According to the Bible, the spiritual forces arrayed against Christians are staggering. The pressures to sin that we face can sometimes seem overwhelming. These principalities and powers, these Satanic influences, these fallen angels and demons are ready to crush us, to overpower us, to try to get us to cave in to the pressure.

That is why we should never point the finger at somebody else and say, “They are so weak. How can they struggle with that? How could they have fallen to that temptation?”

F.B. Meyer once said that when we see a brother or sister in sin, we should not look down on them, because there are two things we do not know: First, we do not know how hard he or she tried not to sin. And second, we do not know the power of the forces and the spiritual pressure that assailed him or her.

I might add to that a third reason (which Jesus talks about in Luke 6). Condemning sin in others is often just a way of avoiding the sin in our own lives. So if we are always pointing out the sin of others, it may well be that we have our own secret sins we don’t want to deal with. So be careful about the sin you judge in others. It may just be your own reflection staring back at you.

Remember what you learned in Kindergarten: Whenever you point a finger at someone else, there are always three fingers pointing back at you.

This post is based on the Grace Commentary for Luke 4:1-13.

Lots of people wonder if Jesus could have sinned when He was tempted by the devil in the wilderness. The most common theological answer is that while Jesus could have sinned in His humanity, He could not have sinned in His deity. I have heard it illustrated that the deity of Jesus is like a iron bar, and the humanity of Jesus is like a thin wire wrapped around the bar. The wire, or humanity of Jesus, could be bent to sin, but for that to happen, the iron bar of His deity would have to bend, which is impossible.

It’s a nice analogy, but it really doesn’t make me feel that Jesus has experienced temptation the same way I have. I don’t have that iron bar holding me straight. And my wire of humanity feels more like dental floss.

So let’s step back and look at all this a different way.

First, as believers we do (in a sense) have the iron bar of deity holding us straight. We are in Christ, and Christ is in us. In other words, we are encased in Christ. So, just like Jesus, the part of us that is “of God” cannot sin (this is what 1 John 3:9 is talking about). And yet, we do sin, because unlike Jesus, we have the sin nature.

And this, I think, really helps us understand the temptation Jesus went through versus the temptation we go through. Hebrews 4:15 says that Jesus was tempted in all ways, just as we are, yet without sin. We often believe this means that He was tempted, but didn’t sin. While this is true, one of my professors at seminary taught that Hebrews 4:15 means that Jesus was tempted in every way we are except one – He wasn’t tempted from the sin nature, because He didn’t have one. In other words, we could loosely translate this verse this way: “Jesus was tempted in all ways as we are, but not from the sin nature.”

Why is this important? Because it means that the temptation Jesus went through was way more difficult and trying than any temptation we might experience. We tend to think Jesus had it easy, while our temptations are so severe. But it is really the other way around. The pressure to sin that Jesus faced would crush any one of us.

Let me explain. How much temptation does it take for you to sin? For most of us, it doesn’t take much at all. We have a sinful flesh that will lead us off into temptation every chance it gets. And so Satan doesn’t have to come and tempt us, or even send some of His minions to do the job. Our flesh causes us to sin at the drop of hat, and so he doesn’t have to expend any energy tempting us.

Probably not a single one of us will ever, in our entire lives, be directly tempted by Satan himself. He is not like God who can be everywhere at once. He can only be in once place at one time, and with over six billion people on the planet, he probably has more important things to take care of than tempting you or me to cheat on our taxes or watch that dirty movie. Our flesh easily leads us off into those temptations all by itself; no push from Satan is required.

But while Jesus was fully human, He did not have “sinful flesh.” So the devil had to focus all his energy and skill directly at Jesus. Both knew that life and death and the ownership of the heavens hung in the balance. Not a single one of us will ever face the magnitude of temptation and the cunning power of the devil that Jesus faced for 40 days in the wilderness. 

So don’t ever think that your temptation is more severe than what Jesus faced. He has faced down the devil. Most of us have probably never been tempted directly by the devil. And yet every single one of us constantly have the presence of Christ with us and in us, helping us stand in the temptations we face.

Jesus is an iron bar to wrap your frail wire of humanity around. Then you, and Christ in you, will be unbendable, unbreakable, able to withstand the wiles of the devil.

This post is based on the Grace Commentary for Luke 4:1-13.

Has it ever occurred to you that Satan is probably one of the greatest Bible scholars in the universe? He probably has the Bible memorized and knows all the various views on every passage of the Bible. He probably has learned all the best arguments for every theological position that exists–both orthodox and heretical. He probably invented some of the heretical ones…

Which means, of course, that the devil is an expert with the Word of God. Of course, he uses it wrongly–to glorify himself and tempt us to sin. This is what he did with Jesus in the wilderness. In Luke 4:1-13, Jesus defeated the first two temptations of the devil by quoting Scripture. So for the third temptation, the devil seems to say, “Oh yeah? Two can play that game!” and he quotes Scripture back at Jesus. Satan is a deceiver and one of his favorite ways of deceiving Christians is with Scripture. He twists it, distorts it, and perverts it, and for the unwary, his explanations and ideas sound very convincing.

So don’t trust someone just because they can quote Scripture. Don’t trust someone just because they use Scripture persuasively. And I’m saying that about myself also. Don’t trust me. I’m sure I’m wrong in my theology somewhere.

How can you learn the truth? Study Scripture and listen to others who have also studied Scripture. Weigh what you hear with what others have said and with what you yourself have learned. Pray. Seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I firmly believe that as we do this, as we humbly seek God, asking Him for wisdom, He will guide us into all truth.

This post is based on the Grace Commentary for Luke 4:1-13.

Do you know any Christians who talk incessantly about the Holy Spirit? Every time you talk to them, it’s the Spirit this, and the Spirit that… Why is this, do you think? It certainly does not seem to be the way the Scriptures approach the Holy Spirit. He, it seems, tends not to prefer the spotlight, but to stay hidden in the wings.

Take Luke 3:21-22 as an example. This is one of those passages in Scripture where it’s easy to go off the deep end in speculations about the Holy Spirit.

Much ink has been spilled about what Luke means when he writes that the Spirit descended in bodily form, and whether or not He came he came in the appearance of a dove, or just in the same manner as a dove. I read one person who wrote that the Spirit descended as light in the form of a man, and floated down from heaven in the manner of a dove, and when He reached Jesus, it appeared that Jesus absorbed this man of light into His own body.

My first thought was, “Oookaaay….I suppose it could be, but how does he know, and why does it matter?”

Then there are all the arguments about whether the Spirit came into Jesus, or just onto Jesus, and whether Jesus was filled with the Spirit before this event or not.

And somewhere along the way, tempers start to rise, blood begins to boil, and in the process, the Spirit is grieved. It’s ironic that passages about the Spirit (Who is supposed to encourage unity) are some of the most divisive passages in Scripture. And in reality, most of these passages are not really about the Spirit! Oh sure, He is mentioned, but He is not the focus.

Again, take Luke 3:21-22. Are these verses really about the Spirit? I don’t think so. The passage is about Jesus. Luke’s point is not to describe a supernatural event involving a strange manifestation of the Spirit, but simply to show that Jesus was empowered by the Spirit.

All this raises the questions: Why are we so enamored by the Spirit? Why do we treat him like a magical power? Why do we want to place Him so much in the spotlight, and give him so much glory, when really, His goal is to glorify Jesus? (John 16:14)

I’m not saying we should ignore Him. I’m not saying we should treat Him like the estranged uncle that nobody talks about during holidays. In the Seminary I graduated from, this is the way He was often treated. In my class on “Trinitarianism” which was supposed to cover God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, over the sixteen weeks of the course (3 hours in class per week), we spent 12 weeks (36 hours) on God the Father, and of the final 4 weeks (12 hours), we spent 11 hours on God the Son, and only 1 hour on God the Holy Spirit. This clearly is not giving enough attention to the Holy Spirit.

But we must not go the other way either, and spend all our time talking about the Spirit, speculating about the Spirit, preaching about the Spirit, singing about the Spirit, and praying to the Spirit. Such behavior grieves Him, because His job is to glorify Jesus (John 16:14). Balance is the key.

This post is based on the Grace Commentary for Luke 3:15-22.

Some people aren’t very happy with where the government is going. But that has always been the case, no matter who was in power. In such situations, what should be done, if anything?

In Luke 3:19-20, John preached against King Herod for how he married his brother’s wife (She was also his niece). We can imagine John and his audience thinking (and maybe even saying among themselves) that if the Messiah was going to rule and reign from Jerusalem, then King Herod would have to be deposed.

John had been preaching about fire coming to destroy those who rebelled against God, and many probably looked at King Herod as the epitome of wickedness in Israel. Surely, if judgment was coming, it would begin with King Herod.

But shockingly, it is John himself who ends up in prison. This was not the way the promised Kingdom was supposed to begin! He is confused, as are his disciples. Later, from prison, John sends some of his disciples to ask Jesus to explain Himself (Luke 7:19). Why is Jesus partying while John sits in jail? Herod should be in jail, not John.  We can almost hear John’s thoughts: “I preached about a coming judgment, but it wasn’t supposed to fall on me!”

Jesus basically replies that John needs a new paradigm for how the Kingdom will look (7:22). The Kingdom, says Jesus, is not about conquest and the destruction of our enemies, but about healing, grace, and forgiveness. It is about restoration and redemption. If we do overthrow our enemies, it will be through love and kindness. As Abraham Lincoln once said, “We destroy our enemies when we make them our friends.”

So, like John, are you experiencing a fiery trial (cf. 1 Pet 4:12)? Don’t be surprised at such things, for judgment begins with the house of God (cf. 1 Pet 4:17), and the promise of Jesus is that in this world we will have trouble (John 16:33). Realize that the trial you are experiencing is to refine and purify you for God’s purposes. And currently, His purpose is not to overthrow leaders and governments. Rather, His purposes are for you to bless the world and do for for the world what leaders and governments never can.

God’s justice is displayed, not in riches and royalty, but through service and sacrifice. Do you have criticisms of the way the world is going? Fine. But rather than look to leaders to change direction, start doing in your own community what needs to be done to restore justice and right all wrongs.

This post is based on the Grace Commentary for Luke 3:15-22.