Thursday after the First Sunday after the Festival of the Epiphany of our Lord
Posted on January 16, 2020 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 4:1-13 (NKJV)
4:1 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.
3 And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
4 But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’”
5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7 Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”
8 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”
9 Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. 10 For it is written:
‘He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you,’
11 and,
‘In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”
12 And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”
13 Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.
Devotion
At Jesus’ baptism God the Father said from heaven, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.” Jesus is the Only-Begotten Son of God, begotten from all eternity. But God the Father said these words over you, too, at your baptism. Baptism regenerates you and adopts you as a son of God. Since you are a son of God you are an heir of all His heavenly blessings.
After Jesus is baptized the Spirit leads Him into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. This also happens to those whom God adopts as sons in Holy Baptism. He allows us to be tempted by the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh. The devil says “If you are the son of God…” and thereby wants you to doubt your adoption. “If you are a son of God, why do you sin so much? Why can’t you kick that one especially vexing sin? Why do you lack every good thing? Why don’t you test God to see if He’ll actually provide for you?”
Jesus, THE Son of God, rebuffs Satan’s lies with the Scriptures. He defeats the devil’s temptations there, and now He wants to defeat the devil in you, using the same Word. In temptation, remember that you are God’s baptized child. Christ your brother has defeated our foe already, and promises to fight in us through His Word.
We pray: O Lord, we beseech Thee mercifully to receive the prayers of Thy people who call upon Thee, and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfill the same; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
