Luke 4:1-2 1And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness 2for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing in those days, and when they had ended, he was hungry.
The next significant event comes directly after Jesus was identified as the Son of God (3:22) and the Son of Adam (3:38). Both of these ideas are significant in the following story as Jesus was confronted and tempted by Satan in many of the same ways Adam was tempted. Elements of the previous passages come to focus with the next one. First, Luke notes that Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit. The primary emphasis in Luke’s version of Jesus’ temptation is the leading of the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ journey in the desert. Everything Jesus did was guided by the Holy Spirit. He sought to do the Father’s will, and the Father’s Spirit is the one who guided him in this. The events in the wilderness were not the devil’s scheme but the plan of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was never on the defensive but always led by God on the offensive.
The location for this story was the dry and desolate wilderness area around the Jordan river, likely around Judah. Wildernesses and deserts have significant symbolism in the Bible. They are lonely places of testing and spiritual battles. Returning implies he headed back toward Galilee (verse 14) and Nazareth (verse 16). The wilderness where Jesus went may have been the same as where Elijah went after his battle with the prophets of Baal. The period of forty
Two significant events happened in Jesus’ time in the wilderness. The primary focus of the passage is his battle with the temptations of the devil. The word tempted (peirazomenos) can also mean testing and being put on trial. The primary temptation the devil gave to Jesus was on identity. Jesus had just been identified twice as the Son of God. Jesus did not become God’s Son at baptism but was conceived and born as the Son. The devil was trying to get Jesus to compromise at the very heart of who he already was. If the devil could even get him to doubt for a second about who he was, the devil would win. The present participle implies that the tempting was continual throughout Jesus’ time in the wilderness. The primary adversary of God’s people is the devil, another term for the Hebrew “Satan.” Satan is a deceiver who lies and tricks people into disobeying God by appealing to fallen human nature, especially the selfish drive we all have.
The second significant event happening was that Jesus fasted for those forty days. The word “fast” is not used by Luke (see Matthew 4:2), but eating nothing says the same thing. Both Moses (Exodus 34:28; Deuternomy 9:9) and Elijah (1 Kings 19:8) fasted for forty days. Fasting is a way to win the battle with our human flesh that seeks to influence our attitude towards others and God by the drive to survive and please our rebellious nature.
By eating nothing, Jesus showed that the world had no control over him. He was completely free from its influence. Because of this, the devil could not touch Him. The more we discipline our body, the less Satan can take advantage of us. Like Moses, Jesus spent intimate time with God. In the desert, he prepared spiritually for ministry and his journey to the cross. Satan had no basis of sin upon which to build. All Satan had to work with was outward human weakness, just like with Adam and Eve, who were also without sin. Where the first Adam failed, the second Adam succeeded.
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