Jesus Knew What Authority Was and Pointed to It: RRE 7
Religion Ruins Everything Daily 7 9.17.16
And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” 5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you eI will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written,
__“‘You shall worship the Lord your God,and him only shall you serve.’”
9 And he took him to Jerusalem and 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 will command his angels concerning you,to guard you,’
11 and
“‘On their hands they will bear you up,lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.
Luke 4:1–13 ESV
Jesus is tempted 3 times, and 3 times Jesus quotes scripture to avoid the temptation.
Jesus went straight to the authorities. The Devil is still under God’s authority, so Jesus went straight to the authority.
We can care for people by understanding what they consider an authority. If we know what they value, listen to, and respect, we can better understand where they are coming from. Rather than just arguing about what the Devil said, Jesus knew the scripture that related to the rebellion that the Devil proposed.
By getting to know people, we can find out where they are coming from, what ideas they regard, and the deeper motives behind what they think. We can ask them intelligent questions about what they believe, and we can relate it to our own Christian life better.