Jesus is Tempted

This week’s passage: Matthew 4:1-11

Jesus is Tempted

Throughout the Old Testament we see a pattern of God’s provision and humanity’s pride. When the people are oppressed or sick, they cry out to God who rescues them by conquering their enemies and healing their sickness. When the people are blessed, they forget it is by God’s hand and turn away from Him, causing Him to allow the oppression and sickness to return. The Pharisees chose to focus on this pattern, believing the Messiah to be a warrior who would come to annihilate the Romans who had been ruling over the Israelites. They missed the truth about who the Messiah really was, but we don’t have to make the same mistake!

Desires of the Flesh

After His baptism Jesus has been in the wilderness fasting and praying for 40 days and 40 nights when Satan shows up to tempt Him. You might see this event as something God did to Jesus causing Him to suffer, but James tells us that God does not tempt us.

“Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.” (James 1:13-14)

What we should see is that Jesus understands our struggle against temptation because He lived it, and that He came to earth to serve and suffer, not to conquer our enemies. His temptation sets an example of how we too can address the temptations of Satan.

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)

If Jesus, being without sin was allowed to be tempted, why do we assume, that being full of sin, we should not ever have temptation or difficult times in our lives? Jesus shows us our best defense is God’s Word.

“And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread. But he answered, “It is written, “’Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”(Matthew 4:3-4)

Satan starts with the most obvious temptation, “come on, you gotta be hungry, just turn some of these stones into bread so you can eat.” But Jesus falls on God’s Word, He knows the truth! The way to a man’s heart is not necessarily through his stomach.

Twisting the Truth

When appealing to the flesh doesn’t work, Satan tries getting Jesus to doubt who He is. “Jump off the top of the temple, God won’t let you die and this whole thing will be over, the bible says so!”

“Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “’He will command his angels concerning you, ‘ and “’On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” (Matthew 4:5-6 ESV)

Think Satan doesn’t know the bible? Think again! Oh, he KNOWS it through and through and he will take things out of context and twist the meaning around to bring doubt to any situation.

“Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Matthew 4:7)

There are many churches out there today twisting the Word of God in the name of filling chairs. They are trying to trick people into coming to church by putting on a big show or encouraging lifestyles that do not glorify God. Maybe they have become greedy or maybe they think they will be able to change the hearts of people later, but the truth is only Christ can bring a change in us through the Holy Spirit. As His church, we are to live in a way that reveals Christ’s true message of real compassion, real grace, and real love. The church should never look like the world, but stay focused on Christ and be like the Bereans, checking our actions and our leadership against God’s Word so we glorify God only in all we do.

“Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” (Matthew 4:8-9 ESV)

“Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” Then the devil left him, and behold angels came and were ministering to him.” (Matthew 4:10-11 ESV)

Prove yourself, the devil says again to Christ, if you are really the Son of God you should not be suffering, “come up to the top of this mountain, I can give you everything you see! Just worship me and all of it will be yours.” What Christ knows is this world is passing away and it is not our home. The devil tries to tell us that if we are truly a child of God, we have the power to feed ourselves, save ourselves, and make ourselves rich. But Christ tells us we can’t do anything good for or within ourselves, and He wants good things for us so we should turn to Him and He will show us what is good.

At the root of these temptations is pride. We all feel the need to “prove” ourselves and have others recognize us, whether it is through our wealth, our job, or our status, we want others to see that we are important. When we start to see our worth thorough the eyes of Christ…well, we become more concerned about how He sees us because there is no comparison to the freedom and joy we get from His amazing grace!

“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:12 ESV)