Feb 01, 2026
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Scripture: Luke
Temptation is not new—but neither is victory.
In Luke 4:1-13, Jesus stands where Adam and Israel fell and emerges victorious, which gives us our Big Idea:
Because he won for us, we can now stand firm by learning to:
I can still remember when the Eagles won the Super Bowl for the very first time. My wife, the kids, and I were still living in East Falls, and I watched the game with our neighbor. He is an old, retired union electrician—a Philly lifer, rough around the edges. But after decades and decades of waiting, when the Eagles finally won the Super Bowl, he cried tears of joy. It was as if he had won the Super Bowl. In fact, that’s how people talked after both of the Eagles’ Super Bowl victories. People who never played a down of competitive football were saying, “We won the Super Bowl.” The Eagles represented all of us in the ultimate football battle, so it was appropriate to say, “We won the Super Bowl!” The Eagles’ victory was our victory.
Our passage this morning records the ultimate cosmic battle between the Devil and the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Jesus Christ won. He resisted the temptations. He defeated the Devil. But Jesus’ victory over the Devil is far more than a helpful example for how to resist temptation. Like the Eagles, when the Son of God went into battle against the Devil, he was representing us. And his victory is our victory. On that day, when Jesus won, we won. That’s why we can resist the Devil today.
How do we resist the Devil? Our passage provides three answers, one from each time Jesus resisted the Devil’s temptations:
Philip II of Macedon was a brilliant ancient Greek leader that you’ve probably never heard of because he could never achieve his dream of conquering Persia. However, Philip’s son retraced his steps. His son was Alexander the Great, and when Alexander went up against Persia, he was successful where his father failed.
In our passage this morning, the Son of God is retracing steps as well. Whose steps?
Let me read you the last verse from our passage last week—the final verse from Jesus’ family tree—and then the first verses from our passage this week so that you can see whose steps Jesus Christ was following:
Luke 3:38–4:2a — the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil.
Whose steps is the Son of God following? Well, the words wilderness and forty days should remind us of Israel in the Old Testament. God saved Israel out of slavery in Egypt so that they could worship him in the Promised Land. However, Israel did not walk by faith in God, so God made them wander for forty years in the wilderness.
When Luke tells us that Jesus Christ was led by the Holy Spirit to be tempted by the Devil in the wilderness for forty days, we should be thinking that Jesus Christ is retracing Israel’s steps—but Jesus will be faithful to God instead of faithless, like Israel.
But the Son of God was not only retracing Israel’s steps. By placing Jesus Christ’s genealogy right before his temptation, by calling Adam the son of God just before Jesus—the ultimate Son of God—was tempted by the Devil, Luke is telling us that Jesus Christ was retracing Adam’s steps as well. You may remember that in the Garden of Eden, Adam trusted the Devil’s words instead of God’s character.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the new Israel and the new Adam. He’s retracing their steps, but like Alexander, Jesus Christ will be successful where Adam, Israel, and all of us have failed to remain faithful to God.
Here is the point: when the Son of God battled the Devil in the wilderness, he was fighting as the representative for fallen, sinful, defeated humanity—us. And his victory is our victory, by grace. Our passage isn’t a glum, sad story about poor Jesus being harassed by the Devil. It’s a joyful passage about the true and greater Adam defeating the Devil, and his victory is ours, which is why today you can resist the Devil.
Let’s look now at how the Son of God defeated the Devil’s first temptation so that we can revel in the grace of his victory and learn how to resist the Devil.
Luke 4:1 — And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness.
This verse is very important. It teaches us that Jesus was no reluctant combatant that the Devil snuck up on in the wilderness. No, the Holy Spirit of God led the incarnate Son of God into the wilderness to fight for us.
Luke 4:2 — for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry.
It’s not clear whether the Devil only started tempting the Son of God at the end of the forty days of fasting, or whether the Devil tempted him throughout the entire forty days and these three temptations are the culmination. Either way, what’s clear is that the Devil made his strongest attack when Jesus Christ was at his weakest.
The Devil will often make his strongest attacks when you’re tired at night, when you’re hungry, or when you’re alone. However, if—like Jesus—you make your times of weakness intentional times of dependence on the Lord, then his power will be made perfect in your weakness, and you’ll resist.
Let’s get to the actual temptation.
Luke 4:3 — The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
What exactly was this first temptation? Remember that the Son of God was retracing the temptations that Adam and Israel faced. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were created in God’s image to fill the earth with God’s glory, and God told them what they could and could not eat. The Devil whispered, “If God really loved you—if he really was good—you’d be able to eat whatever you want. God is holding out on you. Look elsewhere.”
Adam and Eve complied with the Devil, and their guilt is our guilt.
Similarly, when God brought Israel out of Egypt and into the wilderness, they grumbled against God for not providing water and food. Even when God provided bread from heaven, they tried to hoard it because they didn’t trust God’s goodness.
Now we can understand Jesus’ temptation. The Devil whispered the same slander into his ear: “If you really are God’s Son—if the Father really is good—then you shouldn’t be starving like this. God isn’t good. Take matters into your own hands.”
As Ben Gladd writes, “To transform the stone into bread is to doubt the faithfulness and goodness of God.”
Question: How are you hearing that same whisper—“God isn’t good or faithful; look elsewhere; take matters into your own hands”?
Perhaps it’s at school. Perhaps it’s at work. Perhaps it’s in your marriage, your fertility, your sexuality, or simply life in general. We’ve all heard the same lie that the Devil whispered in Jesus’ ear.
How did Jesus defeat the whisper? He defeated the Devil’s words with God’s words.
Luke 4:4 — And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’”
By quoting Deuteronomy 8:3, Jesus was saying, “God is good. He will faithfully care for me. I’m not looking elsewhere.”
Jesus defeated the Devil’s first temptation. If you believe in Jesus, that victory has been credited to you. So resist the Devil like your Savior did. Stop listening to your temptations and start talking to them. Talk back with God’s truth, right there in the moment.
The Son of God defeated the Devil, so resist him—first by living on God’s goodness instead of looking elsewhere. Second, resist him by…
In 1997, I competed in my first junior national gymnastics championships in Orlando, Florida. If memory serves me right, I placed 144th in the all-around. When I got back home to California, I lied to kids at school about my placement. I wanted a shortcut to glory.
In the second temptation, the Devil offered Jesus a shortcut to glory—if only Jesus would worship him.
Luke 4:5–7 — And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time… “If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.”
The Devil offered Jesus a pathway to glory without suffering on the cross.
This tactic worked on Adam. It worked on Israel. And it still works on us.
How did Jesus resist? First, he recognized the half-truth. The Devil overpromises and underdelivers. There is no cross-free glory in God’s economy.
Second, Jesus went on offense.
Luke 4:8 — “You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.”
Worship is the best defense. When you worship God daily—when you say no to competing options—you’re ready to say, “I worship and serve my Father only.”
The Son of God defeated the Devil, so resist him by worshiping God only instead of taking shortcuts.
In the final temptation, the Devil revealed his craftiness by quoting Scripture.
Luke 4:9–11 — “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down…”
Jesus recognized this as a presumptuous test of God’s care.
Luke 4:12 — “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”
We are tempted to do the same: If you really love me, then you will…
Through Christ—whose victory is ours—we can trust God’s care without manipulating him.
Jesus defeated the Devil with the Bible. Therefore, prepare by memorizing Scripture and studying it deeply. The Devil knows the Bible and twists it. Learn it well so you can fight with it correctly.
Your Savior defeated the Devil on your behalf. His victory is your victory. So turn the series off, put the phone down, pick the Book up—and fight.