We have the
one instance in scripture where Jesus is confronted by Satan with real
temptations in much the same way we find the temptation story of Adam and Eve.
Satan is promising something which is only a twisted version of reality and
contrary to the will of God. How do we resist such temptations? How do we fight
the onslaught of Satan in its more subtle forms?
Mat 4:3 Then the Devil came to
him and said, "If you are God's Son, order these stones to turn into
bread."
Mat 4:4 But Jesus answered,
"The scripture says, 'Human beings cannot live on bread alone, but need
every word that God speaks.' "
Mat 4:5 Then the Devil took
Jesus to Jerusalem, the Holy City, set him on the highest point of the Temple,
Mat 4:6 and said to him,
"If you are God's Son, throw yourself down, for the scripture says, 'God
will give orders to his angels about you; they will hold you up with their
hands, so that not even your feet will be hurt on the stones.' "
Mat 4:7 Jesus answered,
"But the scripture also says, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'
"
Mat 4:8 Then the Devil took
Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in
all their greatness.
Mat 4:9 "All this I will
give you," the Devil said, "if you kneel down and worship me."
Mat 4:10 Then Jesus answered,
"Go away, Satan! The scripture says, 'Worship the Lord your God and serve
only him!' "
Satan
tempted Jesus to vary from the Father’s will by appealing to his physical
limitations, human vanity, and a desire to take the easy road to life goals.
After forty days in the wilderness, Jesus felt the pangs of physical hunger in
the same way we all would. Even being God, he was still fully human. Would
Jesus use his divine power to satisfy his personal, physical needs?
Jesus got
the attention of the people throughout his ministry. He got it through the
miracles he performed. He got it through his teachings which on one hand were
grounded in the daily lives of his listeners and on the other hand were so
radically different from anything the people had heard from their other
teachers. Yet his miracles never pointed to what he could do for himself, only
what he could do for others.
In the last
temptation Jesus was confronted with a temptation we all face so often,
settling for the good instead of the best because the good comes by an easier
path than the best. Jesus could become Lord of the world by following the
easier path of Satan with the cost it would bring, or he could do it by the
path set by his heavenly Father. That was the path of the cross.
Satan is
there around us all the time in the temptations the world continues to place
before us or throw at us. We fail and we give in time after time for a myriad
of reasons. As the old saying goes, “I can resist anything except temptation!”
Jesus used
scripture to support his determination to turn his back on temptations that
would take him down a path away from the will of his heavenly Father. He
appealed to the foundation upon which his life was based.
1Jn 4:4
Children, you belong to God, and you have defeated these enemies. God's Spirit
is in you and is more powerful than the one that is in the world.
Jesus lived
by the Spirit that dwelt within him and made him one with the heavenly Father.
We can fight and overcome temptation the same as Jesus did. We have the Bible
to give us wisdom in times of temptation. We have the Spirit of God living
within us because we have been adopted by our heavenly Father into his family.
We are his children. We have the promise of his presence. We will never be left
as orphans. We can say no to temptation.
