Jesus,
full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. He ate nothing in those days. Afterward, when they were completed, he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’”
Luke 4:1-4
Luke 3 [35.] the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
Luke 4 [1.] Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. He ate nothing in those days. Afterward, when they were completed, he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
Luke 4 [4.] Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’”
Luke 4 [5.] The devil, leading him up on a high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. The devil said to him, “I will give you all this authority, and their glory, for it has been delivered to me; and I give it to whomever I want. If you therefore will worship before me, it will all be yours.”
Meaning:
At his baptism Jesus was declared God’s beloved Son and the Holy Spirit came on him (Luke 3:21-22). Luke’s genealogy then traced him back to Adam, “the son of God” (Luke 3:30-38). Now the Son of God is tested. Mark tells the temptation in two short verses (Mark 1:12; Mark 1:13), while Matthew and Luke describe three temptations (Matthew 4:2). These verses give the first.
- “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan”
Luke emphasises the Spirit. Jesus was “full of the Holy Spirit” and was “led by the Spirit into the wilderness.” The temptation was not an accident or a defeat; it was part of God’s plan. The Spirit who had come on Jesus at the Jordan now led him into conflict with the enemy. Being filled with the Spirit does not mean being spared from trials. Often it means being strengthened to face them. After the testing Jesus “returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee” (Luke 4:14).
- “for forty days, being tempted by the devil”
Forty is a significant number in Scripture. Moses fasted forty days on Mount Sinai, and Elijah travelled forty days to the mountain of God. Above all, Israel spent forty years in the wilderness, where God tested his people: “Yahweh your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to prove you, to know what was in your heart” (Deuteronomy 8:2). Israel, God’s son, often failed in the wilderness, grumbling for food and testing God. Jesus, the true Son, relives Israel’s story and remains faithful. He also succeeds where Adam failed. Adam fell in a garden full of food; Jesus stood firm in a desert after forty days without eating.
- “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread”
The devil does not doubt that Jesus is God’s Son; the word “if” here means “since.” He echoes the voice from heaven and tries to turn Jesus’ sonship against his obedience. The temptation is subtle. Bread is not sinful, and Jesus was truly hungry. Later he would multiply loaves for thousands, but for others and at his Father’s direction. But to turn stones into bread here would be to use his power for himself, to escape the path of trust that the Father had set before him, and to act on the devil’s suggestion rather than the Father’s word. The question was whether Jesus would trust his Father to provide or take matters into his own hands.
- “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God”
Jesus answers with Scripture, quoting Moses: God “allowed you to be hungry, and fed you with manna ... that he might teach you that man does not live by bread only, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of Yahweh’s mouth” (Deuteronomy 8:3). Physical food matters, but life depends ultimately on God and his word. For Jesus, doing his Father’s will was more necessary than eating. The same trust would carry him through his whole ministry, and finally through the cross, where he again refused to save himself. He did not argue with the devil or use his divine power. He used the weapon available to every believer, “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17).
The Significance of Luke 4:1-4
- A Saviour who understands
Jesus was truly hungry and truly tempted. “For we don’t have a high priest who can’t be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who has been in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). He can help us when we are tempted (Hebrews 2:18).
- Trust God for daily needs
Many temptations begin with real needs: food, money, security, love. The test is whether we will meet them God’s way or our own. Jesus shows that obedience to God is worth more than immediate satisfaction.
- Know the word
Jesus resisted with Scripture he had learned and stored in his heart. “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11). God also promises a way of escape in every temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Cross-References:
Deuteronomy 8:3: “man does not live by bread only, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of Yahweh’s mouth.” The Scripture Jesus quoted.
Hebrews 4:15: “but one who has been in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin.” Jesus understands our weakness.
1 Corinthians 10:13: “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able,” The way of escape.
James 4:7: “But resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Standing firm against the enemy.
Conclusion: In Luke 4:1-4 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, is led into the wilderness and tempted by the devil for forty days. Hungry, he is urged to prove his sonship by turning a stone into bread. He refuses, answering from Deuteronomy that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. Where Adam and Israel failed, Jesus stands firm, and he shows every believer how to resist temptation by trusting God and holding fast to his word.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible