PT-1 “The Message” (Luke 4:16-21)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/12/2026 7:36 PM

My Worship Time                                                                             Focus:  PT-1 “The Message”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                 Reference:  Luke 4:16-21

            Message of the verses:  “And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. 17And the scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to Him. And He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

18“THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME,

BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO BRING GOOD NEWS TO THE POOR.

HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO CAPTIVES,

AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND,

TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED,

19TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.” 20And He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all the people in the synagogue were intently directed at Him. 21Now He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’”

            This evening I begin what is a fairly long section from John MacArthur’s commentary on these verses.  We are beginning to look at Jesus ministry as the first three gospels deal with it, but we have learned that the gospel of John actually speaks of the first things that Jesus did after coming back from fasting in the wilderness and being tempted by Satan, and in that first section of John’s gospel we saw the first of the miracles that Jesus did, which was at a wedding in Canna where He turned water into wine. Now we will begin looking at the verses seen above and some of the things that MacArthur has to say about them.

            I know that it is the Holy Spirit that led the Bible authors to write what He wanted them to write, and so as we look at the events that Luke, through the Spirit wrote here we see that he had chosen to begin his account of Christ’s ministry, by picking out His visit to Nazareth.  Luke did so because what Jesus said on this occasion which identifies Him as the Messiah and perfectly defines His ministry.  This first of two recorded visits  by Jesus to the city where He grew up too place near the beginning of His Galilean ministry; and the other visit, recorded by Matthew (13:54-58) and also Mark (6:1-6), took place near its end.

            Nazareth was located in a hollow in the Galilean hills, just north of the plain of Esdraelon, which is about half way between the Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean Sea.  It was an insignificant village in Jesus’ day (this city or town was not mentioned in the Old Testament, the Talmud, or by Josephus), overshadowed by the larger city of Sepphoris just to the North.  This out of the way town was where Jesus had grown up in, and I think that God picked this city out because it was out of the way so that people would not notice Jesus before His ministry had begun.  Now we know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and later made Capernaum His hometown (Matt. 4:13), Jesus remained associated with Nazareth throughout His ministry.  (4:34; 18:37; Matt. 21:11; 26:71; Mark 1:24; John 1:45; Acts 10:38; 26:9), being scornfully called, “Jesus of Nazareth.”

            MacArthur writes “As was His custom, Jesus entered they synagogue on the Sabbath.  Wherever He was during His ministry, the Lord attended a synagogue on the Sabbath (cf. 6:6;13:10; Mark 1:21; 3:1-2; 6:2).  On this Sabbath, He was chosen to read from the Old Testament Scriptures.  Out of respect for the Scriptures Jesus, as was customary, stood up to read.  Alfred Edersheim captures the drama of the moment:

As the lengthening shadows of Friday’s sun closed around the quiet valley, He would hear the well-remembered double blast of the trumpet from the from the Synagogue-minister’s house, proclaiming the advent of the holy day.  Once more it sounded through the still summer-air to tell all, that work must be laid aside.  Yet a third time it was heard, ere the ‘minister’ put it aside close by where he stood, not to profane the Sabbath by carrying it; for now the Sabbath had really commenced, and the festive Sabbath-lamp was lit.

Sabbath morn dawned, and early He repaired to the Synagogue where, as a Child, a Youth, a Man, He had so often worshipped in the humble retirement of His rank, sitting, not up there among the elders and the honored, but far back.  The old well-known faces were around Him, the Old well-remembered words and services fell on His ear.  How different they had always been to Him than to them, with whom He had thus mingled in common worship!  And now He was again among them, truly a stranger among His own countrymen; this time to be looked at, listened to, tested, tried, used or cast aside, as the cause might be.  It was the first time, as far as we know, that He taught in a Synagogue and this Synagogue that of His own Nazareth.  (The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah [Grand Rapids; Eerdmans 1974], 1:430-31)

I think that I will end this SD here and begin with a new paragraph in tomorrow morning’s SD.

5/12/2026 8:15 PM

 

PT-3 “The Setting” (Luke 4:14-15)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/12/2026 9:36 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                Focus:  PT-3 “The Setting”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                 Reference:  Luke 4:14-15

            Message of the verses:  “And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district.  And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.

            I want to pick up where I left off this morning, as we were talking about the synagogues found in the New Testament time.  These synagogues had no full-time pastors or teacher; the policy known as the “freedom of they synagogue” and this allowed for anyone approved by the ruler of the synagogue to teach.  Thus, if a noted teacher was available, he would likely be invited to preach, as was Paul seen in Acts 13:14-15; “14 ¶  but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. 15  After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.’”  Now in the absence of a guest teacher, any of the men in attendance who were approved to do so might teach.  The synagogues were ruled by elders as seen in Mark 5:22, “22  Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet.”  Now the chief of which was the archisunagogos, or ruler of the synagogue (Luke 13:14; Acts 18:8).  It was his responsibility to conduct the worship service and to approve the teachers.  There was another officer besides the ruler of the synagogue and the elders, the chazzan. He was the keeper of the scrolls of which the Scriptures were written, and was responsible for getting the proper scrolls out for each day’s reading and returning them to the chest where they were stored.  In addition to serving as places of worship, the synagogues also provided instruction for children, much like today’s elementary schools, and served as local courts.

            John MacArthur writes “The order of worship in a typical synagogue of Jesus’ day may be reconstructed as follows:

1.      Thanksgivings or ‘blessings’ spoken in connection with (before and after), the Shema: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.’

2.      Prayer, with response of ‘Amen’ by the congregation.

3.      Reading of a passage from the Pentateuch (in Hebrew, followed by translation into Aramaic)

4.      Reading of a passage from the Prophets (Similary translated)

5.      Sermon or word of exhortation

6.      The Benediction pronounced by a priest, wo which the congregation responded with ‘Amen.’  When no priest was present a Closing Prayer was substituted for the Benediction. (William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary: The Gospel of Mark [Grand Rapids; Baker, 1975], 75-76)

 

            “Luke’s account of Jesus’ visit to the synagogue in Nazareth began with Him reading a passage from the prophets (in this case Isaiah), and then giving the exposition.”

 

Spiritual Meaning for my life today:  In reading sections like this I am happy to learn the things that were done during the time Jesus was on the earth, so that I can learn and grow in the Lord.

 

My Steps of faith for today. I am trusting in the Lord that He will guide my wife in choosing a new doctor to help her defeat this cancer in her body.

 

5/12/2026 9:59 AM

 

PT-2 “The Setting” (Luke 4:14-15)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/11/2026 11:14`PM

My Worship Time                                                                                Focus:  PT-2 “The Setting”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                 Reference:  Luke 4:14-15

            Message of the verses:  “And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district.  And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.

            I want to pick up where I left off this morning, and I believe that it will take at least one more SD after the one that I do this evening.

            “The Lord’s reply to Nathanael displayed another attribute of God, transcendence: ‘Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe?  You will see greater things than these.’  And He said to him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man’’(vv. 50-51).  Jesus’ divine transcendence provides access to heaven for those who believe in Him.”

            Now before leaving Judea, we see that Jesus made a brief detour back into Galilee in order to attend a wedding (John 2:1-11).  The site for the wedding was the village of Cana, not far from His hometown of Nazareth.  It was during the celebration the wine ran out, a glaring breach of etiquette that could have stigmatized the couple for the rest of their lives.  Jesus’ mother, Mary came to him to ask for help, so Jesus miraculously created wine, thus displaying another attribute of deity, omnipotence.  This would have been His first miracle in the book of John, and to my thinking that would have been His very first miracle. 

            Now after a brief stay in Capernaum (2:12), Jesus went to Jerusalem in order to celebrate the Passover (2:13).  This marked the start of His ministry in Judea.  Now the first recorded event of that ministry, the cleansing of the temple as seen in (2:14-17, introduced yet another of Christ’s divine attributes, His holiness.  His supernatural insight into those who expressed a shallow, false nonsaving faith in Him once again revealed Jesus’ omniscience (2:23-25).

            MacArthur continues to look at John’s gospel by writing “John’s account of the Judean ministry also focused on the message Jesus proclaimed.  That message had two essential elements.  First, He taught the necessity of regeneration, or the new birth.  In His conversation with the prominent Jewish teacher Nicodemus, Jesus declared, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God’ (3:3).  Then in verses 11-21, Jesus taught that regeneration is appropriated through believing in Him.  The familiar words of verses 16-18 summarize that truth:

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. ¹⁸ The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

            “Finally, John reveals Christ’s mission.  His encounter with a Samaritan woman showed that Jesus came to be ‘the Savior of the world’ (4:42; cf. 1 John 4:14), not merely of the Jews.  After staying ‘two days [in the Samaritan village Jesus] went forth from there into Galilee’ (v. 43).

            “Because of His extended ministry in Judea, ‘when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves also went to the feast’ (v. 45).  They had been exposed to Jesus’ teaching and the miraculous signs He preformed when they went to Jerusalem for Passover.  They were ready for more.”

            MacArthur now seems to go back to Luke as he writes “Luke’s note that He began teaching in their synagogues introduces the pattern and the priority of the Lord’s ministry.  The priority for Jesus was teaching God’s Word, (cf. Mark 1:38), and throughout Luke’s gospel He is constantly portrayed as a teacher of God’s truth (cf. 4:31; 5:3, 17; 6:6; 11:1; 13:10, 22; 19:47; 20:01; 21:37; 23:5).  He is also frequently referred to as the Teacher (7:40; 8:49; 9:38; 10:25;11:45; 12:13; 18:18; 19:39; 20:21, 28, 39; 21:7; 22:11).

            “The numerous synagogues that existed in Galilee provided the perfect venue for Jesus’ teaching.  Since the minimum number of Jewish men required to form a synagogue was ten, most, if not all, of the 240 cities and villages in Galilee would have had at least one.  Some of the larger cities may have had dozens of them (according to the Jerusalem Talmud there were 480 in Jerusalem, though that number is disputed).  Synagogues were usually built out of stone, and typically faced Jerusalem.  They existed primarily for instruction in the Scriptures.  In a synagogue Sabbath service, a passage from the Old Testament would be read, followed by a teacher explaining its meaning to the congregation.”

            “The synagogues were by no means considered a replacement for the Jerusalem temple, which was the heart and soul of Judaism.  Only at the temple could the sacrifices prescribed in the law of Moses be offered and the feasts and ceremonies celebrated, not in the synagogues (there are no Old Testament references to synagogues).  But after the Babylonians destroyed the temple when they sacked Jerusalem in 586 B. C., the Jewish exiles began gathering in small groups to hear the teaching of God’s Word (cf. Ezekiel 8:1; 14:1; 20:1; 33:31).  Those informal gatherings eventually developed into the synagogues of Jesus’ time.  The Jews of the Diaspora (those who lived outside of Palestine) lacked ready access to the rebuilt Jerusalem temple.  Thus they too built synagogues, as the book of Acts indicates (9:2, 20; 13:5, 14; 14:1; 17:1, 10, 17; 18:4, 19).  The apostle Paul, like Jesus, frequently preached the gospel in those synagogues (Acts 17:17; 18:4, 19:19:8).”

5/12/2026 12:01 AM

 

               

 

PT-1 "The Setting" (Luke 4:14-15)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/11/2026 10:14 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                         Focus:  “The Setting”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                 Reference:  Luke 4:14-15

            Message of the verses:  “And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district.  And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.

            John MacArthur uses the following colorful language to begin this section in his commentary:  “Like a small door that leads into a vast art gallery, verses 14 and 15 are the entrance to a new section of portraits of Jesus in Luke’s gospel.”  Yes we are beginning a new section that Luke has written in his gospel, and this section begins the preaching and teaching of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, and Luke begins looking at Jesus’ teaching in the region of Galilee, which is the northern part of Israel, which the Lord would be engaged in for about a year and a half, which when you think about it was one half of the time that Jesus had left before He would go to the cross to die for the sins of the world.  Now let us focus in on the phrase “in the power of the Spirit” from verse 14.  MacArthur brings the following verses to help us better understand this statement:  “(cf. Acts 10:38 and the discussion of 3:22 in chapter 20 and 4:1 in chapter 22 of this volume).”

(cf. Acts 10:38)

“38  how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.”

Now as far as the discussion of Luke 3:22 you can go back to my Spiritual Diary’s dated May 1-May 2^nd of this year as there are three Spiritual Diaries written on verse 3:22.  The SD on 4:1 was written on May 6^th.

            Now “[there were 240 cities and villages in Galilee according to the first-century Jewish historian Josephus (Life] to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God’ (8:1).”

(8:1)

“1 ¶  Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him,”

            MacArthur continues “Jesus’ powerful preaching and the miracles He performed created a huge sensation, so that news about Him spread through all the surrounding district (cf. 5:15), and even south into Judea (7:17).”

(cf. 5:15)

“15  But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities.”

(7:17)

“17  And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.”

“At this early stage in His ministry Jesus was praised by all.  Galilee was not a large region, and Jesus would have thoroughly blanketed it in the year and a half of His ministry there.  Perhaps that is why, as some have speculated, the Lord’s commission of the apostles in Acts 1:8 refers to Judea and Samaria, but not to Galilee.  The Galilean ministry will be the focus of Luke’s gospel from verse 14 through verse 50 of chapter 9 (cf. Matthew 4:13-18:35; Mark 1:14-9:50).

            “It might appear from reading Luke’s account, as well as the parallel histories of Matthew (4:12) and Mark (1:14), that the Lord’s ministry in Galilee began immediately after His baptism.  That was not the case, however.  There was an interval of about a year between Jesus’ baptism and the beginning of His Galilean ministry.  While the Synoptic Gospels are silent about that year, which Jesus spent ministering in Judea, the gospel of John describes in in detail (chapters 1-4).”

            MacArthur then goes on to write about John’s gospel in a fairly long paragraph which I will quote as I finish this morning’s SD.

            “In keeping with John’s purpose in writing his gospel (John 20:31), his account of Jesus’ Judean ministry focuses on revelations that Jesus is God.”

(John 20:31)

“31  but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

“After His baptism and temptation, Jesus returned to the vicinity of the Jordan where John was continuing his baptizing ministry.  When he saw Jesus, John exclaimed, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’ (1:29).  On the following day John pointed out Jesus to two of his disciples (Andrew and John) and repeated his declaration, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God!’ (v. 36).  ‘Two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus’ (v. 37).  Later in that same section Philip introduced Nathanael to Jesus.  Nathanael was startled by His greeting, ‘Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!’  (v. 47).  To Nathanael’s question, ‘How do You know me?” Jesus gave an even more astonishing reply, one that revealed His omniscience:  ‘Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you’ (v. 48).  Overwhelmed by Jesus’ supernatural of him, ‘Nathanael answered Him, ‘Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel’’(v. 49).”

Spiritual Meaning for my life today:  Knowing that Jesus is God, and knows everything it gives me confidence that He is leading my life to do the things that pleases Him.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I am trusting the Lord to show my wife where He wants her to go to receive better cancer treatment as things are getting worse by the day.

5/11/2026 11:25 AM

           

 

Introduction to “Jesus Returns to Nazareth” (Luke 4:14-30)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/10/2026 11:07 PM

My Worship Time                                         Focus:  Introduction to “Jesus Returns to Nazareth”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                 Reference:  Luke 4:14-30

            Message of the verses:  “¹⁴ And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding region. ¹⁵ And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.

¹⁶ And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. ¹⁷ And the scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to Him. And He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,
¹⁹ To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

²⁰ And He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all the people in the synagogue were intently directed at Him. ²¹ Now He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your ^[e]hearing.” ²² And all the people were ^[f]speaking well of Him, and admiring the ^[g]gracious words which were coming from His ^[h]lips; and yet they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” ²³ And He said to them, “No doubt you will ^[i]quote this proverb to Me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! All the miracles that we heard were done in Capernaum, do here in Your hometown as well.’” ²⁴ But He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown. ²⁵ But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a ^[j]severe famine came over all the land; ²⁶ and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to ^[k]Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. ²⁷ And there were many with leprosy in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was ^[l]cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” ²⁸ And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; ²⁹ and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and brought Him to the ^[m]crest of the hill on which their city had been built, so that they could throw Him down from the cliff. ³⁰ But He passed through their midst and went on His way.”

            I will now quote from John MacArthur’s introduction on the verses from above.

            “Through the first thirty years of His life, Jesus had lived in obscurity in Nazareth.  The only recorded incident from those silent years is His visit to Jerusalem and dialogue with the teachers in the temple when He was twelve.  Apart from that, nothing is known about His childhood years except for the general statement that He ‘kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men’ (2:52).  The next recorded event in Jesus’ life was His appearance at the Jordan River to be baptized by John the Baptist.  After His baptism Jesus, at the direction of the Holy Spirit, spent forty days in the wilderness being tempted by Satan.

            “All that happened in His life up to this point in Luke’s gospel—the testimony of Gabriel, the angels who appeared to the shepherds, Zacharias, Elizabeth, Mary, Joseph, Simeon, Anna, John the Baptist, Jesus’ affirmation at age twelve that He was the Son of God, and His public attestation by the Father and the Holy Spirit at His baptism—had established His messianic credentials.  The time had now come for Jesus to step onto the stage of His full public ministry.

            “This introductory scene in Luke’s account of Jesus’ public ministry takes place in His hometown of Nazareth.  It may be divided into three sections: the setting, the message, and the reaction.”

5/10/2026 11:18 PM

 

 

“The Postmortem of the Battle” (Luke 4:13)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/10/2026 8:17 AM

My Worship Time                                                            Focus:  “The Postmortem of the Battle”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                       Reference:  Luke 4:13

            Message of the verse:  “When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.”

            As we have studied each of the three temptations that Satan had for Jesus we know that the Lord won all three of them, and so he can now get some food and go on to begin his ministry.  MacArthur states that he believes that these temptations happened over His 40 day ministry.  So Satan left Him until an opportune time.  Such times of temptation occurred throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry.  In Luke 22:28, Jesus said to His disciples, “You are those who have stood by Me in My trials.”  Satan would through Peter tempt Jesus once again to avoid the cross, resulting in the Lord’s stern rebuke, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s” (Matt. 16:23).  The devil would successfully tempt Judas to betray Christ as seen in John 13:27.  “27  Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.’”

            “Several lessons may be drawn from observing Satan’s assault on Christ” writes John MacArthur.  “First, he uses the same strategies to tempt believers that he used on Christ.  He attempts to get them to distrust God’s love, doubt His plan, and presume on Him, and will twist Scripture to do so.  Second, Satan takes advantage of specific circumstances to launch his assaults.  He was physically weak after forty days without food and isolated from other people.  Finally, along with watchfulness and prayer (Matt. 25:41), Scripture is the essential weapon believers must wield to defeat temptation.  To do so effectively requires both knowledge of the Bible and a commitment to obey it.

            “To be successful in their struggle against temptation, believers must follow the pattern set by the Lord Jesus Christ.  They must trust God’s love, submit to His plan, and refuse to presume on His promises and grace.  By doing so, they will successfully ‘resist the devil’ and see Him ‘flee from [them]’ (James 4:7).

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  These are directions that I must follow when being tempted by the devil.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Follow the steps give in this SD to have victory over Satan.

5/10/2026 8:37 AM

“Satan Tempted Christ To Trust God Presumptuously” (Luke 4:9-12)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/9/2026 6:48 PM

My Worship Time                          Focus:  “Satan Tempted Christ To Trust God Presumptuously”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                     Reference: Luke 4:9-12

Message of the verses:  “9  And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10  for it is written, "’He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ 11  and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” 12  And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (ESB)

            Satan’s first two attempts to lure Jesus into sin had failed completely, but Satan made one final effort, and as we look at this last temptation from Luke’s gospel, we can say that in Matthew’s account it was second.  Luke arranged the temptations thematically rather than chronologically.  Taking Jesus to Jerusalem, Satan had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple.  That may refer to the southeast corner of the temple complex, overlooking the Kidron Valley several hundred feet below.  It was there that the devil said to Jesus, “If (since) You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.

            Jesus had rebuffed Satan twice before by quoting of Scripture, so Satan now quoted Scripture himself.  Now as one thinks about that they can realize that Satan knows the Bible from front to back, he is not stupid, but he is evil.  Satan even quoted this scripture in the same way Jesus had: “For it is written, ‘He will command His angels concerning you to guard you,’ and, ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Now since Jesus would not deviate from His obedience to the plan of God, Satan offered Him an opportunity to allow God to fulfill His word.  The passage the devil quoted (Ps. 91:11-12) is from a messianic Psalm, where God pledges to protect the Messiah.  The devil hoped that one of the two things would happen if Jesus did jump.  If He was killed by the fall, He would not die on the cross as a substitute for sin as the Old Testament predicted that He would.  (Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 are two references to this.)  Or by forcing God to miraculously deliver Him, Jesus would cease to be in submission to His plan and will.  The essence of this final temptation was to presume on God, to back Him into a corner where He would be forced to act.  But Jesus refused to act presumptuously.  Instead, Jesus countered Satan’s twisting of the Scripture by quoting another passage from the book of Deuteronomy “16  "You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.”

            “This type of temptation is perhaps the most subtle and dangerous”  writes John MacArthur, “of the three, because it seemingly encourages people to exercise faith in God.  In reality, it arrogantly, brazenly demands things from God, turning Him into a utilitarian genie who grants people’s every whim.  That false view of faith, promoted in its most extreme form by the so-called prosperity gospel (also know as the ‘name it and claim it’ movement), in essence makes man sovereign.  If the right formula is used, God has to respond.  When He does not deliver the goods they have claimed by faith, however, many become disillusioned and abandon Him.

            “In contrast to that false, even blasphemous view of faith, true faith humbly submits to God’s will.  It prays, as Jesus taught, ‘Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’ (Matt. 6:10; cf. Luke 22:42).”

(Matt. 6:10; cf. Luke 22:42)

“10  Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

42  saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.’”

5/9/2026 7:13 PM