Derke Bergsma offers a comprehensive examination of Jesus’ ministry as outlined in the Gospel. Bergsma explores key themes related to Jesus’ teachings and actions, their historical context, and their implications for contemporary Christian practice and belief.
The following unedited transcript is provided by Beluga AI.
The following is a message by Doctor Dirk Bergsma from Westminster Seminary, California. For more information about this message or about Westminster Seminary, please visit us online at wscal.edu or call us at 888-480-8474. That’s online at wscal.edu, or call us at 888-480-8474. Let us pray.
Eternal God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, being present with us according to your promise that wherever we are met together in your name, you are here with us.
And may the words we speak and the thoughts upon which we reflect and the songs we sing be blended together in joyful praise to you, our worthy God, through Christ our Lord. Amen. I’m very much aware of a series of messages from Genesis 3. Professor Jones is bringing those to us. And I must admit that the inspiration for my devotional words this morning were triggered by Professor Jones’ message just a week from today. But we’re going to begin in Luke 4, and we’ll end in Genesis 3. Okay?
And we’re reading here the temptation of Jesus. I’m reading from the NIV. What you’re about to hear is God’s word. Let us listen with attentiveness and respond with faith.
1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.'” 5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.'” 9 And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ 11 and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'” 12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'” (Luke 4:1-12, ESV)
Here ends the reading of God’s word. May his Holy Spirit help us to understand and respond in faith to it.
Dear friends, the reality of temptation in our lives is often not taken as seriously as it ought to be. We are all being tempted all the time. Whether children are tempted to steal candy from a store counter or businessmen cheating others in a shrewd business deal, or whether a fourth grader cheats on a math test or a seminarian plagiarizes for a term paper and fails to footnote the source. We’re tempted to lie and to cheat and to steal, to be selfish, to be unkind, to be lazy.
Even in a devotional time, even in church, there’s still temptation. We’re tempted to be unattentive, tempted to have lazy worship, not participate in the prayers, and sing joyfully with the songs, and maybe those. After all, some of you may have been up half the night studying. Well, if you do doze, I’ll have to take some of that responsibility. Because what we have here is an inspiring message from the Lord, and it should awaken our spirits immediately. It’s no wonder.
When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, he included this statement: lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. (Matthew 6:13, ESV)
We ought to pray that we would not submit to the demonic power of temptation. Our Lord Jesus’ perfect life included victory over temptation.
You know, we call ourselves evangelicals. Focus on the cross, and rightly so. Jesus died to redeem us. That was his passive suffering, his passive obedience. But we are saved by Jesus’ life, and his victory over temptation was part of the active obedience of our Lord.
He lived the perfect life that you and I should have lived and didn’t, and then died the death that we deserved to die. So Jesus’ active obedience to the heavenly Father included victory over temptation. And so for the next ten minutes or so, I’d like to speak to you about Christ’s victory over temptation. Just two major issues that emerge from this text.
First of all, it’s difficult circumstances. Jesus’ victory over temptation happened in very difficult circumstances. And secondly, it’s threefold accomplishment. You knew we would get some threes in there somehow, wouldn’t we?
Christ’s victory over temptation. First of all, it’s a very difficult circumstance. This is at the very beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry. The previous three chapters talk about his birthday, about his presence in the temple at age twelve, and about John the Baptist baptizing him in the River Jordan. And then we read, “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led into the wilderness to be tempted.” Beginnings are very difficult.
Before Jesus ever performed a miracle, before he ever taught a parable, before he ever preached the Sermon on the Mount, before he had chosen his disciples, which means he had no support group alone. The devil approaches him with this serious temptation, and he begins, the devil does, by casting doubt. That’s the devil’s favorite technique: if you are the Son of God. At the beginning of his ministry, dealt, and at the very end of his ministry on the cross, the same devil-inspired statement: if you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.
And thankfully, in both occasions, Jesus said, no, not only was it the beginning of the ministry, and you’ll find, you know, every morning I have a list of graduates who are, whom I know are church planters, because I think church planting must be the most difficult of ministries. And I think of John Rowe in downtown Chicago. I think of Chris Sandoval starting a Hispanic ministry in Cicero that Al Capone made famous, you see, and I think of Fikrat Bojek in Izmir, Turkey, biblical Smyrna, planning a church. In the last, we correspond.
The last letter he mentions, he has 50 people in the morning. In this solidly Muslim environment in Izmir, church planting beginnings are difficult, and the devil confronts Jesus at the very beginning of his ministry. And then he was, Jesus was near physical collapse. 40 days without food. Have you ever experienced anything like that? The most I’ve ever gone without food was four days. It was because of a surgical procedure that wouldn’t allow me. I was famished. At the point of this weakness, the devil comes to him and he continued to pester him.
The whole 40 days doesn’t come out so clearly in the NIV translation here, but the participle used there suggests continuing action. Some of the modern translations say, “For 40 days he was being tempted by the devil.” And so, in this weakened condition, the devil comes with these temptations. So much for the difficult circumstances in which Jesus met the devil head-on.
Secondly, we’ll notice from this passage a threefold accomplishment. I just said that this suggests the original suggests a continuing action.
So either the devil tempted Jesus in a much greater variety of ways during those 40 days, or he kept pestering him in these three specific areas. In either case, it’s legitimate for us to ask, why does the Holy Spirit want us to know about these three? Well, I think the Bible, I’m sure the Bible has the answer. These three temptations represent the three vulnerable areas of human weakness in the face of temptation. And how do we know that?
Well, the Gospel of John, or rather the Epistle of John, 2:15-16, gives us the key. Listen, do not love the world. Just in my New Living Bible this morning, this passage says, do not love this evil world, because the Bible uses the term world as God’s marvelous creation. It’s not that we’re rejecting, but it also uses the term world as that which dishonors and insults the Lord Himself. And that’s the way John uses it here.
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1 John 2:15, ESV)
Maybe you remember the King James version of this a little more easily.
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 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. (1 John 2:15-16, NKJV)
Lust, soul-destroying desire, cravings that if we get them, they turn on us and destroy us spiritually. That’s what lust is. And there are three types of lust identified here. Fleshly lust, visual lust, prideful lust. You see, the devil is a master psychologist. He knows human personality. He knows our vulnerable areas, and here they are clearly defined for us. Fleshly lust, the lust of appetite and addictions, the lust of sexual pursuits that destroy us. You know, those who stand behind the pulpit are not immune to those lustful attractions and visual lust.
What R.B. Kuyper in class always spoke of was the eye gate and how the eye gate can be an entrance into the soul, both for evil and for good. And the devil wants it only for evil. Ask any pastor, and they’ll tell you how many marriages have been destroyed because a spouse saw someone else who looked so good. The lust of the flesh. And that’s why pornography is so common, part of this evil, evil world.
And of course, it isn’t only in the area of fleshly lust and visual lust, but even the pride which destroys us, to which we are also so easily subjected. Pride cometh before the fall, says the Bible. And the Bible is always right. Pride sends nations to war and sends people into the business world to exploit others for their own advantage. The devil knows how vulnerable, how weak we are in these three areas.
And now turn with me to this passage once again and notice the devil’s strategy before our lord. Remember fleshly lust, verse three. If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread. Use your miracle power for your own advantage. Once you know, Jesus never used his miracle power for his own advantage. It was always a demonstration that the kingdom of God has been realized. The rule of God has come to be, and the powers of darkness are in retreat. And that’s why almost every, after every miracle we read, and many came to believe on him there. That was his purpose, not for his own advantage.
So Jesus says, it’s written, man does not live on bread alone, even though it must have been attractive, the fleshly desire to satisfy a hungry body. But Jesus said no. So the devil has to retreat to his second, his plan B. His second strategy, which you will remember, is visual lust. For we read in verse five, the devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant, all the kingdoms of the world. He showed him.
5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, (Luke 4:5, ESV)
Look, Jesus, all those power centers, all those decision-making councils in the world, you can influence them. You can be in charge of them. Just bow down to me. It must have been attractive to be such an influence in the decision-making circles of the world without having to go to the cross. But Jesus saw through that one too. Even though the devil said he had this authority, it was given to him, and he can give it to anyone he pleases, which is a half-truth. He was given authority for a season.
And Revelation 12 says that he knows it’s going to be terminated someday, but he doesn’t mention that. So he’s willing to give Jesus all of this authority if only Christ will accept the devil as supreme. And Jesus’ response is, you shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only.
8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.'” (Luke 4:8, ESV)
So the devil has to retreat to strategy number three. He has to appeal to prideful lust. And we read of that in verses 9-11.
9 And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ 11 and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'” (Luke 4:9-11, ESV)
Would the heavenly Father really send those angels if Jesus recklessly leaped off the high point of the temple, the corner of the temple square? What an opportunity, though. There are always people milling around the temple square, aren’t there? And if Jesus leaps and angels appear and swoop him up, he’ll be a celebrity and his pride will be enhanced. But Jesus responds with these words.
12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'” (Luke 4:12, ESV)
The devil met his match. And more than that, the devil must have been discouraged because, you see, he always had been accustomed to having his own way. From the very beginning, his strategy always worked. It worked in the garden of Eden, Genesis 3:6. And when the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food. Mmm, good. Why not disobey God and experience this, this fleshly satisfaction. And then we go on and read.
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:6, ESV)
She saw that it was desirable. Excuse me, for it was pleasing to the eye. It looked good. Why not disobey God this one time? Because it’s so visually attractive. And then the devil approaches the third area of human vulnerability when he says, and it was desirable for gaining wisdom, prideful lust. And then we read this sad response. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he did eat. And the eyes of both of them were open.
7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. (Genesis 3:7, ESV)
Yes, the eye gate for evil entrance into their souls. And all the corruption that has followed. The devil seemed to always have his own way, even among the leaders, among the stalwart believers in the Old Testament.
Think of Noah. Noah preserved, he and his family alone from the whole human family, preserved in this God-rescued manner. And about the first grape crop he harvests, he ferments wine and gets drunk. And the devil succeeded in the fleshly lust attack of Noah. And think of David, who cast adulterous eyes on Bathsheba down the street from the palace, while Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, was off fighting David’s war, and he committed adultery.
And David, who counted the people to see how powerful he was and how big an army he could raise. Prideful lust destroyed them all. The devil always seemed to have his own way, and he still does, except for those who live in the grace and power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because where Adam failed, Christ prevailed. Where Adam and Eve failed, Jesus prevailed. And that’s why you can too. You do not have to give in to temptation if you live by the grace and power and mercy of Jesus.
So love not the world or the things in the world. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, for everything in the world will pass away. But they who do the will of the heavenly Father will live, not just exist, but really live forever.
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15-17, ESV)
Let us pray.
Heavenly Father, give us victory in temptation. May we not submit to lust, whatever eye-dazzling glitter we may see, and bodily desires we are tempted to appease, or prideful ambition we want fulfilled.
Forgive us, Lord, so that Jesus Christ and him alone is our defense in every hour of temptation. In his power and grace and name, we bring our prayer, and all God’s people said, Amen.
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