A Year in Luke/ActsSample

Tom Wright notes:
“Jesus responds to the devil, not by attempting to argue (arguing with temptation is often a way of playing with the idea until it becomes too attractive to resist), but by quoting scripture” (Luke for Everyone, p44)

Jesus’ response to the temptation in the wilderness can teach us a lot about how to handle temptation, especially when there is a way for us to justify it. As we often say, “The story you live in is the story you live out.” There is a way of narrating something in our head, even with scripture, that sounds justifiable. However, when we are immersed in the whole of scripture, we can recognize Satan’s tricks. By succeeding where Israel had failed in the wilderness, Jesus not only demonstrated an understanding of the spirit of the scripture rather than the text itself, he inserted himself into the story to right the wrongs of the past. In the world we live in, it is so important that we have imaginations immersed in scripture and the great story of God’s redemptive work in the world.