Matthew 4:1-11 The temptation of Jesus

Matthew 4 - The Temptation of Jesus 

¹ Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. ² For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry.  ³ During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”   ⁴ But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, people do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

 ⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, ⁶ and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, "He will order his angels to protect you.And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”  ⁷ Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”


 ⁸ Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹ “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.”  ¹⁰ “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, 'You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”  ¹¹ Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.

Temptation is a desire or craving for something…

It’s natural (not good or bad) until one of two things happens: Either the object of the craving is not in accord with God’s desire or the process constructed to achieve that object is not Godly.  Scripture tells us this is most likely to happen when our temptation (craving) is intended to satisfy our selfish physical lusts or our own vulnerable egos (1 John 2:16). In other words, is the craving intended to satisfy God or us?

Patrick McCormick, in his book Sin as Addiction, helps us understand the pernicious nature of temptation by pointing out how it consumes our attention, our energy and our ideology. If we don’t respond to it properly, we become addicted to the quest and lose control of our lives.

The thing that makes temptation so destructive is when we actually have the ability to satisfy the craving. If we couldn’t do it we wouldn’t be in such peril. What is so phenomenal about Jesus, in human terms, is that he was able to overcome temptation…when achieving it was well within His power. How?

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”  Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “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.” Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.”

Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Jesus could have done everything Satan commanded, but…why?

Instead, Each of His responses point back to God’s Word. He wasn’t focused on His own physical hunger but on His spiritual hunger. He wasn’t focused on His need to be recognized as God but on His desire to “be Godly”. He wasn’t focused on accruing authority to Himself but on deferring authority to God.

And the devil gave up…

I wish I had a craving to hear God speak. I wish I had a craving to be more Godly. I wish I was tempted to disappear into the glorious consuming presence of God so all that was evident in my life was Him. By God’s Spirit, all of this is within my ability. I wonder if these desires can become as addictive as worldly wickedness.

I’m interested in all that. Am I tempted?

Live boldly out there today…