In Jason Dohm's sermon titled 'Success Where We Failed,' he explores Luke 4:1-13, emphasizing Jesus' triumph over temptation where humanity, represented by Adam and Eve, failed. The sermon highlights that Jesus, fully God and fully man, maintained perfect righteousness, even when tempted by the devil. This passage is not primarily about human strategies for dealing with temptation, but about Jesus' unique role as the sinless Savior who succeeds where we failed. Jesus' victory over temptation is attributed to his reliance on Scripture and his divine nature. The sermon outlines the pivotal role of the Holy Spirit, who leads Jesus into the wilderness for this confrontation, underscoring God's sovereignty over the events. It contrasts Jesus' sinless nature with human susceptibility to temptation, illustrating how Jesus is the perfect mediator and substitute for sinners. The sermon also sheds light on the devil's consistent playbook, exploiting human vulnerabilities, and how Jesus' response using Scripture serves as a model for resisting temptation. Finally, it encourages believers to be vigilant, rely on God's Word, and trust in Jesus' aid during temptations.

The title of the message is Success Where We Failed. The title is Success Where We Failed, Jesus Succeeding, where the human race has failed, because the text is about Jesus, the Son of God, God taking on flesh. And in this life, in the flesh maintaining his perfect righteousness, even in the face of temptation, that's in our text, the lamb without blemish who can be a substitute for sinners, succeeding where Adam and Eve and also all of us failed so that he can be the one mediator between God and man, having been tempted in every way, yet without sin. So While there are things in the text that we can learn about resisting temptation, that is in this text, a title like dealing with temptation, as if this text were primarily about us and ignoring the fundamental differences between us and Jesus. Jesus being tempted is not the same as me being tempted, because there are fundamental differences.

That would be a bad title. Dealing with temptation would be a bad title for the sermon, because this sermon is not fundamentally about me and temptation it's about Jesus and temptation and what it means that he never succumbed to any temptation at any point in his life. So the summary is this you ready I'm already summarizing. Behold the Savior of sinners, succeeding in every way that we've failed in order to offer Himself as the one who can Take upon himself the wrath of God that I deserve God ought to be angry at me for what I'm like and what I've done What I've thought what I've said but instead that Good anger of God can be diverted from me and placed on Jesus because he succeeded where we failed. That's actually what this text is about.

So we come to the text, let's pray. God, I thank you already in prayer and I thank you again. Jesus is the champion of his people who has conquered sin and death on behalf of his people. So that his people don't have to have the eternal wages of their sin. Can be free, can live forever with you.

Thank you for this text in Jesus name, amen. Okay, as always we're subdividing, we're in Luke chapter four, I'd like to begin starting with Luke chapter four verses one and two. So follow along as I reread these two verses and then I'll talk about them. Luke chapter 4 verses 1 and 2. Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for 40 days by the devil.

And in those days he ate nothing. And afterward, when they had ended, he was hungry. So this is coming right out of chapter three, Jesus being baptized, the Holy Spirit descending upon him and the voice from heaven coming saying, this is my son who I love. Now that so that this is right on the heels of that. So in these verses we have what happens next which is a circumstance initiated by the Holy Spirit.

So if you're taking notes on the handout, filling in the blanks, there's one blank and initiated fills in that blank. A circumstance initiated by the Holy Spirit. As we continue to see, this gospel especially, the gospel of Luke, has the fingerprints of the Holy Spirit all throughout. We've already seen this a bunch and we're going to continue to see it. We're seeing it in this text.

The Holy Spirit in chapter 3 descended on Jesus in bodily form like a dove at his baptism. Jesus is filled with the Holy Spirit. He's overflowing with the Holy Spirit and now immediately upon the heels of that the Holy Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness in Matthew's account. So there's a parallel account for this in Matthew chapter 4. Matthew chapter 4 verse 1, it says, to be tempted.

So Matthew eliminates all doubt that the temptation was the whole purpose of the Holy Spirit leading him into the wilderness. It is the stated purpose. He was led into the wilderness to be tempted, says Matthew. In Mark's account, Mark chapter one, verse 12, it says immediately the Spirit drove him into the wilderness. So the Holy Spirit is compelling Jesus to go into the wilderness, and there's a stated purpose for that, and that is that he would be tempted by the devil.

The devil doesn't just happen to find him in the wilderness. This is the whole purpose of the Holy Spirit driving him, compelling him to go into the wilderness. When it says that the Spirit drove him into the wilderness, the idea isn't that Jesus was reluctant. The idea is that the Holy Spirit is orchestrating these events. In other words, God's in charge of what's happening here.

This is so important. The devil is not in control of these things. So don't come to this text and make the devil the star character here or the main character in this text. The devil is not in control, he is actually responding. God the Holy Spirit is in control of these events.

God is bringing about his own purposes by bringing in Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted. Jesus is tempted for 40 days by the devil. Matthew's account says the tempter came. That's who the devil is. So sometimes this being, This enemy of God and his people is called Satan.

Sometimes the devil, Matthew in his gospel in Matthew chapter four, simply drops all that and calls him the tempter because that's who he is. Satan or the devil is the one who just like in the garden comes to draw people into things which dishonor and displease this perfectly good God. During those 40 days, Jesus ate nothing. Day 1, nothing. Day 2, nothing.

Day 3, nothing. Day 38, nothing. Day 39, nothing. Day 40, nothing. It's a total fast.

No food at all. At the end of the time, he was hungry. I'll bet he was hungry. During prayer week, we have a partial day fast, meaning we say, if you can and you want to, skip breakfast, skip lunch, use those meal times as prayer times, and then we'll break the fast together and eat pizza before we pray that night. By mid-afternoon, your body is craving food.

This is a partial fast on day one! So Jesus, in our text, is eating nothing for 40 days. I'll bet he was hungry. If you're wondering, if you have water, you can go somewhere from three weeks to two months with no food, depending on circumstances. So if your skin and bones and the circumstances are rough, then you'll only last about three weeks if you have water.

It's only a few days if you don't have water. If you have water and the circumstances are better and your body has more reserves, let's just say it that way, your body has more reserves, you can last up to two months. So this is 40 days with no food is a long time. So the stage is set. Jesus hasn't eaten a thing for 40 days and now comes the tempter at a great time of literal and figurative human weakness.

So imagine the literal weakness, 40 days of no food, and imagine the figurative weakness. You'll notice, if you've ever fasted, you'll notice that it's not just physical weakness, that You tend to be discouraged after no food. You tend to have fuzzy thinking after you've had no food. So this is a great time of literal and figurative human weakness. Next section, moving on to Luke four verses three and four.

I'll follow along as I reread this, and 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. In these two verses, we have the first temptation. If you're filling in blanks, first fills in the blank, the first temptation. Now what is the backdrop?

That we've seen the devil tempt before. Most churches when they preach through the Gospel of Luke don't happen to have just come from a study of Genesis. We have just come from a study of Genesis. So we have recently seen the devil personally tempt before in Genesis 3. And Eve and Adam succumbed to that temptation.

This is the garden the serpent comes temps and even Adam succumbed to that temptation they failed and plunged our entire race into rebellion. The serpent came and said, you can eat that fruit. And they failed that temptation. They succumbed to that temptation and they plunged our entire race into rebellion. They changed what human nature was like.

It was different, fundamentally different before that point and became fundamentally Different after that point with corruption coming in. That was the ruin of mankind. And now the devil is here in Luke chapter 4 attempting to keep that firmly in place. He's not letting go of that. He won that victory in Genesis 3 and he's not about to give it up in Luke chapter 4.

There are just those two face-to-face confrontations between Satan and a human recorded in Scripture. You will not find another face-to-face confrontation between the devil personally and a human in Scripture. There's that one and there's this one. So you find other spiritual things happening, demonic activity and things like that, but never a face-to-face confrontation between the devil personally and a human, only there and here. That temptation, Genesis 3, and this temptation are easy to compare, meaning when you look at them you say, oh, the same thing is happening here.

Eve saw that the forbidden fruit was, one, good for food, two, pleasant to the eyes, and three, desirable to make one wise. Those things are easily matched with these three temptations. What does that mean? It means that the devil has a playbook! And it hasn't changed a lot since Genesis 3.

And if he has a playbook, and it's a consistent playbook, you and I should be familiar with it. The devil understands our vulnerabilities. We're people. We have certain characteristics. We're vulnerable to certain things.

The devil is intimately familiar with our vulnerabilities and he lines up the temptations to exploit and make use of those vulnerabilities. He did then, he does now, and things have changed radically even since then. So there's so much more that makes us vulnerable. There's so much more in us to exploit and to make use of for a tempter. In our case, in the year of our Lord, 2026, the devil has been using and refining those leverage points for the 6, 000 years of human history.

Just know this, you have an enemy that has been perfecting these techniques of exploiting our key vulnerabilities for 6, 000 years. First Peter 5 verse 8 says this, your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. That's why we must be sober and vigilant. That's what Peter says, be sober, be vigilant for your adversary. The devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

If there's a lion out there on the prowl, you better be sober and vigilant. Our enemy is cunning and hate-filled and he knows exactly how he plans to bring you down. What a thought. Oh that we would live like we have an enemy that is cunning and hates us and knows exactly how he plans to bring us down. 1 John 2 16 says, for all that is in the world, The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world.

That verse says nothing of the devil. It simply describes our key vulnerabilities. The lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life Since mankind's fall into corruption Those have been and are and will be our key vulnerabilities and the devil knows them and lines up temptations to exploit and make use of them. He did in the garden. We see him trying it with Jesus in Luke chapter 4.

John speaks of it in 1st John 2 16. The devil has a playbook. He's been refining it and perfecting it for 6, 000 years. The end of chapter 3 was Jesus's human genealogy. That's where we just came from.

A long genealogy tracing Jesus back through the family line all the way to Adam. What does that mean? That means Jesus was a man, a human being. Jesus was not just a human being. He is the man, but Jesus was fully man.

And that is what the devil is attacking, Jesus in his humanity. So he's coming and trying to exploit human, normal, natural, universal human vulnerabilities attacking the humanity of Jesus. The devil speaks, if you are the son of God, command this stone to become bread. The son of God. Prove it.

Prove it. If you're the Son of God, prove it by making this stone bread. If you are hungry, and if you are the Son of God make this stone bread. Now Jesus is a man, fully man, a man who hasn't eaten a thing for 40 days. Is he hungry?

Yes, he's hungry. Question, can he do it? There's a stone. The devil is pulling out the stone. Make that bread.

Can he do it? Of course he can do it. In chapter nine, we're a long ways from chapter nine, but when we get there, Jesus will feed 5, 000 men plus the women and children who were there with five loaves and two fish, essentially making an unbelievable abundance of food from nothing. So, ability is no problem here, and this is going to be proved further in Luke. He's going to feed 5, 000 with five loaves and two fishes.

Here's an observation from J.C. Ryle. From a season of honor and glory, He passed immediately to a season of conflict and suffering. First came the testimony of God the Father, You are my beloved Son. Chapter 3, The Baptism.

Then came the sneering suggestion of Satan if you are the Son of God The portion of Christ will often prove the portion of Christians From great privilege to great trial there will often be but a step." Oh, that's helpful to know. That's such a good observation. Have you never experienced that, Christian? Like one day a mountaintop and if You only knew the next day was a deep valley, one step. How does Jesus respond?

Jesus quotes Deuteronomy. Just three temptations, Three quotations, they're all Deuteronomy. You're gonna hear me say this a lot. Jesus quotes Deuteronomy. Here it's chapter eight.

Temptation number two will be chapter six. Temptation number three will be chapter six again. Jesus quotes the written Word of God. It is written. Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 3 says, Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word of God.

We need food, true, it can only last from three weeks to two months without it if you have water. But we need more than just food, we need God to speak. And then we need to shape our lives according to what he said. It's as fundamental, this need for God to say something to us and then to shape our lives by what He has said is as fundamental as food to our bodies. We need every word that God says.

Every word that God says. Not one word is irrelevant by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Not one of them is irrelevant. Not one of them is needless. God literally has the words of life.

They're the words that give us life and then direct us in life. Without the words of God, you don't have life. Without the words of God, you have no idea how to live life, even if he gives you life. So Jesus understands that he doesn't need to work a miracle to accommodate his enemy, to prove himself to an adversary. What he needs is to listen to his father and to live by those words.

In John chapter 4, Jesus tells the disciples, I have food to eat of which you do not know. I got food that you don't know about. My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish his work. I got plenty of food. It's to do what my Father said to do, to be about the work that he's given me to do.

Jesus understood and taught that if you seek God's kingdom first, God will provide what you need when you need it. So the world worries about that stuff, food and clothes. Jesus understood and taught the people of God don't have to worry about those things. You prioritize the kingdom and God provides what you need when you need it. Jesus understood that his state of hunger was for his good and his Father's glory.

His state of hunger was not a problem to be solved. The devil's saying, solve your problem. Jesus is saying, I don't have a problem. This hunger is not a problem. This hunger is for my good and my Father's glory.

I've been compelled by the Spirit to come out here for this. Jesus understood that his physical hunger wasn't a shortcoming of the plan. Oh no, the plan's off track. It was the plan. And he entrusted himself to his father to provide what he needed when he needed it.

Verses five through eight. Next section. Follow along as I reread verses five through eight. Then the devil, taking him up on a high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to him, all this authority I will give you and their glory.

For this has been delivered to me and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore If you will worship before me, all will be yours. This is the second temptation. Now something supernatural happens. You cannot go up to a mountaintop and see all the kingdoms of the world in their glory.

This is a supernatural thing. This shouldn't surprise us. This is the devil in Jesus, not a problem. The devil takes Jesus up on a high mountain and shows him all the kings of the world, every nation, in a moment of time. You've heard about your life flashing before your eyes.

These are the kingdoms of the earth and their glory flashing before Jesus's eyes. The devil offers him the authority and the glory of them all. The authority over every nation on earth, the glory of every nation on earth. You can rule them all, Jesus, and all of their beauty, all of their riches, All of their fame will be yours. The devil claims that the authority and glory of all the nations have been delivered to him so that he can give them to whoever he wants to give them to.

Just worship before me and all will be yours, says the devil. Now, let's start here. Can the devil actually give Jesus the authority and glory of all the nations? Can the devil really give them to whoever he wants? Well, on the one hand, Jesus calls Satan the ruler of this world.

Actually not once but twice. John 12, 31 and John 16, 11, Jesus calls Satan the ruler of this world. Paul calls the devil the god of this age. 2 Corinthians 4 verse 4. The God of this age.

Paul calls the devil the prince of the power of the air. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 2. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 2. John says the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. The whole world lies under the influence, under the sway of the wicked one.

It's 1 John 5 19. And in Revelation 13 verses 2 and 7, the dragon who is the devil gives the beast authority over every tribe, tongue, and nation. He gives the beast authority over every tribe, tongue, and nation. He gives the beast authority over every tribe, tongue, and nation. That's Revelation chapter 12 verses 2 and 7.

On the other hand, in John 8, 44, Jesus says, when the devil speaks a lie, he speaks from his own, For he is a liar and the father of it." That's his native language. What language do you speak? Lying. That's the devil. That's his native language.

How do you know the devil is lying? His mouth is moving. And in Job chapters 1 and 2, Satan clearly must have permission from God to do anything. Go read Job chapter one, Job chapter two. You'll find him asking permission to do basic things.

So clear, he clearly has to have permission from God to do anything. In the end, I think it's probably something like Genesis 3, where the promises made to Eve by the devil are technically true, but grossly misleading. I think that's probably what we have here. Just a replay of the temptation in Genesis chapter 3, where the things that the serpent, the devil, Satan, says to Eve, tempts Eve with, are technically true but grossly misleading. Remember, Eve, you will not surely die.

Did she die? Physically no, spiritually yes. For God knows in the day that you eat of it, your eyes will be open. Were her eyes opened? In some ways, yes.

In some ways, she was blind. She became blind that day in some ways. In actually more fundamental ways. So it was technically true, but grossly misleading. You will be like God, knowing good and evil.

Technically true, grossly misleading. It's technically true, grossly misleading. She did not become more like God that day. She did not know good and evil in the same way in which God knows good and evil. So clearly the devil has permission from God to do much in the world.

Jesus and Paul and John and Revelations wouldn't speak of the devil in this way if he didn't have permission from God to do much in this world. In the end, everything the devil does will end in God's glory and the ultimate good of God's people. In the ultimate sense, it is God who raises up and puts down rulers. And the devil is only used in ways that the devil himself can't even understand at the time. That's actually what's happening in our text.

The devil is being used in a way that he can't even understand at the time. You know he hates having this preserved in the Gospels. These events. The big point of this second temptation is not the boundaries of the ability of the devil. It's not what it's about.

But the offer for Jesus to skip the cross to gain the nations. So that's what temptation two is about. Jesus skipped the cross and gained the nations. Old Testament prophecy is clear that God will give the nations to his son. It's everywhere really.

It's so many places in the Old Testament, but it's so crystal clear that all the nations go to the sun in Psalm two and in Daniel seven. I encourage you to just go read Psalm two and Daniel seven and you'll see these crystal clear promises that all the nations go to the sun. But the cross comes first. That's true in Old Testament prophecy also the cross comes first. He comes first to serve.

He comes again to be served throughout the endless ages. This is the first time, so he's coming to serve, not to be served. The devil says, Skip the cross, Jesus. I offer you the authority and glory of the nations now, right now. The price is small, just kneel before me.

That Greek word translated worship literally means to kiss the hand in reverence to bow before. Have you ever seen The Pope extend his ring to be kissed. I hope you recoil at that, you should. That's what is being asked. Kiss the ring.

To kiss the hand in reverence, to bow before. Don't pay the big price, Jesus. You should pay a little price. In an instant you can go from a poor man starving in the desert to the king of the world. In an instant, you can go from a poor man starving in the desert to the king of the world.

How does Jesus respond? He says, get behind me, Satan. He rebukes the devil and then he quotes Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy 6.13 says, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve. By the way, this is the definitive chapter on the matter.

In other words, you have the whole Bible before you. Pick one chapter to defend God is the only God and He's the only one you should worship. He's the only one you should serve. If you take a year to go chapter by chapter, you'll end up back at Deuteronomy chapter 6. How can I say that?

Deuteronomy chapter 6 is the chapter with the great commandment. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, no heart, soul, or strength for anything else, all saved for God. And then this verse, Deuteronomy 6.13, you shall worship the Lord your God and Him only you shall serve and Then in the very next verse which isn't quoted, but I'm just telling you what's in Deuteronomy 16 It says God is a jealous God He's jealous He's saving worship for just himself and he doesn't share it with anyone else. He's jealous over his godhood. He doesn't tolerate any rivals.

What do we have here? No extended consideration. I'll give you every nation of the world and all the riches, all the fame, all the authority. Let me think about it. There's none of that.

There's no extended consideration. There's no negotiation. Just it is written. Just it is written. God has said.

Verses 9 through 12. 9 through 12. Follow along as I reread. Then he the devil brought him, Jesus, to Jerusalem, set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, if you are the son of God, throw yourself down from here. For it is written, he shall give his angels charge over you to keep you.

And in their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. And Jesus answered and said to him, it has been said, you shall not tempt the Lord your God. Here we have the third temptation. Josephus, the great Jewish historian from the period in question from a Jesus and after, says that there is a high point of the temple directly over a cliff to the Kidron Valley. So picture, the temple's built, but it isn't flat ground as far as you can see.

On one edge of the temple, it has been built up to the edge of a cliff over a valley. So you have not just the height of the temple but also the height of the cliff to the bottom of this valley. And Josephus says, when you're up there at this high point on the temple, plus the cliff, that makes you dizzy. If you ever been up to the top of the St. Louis arch or somewhere like that and you look out and your head starts to swim, Josephus says, you go to that part of the temple, that's what you feel like.

The devil takes Jesus to a spot like that and says to him, if you are the son of God, jump. And then the devil gets into the scripture quoting business. So first temptation, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy. Second temptation, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy. Third temptation, the devil quotes Psalm 91 verses 11 and 12.

If you are the son of God, jump, the angels will catch you. According to these precious written words that you're quoting me, Psalm 91 is not known to be about the Messiah, which doesn't make the case weaker, it actually makes it stronger. What do I mean? Psalm 91 is about God's protection for His people. Not his son, not his king, not his prophet, just his people.

God's care and protection just for his people. So the devil is actually saying, if God promises to protect just His people in this fashion, if you're the Son of God, surely it applies a thousand fold to you. As a side note, and very ironically, listen to the very next verse of Psalm 91. So the devil quotes verse 11, verse 12, listen to verse 13. No wonder the devil doesn't quote this.

You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra. The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. You can't make this stuff up. How does Jesus respond? He calls Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 16. You shall not tempt the Lord your God. The New American Standard and the English Standard, the ESV and the NIV all translate it, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test. You shalt, you shouldn't tempt God or you shouldn't Put the Lord your God to the test Meaning what? Meaning God promising to protect you is Not warrant to step into oncoming traffic to see if he'll prove it.

Meaning that God promising to protect you is not an invitation to step out in the road to see whether he'll make good on that promise. God's promises are infinitely above needing to be tested. And it is an insult to God to test His promises in that fashion. That's not what you do with the promises of God. His promises, because He is God, because of the eternal nature of the promise maker, His promises are infinitely above being tested like that.

It is an insult to him to test them like that. William Carey, the father of modern missions, famously said, expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God. Is that what throwing yourself from the pinnacle of the temple would be? I'm gonna expect great things from God and attempt something great for God.

I'm throwing myself off the top of the temple. You think that's what William Carey meant? Of course it's not what he meant. It meant God is great, so we should expect great from God. And we should go try to do great things to his honor in this world.

That's not testing God. The Nelson Study Bible says God is to be trusted, not tested. Oh, did they nail it? Wow, that's concise. If only all the commentators were that concise.

God is to be trusted, not tested. So a final note here, And Luke doesn't record it, but Matthew does. Listen to Matthew's account. Matthew 4 verse 11, then the devil left him and behold, angels came and ministered to him. Mark records the same in Mark 1 13.

That at the end of these temptations when Jesus had triumphed angels came and ministered to him. David Garland says this, an angel from heaven does appear not to protect him from a violent death, but rather to strengthen him for the struggle. Psalm 91 actually was fulfilled. The angels were given for the care of Jesus, but he didn't put God to the test by throwing himself from the pinnacle of the temple. The same thing actually happens again in Gethsemane, Luke 22.

He's agonizing over going to the cross and being made sin so that our sins could pass to him and he hates sin so he's agonizing and at that point angels came and ministered to him. Finally verse 13, Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. Here in verse 13, we have the temporary retreat. He's going away, but he's looking for an opportune time. It's a temporary retreat.

The text says that the devil ended every temptation. Verse two said that Jesus was tempted for 40 days by the devil. So we only know specifically of these three temptations, but there were clearly more. Maybe the rest were more subtle and indirect. We just don't know, we just don't need to know, we're given what we're given, the rest we didn't need.

In any event, the devil ended every temptation and departs from Jesus until an opportune time. And while there are many confrontations recorded in the gospels between Jesus and demonic forces, we're actually coming to some very quickly, there is never another face-to-face interaction in any of the gospels between Jesus and the devil. In Luke 22 verse three, Satan enters Judas and Judas betrays Jesus. Luke 22, 53, Jesus says to those who come to capture him in Gethsemane, this is your hour and the power of darkness. The devil is certainly playing a role in Jesus going to the cross.

Matthew Henry says this, the devil emptied his quiver, shot every arrow in the quiver. He ended all the temptation. Christ gave him opportunity to say and do all he could against him. Let him try all his force and yet defeated him. The devil then quitted the field.

What does it mean to quit the field? It means to abandon the battlefield. When you've been whipped on the battlefield, you quit the field, you abandon the battlefield. He departed from him. He saw it was no purpose to attack him.

He had nothing in him for his fiery darts to fasten upon. He had no blindside, no weak or unguarded part in his wall, and therefore Satan gave up the cause. That's what Satan found out. Jesus doesn't have a blindside. Jesus doesn't have a weak or unguarded part in his wall.

Jesus doesn't have a chink in his armor. So he gave up for now, waiting for an opportune time. Then Matthew Henry says this a little later in his commentary, "'Til a season, not as a tempter, but as a persecutor, to bring him to suffer by Judas and the other wicked instruments whom he employed, and so to bruise his heel, which it was told him, Genesis 3.15, he should have to do, and would do, though it would be the breaking of his own head. He's, Matthew Henry is latching onto Genesis 3.15, where it's promised that the serpent would bruise the heel of the seed of the woman. This is Jesus, the seed of the woman.

But that the heel of the seed of the woman would crash the head of the serpent. That's actually what's happening in our text, is a fulfillment of Genesis 3.15, or at least the beginning of it. The cross is really the ultimate expression of it. Understand, this event is in the flow of human history, meaning things have happened before it, things are happening after it. The first Adam failed and unleashed destruction on his race.

He unleashed destruction on our race and we're feeling it every day. The second Adam, the Lord Jesus, succeeded and redeemed a people. Just like God said in Genesis 3.15, Jesus's heel was bruised in his death on the cross. But at the same moment, he crushed the head of the serpent and he did it on behalf of his people. He conquered the devil on my behalf, on your behalf.

Applications. First let's look at what this teaches us about Jesus. What do we learn about Jesus in this text? We can start by quoting Jesus himself in John 14 verse 30. John 14 verse 30, Jesus says, the ruler of this world is coming, this is right at the end, this is right before the cross, he says, the ruler of this world is coming and he has nothing in me.

See, that's the devil's problem in Luke chapter four. There's nothing to grab on to. There's no corruption to exploit, no vulnerability to use against him. The ruler of this world is coming. He has nothing in me.

When the devil tempts us, there are corruptions in us to appeal to. The devil tempting me Is a very different thing because I have these corruptions remaining corruptions, even though I'm born again There are remaining corruptions this side of heaven and the devil Knows how to appeal to them. There's something to grab on to There are ungodly desires to exploit. That's the nature of temptation. Jesus, our Savior, had none of those.

He's not becoming righteous. He's proving that he is righteous. He loves good with an intensity that you can't even imagine, and he hates evil with an intensity that you can't even imagine. And it's not possible that he could succumb to any of these things because there are no corruptions in Jesus to exploit. And I've heard James say many times, we have to be careful about the language we use, was Jesus tempted?

Satan tempted Jesus, meaning that he attempted to draw Jesus into sin, but Jesus was not tempted in the sense that he's curious about evil. He knows all about evil. There's nothing about evil that makes him curious. I wonder what it would be like to try that. Jesus had none of that in him.

We're full of it. He had none of it. What else do we learn about Jesus? Consider Hebrews 2 verse 18. Hebrews 2 verse 18.

For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to aid those who are tempted. Jesus took on flesh and He lived life and attempts were made to draw Him into evil. He takes that and uses it to aid us. In that He Himself has suffered being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted. Are we tempted?

Yes. Where should we go? Jesus, He knows all about it. And He stands at the ready to aid us in our temptation. Or Hebrews 4 verse 15, maybe better yet, Hebrews 4 verse 15, for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, Yet without sin.

So he preserved his ability by never succumbing to temptation. He preserved his ability to be a substitute for me, a substitute without any of his own sins so that he could die for my sins. And yet he's now able to sympathize with my weaknesses because he took on flesh and was tempted. This is the perfect Savior for me. He's righteous enough for my salvation, perfectly righteous, but also knows what it's like to be in the flesh, to be human, to be human.

Sometimes, I Want to use that language carefully. Often when we think of in the flesh, that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about Jesus. He was human. Finally, What does this teach us about how we should handle temptation?

I'll give you three things. Three things this teaches us about how we should handle temptation. One, we can't be naive. If the devil will so openly oppose and attack Jesus, What do you think of his boldness to oppose and attack you? I'm nobody.

Jesus was the Son of God and he was bold enough to openly face to face, oppose and attack Jesus. This should tell you, you cannot afford to be naive. In the wild, To be naive is to be eaten. Eaten. Devoured.

Number two, If Jesus relied on the word of God to defeat temptation, how much more should we rely on the word of God to defeat temptation? Away with long periods of consideration. Jesus did none of that. He quoted Deuteronomy, sent the devil on his way. If the Son of God relied on, utilized the Word of God to confront temptation, what are you doing not doing that?

Psalm 119 verse 11, your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you. So the Psalmist had a profound sense of this. I read your word, meditated on your word, memorized your word, I hid it in my heart that I might not sin against you, that in the moment of temptation, the hour of temptation, I might have a weapon to wield against that temptation so I wouldn't have to fail. Matthew Henry says, the word of God is our sword and faith in that word is our shield. We should Therefore be mighty in the scriptures.

Amen. Amen. Ephesians chapter 6, the whole armor of God. The sword is the word of God and our faith is faith in that word of God, which is our shield. Three, finally consider James 4 verse 7.

James 4 verse 7, therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Part of it is just putting up a fight. Put up a fight. Do you have a stomach for the fight?

We have to have a stomach for the fight. Do you have a spine for the fight? You have to have a spine for the fight. Put up a fight. Resist the devil.

He will flee from you. Here in James 4-7, we have the dual defense. Submit to God. Resist the devil. He will flee from you.

God will give you a way of escape with every temptation. There's a way of escape. Let's pray. God, I thank you for our Lord Jesus, our champion, our conquering champion. Thank you for showing us through the Gospel of Luke this face to face confrontation between our greatest enemy and our Lord and this comprehensive victory of our Lord.

Thank you in Jesus name, amen.