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The Temptation of Jesus , Mt. 4: 1-11
Feb. 11, 2022
The baptism of Jesus marked the beginning of His ministry. This ministry lasted between three and three and one half years. Jesus would meet much opposition during this time. To prepare Himself for His ministry, Jesus allowed the Holy Spirit to lead Him into the wilderness for the express purpose of being tempted by the devil (Mt. 4:1).
For the next forty days Jesus fasted. He fasted that He might meditate upon all that He would need to accomplish in His ministry. Being in the fleshly nature of an ordinary man (Phil. 2:5-8), it was necessary for Jesus to depend upon God for His direction in this ministry. It was also a show of His dependence on God to sustain Him during this fast. Scripture confirms to us that Jesus always did the will of the Father even though He, like you and I could have refused. (Jn. 8: 28, 29)
After these forty days of fasting were complete the devil came to tempt Jesus. The devil tempts all of us. Most of the time he does so impersonally through common worldly pleasures and desires. This is the very thought that Paul expressed to the believers in Corinth in 1 Cor. 10:13. However, there are times when the devil himself wants the opportunity to tempt us. Such was the case with Job (Job 1: 11, 12). The devil also requested of Jesus for the opportunity to tempt Simon Peter (Lu. 22: 31, 32). And, so now the devil appears to tempt the Son of God in an effort to destroy our only hope for salvation.
The first of these three temptations posed to Jesus was to alleviate the hunger that He was experiencing from forty days of fasting. However it is worded more as a challenge to the true identity of Jesus; "If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." In addition to the temptation to abandon His dependency upon God and fill His own belly, the devil hoped that Jesus might feel the need to furnish proof that He was God's Son and perform a miracle for the devil.
Jesus and the devil were already acquainted. In fact with the devil being a fallen angel, he knew that the Lord Himself had created him because the Lord created all things (Col. 1: 15, 16). Jesus reply to this temptation was, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." This quote is from Deut. 8:3. This is a reminder to each of us that while bread might sustain physical life, eternal life comes by obedience to God's word. The faith necessary for our salvation only comes when we "hear the word of God." (Rom. 10:16)
The devil does not give up easy. His next challenge to Jesus is found in (Mt. 4: 5, 6). The devil takes Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem and places Him at the highest point, approximately 460 feet above the earth. Again, the challenge is "If you are the Son of God." If you are then throw yourself down and capture the attention of everyone!
The devil's temptation is to make Jesus deviate from God's plan. Show everybody who you really are Jesus. Take a short cut and gain a huge following. Interestingly enough in John chapter six, Jesus feeds a multitude and the next day most of them did again follow Him until He started teaching them. You see, they wanted only food for the day, not food for eternity (Jn. 6: 26, 27).
The devil even uses Scripture to give credibility to his challenge. He quotes from (Ps. 91: 11, 12). "Don't worry Jesus! God will rescue you." Jesus' answer is both a rebuke and an affirmation that He as well as the Father are God! "It is written again, You shall not tempt the Lord your God." The lesson for you and I is God's way is always the only way!
For his final effort at trying to cause the Lord to stumble the devil takes Jesus to a high mountaintop. There he shows the Lord all the kingdoms of the earth (Mt. 4: 8, 9). Some may think this impossible. After all there is no mountain in the world that would give anyone this kind of view of the entire population! But the devil is no without his own wonders and signs (2 Thess. 2: 9, 10). "All these things I will give you if you will fall down and worship me."
Again this temptation offers the Lord a short cut to reaching the entire world. The devil could likely deliver on his promise; he is in a sense the king of this sinful world (Eph. 2:2). The devil hoped that Jesus might buy in to the idea that He could somehow avoid the Cross and all of the pain and suffering for the sins of the world. An attractive option indeed, but again not an option for the Son of God. God had ordained before the creation that Jesus would redeem us with His precious blood (1 Pe. 1: 18-20). There could not be a plan B in our salvation. Only through Christ and His death! The Lord's answer was, "Away with you Satan! For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve." (Deut. 6:13)
After the Lord had sent Satan packing we are told in (Mt. 4:11) "angels came and ministered to Him." Just like you and I, Jesus knew that in "the form of man", He must depend on God.
Study Questions:
1. True or False, Jesus' fasting for forty days showed that He trusted God to sustain Him?
2. Is the devil capable of producing wonders and signs?
3. True or False, God had never planned on sending His Son to die for us until after the sin of Adam and Eve?
4. Did all men who witnessed Jesus' miracles follow Him because they believed He would save them?
5. Does the devil ever ask God for permission to tempt us?