Luke 4:1-30

After wandering in the desert for forty days with no food, Jesus was tempted three times by the devil. Jesus did not give in to the temptations, but countered each temptation with scripture supporting why He would not do each thing.

Jesus lived in every way as a human being - including enduring temptation. Because Jesus also lived a sinless life, we can see that being tempted is not the same as sin. Everyone is tempted. Everyone has moments where an opportunity to do the wrong thing is presented and we need to choose between doing the right thing and doing the wrong thing. The important thing is what we do in these situations. These are the decisions that shape us and determine what kind of person we become. It is important that we prepare ourselves for these situations by knowing the right thing to do before hand. Just like Jesus, we need to decide what is right in the light of scripture, and to do that we must know scripture. The best defense we have against our enemy is the mighty sword that is the word of God.


In the synagogue of His hometown, Nazareth, Jesus read a prophetic passage from the book of Isaiah about His ministry of preaching and healing. After He closed the scroll, He told them that they had witnessed the fulfillment of that prophesy. At first, the people were accepting of what He said, but when He told them He would not perform miracles in Nazareth, they became enraged and kicked Him out of town.

Everyone loves to hear about the God who loves people, comforts them, and heals them, but when they see what they perceive as an injustice that God does not do these things for all people (or specifically them), they tend to turn on God or the whole idea of God. We cannot judge God by our standards. We do not know the whole story. God deals fairly with everyone based upon their individual circumstances. God blesses those who are in right standing with Him.