Luke seems to be absolutely affirming. 

[00:11:08] Jesus is God, no question. No one is no one is challenging that, but these, this temptation moment, this season issuing him to be fully human and it's, it's a striking. Experiential reflection. If I may, David, sort of on this, I know we must be careful not to impose our experience onto the text. I I've sort of had a long tradition of fasting and was encouraged to fast as even as a teenager. 

[00:11:37] And I remember a number of years ago when I was moving from one church to another. I went on a 40 day fast. I did a 40 day fast just water and an amazing thing happened and I've done. I had done previous long, fast, the longest fast I had done before. That was 21 days. And I remember sort of the experience of your body stops craving food. 

[00:12:00] You, you actually stop feeling hungry.  

[00:12:02] David: Hm. 
 

[00:12:04] John: the challenge at that point is psychological. So there's a, there's a point first three, four days where you're like ravenous, you could eat anything that's moving, you're not hungry, but then your body reaches a point where it stops craving and you're no longer hungry in the classic sense. 

[00:12:22] And it's about your brain. Your brain wants to eat because that's what you normally do at six o'clock in the evening. That's what you normally do at eight o'clock. And you're really faking your brand, but here's what I've discovered there. That was, was amazing. And my 40 day fast was that I reached a point at the, towards the end of the fast, where it was like not, I can only describe it this way to you. 

[00:12:44] It was like my body started to wake up. It was an amazing experience where I started to feel hungry. Now, whether that's something, maybe, one of our listeners who's a medical practitioner can explain that to us, but whether that's a survival instinct or whether that's something going on in the body, but, but I started to get hungry again towards the end of the fast and whether that was like the alarm system of my body going, Hey, something's going wrong. 

[00:13:11] You need to start eating again. But, but for, for a whole chunks of that fast, I wasn't. But towards the end of the fast, if I can say I was hallucinating that, chicken burgers were flying down the corridor and all sorts of stuff, weird stuff was called on me that we tell you, I could smell people cooking from 25 miles away by the end of that fast, that maintaining my census were through the roof on that stuff. And I, I, when I read that text, I just thought, well, that's obvious he's hungry. When I went through that fast myself, I'm like, oh, hold on a minute. This is right at the end of a, of a tipping point moment. There is a physical tipping point moment here. There's a spiritual dynamic moment here. There's something else here. 

[00:13:55] We're even in the body of Jesus. He's now been awakened to be hungry again. And that actually makes you prefer one. So it's when you're starting to feel hungry again, that the idea of eating really, really makes you vulnerable. And I think there's an extra layer of vulnerability in the hungry reference, not just that he's hungry, but that he's reaching a tipping point moment for this. 

[00:14:20] And I think maybe, maybe it's Dr. Luke, who, who helps us with that being a doctor, of course. But, but I, I just thought that was a, a really nice, that experiential reflection that maybe adds a wee bit of wit to the text 

[00:14:35] that isn't immediately obvious or is obvious in a different way.  

[00:14:39] David: I'm sure that you can relate deeply then to, if you were at the end of your 40 days, flashes a good Irish boy, the option of a fresh loaf of bread. 

[00:14:51] John: Absolutely. Absolutely. It just, just, just I can smell it being cooked right now. Absolutely. It's that would be, and, and of course, one of the, just one of the little physical challenges, of course, If you fast it for that long, you, you cannot go back to routine eating immediately. So everything shrinks your esophagus strengths, your intestines shrink your bowels, everything shrinks. 

[00:15:16] Your body is literally eating itself to survive. So if you suddenly stuck a piece of bread, You would, you'd probably kill yourself. I mean, you are, you do serious damage to your intestines if you swallowed a piece of bread. So there's a, there's a sort of an obvious hunger temptation here, but there's also, actually, this is a moment. 

[00:15:35] The physical danger for Jesus. It probably would have taken Jesus as long to recover his normal eating as he fostered.  

[00:15:42] David: Yes. 
 

[00:15:42] John: it's probably a six week recovery after a six week fast.  

[00:15:46] David: Yeah. And it fascinating though that the devils. Recorded temptation to Jesus that, he was, he was famished. If you are the son of. Turn this stone  

[00:15:59] John: absolutely.  

[00:16:00] David: we'll come into that temptation the  

[00:16:01] John: we will. We will  

[00:16:02] David: that connection is really worth just, just the, the, the, the sort of intense humanity of that temptation. 

[00:16:11] Let's just go, let's just go right at the source of just the human desire to be alive. It's quite, it's quite something. But, but he's there John, because the holy spirit led him there to be tempted. That's that's an interesting sort of There's a lot going on in a sentence like that. Jesus full of the holy spirit returned from the Jordan where he was baptized. 

[00:16:32] And he's led by the spirit in the wilderness where for 40 days he was, he was tested. Actually the Greek word perhaps is better reference that we is tested by. The devil, which, which actually I think the astute the, the service an attentive listener, Luke's just dropped a couple of things there for you that, that you might want to pick up on and, and, and just see some parallels in isn't. 

[00:16:58] He. 
 

[00:16:58] John: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. And of course 

[00:17:00] a good, a good Torah reader would, would absolutely hear the echo of the journey of. His own nation, the parallels between Jesus and the journey of Israel, for example, are quite striking, literally led by the Lord towards the land of promise and purpose. 

[00:17:18] And I think we get an echo of that in some of the temptations here. I think the, the, the movie. You know of Jesus moving from on to what he goes through to get that is just an unmissable paralleled there, 40 days, 40 years approximately. The fact that there were moments of even testing and trial for the people of God, some of which they passed and many of which they field. 

[00:17:44] Jesus seems to be the one led by God towards promise to supersede and to be the completion and fulfillment of what has been before. So there is, and I would say this as well. I, I, I think, jumping backwards to Torah and then moving forwards to us, I think there would be, there would be a section of the Christian Church would be deeply uncomfortable with the theology that suggests the holy spirit leads us to testing. 

[00:18:11] There is a section of, of our Christian world that would, that would want to see our experience only in terms of positivity, prosperity, and progress and everything. Everything should simply fall into our hands and here's Jesus God, in flesh himself being led by the spirit, not even, just accidentally wandering into this scenario.  

[00:18:35] David: lost in the desert,  

[00:18:36] John: Absolutely. I took the wrong turn somewhere. This is Jesus. The image of being taken by the hand, by the holy spirit, and literally led into a, a a place where those people to be tested. So it's an uncomfortable freeze, but yet what. In which we're being called to trust the providential care of God and the purpose of God that it's ultimately leading us towards something greater than ourselves. 

[00:19:03] And I think Jesus experience represents that.  

[00:19:06] David: The, the parallel, that I was thinking of as well, is his Deuteronomy chapter eight and verse two. And I mean, and it's quite interesting to read it in the Greek translation of the old Testament, which appears to be the translation that Luke uses, Luke is L a P like all of his references to the old Testament. 

[00:19:25] Scholars will point out that he seems to be using the Greek translation. You're pretty verbatim. Deuteronomy eight verse two is fascinating to read that. Alongside Luke four verse one and two, because it says in Deuteronomy meet. Remember how the Lord, your God led you all the way in the wilderness, these 40 years to humble. 

[00:19:50] Test you in order to know what was in your heart and whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled, you causing you to hunger and then feed fed you with manner, which neither you, nor your ancestors had known to teach you that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 

[00:20:11] Now, again, Advertising for future episode in a few days time about, about that first temptation. But, but it's very hard. I think given we know that Luke knows Torah very, very well. He, the, these first five books of the old Testament, he rifts on several occasions, but the language of, of the Lord leads. The language of wilderness, the language of 40 years, the language of being tested, eh, in order to know what's in your heart. 

[00:20:38] And then the fact that, that Jesus is going to respond with this piece of text himself in a few verses time, it's hard not to lie the next to each other and say, Luke is retelling the story of Israel through the life of Jesus. 

[00:20:53] John: For sure, absolutely. I think it's unmissable and that that's a beautiful 

[00:20:58] demonstration of Jesus as, the ultimate fulfillment of the purposes of God in and through Israel and, and I think. What's really striking in looking at Deuteronomy. It is, to test what was in your house. I, my goodness if we were to, if we were to lean into that for Jesus, is that what's going on here? That even his heart is being tested as to what's in it. Now this is a hard one for us because we're. We know that Jesus is fully God and he's fully human, but Luke has already introduced to us. 

[00:21:33] He's hungry that the humanity of Jesus is the big dominant idea. That's being pushed. As we move into the wilderness experience, this idea that he's led filled with the spirit led by the spirit that he's doing things by the power of the spirit is, is, is building in the background for us and sometimes in the foreground. 

[00:21:52] So you get the sense that we are. Although he is fully God where we're really gearing that the humanity of Jesus under scrutiny. And could it be that even his heart is being tested here 

[00:22:03] within this moment. And, and of course that causes us then to read the following temptation, slightly different.  

[00:22:11] David: Hm. 
 

[00:22:12] John: So it's not really about bread, is it? It's not really about, kingdoms it's it's so there's something else going on here that at one level is obvious and you could read as obvious and a level I think is deeper because there's a probing for something profound, probing for something fundamental and deep within the heart of.  

[00:22:32] David: The, the sense almost of, of covenant, I think in, in this, is significant where, so the Lord comes to Israel and I, I'm maybe I'm, maybe I'm seeing parallels John, where there aren't parallels, but it does strike me that the Israelites are known as the children of God. And here we have the son of God. 

[00:22:53] So there's this potentially something going on there, but. But when you, when you make a covenant and a contract with somebody, as God has done with the people of Israel, you will, you be my people, what is the contract worth? I, you are, I might sign a contract for a car. So we, you'll go into an office one day. 

[00:23:15] And you'll say, yes, I'd like that car and you agree a price with the seller and you sign a contract. And in my experience, you don't leave with the car that day. You just sign the contract. And then in a few days time, you will come back to that. Car dealership and you will take the car. There's one part of the contract is now provided. 

[00:23:39] And then, and then generally speaking, at some point, whether you've worked out a finance agreement or something that you will then provide your side of the contract, which is here is the money from the car. And at one stage, there is a contract in paper in a weird sense. Isn't worth anything, except that it's just on paper. 

[00:23:57] And it only gets proved when one half of the party does their deal. And the other half of the party, it is their deal. And there's a sense of that covenantal relationship in God with Israel. It's like, well, I want to be your God. I'm offering you to be my God, but here's what I'm going to do. I'll look after you through the desert, here's what you're going to. 

[00:24:13] Keep my commandments and follow my ways. And I think that's what we mean when we're talking about test. Right. So I think there's a sense sometimes that people almost hear the word of test and God testing his people, God even testing us almost as if God sat like some sort of sadistic teacher thinking, pop quiz, time for an exam. 

[00:24:34] And I think our language of testing has become our educational systems. Have. Have given us often quite negative attitudes towards testing because, we all do tests and we think, well, even was the point of that. I, I don't think I'm leading us astray by saying that the better way to think about testing in in this particular situation is to think about it more in the lines of it's about. 

[00:24:59] The proving or the establishment of a covenant that's going on in Israel? I know here we have your, my son, Jesus. So now there's a sense of the establishment of us, of us as the observers of Luke's story, to see Jesus showing he really is God's son. Would you agree with me on that, John? Do you think that's how to read. 

[00:25:19] John: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And, and also, the parallel between Jesus and Israel on this, as Israel is referred to as God's first born even in the context of 

[00:25:29] being delivered from Egypt. So you do get a sense of. The Lord's Jaquez firstborn is taken through a process of, do you really commit yourself? 

[00:25:42] Do you really want this way, these wares, this commands this, this covenant that I am setting before you, the benefits of the covenant, our financial. But there is a requirement from you in terms of a surrender to that covenant on Justin to see in way that they were then proved and tested in that willingness to accept the covenant. 

[00:26:08] I think Jesus now is also. Proved and tested, is this what you want? Is this the way that you are going to go? And of course at the heart of it is this incredible. And we've already had the nuance of it, the incredible relationship with the father. This is my son whom I love with him. I'm well pleased. So we're hearing those words, not just as as forgive my language listeners, not just as a dad affirming his son, but we're hearing that language covenant. 

[00:26:39] We're hearing that language in the sense of, of the father establishing formally this incredible relationship with Jesus and Jesus, then surrendering to the requirements on the responsibilities of that agreement. And, and he is now. Under test as to whether he will stick with that way of living or seek some other way of living and some other sort of shortcut to the purpose or the promise.  

[00:27:10] David: I think that's so helpful for us to kind of keep that in mind is to, I there's so many layers as to what's going on here. Aren't there. Even like, here's it in, in just a Gonzales's Luke commentary, he throws, he throws another layer onto it where, and he and, and I, I love this. 

[00:27:32] So we've got these layers of what's happening in this story. And he points out that, that each of the temptations that Jesus faces. our temptations that you can see, they parallel the temptations that the devil used to lead Adam and then Israel into sin. And so each of them is about Jesus, his faithfulness to his purpose and calling to the father. 

[00:27:56] But it's also somehow represents. The correcting of the human story, where the first Adam do use very Paul Layne language. The first Adam gets it wrong. So Gonzales says this. He says just as Adam was tempted so much Jesus be tempted. But while Adam says come to temptation, Jesus will stand. And the first round of the conflict the devil won, but now the devil will be thoroughly defeated by the work of Jesus, which I think is a great quote. 

[00:28:24] I love  

[00:28:25] John: yeah.  

[00:28:26] David: but, but I mean, I really resonate with that idea of that. Just to add another layer to what's going on in this story, that Jesus is, is, is reduced. The human problem that needs. Now, the devil comes to meet another human to the first human it's like, Hey, do you want, why don't you eat this? 

[00:28:42] God did God really say you couldn't eat this or don't eat this. Now we get the second temptation come, sorry. The second encounter between human and the devil with a very different outcome, but a very similar pattern. Now I, I find that really exciting. 

[00:28:59] John: Absolutely. Absolutely. And of course there is Adam that w when, when our first parents fail, they, they were, they were in not respect. Perfect. They, they were pre sin. There was no, there was no sin within them. And yet they were. Tested in such a way that they succumbed and give in and followed that path. 

[00:29:20] And I think that's absolutely no, that, that idea of the first item and the last item and Jesus be able to push through where the first item.  

[00:29:32] David: Hm. 
 

[00:29:32] John: but the similarities in the approach, the similarities and the principles and the similarities and the ideas are striking. There, there, again they stretch those as of years and yet they are absolutely totally nuanced there. And, and, so you get this, this beautiful layer that we're Adam field, Jesus is no stepping up to the plate. What's he going to do where Israel stumbled? Jesus know, as God's begotten son steps into the same arena of testing and is, is, has on his shoulders as it were the, the weird of all humanity and seeking to, in seeking to fulfill the purpose of God. 

[00:30:10] So I think those nuances are there. 

[00:30:12] David: And, and, just Gonzales in his commentary, just, agrees with what you're seeing there because, and what I love about it is when you zoom out there, Yeah. He, he said, he says this, let me just quote him. Cause I think he's, he's fantastic. The temptation of Jesus is not just one more attempt by the devil to hinder or undue God's work. 

[00:30:34] It's an integral part of the mission of Jesus who is to confront and destroy the powers of. So, with what you've said, just there, I think that aligns with that. This is, there's not an ad. The devil is just doing what the devil does. There's a significance here that this is Adam, the return, even Adam part to the sequel. 

[00:30:52] And, and like you say, the first ally, I think. There's just a lot of theological weight hanging on this, on this little passage as to what's happening in cosmic history. Even in sense of God's God's plans for the world. Jesus is confronted by the devil. Or is the devil confronted by Jesus in, oh, it's, th th th they're the first humans hit the wall. 

[00:31:19] That was the devil at this time around, it feels a little more like the devil hits the wall. That is Jesus. And of course, by the end of Luke story, we have the cross and the resurrection, and we knew what that signifies for sin and death. So it's. It's it's theologically, it's the sort of area where if you're in that space, it's like being in the middle of the storm of Luke's theology. 

[00:31:41] Isn't it all your, all your hair's standing on end and it's it's exciting. 

[00:31:45] John: Yeah, for sure. And again, it helps us too, to understand that at a beautiful and glorious level, there is a very personal human application to this, this passage we're about to delve into and discover, I, as I am tempted. So, so the Lord can help me as I am tested. So, so there's that, there's that beautiful. 

[00:32:08] Layer there, but, but as followers of Jesus, we're being called to step out and see, there is something massive, significant, huge that is happening in here. This is, this is not just 

[00:32:20] another thing. This is a necessary. This is absolutely essential in the ministry of Jesus F. He is ultimately to become the C of your, of the world. 

[00:32:32] He must pass the test that out of the field, he must pass the test, that Israel field, he must pass the test that that, that the test, what is in his heart. So that he has fully and completely embraced the way of the father to see of the world. And, and I think that's, that's pulling those threads together that the test here is not just about, well, we'll eat bread or not. 

[00:32:59] That's really not what it's about. It's about it's about, will he embrace the heart of the father and do what the father wants above? Whatever that looks like for him in the context of, of that. And and I love that that there's a sense in which he can sympathize with us with our weaknesses because he's being tempted in every way like we have. 

[00:33:21] But if we only see the temptation of Jesus as well, Jesus, no, it can be my great high priest and sympathize with me because he's been through all. If we only leave it at that level, then, then we're not going far enough. We we've got no a significant, I feel like salvation history tape level, that's saying Jesus has to pass this test. 

[00:33:46] If the world is to be saved. 

[00:33:47] David: I love that John that's and, and. As always, it just reminds me of why it's, why we have to slow down and not read quickly,  

[00:33:56] John: Yeah,  

[00:33:56] David: Think about what, what weight is hanging on, the things that we're, we're saying. And it almost, it, I think the way that you've set that up there leads us in then to actually just look briefly at. 

[00:34:11] The way, not exactly the first temptation, but the way that the devil opens that first temptation. So, there's this, there's this trajectory of the spirit. The spirit is coming down upon Jesus. The spirit is leading Jesus into the wilderness. This spirit is Jesus is full of the spirit. In fact, even I was looking, I should've maybe read beyond verse 13, that at the end of the temptation in verse 14, Jesus returns to Galilee filled with the power of the spirit. 

[00:34:40] And this report about him goes out there. And of course, he's going to walk into the synagogue in Nazareth and say, the spirit of the Lord is upon me. So, so this sense of, of what's going on there, but all of this combined. That when the spirit of the Lord comes upon Jesus at his baptism, we get this, you are my son. 

[00:35:00] So that parallel has been drawn between son of God, children of Israel, but you are my son. So it's really significant that the devil. Opens this question with, if you are the son of God, again, alluding back to what I said in our previous episode, he's the son of God genealogically. He's the son of God through the holy Spirit's confirmation and power. 

[00:35:21] I mean, this is like straight out of the playbook of temptation. It's established. You are God's son and the devil opens. If you are God's son then,  

[00:35:32] John: Yeah.  

[00:35:32] David: Yeah, I mean, it's, it's, it's a challenge. Isn't it? 

[00:35:35] John: Well, it is, and it's, it's a challenge. that is striking at the very core of his identity. Isn't it? 

[00:35:41] So it's, this is not just a. If you're hungry or what you want, this is about 

[00:35:48] who you actually are in relation to the father. So the father has established you are my son. And of course, in between that, with w we've alluded to. 

[00:36:00] Dr. Luke says beautifully. He was the son. So it was thought of Joseph. So you get that lovely little sort of, almost tabloid type field to that, that sort of odd, but it was a bit of a rumor in question market, but as identity. So as identities affirmed by the father at the baptism is his identity is questioned by humans. 

[00:36:20] Well, there was a bit of a rumor, but here his identity is full-on challenged and this isn't a. To who he is. I think there's a powerful idea here, David, that if, if the enemy of our souls, if the adversary is to give him one of his Tanach titles, if the adversary can separate us from our God Shipt identity, then I think he also. 

[00:36:53] Creates a means to confuse us on our God called purpose and destiny. So the trajectory that Jesus is on is no firmly established. You're my son. I love you. And we're, well-pleased holy spirits on him and the holy sprit night lead scent, we are on, this is on. And the first thing that gets challenged is the very first word of the. 

[00:37:16] So the first recorded word of the father is you are my son. The first recorded word of the devil and the gospel of Luke is if you are the song and again, our listeners will hear the on believable parallel to Genesis of has God said, did God really say. When the serpent comes to, to the woman, has God really said, and she responds, yes. 

[00:37:42] God did say, and there's this night wrestling over the word of the Lord that defines our first parents, the word of the Lord that defines who they are. And, the word of the father that has defined Jesus. Jesus is defined by the word of God, not by his own testimony, but by the word of the father, that he is the son. and so when the devil says, if you are the son, he's not only challenging. Density of Jesus, but he is challenging the authority of the word of the father that has established an affirm that identity. 

[00:38:18] So if Jesus or comes to this, if he starts to play the game based on, well, am I the son of God or not? If he starts to play like game, then he plays in to the various. Agenda that I think on dead our first parents, because, because when, when the, when the, when the serpent says to Eve to the woman, dead, God, see, she says, yes, God did say, and then he says, but yes, God knows that if you eat of this. 

[00:38:46] You will be like him and you will know good from evil. And there is again a, in the garden, a subtle undermining of the God established authority because the first man, the first woman were already made in the image of. And get the enemy says, you will be like, God. And I know he's the inference. There. 

[00:39:07] You'll be like, God, because God knows good from evil and you'll be like that. But they were already like, God. And so he was encouraging them to reach out for something they didn't need in order to become someone they already were. They already were like, God, they didn't need this fruit. When we see then and says, it says powerfully in the Genesis text when her eyes were open and she saw that the fruit was good. 

[00:39:35] Then then she circums. So something in that temptation that test in the garden caused her to see in a way that enabled her to abandon her God-given identity in the word of God and move towards that sin. And I think I can't help, but feel that in this test, this is, this is an important, important prefix to the test. 

[00:40:05] We mustn't rush past if you are the son of God. I think there's a question of the word of the father and with the question of the identity of the son, which are inextricably linked to what's about that. 

[00:40:16] David: And, and it is just so interesting again at how Luke is riffing off scripture in that. And it just, It's not as easily noticeable for those of us that read differently now, but it is worth mentioning just to double down on what you've said. The very first thing that God directly says to the man is this command. 

[00:40:36] You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but there's not eat of it. So the first thing God says to Adam is here's, here's, here's something about you. And that's the first thing that the devil tempts, Adam and Eve, with the first thing that God says to Jesus in Luke six, You're my son, the very first thing. 

[00:40:52] So there's a playbook that Luke is showing us of, of how evil works at some level. But, and, and, and like you say these questions about, I love the way you phrased it, but the question about identity and that that's yeah, just really powerful way of thinking about how these sort of things. These third things works and how lies work really, even in that process about how and even, how we can do that. 

[00:41:20] With scripture, we can take, the words of scripture and adjust them and move them. I mean, w and we're going to see that as we talk through overcoming episodes, how the devil does that to Jesus type thing to th to adjust scripture. And I find that it's quite fascinating, John, that, the Lord speaks. 

[00:41:41] To Adam and the devil is back to them saying, well, did he really say it like this? Or what if he said it like that? And actually at some level, is that not the challenge of anybody who would desire to be faithful to God is that we are constantly faced with the opportunity to tweak and adjust God's words to. 

[00:42:04] To, to make them suit us a little bit better. And and, and the devil comes to Jesus and says, well, why don't you just turn these stones into bread? Cause it feels like, it feels like you could do that. And, and we, and we find that, maybe, maybe I don't need to treat this person with the respect that they need. 

[00:42:20] Maybe I don't need to act in this particularly because I think I can read that particular verse of the Bible to support my particular, my particular behavior. So you see. This is the human story at some level. Isn't it it's 

[00:42:33] John: completely. And I think it's what's really powerful. Genesis and Israel and Jesus show us this pattern that what the father that's used, that language, what the father wants from us is not just what he wants. It's not just based in action. It's based in identity. It's based in the fact that when he makes covenant 

[00:42:57] with us when he created our first parents, when he speaks over Jesus, this is about the relationship he has with the people in question, adam and Eve, they were literally the first children of the father. And in that human sense, Israel is his first born. Jesus, you are my son. So, so you've got this. 

[00:43:22] We, we just tend to think of the words of the father to, as being about what he wants us to do. But of course, what he wants us to do is absolutely embedded in who he wants us to be and who we are and him, and actually it's our doing forehead. Most come out of our understanding who we are in him and, and, and that relationship that we have with him when we w you know, w when the prophets came along, they called Israel back to who she was, who, who guided me to be that God, he, they wanted Israel to return. 

[00:44:05] Keeping the law, but understanding that they had a unique relationship with this God. And of course, what the enemy of our souls is after in the garden of Eden is he wants to fracture that unique relationship. He wants to destroy it because he himself, if we are to follow the biblical trajectory, he himself has had that relationship. 

[00:44:26] He was one of, we might want to refer to him as that bright and morning star that as Isaiah refers to him, I know that there's a reference there to the king of Babylon, but there is a new one sent to the fall of Lucifer himself. This sense of I will arise. I will be, I will take the throne of the most high God and. 

[00:44:48] The, even the fall of Lucifer as recorded potentially for us, if you read it that if you're prepared to read it that way in Isaiah 14, even the fall of Lucifer points to the idea that he gets confused about his own idea. tries to become something he is not, and he forgets who he is in relationship to the creator. 

[00:45:10] God, I will erase and take the throne he says in Isaiah 14. So, so when we forget or when we are dislodged or when we are confused about who we are in God, I think then that makes us profoundly vulnerable to ser coming to the tests that are before us on our first parents. I think they come to that. I think Israel struggles with that. 

[00:45:35] And I think know, Jesus, if you are the son of God why begin without, because that is the very heart of both of the father's words and his identity, which is crucial to the purpose for which he's about to fulfill. So I think the two things of what we're called to do and who we are are inextricably linked in a biblical. think the enemy knows that, that the adversary knows that the separation of identity and destiny separation of identity and purpose is at the core of his strategy to destroy God's purpose in us as humans, I think, and through us as humans. I don't know if that makes sense, but I think that's how I'm reading it. 

[00:46:13] Divot.  

[00:46:13] David: I'm reflecting just as you're saying that on Luke, as a student of Paul, and I was thinking about Paul's letter to the Ephesians, which is almost a pushing forward into the church of everything you've just said. So the question of identity amongst Adam and Eve. The question is it's challenged at Jesus. 

[00:46:37] If, if you were to take as your homework to go and read the book of Ephesians, what I think is fascinating about Ephesians is it's you're over halfway through the book of Ephesians before Paul tells you to do anything. There's this there's no imperatives of action. But he spends the first three chapters, just speaking to who God is, to who you are, to what God's done in us. 

[00:47:01] And you reading this book going, I thought Paul was the one that was constantly telling us what to do. And here he is just telling us who we are. And I think it speaks to that same principle of first, you have to establish that because that's going to frame the things that you're going, that you're going to do. 

[00:47:18] And so. Perhaps, we even see this as to how deeply rooted this idea is in scripture, that God shapes us, calls us, identifies us be we Adam and Eve, people of Israel, Jesus, the expanse of the church. This is who you are and that's the place from where you do everything. And if you get that back to front and you try and do things, and we're going to see that in the temporary. 

[00:47:45] The devil is like, well, here's the things that you're here to do. I'll just give them to you that was given to you, but you have to sacrifice your identity. And, and Jesus, unlike Adam and Eve, and unlike, most of us holds the line and understands that his identity and who he is in God is, is the thing that has to define how he does everything else. 

[00:48:05] John: on.