Last week, we began a discussion about the temptations of Jesus. We saw that Jesus was baptized and examined some of the reasons why. After his baptism, Jesus was driven by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness. We looked at what the phrase, "He was with the wild beasts" might mean, and we also looked at why Jesus was tempted and whether or not Jesus was capable of committing sin.
At this point, Jesus has just completed forty days and nights of fasting and prayer. Now, Satan comes to tempt Jesus at His weakest point. At least this is probably what Satan was thinking. The fact that Jesus had just engaged in this time of fasting and prayer is when Jesus would be at His strongest. Prayer and fasting are essential elements in the life of the believer when it comes to combating the forces of spiritual darkness. It isn't preached much, but fasting is so important. It takes the focus off of the bodily and helps to focus us on the spiritual. There's just something about it that helps put one more in touch with the things of the Spirit.
The first temptation Satan launched against Jesus was based on Jesus' hunger. the devil said to Jesus, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread." Satan was trying to tempt Jesus into using His divine power to satisfy His fleshly desire. I don't know of any instance given in Scripture when Jesus performed a miracle for only His own benefit. Jesus used His miraculous power to make other people's lives better.
Jesus responded to Satan's temptation by quoting Deuteronomy 8:3 which says, "Man shall not live by bread alone." Jesus was saying that there are more important things in life than satisfying one's own desire and craving. The spiritual man is more important than the physical man. The follower of Christ should seek first the things relating to the Kingdom of God. Our relationship with Jesus is more important than anything else.
In his next temptation, Satan showed Jesus all of the world's kingdoms. Satan said that he would give all of the kingdoms to Jesus if Jesus would bow down and worship him. Some Bible scholars believe that this was actually within Satan's power to offer. They say that Satan rules this world since the time of the fall of man. I do not hold to this view. Scripture clearly teaches the sovereignty of God over all things. God may allow Satan to work wickedness, but God is in control.
Jesus resisted this temptation by quoting Deuteronomy 6:3 which states, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve." No matter what we are offered, it cannot compare to the surpassing riches of knowing Jesus. There is nothing more valuable than our soul. As Jesus said, "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul."
Satan then took Jesus to the highest part of the Temple. He said to Jesus that if Jesus was God, He should jump and let the angels catch Him before He crashed to the ground.
Once again, Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy this time saying, "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test."
You've probably already noticed this, but the way Jesus confronted every one of Satan's temptations was through the use of Scripture. Satan tempted, and Jesus used the power of the Word of God to knock them down.
I know that I say this a lot, but as believers, we have to be in the Word or we will never have the victory in life. We need to know what God expects of us so that we don't fall into sin. And when facing temptation, if we have a thorough knowledge of the Word, we can use that knowledge to escape the temptation we are facing.
The Bible is also filled with examples of how people escaped and succumbed to temptation. If we study these Biblical examples, we can apply these lessons to our individual life situations.
I encourage you to get in the Word and read and study it. If you've never read through the Bible, the new year is a great time to commit to reading through the Bible in one year. Products like the One Year Bible are designed to divide the Bible into 365 blocks so that at the year's end, you will have completed reading the entire Bible.
When we face temptation, we need to follow the example of Jesus. We need to be people of prayer and people who engage in the spiritual discipline of fasting. We must also be people of the Word.
All of us will be tempted. But, Scripture says that if we resist the devil, he will flee from us. That's what happened in Jesus case. After Jesus successfully resisted Satan's temptations, Satan left. Jesus had overcome.
When we are tempted, we can call out to Jesus. He has been in our shoes, and He will help us in our time of need. Amen.
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