I’m a little late getting this posted. I was going to post it on Friday and then “life” got in the way….
I’ve been studying Matthew Chapter 4 this week in preparation to teach junior church on Sunday.
The beginning of chapter 4 talks about Christ being tempted in the wilderness. It is important to remember that this happened immediately after his baptism.
Why is that important …. Before Jesus was baptized, He did not do a miracle, He did not preach a sermon, nor did He visit a village to tell the people who He was or why He had come. He waited for the Father's perfect timing.
The other important idea is that the Holy Spirit descended upon Christ at His baptism.
Matthew 4 :1
“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”
What or who else was in the wilderness with Jesus?
Mark 1:13 “he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.”
The wilderness of Judea was a rocky, barren, scrubby environment more or less hostile to human life. There were places where one could get water, but by and large it was an empty uninhabited region.
The Spirit’s role in this is not to directly tempt Jesus, for God cannot tempt any man (James 1:13), but rather, to lead Jesus to the situation where Satan would provide the temptations.
James 1:13 “ When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone”
Why could Jesus not do this on His own?
Because it is in a sin for man to seek temptations.
Jesus taught us to pray that we not be lead into temptation, but be delivered from evil (Luke 11:4).
He told the disciples, “Pray that ye enter not into temptation” (Luke 22:40).
The man who willingly seeks after temptations is a man who is not doing the Lord’s will.
So why was it necessary for Jesus to be tempted by Satan?
While Jesus was God, He was also man.
Jesus hungered as a man, thirsted as a man, suffered as a man, and ultimately died as a man. He was also tempted as a man, yet without sin.
Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.”
Jesus knew what it meant to be tempted with sin and the things of this world. He resisted temptation his entire life.
Let’s talk for a minute about who the devil is.
Before the creation of the world, Satan was called Lucifer, which means "light." Lucifer, the son of the morning, was the most beautiful and important of all the angels in heaven. He was an archangel, the commander-in-chief of all the heavenly host. Lucifer did not keep his heavenly position, however.
What did Lucifer do to cause his fall from his exalted place in heaven?
Isaiah 14:12-14
12 How you have fallen from heaven,
morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!
13 You said in your heart,
“I will ascend to the heavens;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.[a]
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
Did you notice how many times Lucifer said I?
What was Lucifer’s main problem?
He believed he was better than he really was, and that is what pride really is.
Satan boasted to the other angels that he was just as good as God, and a third of the heavenly host believed his lie and became his followers (Revelation 12:4), and Lucifer then led them in a rebellion against God.
As a result, God cast him and all the angels who rebelled with him out of heaven. Lucifer then became known as Satan—the devil; all the angels who rebelled with him became known as demons or evil spirits.
Where does Satan first appear in the Bible?
He got Adam and Eve, to sin in the Garden of Eden, thus bringing sin upon all mankind.
What are some other names for Satan?
the tempter, the deceiver, the evil one, the accuser of the brethren, the author of confusion, and the father of lies.
What is Satan’s goal?
He wants to control the world and receive the worship of mankind.
How does he get people to follow him?
by telling them lies and keeping them from hearing and believing the truth of the Scriptures.
He tries to draw Christians away from God by tempting them to do wrong.
He hates God. He hates the Bible, and he hates Christians who live for God. This is because he hates all that is good and right. He hates Jesus; while Jesus was here on earth, Satan tried in several ways to keep Jesus from going to the Cross for our salvation.
John 8:44 “He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
What animal does Peter compare Satan to?
1 Peter 5:8 “ Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
1 Peter 5:9 “Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
When we so resist, he will flee from us, because he is truly a coward
James 4:7 “ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
Jesus Fasting
Matthew 4:2
“ After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.”
Fasting means abstinence from eating food for a period of time.
Let’s review - For forty days and forty nights, Jesus was in that barren wasteland, surrounded by wild, dangerous beasts and bombarded by evil whisperings from the devil and his demons. During those forty days and forty nights in the wilderness, Jesus fasted, or ate no food, and at the end of the forty days he was extremely hungry and weak.
Why would Jesus fast?
Jesus fasted so as to focus himself for the challenge of temptation that He was about to face. Being tempted directly by Satan was no ordeal into which one ought to enter unprepared.
Is there any significance to the number 40? Does it appear anywhere else in the Bible?
The earth was cleansed in 40 days and 40 nights of rain during the flood.
Joseph’s embalming process was 40 days (Genesis 50:3).
The children of Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.
It seems to be a number that indicates cleansing and purification.
Jesus Tempted by Satan to Make Bread
Matthew 4:3
“The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Satan says “If.” Satan did not doubt that Jesus was the Son of God This really could be translated Since …
Since Jesus was the Son of God, then why not change these stones to bread. He had the power to do it, so do it. That was the essence to Satan’s temptation here.
Jesus looked around Him. The stones scattered on the ground did remind Him of loaves of bread. He needed food—in fact, His body craved food intensely.
Could Jesus have turned the stones into bread?
Yes – He had the power to turn the stones into bread since He was the Creator of the universe; He could do something about His hunger; He could satisfy His need Himself. This was His temptation.
There is nothing wrong with eating; we have to have food to live, so Satan whispered to Jesus, "Why not go ahead and change the stones into loaves of bread?"
The devil was tempting Jesus to fulfill His hunger need in His own way, by His own plan, rather than waiting for God's perfect timing.
Satan wanted Jesus to jump ahead of God's plan and follow the devil's timing and suggestion rather than God's perfect leading.
Satan was tempting Jesus to use His power for purely selfish purposes.
Did Jesus use his power at any other time to produce food?
Yes - Jesus used His power to multiply the loaves and fishes (Mark 6:39-44). But he did it for selfless purposes in that case.
Here, the sin would have been two fold; first it would have been an abuse of God’s power, and second, it would have been obeying the voice of Satan.
Did you ever wonder what it would be like to be Jesus? You are fully human and yet you have God’s power. You could walk on water any time you wanted. If a kid makes fun of you, you could turn his lunch into snails. You could fly into school on the wings of angels. Yet Jesus never used his power for himself. He only used it to benefit others. He healed the sick, caused the lame to walk and the blind to see, and he raised the dead.
Here is also a great lesson for us. Satan would have us believe that the things with which he tempts us are for our own good. Sadly, there are many who fall for it hook, line, and sinker. However, we must look beyond the immediate benefits of such temptation and see the thing for what it really is.
Matthew 4:4
“Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Jesus’ response to Satan was to quote scripture.
He cites Deuteronomy 8:3 where God instructs the children of Israel regarding the manna with which He fed them. They were to know and realize that it wasn’t be bread alone that they survived, but by the very words of God themselves.
In that regard, the word “every” is used both here and in Deuteronomy. It is not by just SOME of God’s words that it is sufficient for us to live, but all of them.
Jesus was telling Satan that there are other things in life much more important than bread—bread gives strength to our body, which will eventually die, anyway, but the Word of God gives strength to the soul, which will live forever.
The Psalmist writes, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:11).
Jesus Tempted by Satan to Jump from a Great Height
Matthew 4: 5 – 7
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.
6 “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.’”
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Satan does, however, wise up in one regard. This time he quotes scripture to Jesus. It is an important lesson to us. Satan knows what God’s word says and is prepared to use it against us if we are not educated and knowledgeable in it.
Satan even uses the scriptures in, at least, their immediate context.. Go ahead and do it because God will send His angels to keep You from crashing to the ground below and being killed or even hurt.
Remember. Jesus had come to earth to show Himself as the Messiah to Israel. Down below in the Temple court there was a great throng of Jews.
Satan was as much as saying. "Here is Your chance to prove to the people that You are really the Son of God. the promised Messiah. Go ahead and jump!
This was little more than what we would today call a “dare.” “I dare you to do it.
Let them see You floating down among them in midair, unhurt—held up by invisible angel's hands. How amazed they would be! Then they would know that You are really what You claim to be."
This sounded very reasonable, but Jesus immediately saw through Satan's craftiness in trying to get Him to do something foolish. Of course He believed His Father's promise, but He was not going to claim it for Himself just to put on a show for the Jews gathered below in the Temple court.
He knew it would not be pleasing to God the Father to put Himself unnecessarily and foolishly into danger to see if God the Father would send help.
He did not want the people to follow Him because they thought He was a magician or a "stunt man."
Jesus refused the temptation to want to be somebody apart from the purpose of God. But Jesus did not argue with the devil; He simply met him again with the Word of God.
He said. " It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test”
It is never right to do anything just in order to see whether God will keep His Word or not. It is not necessary to do that since God can always be depended upon to do so as He has said.
God’s word must be understood as a whole, not by taking one part of it and using it separate from what the other parts teach. We simply cannot afford to handle God’s word in a way that is inconsistent with other parts of that word and message. We must handle God’s word correctly
2 Timothy 2:15 “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”
Jesus Tempted by Satan to Rule the World
Matthew4: 8 – 11
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.
9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Satan told Jesus that all these kingdoms belonged to him, Satan, because he is the god of this world and the prince of the power of the air.
What Satan was saying was partially true, for when Adam disobeyed God and sinned, Adam forfeited the world system into the hands of Satan.
But Jesus also knew that the day was yet to come when the kingdoms of this world would become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ.
In that day Satan will have to acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord of all the kingdoms of the earth; and all created beings will have to bow before Jesus, whether they want to or not, and confess Him as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Do you see what Satan was doing? He was telling a half truth. What a tricky temptation this was!
He was offering Jesus the kingdoms of the world the easy way—without sacrifice, suffering, and a cruel death on the Cross. The tempter was trying to make Jesus take a shortcut to have all the world's kingdoms without going to the Cross. "It won't cost You anything," Satan slyly suggested, "and You can have your kingdom right now! Just kneel down and worship me!" But this was not God the Father's will nor His plan
But Satan asks too much of Jesus for these things; he asks Jesus to worship him. We should note that here we have doubt in the word “if” in this verse. Satan was completely unsure as to whether Jesus would worship him or not
Jesus flatly refused to worship Satan. It was an appalling concept. Jesus answers Satan with the words “Get thee hence,” “Be gone,” “Go away,” or “Get out of here.” It is a strong rejection and one which was closely followed, once again, by scriptural rebuke.
This is the third time that Jesus has quoted from scripture to refute Satan. It is a powerful example to us that if we know the scriptures then we can route Satan’s temptations.
Psalm 119:11 “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”
In Ephesians chapter 6 Paul writes about the armor of God.
What is the only offensive weapon that he writes about?
The Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God (Eph 6:17)
Jesus resisted the devil's enticing offer and would not yield to it. He very firmly declared. "The Scriptures say. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God. and Him only shall thou serve.'
Matthew 4:11 – The devil left Jesus, at least, for now. Satan may leave us alone for a time, but he will always return and seek us out again. As long as we are on this earth, we have temptation.
God has promised, however, that he will not completely abandon us to Satan’s devices.
1 Corinthians 10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
There are four things in this verse that give us assurances that we can overcome temptation when Satan brings it upon us.
1) We can know that all temptations are common to men. Somewhere someone else has been able to overcome that temptation.
2) We can know that God is faithful. Thereby, we can rely upon Him for all things and need not be tempted by anything.
3) God will not allow us to be tempted above our ability to resist. Knowing this, we can understand that whatever temptation comes our way, it is something that we know we can refuse or else God wouldn’t have allowed it.
4) With each temptation there is a way to escape out of it so that we don’t sin. We need to look for that escape route. With all of this help in time of temptation, we certainly have the ability to effectively resist sin in our
The Bible says that after the temptations were finished, angels came and ministered to Jesus.
What do you think they probably gave Him?
Food!
And don't you imagine it was the best food His human body had ever tasted? Jesus had been faithful: He had waited for God's timing; He had passed the test; and God the Father provided for His bodily needs in a wonderful way. God promises to bless us if we will resist temptation and not give in to it.
I took the basic outline for the lesson from some Abeka materials and then added my own ideas, questions, verses, etc. I would cite the Abeka book but I no longer have it in my possession. Sorry.
