If You Are...Tempted

This is the Bible study page for the Thursday Night Bible Study Group meeting August 20 to study Luke 4:1-13, the Temptation of Jesus.  It is a short passage, but I figured that there would be plenty to keep our attention for an hour or so just in 13 verses.

This passage follows immediately on the baptism of the last chapter.  There are plenty of questions to ponder especially when this account is considered along side Matthew's account.  Read through the passage several times, making notes and questions.  Look at the passage in as many diverse translations as you have.

Only after you have your questions and notes should you go to commentaries.  There are plenty of options, Blue Letter Bible has several resources.  If you have a tablet, I encourage you to get the Blue Letter Bible App, making it even more convenient.  There are commentaries, but also an encyclopedia, Strong's Concordance, and a couple of nice dictionaries.

After you have done your stuff, go back through with the questions below:

• Luke describes Jesus as "full of the Holy Spirit".  How do you think Jesus could be anything else?  Why do you think Luke is using that description here?
• Read Matthew 4:2, 3; and then Luke 4:2 again.  How long was Jesus being tempted?
• In both Matthew and Luke, Jesus fasts for 40 days.  Why do you think this detail is important?
• In both Matthew and Luke they include the detail that, after the 40 days, He was hungry.  Why do you think they worded it that way?  Wasn't He hungry before that?
• Consider the 'format' of the devil's temptation, 'If you are...' What do you think the devil is getting at with Jesus?  Why do you think he thought that was Jesus' weak-spot?
• The first temptation is the stone-to-bread suggestion.  Jesus performs lots of miracles, who cares since no one is around, why is this one wrong?
• Jesus' responses to the devil all come from Deuteronomy (or can be found there too).  What about His response about the 'stone-to-bread' suggestion transforms the issue?  What do you think is the issue for Jesus?
• The second and third temptations are swapped in Matthew and Luke.  It's hard to know who 'published' first, so why do you think the order is different here?  Which order do you think makes more sense?
• The devil shows Jesus all the nations or kingdoms of the inhabited earth in a moment.  In Matthew, the devil shows Jesus all the nations and their glory.  A little difference in emphasis here, so why do you think Luke ignores their glory and instead focuses on the fact that the devil did it in a moment?
• In Luke, the devil claims the kingdoms are his to give, and Jesus doesn't dispute this claim.  What do you think that means that the devil can claim that he has all the kingdoms of the world?
• The requirement the devil sets on his giving Jesus the kingdoms is that Jesus bow down and worship him.  We look at this and it sounds really stupid.  What do you think we know now that perhaps the devil didn't know then? Or why do you think the devil went right there?
• Jesus responds again from Deuteronomy.  The issue isn't the kingdoms, it's worship.  What sorts of things do we attempt to gain, but at the cost of worshipping Jesus?
• The final temptation listed in Luke is the bungee-jump from the pinnacle of the Temple.  What does the devil say Jesus would gain here?
• The devil quotes Psalm 91:11, 12.  Look at verse 13 though.  Look at the verses before and after.  Besides the irony that the serpent is quoting a passage referring to his defeat, what else is do you see interesting in the Psalm 91 passage?
• What does it mean to you that the devil used a passage of Scripture in his temptation?  What does that tell you about Scripture knowledge?
• Jesus replies that we are not to 'test' the Lord.  Yet in Malachi, God says to 'test Me in this...'  So, what do you think the issue with this temptation?
• Consider all three temptations together.  What do you think the common thread of each of these is? 
• What do you think makes up a temptation?
• What do you think is the difference between a temptation and a 'test'?
• Consider the possible consequences for Jesus acquiescing to any of these temptations.  What is it about each one that would make them 'sin'?
• How do you define 'sin'?

That should be plenty to keep us busy.  Remember to bring your own questions and observations to the group Thursday.

Blessings upon you until then!