URC Daily Devotion 29 November 2024

St Luke 4: 1 – 13

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,  where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.’  Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone.”’ Then the devil  led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.  And the devil said to him, ‘To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please.  If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’  Jesus answered him, ‘It is written,

“Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”’

Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying 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 protect you”,
and
“On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.”’

Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”’  When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Reflection

Today’s text reminds us that our capacity to repent and resist temptation comes from our relationship with God, and the grace of his deliverance, rather than from our own strength and initiative.

We live in a world of competing stories. In such a world, we must know the Christian story in order to resist the false stories that seek to take us captive. The reading has two competing stories: the story that Jesus taps into in order to resist the devil and successfully navigate the temptations laid before him, and the narrative the devil presents.

The story of the temptations takes place in two significant locations: the wilderness and Jerusalem. Historically, the wilderness was the place where God met the Jewish people at Sinai after rescuing them. In the wilderness God shaped them into a covenant people cared for and led by God with cloud and fire. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus is also led in the wilderness, and he faces temptation by his adversary, the devil.

Jesus is the Son of God who will bring salvation to both Jews and Gentiles, who has been baptised and is filled with the Holy Spirit. Now, Jesus is led into the wilderness, and we see the introduction of the second character, the devil who is bold, cunning, clever, and powerful. It is the devil who tempts, and the devil who ends the temptation and departs from Jesus. In each temptation, the devil speaks first and Jesus replies. The story ends when the devil finishes the temptation and leaves Jesus, for the time being.

Underlying the dialogue between the devil and Jesus are two competing storylines with the devil offering a storyline of self-indulgence, self-aggrandisement, and self-serving religious identity.  Meanwhile, Jesus responds with a storyline of biblical quotations that show awareness of the true source of life and identity, his reliance on God, and his understanding of God’s character.

We too should be dependent on God for life, glory, and identity.

Prayer

Passionate God, 
firing us with the flames of your Holy Spirit, 
we commit ourselves with passion to the cause of your Kingdom, 
for the love of Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen