Temptation of Jesus

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Temptation of Jesus
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Temptation of Jesus

• From (Matthew 41-11 Mark 112-13 Luke 41-13),
  we read about the temptations that Jesus
  experienced. What were the purposes of these
  temptations?

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What were the purposes of these temptations?

• 1. Jesus was tempted to show us that He was
  sinless in order to prove His moral right to be
  our Savior.
• A.   It is important for us to understand that
  the biblical writers must prove that Jesus was
  without sin (Heb. 415) because if He wasnt then
  His sacrifice would be useless.
• B. Hebrews 415 For we do not have a high priest
  who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
  but we have one who has been tempted in every
  way, just as we are--yet was without sin.

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What were the purposes of these temptations?

• 2. Jesus was tempted in order to show us that we
  can defeat Satan and escape his temptations.

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How did Jesus defeat Satan and his temptations?

• 1. Jesus defeated Satan and his temptations by
  using the Word of God. It is written.
• A. There is power in the Word of God. (Eph.
  617) explains that Gods Word is a sword that we
  should use in spiritual combat. Satan is
  constantly tempting us to follow his ways and not
  Gods ways. So when we are under attack, we must
  quote Scripture and obey it.
• B. Ephesians 617Take the helmet of salvation
  and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of
  God.

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How did Jesus defeat Satan and his temptations?

• 2. Jesus defeated Satan and his temptations by
  focusing upon God.
• A. Every time Jesus was tempted, He not only
  quoted Scripture, but He also focused upon God.
  Every Scripture that He quoted made reference to
  God (Mt. 44, 7, 10).
• B. Too often when we are tempted to sin, we focus
  on the sin itself and its pleasures. And when we
  do this, we often fail because sin is
  pleasurable. Instead, we need to have God at the
  forefront of our minds and focus on Him and not
  the sin.

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How did Jesus defeat Satan and his temptations?

• 3. Jesus defeated Satan and his temptations
  because He predetermined that He was going to
  serve God.
• A. (Luke. 1613) No servant can serve two
  masters. Either he will hate the one and love
  the other, or he will be devoted to the one and
  despise the other. You cannot serve both God and
  Money.
• B. Joseph, in (Gen. 397-9), predetermined that
  he was not going to commit a sin against God by
  sleeping with Potiphars wife. How then could
  I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?

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Led by the Spirit into Temptation (41-2)

• Matt. 41Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into
  the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2After
  fasting forty days and forty nights, he was
  hungry.

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Led by the Spirit into Temptation (41-2)

• The work, however, begins with a time of
  intensive preparation. Notice the role of the
  Holy Spirit in this preparation. Jesus is
  described as "full of the Holy Spirit." The event
  at the Jordan was profoundly significant. Now
  Jesus is "led" by the Spirit in the desert.
  Mark's Gospel uses much stronger language "The
  Spirit immediately drove him out into the
  wilderness" (Mark 112). The verb in Mark is
  ekballo, "to cast out, to drive out." This
  leading wasn't a gentle one, but perhaps almost a
  compulsion. Jesus had been baptized and filled
  with the Spirit now he must go into the desert.

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Led by the Spirit into Temptation (41-2)

• Why the desert? Jesus wasn't yet ready to enter
  into his public ministry, so the desolate
  wilderness of the Jordan plain north of the Dead
  Sea, and the arid Judean hills west of the Dead
  Sea were places he could be alone. I'm sure he
  communed with his Father during this time. And,
  as we'll see from the nature of his temptations,
  the shape and meaning of his Messiahship were
  determined here. The desert, of course, was John
  the Baptist's home, and was also the place where
  Moses and Elijah had fasted and encountered the
  Lord.

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Led by the Spirit into Temptation (41-2)

• Fasting allows one to focus on the spiritual
  realm more intently. After the first few days,
  the hunger pangs subside some as the body's
  metabolism changes. Fasting can produce a clarity
  of mind and spirit. Was the forty days a literal
  time period? Perhaps not. The number forty is
  used so often in the Bible that it seems to be a
  rounded rather more than an exact figure, much as
  we might say "a month" in an imprecise manner. In
  any case, Jesus spent a long time in the desert.
  A long time to be tempted. A long time to fast.

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Why Temptation?

• An important lesson for disciples is this
  temptation is not sin. Satan may tempt us by
  putting evil thoughts into our mind, but we can
  push them right out again with God's help.

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Could Jesus have sinned?

• We can't imagine it. And yet, part of being human
  is to have a will free to choose wrong as well as
  right. He must have been able to sin, or
  temptation is just a big play-act.

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1 Temptation of Hunger (43-4)

• Matt. 41 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into
  the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2After
  fasting forty days and forty nights, he was
  hungry. 3The tempter came to him and said, "If
  you are the Son of God, tell these stones to
  become bread." 4Jesus answered, "It is written
  'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every
  word that comes from the mouth of God."

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1 Temptation of Hunger (43-4)

• The other alternative is for Jesus to hike to the
  nearest town for food to break his fast. The
  devil's suggestion is instant, within Jesus'
  power, and he IS very hungry. There comes a point
  in fasting where the hunger pangs return, and if
  you don't eat then, starvation and death take
  hold quickly. This is the temptation to meet
  legitimate physical needs by illegitimate or
  unnecessary means.

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1 Temptation of Hunger (43-4)

• But there's another subtle temptation here, as
  well. The devil slyly begins, "If you are the Son
  of God...." He's basically saying to Jesus, "You
  may not be the Son of God at all. Prove it to me
  by doing this minor miracle." When we're new at
  any role -- not to mention Messiahship -- we feel
  insecure. And when someone taunts us and doubts
  our role we're very tempted to SHOW THEM, to
  prove it. This is the temptation to pride, to
  prove ourselves to others -- and, in our
  insecurity, to ourselves as well.

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1 Temptation of Hunger (43-4)

• There's nothing wrong with meeting physical needs
  -- food, shelter, love, companionship, sex -- by
  legitimate means. But there is a higher law than
  our physical desires, and that is God's Word. The
  essence of Jesus' reply, a quotation of
  Deuteronomy 83, reads in full
• "He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then
  feeding you with manna, which neither you nor
  your fathers had known, to teach you that man
  does not live on bread alone but on every word
  that comes from the mouth of the Lord."

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1 Temptation of Hunger (43-4)

• Jesus' point is that physical needs must be met
  God's way, not our own selfish, short-cut way.
  God is able to supply our needs, but we must wait
  on him and seek to do things his way. Bread --
  physical fulfillment -- is not more important
  than God's Word and way.

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2 Temptation of Instant Acclaim (45-7)

• 5Then the devil took him to the holy city and had
  him stand on the highest point of the temple.
  6"If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw
  yourself down. For it is written " 'He will
  command his angels concerning you, and they will
  lift you up in their hands, so that you will not
  strike your foot against a stone." 7Jesus
  answered him, "It is also written 'Do not put
  the Lord your God to the test."

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2 Temptation of Instant Acclaim (45-7)

• 1. Have you ever had dreams of fame? Of being a
  movie star or sports hero?
• 2. The desire to be respected in your profession,
  or popular in your school are the more common
  ways we deal with this desire. Jesus' second
  temptation is for popularity.

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2 Temptation of Instant Acclaim (45-7)

• A vision or a physical event? A vision,
  probably. Jesus was physically in the desert. But
  the vision is no less tempting. Now the devil
  quotes Scripture to Jesus from Psalm 9111-12.
  Satan's implication is that if Jesus were to jump
  off the temple to the pavement far below, he
  wouldn't be injured. The effect on observers in
  the temple, however, would be startling, the
  ultimate PR stunt. The visible miracle of one
  walked away from mortal injury. Jesus would be
  instantly famous, and perhaps would be acclaimed
  Messiah on the spot.

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2 Temptation of Instant Acclaim (45-7)

• I don't think that the excitement of risking
  danger was Jesus' temptation. Rather it was the
  lure of popularity and public recognition. This
  is similar to the lure of power and material
  wealth, but it appeals even more directly to
  personal pride and self-exaltation.
• "Humble thyself in the eyes of the Lord...And He
  shall lift you up." are the words of Bob Hudson's
  well-known chorus that reflects Scripture (James
  410 and 1 Peter 56). Jesus could choose the
  path of humility or pride. He chose humility.

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2 Temptation of Instant Acclaim (45-7)

• Jesus answered the devil with the words of
  Deuteronomy 616 "Do not put the Lord your God
  to the test." In other words, do not take some
  action that forces God's hand, that seeks to
  manipulate God to do what he otherwise would not
  wish to do. The passage Jesus was quoting
  referred to the Israelites' forcing God to act
  when they were thirsty at Massah in the
  wilderness. They had tested God by saying, "Is
  the Lord among us or not?" If so, then prove it
  to us by giving us water. There's a kind of
  insistent unbelief in this sort of testing.

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2 Temptation of Instant Acclaim (45-7)

• We force people to say nice things about us by
  our own carefully chosen words of
  self-deprecation. We force people to see us as a
  philanthropist (active effort to promote human
  welfare) by visible gifts to charitable causes.
  The forms of manipulation are innumerable and
  often so subtle that unless we are self-aware, we
  may almost fool ourselves. Too often, we try to
  manipulate God, too, with bargains and deals. We
  need to take seriously Jesus' words, "Do not put
  the Lord your God to the test."

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3 Temptation of Power and Wealth (Matt. 48-13)

• 8Again, the devil took him to a very high
  mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the
  world and their splendor. 9"All this I will give
  you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship
  me." 10Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan!
  For it is written 'Worship the Lord your God,
  and serve him only." 11Then the devil left him,
  and angels came and attended him.

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3 Temptation of Power and Wealth (Matt. 48-13)

• Satan claims both ownership of and the power to
  bestow political power and material wealth and
  splendor. It's interesting that Jesus doesn't
  question it. Satan isn't able to draw him into an
  argument that God alone is sovereign and Satan's
  power is usurped from its rightful owner --
  though Jesus' answer hints at this. Arguing with
  Satan makes the tempted person even more
  vulnerable.

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3 Temptation of Power and Wealth (Matt. 48-13)

• The incentives to compromise are almost
  impossible to resist, especially if the love of
  money and power have found a ready place in your
  heart.
• Can a person live in the business or political
  arena and retain his integrity? Yes, but not
  without facing and passing the kind of tests that
  Jesus met in the desert. Part of the lie is that
  Satan alone controls power and material rewards,
  and that the only way to reach them is the
  devil's way. But this IS a lie. The other way is
  to trust God and serve him in good times and bad,
  relying on him to exalt you if that is his will.

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3 Temptation of Power and Wealth (Matt. 48-13)

• We understand the temptation. We live in the
  present, we want instant gratification. We would
  rather get our rewards now and worry later about
  the future.

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3 Temptation of Power and Wealth (Matt. 48-13)

• Jesus knew that power was important to his
  mission as Messiah. But it must be power bestowed
  by his Father in due time. His was the hard way
  to glory -- through the cross and grave and
  resurrection. But in due time the Father exalted
  him to the highest place, the place that he
  deserved as God's equal (Philippians 26), and to
  the position in which he is publicly proclaimed
  before heaven and earth (Philippians 29-11). It
  took longer than Satan's way, but there was no
  bitter aftertaste.

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1 Corinthians 1013

• 13No 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.