Jesus was tempted… we will be tempted.
Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father and advocates for us that God will lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
Our tools are the Word of God and the power of Holy Spirit to accomplish what on our own we cannot.
We are refined in our afflictions. We learn to trust God alone!
Matthew 4:1-11
4 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.’ ”
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.’ ”
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 me.” 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. The New King James Version
Mark 1:12-13
12 Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. 13 And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him. The New King James Version
Luke 4:1-13
4 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. 3 And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4 But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ”
5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7 Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” 8 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”
9 Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. 10 For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you,’ 11 and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ” 12 And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ” 13 Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time. The New King James Version
Jesus’ response to all three temptations was to quote the Word of God, showing His followers the power of Scripture in battling the Evil One.
There was nothing morally wrong with turning stones to bread; Satan was tempting Jesus to do a miracle outside of the Father’s will. Bread alone does not sustain life; ultimately God is the One who sustains all life. Thus it is our responsibility to trust God and remain in His will.
Satan tempted Jesus to gain public attention through spectacle rather than through His righteous life and message. Deuteronomy 6:16 emphasizes that one should not test God. The Lord asked the Israelites to put Him to the test in only one area: tithing. By giving to Him they could test whether He would fulfill His promises to bless them (Malachi 3:10).
Christ rebuked the devil for asking for worship, a temptation to do exactly the opposite of what every Israelite was called upon to do. Specifically in reference to Jesus, Satan was offering a crown without the cross.
Jesus’ experience serves as a pattern in spiritual warfare today: Jesus resisted Satan then He defeated Satan with consistent, meaningful use of the Scriptures. Having rejected Satan’s offer of bread, assistance from angels, and earthly kingdoms, Jesus was immediately visited by angels who helped Him. The NKJV Study Bible
God led His people through the desert for 40 years due to their unfaithfulness. The Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness for 40 days so that His fidelity might be set in contrast to the nation’s infidelity. Matthew emphasizes that the Spirit leads Jesus; the devil is allowed to test Him but does not lead Him.
The Greek term used here, diabolos, refers to a spiritual figure who is adversarial to God and His purposes. This figure is referred to by the Greek term satanas. Satan in the Old Testament and the Serpent of Genesis
The text does not seem to imply that Jesus was sustained supernaturally during His fast; instead, it emphasizes that He experienced hunger. Jesus’ 40-day fast recalls Moses’ 40 days on the mountain, the Israelites’ 40 years in the desert, and Elijah’s 40 days at Mount Horeb.
The text does not say whether the devil is in human form. The devil uses this challenge twice in his temptations of Jesus. It Parallels the Israelites’ failure in the desert they complained that God did not provide enough food for them. The devil is tempting Jesus to break His fast, which the text implies would be equivalent to disobedience to God the Father.
This test of God’s providence is far more extreme than any test Israel underwent in the desert. No biblical precedent exists for God’s choosing to save someone from falling in this way. The Greek word deiknymi used here means “to show or point out.” The apparent implication is that the devil simply points out the general direction of the kingdoms of the earth, naming them as he does so.
A common posture, fall down, is to show respect and submission in the ancient Near East. The Greek word used here, proskyneō, does not necessarily refer to religious worship. It also can be used to describe the act of honoring an earthly king. Here the devil tempts Jesus to trust in him rather than God.
God led His people into the promised land despite the strength of its inhabitants. He also brought about the kingdom of His Messiah despite opposition. Faithlife Study Bible
Forty days Suggests a deliberate parallel between Jesus’ testing and Israel’s 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, which also involved testing.
Satan is called the devil in the other Gospel accounts of this event. In the old testament, Satan is portrayed as an accuser and as a figure who is part of God’s council operating in a limited role. By the time of Mark’s Gospel, Satan is understood as a renegade spiritual figure who is openly opposing God’s will and has considerable evil power in the present age. The figure who tempts Eve in the garden of Eden is never called Satan, however, Revelation conceptually relates the serpent from Eden to Satan. This same kind of conceptual connection seems to be at work in Mark—this is the primary adversary of God tempting Jesus. Faithlife Study Bible
Mark declares that the Spirit drove Christ into the wilderness. The verb used for drove was frequently used to describe Christ’s expulsion of demons and appears two other times in this chapter. Mark introduces an event of conflict to seize his readers’ attention. Being tempted by Satan is something that all believers face, but Jesus triumphed completely over his adversary. Mark alone mentions the angels who were ministering to Christ through the 40 days. NKJV Bible Study
In the old testament, the wilderness is the place where God meets with His appointed messengers, such as Moses at the burning bush and on Mount Sinai. The wilderness also is where God tests the Israelites on their journey to the promised land. During their wilderness testing, the Israelites failed to trust God and consequently were punished with 40 years of wandering in the desert. Faithlife Study Bible.
The order of the temptations differs between Matthew and Luke. Luke has the temptation about Jerusalem last, probably because Jerusalem is the place Jesus is headed for His decisive confrontation with Satan. In His temptation, Jesus demonstrated not only His ability to resist the devil, but also His allegiance to God. What Adam could not do, Jesus did. Where Israel had failed in the wilderness, Jesus succeeded. Jesus refused to operate independently of God. NKJV Study Bible.
Deuteronomy 6:13 You shall fear the LORD your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name.
Deuteronomy 6:16 “You shall not tempt the LORD your God as you tempted Him in Massah.
Deuteronomy 8:3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.
Psalm 91:11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.
Psalm 91:12 In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.
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