The Temptation of Jesus
Easter comes very early this year—it’s on March 23rd—so we are already into the church season of Lent. As Baptists, we don’t necessarily observe any particular religious practices during Lent. Some Christians have special services on Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, and they observe certain types of fasts during Lent. Although it’s not our practice to fast, or give up something during Lent, certainly it’s a perfectly fine thing to do. It is a way of disciplining yourself, and that is almost always a good thing.
But in spite of the fact that we are already about ten days into Lent and most of us are not fasting, we still can join other Christians in observing Lent as a time of reflection and preparing our hearts for Easter.
At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus observed a time of fasting and prayer, in preparation for ministry. During that forty day period of fasting, God allowed Jesus to be tempted by the devil.
Now, I want to say a few things about the devil. Some of you believe in an actual person who is the devil, or Satan, the origin of evil. Others of you don’t believe Satan is an actual person, but simply a force of evil. Still others perhaps do not even believe in a force of evil, but simply believe that we all make poor choices at times.
Let me say that most of us agree that we don’t really need Satan in order to get ourselves into trouble—we’re quite capable of sinning all by ourselves. And that may explain why some of us are not really convinced Satan is a real person. However, the Bible does present Satan as a real person with the power to tempt.
It seems to me that a biblical understanding of Satan as a real person with real but limited powers is reasonable and healthy. Let me explain.
To begin with, the Bible certainly teaches us of Satan’s existence and influence. But teaching about Satan or the devil is not really a major theme in the Bible. Yes, he is there, but he’s actually a fairly minor character. If you were to look up all the references to God, and then look up all the references to Satan or the devil, you would discover that there are really not very many references to Satan or the devil. The emphasis in the Bible is on God, not Satan. So it stands to reason that should be our emphasis as well.
I think it is wise to acknowledge that Satan is real and his influence in our world is certainly real. But I also think we need to be careful not to give more credence to Satan than is truly biblical.
The Bible teaches us that Jesus, through his death and resurrection, conquered sin and death—and that certainly includes the power of Satan. I John 4:4 puts it this way: “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” That is, yes, Satan still is in this world and still has a certain amount of power, but you are God’s children, and God is far greater than Satan. We know the end of the story: Jesus already won.
I Corinthians 10:13 says “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” We have the protection of God in our fight against temptation, so we always have the capacity to make the right choice. But we still have to make an effort in order to resist temptation.
So in our daily lives, it is wise to understand that Satan is real and temptation does come our way, but we also need to know that God is much more powerful than Satan or any force of evil in the world. We do not need to fear Satan’s power.
Satan is real, and there is certainly evil in this world. But we who claim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior do not need to be afraid. Satan has no power over us.
On the other hand, if you are struggling with great temptation, I want you to be comforted by the fact that even Jesus had to face temptation. So let’s look at this scripture in Matthew 4 and see what we can learn from the way Jesus handled his temptation by Satan.
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:
‘ He shall give His angels charge over you,’
and,
‘ In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’”
8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”
11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
In this passage, three different words are used for the devil. Most used is the Greek word diabolos, which is translated “devil,” just like it sounds. Then in verse three, he is called “the tempter.” And in verse ten, Jesus calls him Satan, which again sounds very much the same in English as in the Greek, which is Satana.
One of the first things we notice when we read this passage is that in each of the three temptations, Jesus uses scripture to refute Satan. That’s a good thing to do. But before we jump to the conclusion that scripture will always work for us in this way, notice that Satan also, in the second temptation, quotes scripture. This should serve as a big red flag for us, that just because someone can pull a verse of scripture out of context, it does not necessarily mean that what they are saying is right. We always need to handle scripture with discernment.
The first temptation attacks Jesus’ physical needs. He has been fasting for forty days, and he is very hungry. So the devil comes to him and says, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
Jesus has been fasting out of obedience to God, and now he is very hungry. The devil’s temptation is for Jesus to take a shortcut and take care of his own physical hunger, rather than completing the fast he has begun out of obedience to God, his Father. The devil knows Jesus has the power to make the stones into bread. He is tempting Jesus to misuse his power to meet his own physical needs. He tempts Jesus to use his power to avoid difficulty and pain. Certainly this must have been a temptation for Jesus many times during his life.
Jesus answers using scripture, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” He is saying that this is a spiritual battle, and it would not be right for him to avoid the spiritual suffering that God has for him in this situation by using his own power to alleviate his suffering. Jesus chooses instead to be submissive to God and wait for God to provide his nourishment at the right time.
Then the devil comes to him a second time, and this time takes him to the highest point of the temple in
‘ He shall give His angels charge over you,’
and,
‘ In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”
The temptation is for Jesus to abuse his power and the power of God. There is a spiritual battle going on here, and the devil wants Jesus to fall into the temptation of calling on God’s angels to protect him from a foolish leap. Satan uses scripture to try to convince Jesus that he has the right to leap to his death and then call the angels to save him. But Jesus replies, also using scripture, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’”
Perhaps a parallel for us might be getting into a car and asking God to protect us, and then driving like a demon. It is good to ask for God’s protection, but to then ignore the physical laws of the universe and expect that no harm should come to us is an abuse of our relationship with God.
Another example might be that of a student, who has a test coming up. Instead of studying for the test, the student waits until the last minute, and then prays that God will miraculously give the student all the correct answers. It’s just not the way God does things, is it?
The third temptation is probably the most surprising of all. It is the temptation of personal power. Here, the devil took Jesus up on a high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship
It’s as if the devil is saying, “Jesus, look at all these kingdoms and all their wealth. We can be a team! You go out on the stage and heal a few people and preach and I’ll handle all the details for you. You stick with me and you won’t have to worry about a thing!”
What the devil does here is reveal that God has allowed him a certain amount of power in the world. And amazingly, the devil seems to think that Jesus would covet that power so much that he would agree to submit to the devil and worship him. Obviously, the devil does not have a very good understanding of Jesus.
The answer Jesus gives shows Jesus’ utter contempt for the devil, and here, he calls him by name. He says, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”
With this, the devil leaves, and God sends his angels to minister to Jesus.
Jesus is our example in the faith. When we look at this account of his temptation, it becomes obvious that our temptations, while similar, are not exactly the same as his. We don’t have the same kind of power as he has.
But each one of us does have a certain amount of power, and all of us also have a circle of influence. And within that sphere of power and influence, we will face similar temptations.
Whether we think we have much influence in this world or not, all of us have some. I don’t suppose that when Eve talked to the serpent in the garden, took the fruit, and shared it with her husband, she knew that she and Adam would forevermore be blamed for bringing sin into the world.
The sin of Adam and Eve was disobedience to God—he had told them not to eat the fruit from that particular tree. It was also the desire to be like God—not to be like God in goodness, but to be like God in knowledge. As with Jesus, Satan tempted Adam and Eve with the idea that they could be as powerful as God.
As sin came into the world through the disobedience of Adam and Eve, sin was conquered by Jesus, the one man who was able to be tempted by Satan without in any way yielding to temptation. Jesus refused to be tempted by the desire for power that was not rightfully his. Jesus is our example in the faith.
It may not be quite so easy for us to discern when the devil is tempting us as when the serpent spoke to Eve in the garden or when Satan came to Jesus in the wilderness. We may find that temptation sneaks up on us in very subtle ways. We are often caught off guard. Often, as it was when Satan tempted Jesus, temptations will sound kind of good. Satan is a master of half truths.
That’s why taking some time to think about our lives and about our relationship to God is so good. We need to spend time in God’s presence, reading the Bible, and praying and simply listening for his voice. As we do this, we become much more discerning of what God wills for us, and we are also strengthened in being able to resist the temptations Satan puts in our path.
Every day of our lives, we make choices. James 4:7-8 says this: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.”
Prayer:
Lord, help us to turn our hearts towards you, and to listen for your voice. May we find our joy and our comfort in you. Help us to submit our wills to you, not grasping after power, but worshipping you. When temptation comes our way, help us to be strong and to make the right choices. God, may we find our refuge and our help in you, and in you alone. Amen
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