Tempted of the Devil – Matt 4
“Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.” — Matthew 4:1
In every way, Jesus was and is the Messiah. We see it in His birth, His life, His fulfilment of prophesy, His anointing of God, and now we will see it in His ability to resist temptation.
At the leading of the Spirit of God, Jesus goes into the wilderness to be tempted. He has been fasting for forty days and nights, which is an incredible physical and spiritual feat.
After such a high point in His walk with His heavenly Father, Satan comes and subtly tries to get Jesus to sin. Satan appealed Jesus’ physical appetites, His desire for personal gain, and His desire for power and glory. Satan even tried to justify his reasoning with subtle misquotes from Scripture.
What we learn from this temptation is:
- Temptation is a normal part of being a human in this fallen world. It should not be expected and we should prepare for it.
- Temptation is subtle and tries to get us to fulfil God-given desires in ways and at times that are not consistent with God’s will.
- The way we defeat Satan is with the Word of God. Jesus says “It is written” three times to all his attacks. We must not only know a few verses, but we must also know the whole Bible very well so that we are not taken in by misquotes and out of context verses that Satan will try to use on us.
- Temptation often comes right after a spiritual high. When we are celebrating a great victory is when we are most at risk.
- Through the power of Christ, we can rebuke Satan and withstand temptation. He was victorious, and He can give us the victory.
- God’s angels minister and strength us after temptation.
It’s awesome to watch Jesus in action. The perfect man. Defeating the deceptive and dangerous devil. He won and continues to win. And in Christ, we win as well, as we trust in Him and get in His Word.