The Temptation of Jesus: The Pride of Life (Luke 4:9-13)

San Baudelio Fresco

(1 John 2:15-17; Genesis 3:6)(Deuteronomy 6:16)

“For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.”

“So when the woman saw that the tree… was to be desired to make one wise…”

The final temptation shown here in Luke, is perhaps one that our culture struggles with the most today. John calls it “the pride of life.” In Jesus’s case, the devil tempted Jesus with exposing who He really was to the whole world. If He would simply demonstrate before everyone that He was the Messiah—in a flamboyant and undeniable manner—He would be fulfilling His purpose in the easiest of ways!

Of course, this would have been a terrible plan, as the devil’s schemes always are. In Adam and Eve’s case, they were told they could become their own gods. They could have self-determination and choose everything for themselves. They could “live their own truth.” Of course, we see how that has turned out!

Today we are told everywhere we look in our culture, that we need to not just determine our own lives and outcomes… we need to shape our whole reality into whatever we want it to be. And yet we live in a culture with higher rates of suicide, depression, unhappiness, anxiety, and problems than any other before us. We can’t seem to grasp the truth that we are the absolute worst at shaping our own world. We need to come to terms with reality and return to following the plans and guidelines put in place by the Person who created this world. We need a reality check.

Jesus again resisted the devil with a word from Deuteronomy. Chapter 6 verse 16:

“You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.

Even when we think we know what God wants, we need to go about doing what He wants in the way that He wants it done. Don’t tell God, “I will serve You if You do something for me.” We need to trust and follow, not make God jump through our hoops. He is not a trick pony!