Chapter # 4 Paragraph # 1 Study # 5
Lincolnton, NC
July 23, 2006
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AV Translation:
13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.
1901 ASV Translation:
13 And when the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from him for a season.
Luke's Record:
- I. The Devil Departed For a Season.
- 1. That he is continually cast in the light of the "devil" is significant.
- a. Luke only refers to him by this descriptive title six times in Luke, five of which are in this particular context (he only uses the word "devil" twice in Acts).
- b. The term itself refers to the issue of making false statements, or tossing false claims into a given setting in order to turn people aside from the Truth (John 8:44).
- c. The fundamental issue in each of the three attempts to get Jesus to sin is the claim that his point of view ought to be embraced.
- 1) His point of view is hopelessly destructive -- introducing the inevitable collapse of the "house divided against itself."
- a) Any sense that the creature ought to have a greater "position" in the creation than the Creator -- for the purpose of that creature's personal gain -- is an introduction of "the house divided against itself" thesis. Even the notion that the Creator loves the creature to the point of Self-sacrifice so that the creature can take up a "position" of self-indulgence is a variation on this thesis. The truth is that the Creator loves the creature to the point of Self-sacrifice so that the creature can embrace the fundamental characteristic of that love (self-sacrifice) and enter into the essence of self-sacrifice so that a Kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy can be established for those who are willing to be servants. This is the rationale for Mark 10:15--when that text is understood properly. God is not about "sacrifice" so that the recipients can be self-indulgent. He is about sacrifice so that the recipients can learn to be sacrificial...because that is the only way the "house" can be undivided (1 John 4:11).
- b) Any attempt by the creature to subvert the Creator's goal of selflessness is a participation in the "devil's" agenda unto the destruction of the creature.
- 2) His point of view has three major "themes" that all boil down to one: I ought to be given the priority in each circumstance of my experience.
- a) My body should not have to endure discomfort; the body is not a tool for the expression of the person, it is the prima-donna that is to be served.
- b) My soul should not have to endure any fear; the soul is not a responder for the expression of faith in the love of the initiator, it is the prima-donna that is to be given the right to rule.
- c) My spirit should not have to endure any humiliation; the spirit is not the mirror of the Spirit of God so that He may be better understood by thinking creatures, it is the prima-donna that is to be stroked and covered with adulation.
- 3) His distortion of the body-soul-spirit reality never attempts to legitimately address how the body, soul, and spirit can all be the central prima-donnas.
- 2. That he "departed" until a "season" is also significant.
- a. There is no indication that the "devil" considered himself finally defeated.
- b. Because he lives in the world of self-centered delusion, he only considered that his efforts had been temporarily frustrated.
- 1) There is no permanent defeat for such a deluded adversary until he is actually consigned to a place where his attitude has no opportunity to be manifest.
- 2) There is no indication in the Bible that the devil will ever give up his perspective. He will be removed from the sphere of God's active Kingdom of Light, but he will never "repent".