Strengthened in Temptation

January 10, 2010

Background Scripture: Matthew 4:1 – 11
Lesson Passage: Matthew 4:1 – 11

In our lesson today, we continue to examine evidence from the scriptures that shows Jesus as Messiah. Today’s passage presents the threefold temptation of Jesus after his water baptism. It is worth noting that this did not occur by happenstance or unexpectedly. The scriptures teach us that the Holy Ghost led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. This is a reminder that in the Lord’s model prayer, Jesus taught his followers to pray to God to not be led into temptation. Although Jesus is omniscient, he also had his wilderness experience to offer as justification for such a prayer. In other words, this temptation was not easy for Jesus to endure and he did not want his followers to be subjected to the same. Jesus fasted for forty days and nights which left his body weak and hungry while his Spirit remained strong. Again, the temptation was threefold in nature. First, the devil attacked Jesus’ physical weakness and tried to use it against him. He was weak and hungry but the devil reminded him that with his power he did not have to remain that way. He was being tempted to use his spiritual gift to satisfy his physical cravings. Jesus demonstrated that his spirituality was much more important than his physical wellbeing and would not yield to the temptation. If the devil could tell him what to do with his spiritual gift, then what else might he try? Jesus was very hungry yet his spiritual gifts would be totally yielded to the Father to do his will. Secondly, Jesus was tempted to use his spiritual position to exercise his own will. As God’s son, surely the Father would provide protection to keep him from harm. Again, Jesus knew this without needing the devil to cause him to act insecure and put God to the test just to be sure that his position was still intact. Finally, Satan tried to pull the biggest con job ever. He offered to give to Jesus what Jesus had come into the world to reclaim, that is, the kingdoms of this world. But the catch—and there is always a catch when the devil is involved—rather than reclaim those kingdoms for God, Jesus, if he accepted them as a gift from Satan, would be required to submit himself to Satan’s rule over him! Satan was offering to give Jesus what Jesus had come into the world to reclaim but in the end Satan would never lose control over it because Jesus would have to place himself under Satan’s dominion. The devil is crafty! There is no wonder that we are constantly finding ourselves tripped up by him when we don’t follow God’s guidance.

Jesus, as the Messiah, could face temptation and overcome it because he was totally submitted to the Father. This was indeed the failure in Adam. Adam was convinced by Satan that he could be equal with the Father. As soon as Adam stopped following the guidance of God, Adam had fallen into temptation and failed the crucial test of stewardship. It is required in a steward that a man be found faithful (to the owner that is). Jesus, rather than yielding and being weakened by temptation, remained in submission to the Father and as a result was strengthened by the temptation and totally prepared for his three year ministry.

Robert C. Hudson
January 2, 2010