Matthew 4:1-11 Bible Study
a. So He humbled you: All of God’s education begins here. Some never even make it past this first essential step. If we are not humble and not teachable, there is then no point to the rest of any of God’s education.
b. Allowed you to hunger, and fed you manna: The next grade of God’s education is total dependence on the LORD. Israel had to rely on God beyond their own knowledge (which you did not know), and beyond their own ability.
c. That He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone: In the negative, this was the lesson God wanted them to learn. In the positive, they had to learn that man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. Sadly, many still live by bread alone, living only for material things, for what can be bought or sold or earned or possessed materially
Jesus was willing to fight this battle as a man; He could have easily rebuked Satan into another galaxy, but resisted him in a way that we can imitate and identify with.
i. Jesus used Scripture to battle Satan’s temptation, not some elaborate spiritual power inaccessible to us. Jesus fought this battle as fully man, and He drew on no “special resources” unavailable to us. “Out flashed the sword of the Spirit: our Lord will fight with no other weapon. He could have spoken new revelations, but chose to say, ‘It is written.’ ” (Spurgeon)
ii. He could have stood against Satan with a display of His own glory; He could have stood against Satan with logic and reason. Instead, Jesus used the word of God as a weapon against Satan and temptation.
• He used a weapon that one can use when they are all alone.
• He used a weapon to defend His Sonship.
• He used a weapon to defeat temptation.
• He used a weapon that was effective because He understood it.
ii. We effectively resist temptation in the same way Jesus did: by countering Satan’s seductive lies by shining the light of God’s truth upon them. If we are ignorant of God’s truth, we are poorly armed in the fight against temptation
Jesus was willing to fight this battle as a man; He could have easily rebuked Satan into another galaxy, but resisted him in a way that we can imitate and identify with.
i. Jesus used Scripture to battle Satan’s temptation, not some elaborate spiritual power inaccessible to us. Jesus fought this battle as fully man, and He drew on no “special resources” unavailable to us. “Out flashed the sword of the Spirit: our Lord will fight with no other weapon. He could have spoken new revelations, but chose to say, ‘It is written.’ ” (Spurgeon)
ii. He could have stood against Satan with a display of His own glory; He could have stood against Satan with logic and reason. Instead, Jesus used the word of God as a weapon against Satan and temptation.
• He used a weapon that one can use when they are all alone.
• He used a weapon to defend His Sonship.
• He used a weapon to defeat temptation.
• He used a weapon that was effective because He understood it.
ii. We effectively resist temptation in the same way Jesus did: by countering Satan’s seductive lies by shining the light of God’s truth upon them. If we are ignorant of God’s truth, we are poorly armed in the fight against temptation
How Satan tempted …
Jesus
Eve
Us (see 1 John 2:16)
Turn stones to bread to eat
Fruit would be good to eat
Lust of the flesh
Prove his divine sonship
Gain wisdom so as to be like God
Pride of life
Obtain all he could see
Look at the fruit and see that it looks tasty
Lust of the eyes