Jesus' Temptation In the Desert

Introduction

We have been making our way through our sermon series called “you say I am”. With all of our weather and special events going on, we have not made it all that far along, but we are going to continue tonight. We kicked this study of the gospel of Matthew on a hunt to answer 2 questions.

“Who is Jesus?”

Not just who people say that Jesus is, not just who we feel like Jesus is, but who Jesus really is.

Jesus answered this question, by showing the disciples that He is the author and creator of all things. He holds the universe together and sustains it. We will also go ahead and continue to Get to know Jesus as Matthew showed us through this book.

“Who am I?”

This is something God wants us to know. Just like we don’t get to decide who Jesus is, we actually don’t get to decide who we are. That is, our purpose was decided for us by God a long time ago. the bible says that God had a plan for our lives even before he created the world!

Our last lesson left off with the ministry of John the baptist and today we get to get to know Jesus more and even more about God’s plan for our lives.

Jesus’ Temptation

This passage has a pattern to it. It goes like this:

Satan’s temptation -> Jesus’ response and that just cycles around.

Temptation #1 (A Physical Temptation)

English Standard Version Chapter 4

3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

It is so interesting to watch Satan’s sly temptation to Jesus for a few reasons.

If we don’t know scripture, it can be difficult to identify sin.

It is almost humorous to read this and imagine that Jesus is actually going to fall for such a sorry and simplistic gesture.

This kind of temptation works on us every single day. marriages fall apart, babies are murdered, porn sights are viewed, lies are done with ease, inappropriate relationships are the norm all because people do what they want and what they can instead of what they should.

The root of Satan’s temptation here Deals with Jesus’ power over his physical body. Jesus had gone 40 days without food and as a result had no choice other than to get his strength from the Holy Spirit. That was God’s will for him. that was God’s plan. Satan is trying to Get Jesus’ mind off of the Holy Spirit’s providence and fixated on His physical needs.

WOW! What a shock to see how something as simple as a piece of bread can be used in a sinful way. It is not that bread is sinful or eating is sinful. It is that Satan sought to use some bread to get Jesus’ attention off of the Holy Spirit for even a moment. Satan Knows that Sin thrives in a life that is distracted form God’s will. Satan knows that all he needs to do is get us to forget about that prayer time that we were going to every night before we go to bed. Satan is all too aware that all he needs to do is changed your schedule up just a little bit so you go to bed later and later and stope waking up early to spend time in your bibles. He knows that a distraction of any kind can be all it takes to take our attention away from God.

Response #1

English Standard Version Chapter 4

4 But he answered, “It is written,

“ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

This shows exactly where Jesus’ thoughts were in His time of need and shows us exactly where our thoughts should be in our time of need. Instead of thinking of His aches and pains and low energy, his grumbling stomach, Jesus was focused on scriptures and that is how He overcame the battle of His flesh.

Temptation #2 (A Reputation Temptation)

English Standard Version Chapter 4

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and 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 will command his angels concerning you,’

and

“ ‘On their hands they will bear you up,

lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”

This test was all about Jesus’ reputation. Many Jews actually expected that God would send a one to save the world, but they did not think that Jesus was that man. Satan’s offer here for Jesus to appear above the temple would have given Jesus an incredible reputation in the Jews eyes.

Satan also wanted Jesus to display an incredible show of power. Jesus knew that this was not His Father’s plan. God’s will is not often displayed in something like a false suicide attempt, but in His love shown through life. Jesus’ came to explain God to people and show love to the lost. He did not come to claim power and authority. He came to give His life for ours. That is why He responded the way He did.

Response #2

English Standard Version Chapter 4

7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

Since Jesus is so focused on God, He sees clear through Satan’s temptation scheme. Satan is trying to use scripture to get his own way.

Basically, what Satan is doing here is trying to use God’s word to get what he wants and he will find any scripture he can to make that happen.

Let me show you how dangerous it can be to take the Bible out of context

A report comes out that there is a record breaking number of girls going to the doctor because someone threw a rock at them. When further investigated, a local detective traced as many of these injuries back and interrogated everyone who threw a rock at a woman. When asked, one criminal responded “sir, I was only trying to do what Jesus wanted me to.” The detective was amazed and responded “WHAT IN THE WORLD WOULD EVER MAKE YOU THINK THAT GOD WANTS YOU TO THROW A ROCK AT A GIRL?

The man quickly opened his bible to and read this to the officer...

English Standard Version Chapter 8

be the first to throw a stone at her.”

NO NO NO NO! that is a silly example of the danger o taking the bible out of context. The bigger picture of this verse is that men were lining up to judge and stone a

Temptation #3 (A temptation of Jesus’ purpose)

In order to fill in a little context for this temptation I want to let you in on the scary truth that Satans is talking about here. This scary truth is that Satan does have some power and authority. He is in charge of many fallen angels.

Satan is telling Jesus that he will give Him much power in this world. notice what Satan is doing here. He is trying to get Jesus to focus on this world. He is trying to get Jesus to focus on the exact same thing that Satan uses to cause many people to forget about God every single day. He is trying to get Jesus to forget about the eternal plan of God. He

He continuously talks about Jesus’ body, reputation, and purpose on Earth and all of these things are based on one very simple, very subtle lie. This lie has not changed much in the 2000 years that have past since Jesus was tempted. The lie is that these things are not already decided. The lie is that God does not have a specific plan and purpose for each one of us to follow Him.

Jesus was able to overcome all of these temptations because He was not focused on His body, reputation, or purpose according to this world or even Satan.

Jesus was focused on His body, reputation, and purpose according to God.

Closing

All that Jesus was doing here was for 2 reasons

To fulfill his purpose here on Earth

To give us a perfect example of how to fulfill our purpose here on Earth.