The Doctor’s Warning Against Three Ills

I am a minimalist. I look at someone like Jason Bourne (of the Bourne Identity saga) who runs around with a wallet, passport, clothes on his back…and that’s about it…and I think, “Yeah.”

I like to travel light. I purposefully study in a tidy space. I would sooner throw away most of my possessions than be cluttered by them. Give me the basics. Or it could be said, “Give me the fundamentals of living.” We do this in various ways and in different parts of life. In hobbies or sports there are skill sets you must have in order to take further steps on that path. Without those there is no meaningful advancement.

Of all the various areas of life in which we can look for the core we must also consider sin. The Good Doctor reminds us of “Three Ills” or three sins that are at the hub of every sin. In the words of the disciple John the three-part hub is:

“…the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life…”

1 John 2:16

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The Doctor’s Story of the The One Healthy Man (Luke 4:1-15)

Luke brings these “three ills” to our attention amid one of the most epic yet overlooked stories in Luke. It is no odd story, yet one that is, I believe, vastly underrated. It is there in the story of Jesus’ temptation that we most often ask: How can I too resist temptation as Jesus did?

That is a right and respectable question, yet there is so much more happening here.

1) The Serpent and Man Speak Again

Question: How often in the Bible does The Ancient Dragon, The Satan, speak with man? When we remember the work of Satan in Job, he never speaks to Job. There is a conversation in Acts between the Sons of Sceva and a demon, yet no talk from Satan (Acts 19:11-16). There is certainly much close contact between evil spirits and mankind in the Bible. However, such a moment as Satan and man talking had only happened one other time…you said it: Eden.

Luke even connects Jesus to Adam in the previous verses (3:23, 38). Luke leads us into the temptation story by reminding us that Jesus is the Son of Adam (i.e. son of man).

This account of Jesus in the wilderness dialoguing with Satan is truly a story of epic proportions. It should have us on the edge of our seats: what will happen?

2) The Serpent and Man Speak for the First Time

Let’s quickly remind ourselves of what happened:

• The cunning serpent speaks to Eve, blaspheming God in the very Paradise made by God himself. Upon twisting the words of God and deceiving the woman (with Adam right beside her [Gen. 3:6]) we read:
• “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate…”
• then we read, “Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.”

The interaction between Satan and mankind concludes with cosmic and catastrophic consequences.

3) Same Song Last Verse

Now Jesus is found, not in the comfort of God’s garden paradise but in a place of testing, the desert. The Satan comes to him amid the hunger pains brought on from his lengthy fast. There, he attacks with three temptations, the same three arrows he always uses: “the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life.” (1 John 2:16)

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Let me parallel these quickly in this order: 1 John, Genesis, and Luke 4:

1. Desires of the Flesh // Good for Food // Command this Stone to become Bread
2. Desire of the Eyes // Delight to the Eyes // Showed Him all the Kingdoms
3. Pride of Life // Desired to Make One Wise // Tempted to Self Exalt

As we read of this epic moment we should be on the edge of our seats as The Seed of the Woman (Gen. 3:15) does battle with The Satan who defeated his father Adam. Upon the last failure by mankind the world was plunged into darkness and death. What will happen if the promised Son of Adam fails?

4) Victory of Man Over The Deceiver

These three arrows of death are vanquished by the Son of Adam who withstood by the power of the Spirit (4:1).

The lusts and pride that has cut every man and woman at the knees could not scratch He who lived in the Power of the Spirit.

Consider Three Observations:

1) The Satan came at the Son of Adam as he has every son and daughter of Adam. He did not reinvent his strategy. And thus, it becomes pertinent to us to know what these temptations look like on ground level, that is: What does it look like in your life for Satan to tempt the lust of your flesh and eyes, and encourage your pride?

2) The Son of Adam was full of the Holy Spirit being led by Him, and so endured the on-slot of temptation. James Hamilton notes: ” Unlike Adam, who was in the garden of Eden, Jesus is in the wilderness (Luke 4:1). Unlike Adam, who was with his wite, Jesus is alone. Unlike Adam, who had all the trees of the garden for food, Jesus eats nothing for forty days (4:2). Like Adam, Jesus is tempted by the Devil (4:2). Unlike Adam, Jesus trusts God’s word and conquers (4:3-13).” I would add that he also depended on the Spirit. So also if we are to endure and prevail when tempted we must not only follow Jesus’ example but teaching: “…how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13)

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3) As we sit on the edge of our seats waiting to see what becomes of the Son of Adam as he faces the Serpent, we find that as Adam’s failure had cosmic consequences so also his Son’s victory has cosmic implications. Jesus goes into temptation full of the Spirit yet comes out “in the power of the Spirit.” He goes on to proclaim the dawn of God’s kingdom by his preaching and the very act of his ministry.

This victory is felt throughout the narrative of Luke as Jesus continues to remove the strongholds of evil in the casting out of demons and sending out his apostles to preach, resulting in Jesus’ words: “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” And even in Palm Sunday we see Jesus doing this work of casting out evil as he enters Jerusalem, and going into the temple he “casts out” the practitioners of false religion.

We serve a victorious Savior and King. We have reason to go to church this Sunday with the word “Hosanna” on our lips.