Tuesday, October 23, 2007

The Temptation of Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11)

Three Temptations

Jesus was "lead by the Spirit" into the wilderness where He was tempted by the devil three times:

  1. To turn stones into food.
  2. To prove He was favored by God.
  3. Rule over the Earth.

The first is obvious, Jesus had been fasting and was starving.  After 40 days and nights I can imagine the average person would do anything for a bite of bread.

The second appeals to vanity and pride.  How incredibly helpful it would be to His ministry to definitively prove before all (including the religious leaders) that He was the Messiah by having angels protect Him in front of the temple.  However, if He were unquestionably the Messiah He wouldn't have been sacrificed on the cross.

The last temptation is the greatest; the devil would give the world to Jesus if Jesus would worship the devil.  If you think the world isn't the devil's to give please note that Jesus doesn't correct him on this point.*  Remember, Jesus' goal wasn't to rule the Earth; He needed to be a perfect, unblemished sacrifice for our sins.

[Post group discussion addition] David pointed out that there are only two ways Matthew could have known about this encounter: (1) Jesus told him or (2) the Holy Spirit dictated it.  Picture what the scene would have been like with Matthew if/when Jesus told this story.

Application

Note that the temptations go from little to big to huge; the devil doesn't start by offering the world.*  Why should he?  How cheap are you to the devil?  Does he only have to offer a bit of pleasure or attention for you to sin against God?  The next time you sin think about how little the devil has to give for you to add a thorn to Christ's crown.

* Ideas marked by an asterisk came from BSF notes on Matthew 4.

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