Ponder
How can ‘Christian’ people condone or even participate in such evils as genocide, cruelty, corruption, injustice, cover-ups, meanness, nastiness, violence, abuse, or hate? Think of some of the worst examples e.g. Nazi holocaust against Jews, or Rwanda massacres in 1994. Or other more ‘everyday’ current issues/examples of very un-Christian behaviour from people who call themselves Christians?
If Christianity is only surface-deep, and hasn’t truly penetrated to our deepest heart, being transformed by Jesus into His likeness, desiring and doing His will and living by His ways … then the sinful, unsanctified self will always come out eventually!
In this study, we’re going to look at what we can learn from the Temptation of Jesus about the nature of sin, and particularly about how to overcome, when we too face similar temptations towards evil.
When Jesus started His public ministry, He was around 30 years old (cf. Luke 3:23). The Temptation of Jesus was the final part of His 30-year ‘preparation’ before launching into public ministry. It is recorded in three of the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke).
The accounts in Matthew and Luke contain some of the earliest recorded words of Jesus in the Gospels (with the exception of Matthew 3:15 and Luke 2:49). And they are significant in showing us how Jesus overcame temptation with the same resources that are available to us as well; so that we too, following His example, can do the same.
Read
Mark 1:12-13
Matthew 4:1-11
Luke 4:1-13
Things to note – where do you see these things in the Scripture passages you’ve just read?
The temptation of Jesus follows straight after the baptism of Jesus, and the filling of the Holy Spirit and affirmation from the Father, which happened at Jesus’ baptism.
Jesus is alone; he was tested in private before being empowered for the public. Nobody could do this for Him or with Him.
It was God’s idea for Jesus to be tested/tempted. [Note that in the original NT Greek, it is the same Greek word that is translated in our English to either ‘test’ or ‘tempt’; which one depends on intent – test is intended for good, tempt is intended for evil.]
If Jesus, the Son of God, “full of the Holy Spirit” and “led by the Spirit”, experienced temptation, then similarly for us. Temptation does not mean that our faith is weak or deficient, or that God has abandoned us. In the very same trial, the devil may indeed tempt us (for evil intent, to fail and accuse us); but God wants to test us (with good intent, to prove and affirm us).
Jesus faced three tests/temptations, the same three recorded in Matt ch.4 and Luke ch.4 (but the order of the second and third is reversed) – the trial of bread, the temple, and kingdoms.
Let’s look at them one by one.
Bread (Matt 4:2-4; Luke 4:2-4)
Jesus is hungry after fasting for 40 days. The devil tempts him to turn a stone into bread. Jesus clearly could have (we know He later fed 5000 from two fish and five loaves!). So how is this wrong?
The temptation of Bread is our physical appetites.
But just because we can feed our physical needs (even wants/cravings/desires) doesn’t mean that we should. Jesus would not use His power to gratify Himself. Instead, He understood that real life is not in having our physical cravings satisfied (cf. Matt 16:26; Mark 8:36; Luke 9:25), but true life comes from knowing God (knowing what He has said and what He is saying). And in responding to the devil, Jesus quotes Deut 8:3. This shows us that when we are tempted in this same way, our response to overcome is to hunger for God instead, to hunger to hear His voice.
For reflection/discussion –
1. In your daily life, what are the things you hunger for the most?
2. Besides hunger for food, what other physical cravings might you feel urged to satisfy?
3. How can we cultivate a hunger for God’s presence?
4. How does God speak to us?
5. How can we practise hearing God’s voice (through God’s Word, God’s Spirit, God’s people)?
Temple (Matt 4:5-7; Luke 4:9-12)
The devil takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple in Jerusalem. Historians tell us that the highest point of the Temple was the top of the sanctuary building itself, rising 50m above platform level. The devil entices Jesus to jump – and even quotes Scripture (Ps. 91:11-12) at Jesus – that if He is the Son of God, God will protect Him.
The temptation of the Temple is to demand spectacular proof that God really cares.
Psalm 91 does indeed affirm God’s care, deliverance, and protection. But here, even standing on a high pinnacle, Jesus is in no danger … unless He jumps. The temptation is to demand a spectacular sign from God, to deliberately put Himself in harm’s way and force God to prove that He indeed does care by intervening. That is not trust, that is manipulation!
In fact, there’s no need for Jesus to ask for spectacular proof of the Father’s love; the Father has already said so and shown so. Look again at the baptism of Jesus and the affirmation of the Father: “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.”
So Jesus again quotes Scripture to counter the devil, this time from Deut 6:16. This shows us that it's okay to wonder if God really cares, but when we are tempted in this same way, our response in order to overcome, is to first of all discern God’s voice from other voices, and then to quietly trust Him at His word.
For reflection/discussion –
1. Do you ever wonder or doubt God’s love and care for you? Can you share an example, or time in your life?
2. Bearing in mind that even the devil can use Scripture to deceive and entice us, what are some ways for us to guard and discern between the devil’s voice, our own voice, and God’s voice?
3. How has God already ‘said so’ and ‘shown so’ that He indeed loves you?
4. Read Romans 5:1-11 (particularly v.8), and try answering that last question again?
5. In what ways right now might you be demanding of God, and perhaps manipulating God, to prove to you that He loves and cares for you?
Kingdoms (Matt 4:8-11; Luke 4:5-8)
The devil offers Jesus all the kingdoms of the world. The Luke account (4:6) shows that the devil wasn’t bluffing; they were the devil’s to give! And in John 12:31, Jesus acknowledges the devil’s authority in this world (while also promising “he will be driven out”). What could Jesus do with all the kingdoms of the world? He could bring peace, justice, fair/merciful/compassionate rule to the whole earth! Isn’t that what the Father wanted anyway, to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth?
The temptation of kingdoms is a shortcut to the promises of God
… but at a cost. In this case, Satan says to Jesus, “if you bow down and worship me.” To worship something is to “bow down” … we all bow to something, we bend our lives to something, around something, give time, energy, resources, hopes and dreams to that something, make decisions big and small to prioritise that something … we all worship something. Is it God at the centre of our universe, centre of our heart, centre of our life and longing; or something else?
Hence, Jesus responds to Satan by quoting from Deut 6:13 (which comes only a few verses after Deut 6:4-5, the Greatest Commandment!). This shows us that when we are tempted in this same way to take a shortcut that doesn’t honour God, our response to overcome is to worship God – that means seek, surrender, suffer, serve.
For reflection/discussion –
1. What are some things that you long for in life? Does it matter how you get there?
2. How are you currently seeking to achieve those objectives? Does the way you are proceeding honour God’s will and God’s ways?
3. What is it that you truly worship? A good way to tell might be – where do you spend your money and your ‘free’ time; or what do you find yourself thinking about or gravitating towards when you have a choice?
4. In choosing between “kingdoms” and “the Kingdom” … where is your loyalty, obedience, submission, surrender?
Final thoughts
All of the temptations were aimed at the inner heart – to undermine Jesus’ relationship, love, trust, and connection with the Father. Same for us.
Jesus simply had to remember that He already had the love and affirmation of the Father. Likewise for us, in Christ we already have the love and affirmation of God; we are already in perfect relationship to Him … we simply have to remain in His love. Don’t be tempted to let anything else come between you and the Lord.
Jesus’ resources to overcome temptation and beat the devil are the same resources available to us. They are: the Word of God and the Spirit of God. James 4:7 promises that we too, can overcome.