I intend to exegete chapter 4, verses one through thirteen of the Gospel according to Luke. In Luke 4:1-13, we find that Jesus goes into the wilderness for forty days and forty nights for fasting and prayer. Luke says that after the forty days and nights are over, Satan himself comes to him and endeavors to tempt Jesus into doing things that exploit his powers as the son of GOD. Jesus resists the temptations and Satan leaves him be for the time being. To get a better understanding of this passage of scripture, we must delve into the history of the Gospel according to Luke then relate it to the modern day times. From there, it will be easier to make a personal interpretation of this very important text in the New Testament.
In order to really get a grasp at what the book of Luke is trying to get across, we will go into the history of the book. Written some time around 85-90 CE, it is believed that a man named Luke was not only the author of the book of Luke, but the book of Acts as well. Luke is believed to have been a physician, which would imply that he was very educated. We can clearly see evidence of this fact in reading both Luke and Acts. The large vocabulary and stylistic writings in these books would suggest that a learned person with some kind of literary knowledge wrote them. It is also believed, however argued, that Luke was a close companion to Paul the apostle. Another fact to lead one to believe that Luke was educated in what he was writing (Fillmore, 407). .
Being one of the "synoptic" gospels, the story of Jesus" temptation is in the text of both the book of Matthew as well as the book of Mark. There are some discrepancies in the three gospel's chosen way of relaying the story. In Matthew, the first temptation is the bread, then the jumping from the temple, then the showing of the kingdoms. Mark's narrative doesn"t go into the full details of temptations. In fact, Mark 1:12-13, simply states: "12And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.
