Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

3:21-4:15 Jesus' Baptism, Genealogy, and Temptation. The description of Jesus as God's Son (1:31-35) is confirmed: at his baptism by a voice from heaven (3:22) and his anointing by the Spirit (3:22; 4:1, 18); by his genealogy (3:38); and by Satan's acknowledgment of him as the Son of God at his temptation (4:3, 9).

3:21-22 Jesus' Baptism. Jesus submits to John's baptism of repentance to identify with Israel's sin, foreshadowing the judgment he will endure at the cross. (Luke does not explicitly mention John's role in Jesus' baptism, though he acknowledges it in Acts 1:22.)

3:21 On the location of Jesus' baptism, see note on Matt. 3:13. was praying. See Introduction: Key Themes. The heavens were opened to show visible evidence of God's action.

3:22 the Holy Spirit descended on him. Jesus is anointed and empowered by the Holy Spirit for his ministry. This will be an important theme in the following chapters (cf. 4:1, 14, esp. vv. 18-19). like a dove. This simile does not necessarily mean that the Spirit actually assumed the form of a dove, but it does indicate a bodily form of something like a dove. voice came from heaven. God speaks (cf. Isa. 6:4, 8). You are my beloved Son. Jesus is not only a man; he is also the uniquely loved Son of the Father (see note on John 1:14). This divine affirmation (cf. Luke 1:31-35; 2:49) will be repeated at the transfiguration (9:35). Well pleased shows that the Father takes delight in all that Jesus is and all that he has done in his life. It may also indicate that Jesus is the servant of the Lord by alluding to Isa. 42:1, in which case it would be forecasting the death of Jesus for his people.

3:23-38 The Genealogy of Jesus Christ. Whereas Matthew (see notes on Matt. 1:1-17) traces Jesus' lineage from Abraham to emphasize Jesus' Jewish heritage, Luke traces it back to Adam to show that Jesus is the fulfillment of the hopes of all people (cf. Acts 17:26). In addition to some minor differences and gaps (see note on Matt. 1:17), the genealogies in Matthew and Luke differ significantly in the period from David to Jesus, even naming different fathers for Joseph (Jacob in Matt. 1:16; Heli in Luke 3:23). Both Matthew and Luke are evidently depending on detailed historical records, and various suggestions have been proposed to explain the differences: (1) An old suggestion is that Matthew traces Joseph's ancestry while Luke traces Mary's ancestry. But very few commentators defend this solution today, because 1:27 refers to Joseph, not Mary, and taking 3:23 as a reference to Mary's ancestry requires the unlikely step of inserting Mary into the text where she is not mentioned but Joseph is mentioned. (2) The most commonly accepted suggestion is that Matthew traces the line of royal succession (moving from David to Solomon; Matt. 1:6) while Luke traces Joseph's actual physical descent (moving from David to Nathan, a little-known son mentioned in 2 Sam. 5:14; Luke 3:31), and both lines converge at Joseph. Then there are various explanations for the two different people named as Joseph's father (Jacob in Matthew; Heli in Luke). In most proposed solutions, they are thought to be different people and a second marriage is assumed (sometimes a levirate marriage; see note on Matt. 22:24), so that Joseph was the legal son of one but the physical son of the other, and thus there are two lines of ancestry for the two men. (3) Some commentators have suggested that Heli was Mary's father, but that there were no male heirs in the family, so Heli adopted Joseph as his "son" when Mary and Joseph were married (cf. 1 Chron. 2:34-35; Ezra 2:61; Neh. 7:63; also Num. 27:1-11 for inheritance through daughters when there is no son). Although the genealogies in Matthew and Luke differ in their organizing principles, both of these genealogies emphasize that Jesus was the "son of David" (Luke 3:31; cf. Matt. 1:6). Luke further emphasizes the virgin birth (cf. 1:34-35) with the phrase "being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph" (3:23).

3:23 If Jesus was born sometime before Herod the Great's death in 4 b.c. (cf. Matt. 2:16) and began his ministry c. a.d. 28 (see Luke 3:1), he would have been about thirty years old (or in his early 30s).

3:38 For the son of God, cf. 1:31-35; 2:11; 3:22.

4:1-15 The Temptation of Jesus. The temptation is the last preparatory event before Jesus' public ministry begins. It is tied intimately with the declaration of his sonship at his baptism (3:22; cf. 4:3, 9).

4:1 Jesus, having been anointed by the Spirit at his baptism (3:22) and full of the Holy Spirit (see 1:41), is led by the Spirit to face Satan. See note on Matt. 4:1.

4:2 Forty days is reminiscent of Israel's 40 years of wilderness wandering (Num. 14:34) and the 40-day fasts by Moses (Ex. 34:28; Deut. 9:9) and Elijah (1 Kings 19:8). See note on Matt. 4:2. Being tempted (a present participle) indicates Jesus was tempted the entire 40 days and that the three temptations mentioned were the culmination. devil. A Greek term (diabolos) used seven times in Luke-Acts. It commonly translates Hebrew satan ("Satan") in the Septuagint. See note on Matt. 4:1. He is the supreme adversary of God.

4:3-4 If you are the Son of God implies a challenge for Jesus to demonstrate his divine power. Satan is asking, in essence, "Why should the very Son of God have to suffer in the wilderness in this way?" See note on Matt. 4:3. command this stone . . . bread. Satan tempted Jesus to use his power to satisfy his own desires rather than trusting in God to supply all that he needed during this temptation. Jesus' reply here (and in the following temptations) begins with It is written followed by a quotation from Deuteronomy that tells what the people of Israel should have learned in the wilderness: Man shall not live by bread alone (Deut. 8:3). Satisfying one's need for food is not as important as trusting and obeying God.

4:5-8 And the devil took him up introduces another temptation but does not imply that the temptations occurred in this order (Matthew has a different order, and more indications of chronological sequence). This temptation involves being shown kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. To you I will give. Though Satan claims that all this authority and their glory (of the kingdoms) has been delivered to me, and though in some sense Satan is the "ruler of this world" (John 12:31; cf. 1 John 5:19), the claim should not be accepted as fully true. Satan is "a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44), and in the final analysis, all authority belongs to God (see Rom. 13:1-4; cf. Ps. 24:1; Dan. 4:17). Because of common grace (see notes on Matt. 5:44; 5:45), even a fallen world still gives glory to God (Isa. 6:3). This is a temptation to break the first commandment (Ex. 20:3). Jesus replies that worship belongs to the Lord your God alone.

4:9-12 The next temptation takes place on the pinnacle of the temple, the southeastern corner of the temple overlooking the Kidron Valley (see note on Matt. 4:5). He will . . . guard you. This time the Devil quotes Scripture (Ps. 91:11-12), but incorrectly, for the psalmist did not mean that a person should attempt to force God to protect him (see also note on Matt. 4:6-7). Jesus replies, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test (Deut. 6:16). All of Jesus' answers come from God's Word, specifically from the book of Deuteronomy, which was highly respected by the Jews in Jesus' time. By quoting Scripture back to Satan, Jesus demonstrates the centrality of God's Word in defeating Satan's attacks and temptations (cf. Eph. 6:17).

4:13-15 he departed from him. Although the Devil will remain active in opposing Jesus' ministry, Jesus will not experience such a direct confrontation again until his crucifixion. Having experienced divine confirmation and anointing by the Spirit at his baptism and now through his victory over the Devil in the wilderness, Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee to begin his ministry (cf. 23:5; Acts 1:22; 10:37). For the connection between "power" and "Spirit," see note on Luke 1:16-17. That Luke describes Jesus as being glorified by all indicates Luke's strong belief in Jesus' deity.

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