The Temptation of Jesus - Matthew 4:1-11
Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness
4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’[e]”
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Reflection: Today we have the famous passage describing the immediate testing/temptation of Jesus, presumably after His baptism by John. Note the Greek word for testing is the same one used for tempting. The devil tempts, but God can use it as a test of our trust in Him and His Word. One of my favorites lines in the bible is when it says after 40 days and 40 nights of fasting Jesus was hungry. Duh! I am hungry after 4 hours of not eating. So it makes sense that the first temptation Satan wants to try is for him to use his supernatural powers prematurely to turn stones into hot loaves of bread. I don't know about you but that the thought of fresh bread after 40 days might be highly tempting.
But we see the strategy Jesus will use for resisting all of the devil's schemes, when we see Jesus responding with "It is written!" Rather than give in to a bodily urge, Jesus uses his mind to re-align with the truth and expose the lie being presented. Note at the root of all temptation is a lie straight from hell, and the best strategy is being armed with the truth in our minds. That is why bible memorization and meditation is such an important discipline. When you are feeling week in the knees with whatever you are being tempted with, if you can recall a scripture you can be transformed by the renewing of your mind. See Romans 12:1-2 for a great memory verse. If you haven't memorized this one do yourself a favor and memorize it this weekend. It will serve you many times over. It is my life verse!!
The devil tries a couple of other tactics, but you almost sense Jesus getting stronger with each temptation. To the point where he almost disgustedly says "Away from me Satan, you got nothing on me." This shows us another principle we can learn from our Lord. When we withstand temptation we get stronger and stronger. When we give in, we are more likely to continue in our falling. Of course, Satan's ultimate goal is to destroy our faith, so that we no longer trust God for anything and feel undeserving of the grace that first saved us by faith. Since faith is the greatest gift, it becomes the number one thing the evil one tries to attack.
It goes something like this in our minds. Oh, I did this again, I must not really be a Christian, surely God can't forgive me again. That is when you need to double up efforts, and go back to the Word and realize it is by FAITH ALONE and by GRACE ALONE you are saved by the WORD alone. This was the rallying cry of the Reformation because the Church had fallen away from the truth and bought Satan's lie that we are saved by works. As Paul says if we could be made right with God by works then Christ died for nothing. Galatians 2:21. (Another good one to memorize Galatians 2:20-21)
I don't know where you are facing testing in your life, but I do know there is no temptation that is not common to man and that God is faithful and will provide a way out to help you stand up under it! 1 Corinthians 10:13 (okay now you have 3 good verses to memorize by the end of January! Anyone up for the challenge?
As you begin in 2014, find another person who wants to grow in their faith. Someone you trust so you can share your tests and temptations with. For Ecclesiastes says "two are better than one". Have a great weekend!
4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’[e]”
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Reflection: Today we have the famous passage describing the immediate testing/temptation of Jesus, presumably after His baptism by John. Note the Greek word for testing is the same one used for tempting. The devil tempts, but God can use it as a test of our trust in Him and His Word. One of my favorites lines in the bible is when it says after 40 days and 40 nights of fasting Jesus was hungry. Duh! I am hungry after 4 hours of not eating. So it makes sense that the first temptation Satan wants to try is for him to use his supernatural powers prematurely to turn stones into hot loaves of bread. I don't know about you but that the thought of fresh bread after 40 days might be highly tempting.
But we see the strategy Jesus will use for resisting all of the devil's schemes, when we see Jesus responding with "It is written!" Rather than give in to a bodily urge, Jesus uses his mind to re-align with the truth and expose the lie being presented. Note at the root of all temptation is a lie straight from hell, and the best strategy is being armed with the truth in our minds. That is why bible memorization and meditation is such an important discipline. When you are feeling week in the knees with whatever you are being tempted with, if you can recall a scripture you can be transformed by the renewing of your mind. See Romans 12:1-2 for a great memory verse. If you haven't memorized this one do yourself a favor and memorize it this weekend. It will serve you many times over. It is my life verse!!
The devil tries a couple of other tactics, but you almost sense Jesus getting stronger with each temptation. To the point where he almost disgustedly says "Away from me Satan, you got nothing on me." This shows us another principle we can learn from our Lord. When we withstand temptation we get stronger and stronger. When we give in, we are more likely to continue in our falling. Of course, Satan's ultimate goal is to destroy our faith, so that we no longer trust God for anything and feel undeserving of the grace that first saved us by faith. Since faith is the greatest gift, it becomes the number one thing the evil one tries to attack.
It goes something like this in our minds. Oh, I did this again, I must not really be a Christian, surely God can't forgive me again. That is when you need to double up efforts, and go back to the Word and realize it is by FAITH ALONE and by GRACE ALONE you are saved by the WORD alone. This was the rallying cry of the Reformation because the Church had fallen away from the truth and bought Satan's lie that we are saved by works. As Paul says if we could be made right with God by works then Christ died for nothing. Galatians 2:21. (Another good one to memorize Galatians 2:20-21)
I don't know where you are facing testing in your life, but I do know there is no temptation that is not common to man and that God is faithful and will provide a way out to help you stand up under it! 1 Corinthians 10:13 (okay now you have 3 good verses to memorize by the end of January! Anyone up for the challenge?
As you begin in 2014, find another person who wants to grow in their faith. Someone you trust so you can share your tests and temptations with. For Ecclesiastes says "two are better than one". Have a great weekend!
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