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#DailyDevotion Jesus Is Your Victory Over Temptation

#DailyDevotion Jesus Is Your Victory Over Temptation

Luke 4:1–13 [The Temptation of Our Lord]

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness  for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry.  The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”  And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’ “  And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time,  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.  If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.”  And Jesus answered him, “It is written,  “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God,         and him only shall you serve.’ “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,  for it is written,  “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ “And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ “  And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

If you think when you become a Christian everything will become just dandy the temptation of Jesus should dissuade you from that thinking. Jesus gets baptized and the Spirit drives him into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. This is our life. You might remember Adam in the garden was tempted by the devil and failed. Israel was tried by the Lord in the wilderness for forty years and they failed often. You will be tested and tried in your life as a Christian. Many times you will fail and will fall into sin. But Jesus who is our Savior and Redeemer did not fail and he did not fail for you.

Jesus’ temptations that are listed in the gospel accounts are often taken as models of all temptations. Some have them as major temptations of the Israel in the wilderness. That very well might be the case. Jesus is often Israel reduced to one. He is also mankind reduced to one. The first two temptations somewhat resemble the serpent’s temptations to Eve. She was tempted to be like God and to eat the forbidden fruit which is like the temptation to turn a stone into bread and receive rulership over the world. Israel grumbled against the Lord in the wilderness about food. They disregarded his commandments against worshipping idols right after having been told by God the Ten Commandments. They tested the Lord at the waters of Meriba. Jesus’ temptations, and there were probably more during this time and more as the text says, “an opportune time” were in such a fashion that he was tempted in every way we are except he did not sin.

Now when we are tempted you might quote Scripture like Jesus. But the Law does not give you the power to overcome. Instead, we should recall Jesus overcame temptation for us. His victory over sin and death is our victory over sin, death and the power of the devil. Remember the Good News of Jesus.

Merciful God and Father, we thank you that Jesus has overcome the power over sin and the devil in his temptations. Grant that we might not be led into temptation but when we are, we may remember his victory that we not succumb to its wiles. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

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Rev. Guillaume J. S. Williams, Sr.

The Reverend Guillaume Williams is the Pastor of Hope Lutheran Chapel of Osage Beach, Missouri. His pastoral ministry with Hope began in 2005 where he preaches the Christ crucified.

Comments (2)

  1. This one means a lot to me I’m fighting a lot of temptation thank you it helped put me back on the straight and narrow

    1. May the Gospel of Christ continue to keep you from temptation.

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