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Commentary on "In Spirit and in Truth"
Day 3: Monday, September 5, 2011 - Worship and Serve
Overview
The theme text for today is Luke 4:5-8 where the devil takes Jesus to a high mountain and shows him all the kingdoms of the world and offers all this if only Jesus would fall down and worship him. Jesus responded by quoting Scripture; “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve”.
Observations
Keep in mind that Adventist teaching is that Jesus, without ever sinning, had inherited the same nature and possibility of sinning confronted by all of us sinners who do sin. The assumption is then made that if Jesus could face temptation and not sin, then so can we. That is, the Adventist version of the gospel message is that Jesus lived a perfect life to serve as an example for us and prove we can live a perfect life when we accept him as our Savior. Since today’s theme text doesn’t really speak to the Adventist assumption Jesus could have sinned, let’s backtrack a little and establish what is the real meaning for us to learn from ‘the temptation of Christ’.
The context is found in Luke 3:21-23. Jesus has just been baptized and the Holy Spirit descends upon him. The Father says; “Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased”. Then, we learn that this is the official beginning of his ministry. Luke 3:23-38 provides the legal proof Jesus is qualified to be called the Son of God which qualifies him as our Messiah.
Luke 4:1-2 says that it was the Holy Spirit who led him into the wilderness. All that follows was a plan of the Father and directed by the Holy Spirit. This whole confrontation was initiated and directed by God to expose Satan for the fraud he really is. It was Satan who was on trial and who failed, not Jesus.
Luke 4:3-4: The Devil said; “If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread”. Jesus said; “It is written, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God”, Deut. 8:3.
Luke 4:5-8: The Devil said; (concerning all power and glory of the world’s kingdoms he will give) “If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.” How conceited of the devil to offer Jesus all that he had created. Jesus said; “…thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve”, Deut. 6:13.
Luke 4:9-13: The Devil said; (while on a pinnacle of the temple) “If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence…” Jesus said; “It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God”, Deut. 6:16.
The Devil then departs in failure and we next find Jesus in Nazareth on the Sabbath day in the synagogue, Luke 4:14-21. Jesus reads from the scroll and then declares; “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled”, Isaiah 61:1-2. All that led up to Luke chapter four was prophetically foreknown and simply fulfilled by Jesus Christ. Prophetic scripture, simply understood, simply states that Jesus would not and could not fail on any point of his ministry here on earth.
The Spirit of the Lord God is on Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance; to comfort all who mourn, (Isaiah 61:1-2 HCSB)
Summary
- It was fully through the Father’s will that the Holy Spirit would lead Jesus in to the wilderness to be tempted by Satan.
- At no point was there any question that Jesus would not defeat Satan. Nor was his attempted request that Jesus worship him even a remote possibility.
- Simply put, Jesus did not and could not sin because he did not and does not have a sin nature. Remember, he was conceived of the Holy Spirit and not of the seed of Adam. There is no biblical support for the heresy that he could have sinned.
- The announcement of Isaiah 61:1-2, “The Spirit of the Lord God is on Me”, was fulfilled at this time and the victory soon to come at Calvary was assured. Satan, who could not succeed in his temptations of Job many years earlier certainly had no to chance of success in his temptations of Jesus in the wilderness. You could also say this was God’s assurance to a fallen world that Satan would soon be defeated by the events of Calvary.
- The Devil has only proven himself to be a fool in his various confrontations with God including his temptations of Jesus in the wilderness. With reference to Adventist theology, there is no such thing as the supposed ongoing ‘Great Controversy’ between him and Jesus. A created being, no matter how powerful, is infinitely weaker that God his Creator.
Copyright 2011 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised August 22, 2011. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Glendale, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.
The Sabbath School Bible Study Guide and the corresponding E.G. White Notes are published by Pacific Press Publishing Association, which is owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist church. The current quarter's editions are pictured above.
Official Adventist Resources
Standard Edition Study Guide Week 11
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Easy Reading Edition Study Guide Wk 11
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