THE TEMPTATIONS OF JESUS
Maybe these words will not be relevant to some of you because you are never tempted (!) but I have been a born again Christian since I was 11 years old and the devil is still trying to catch me out 55 years later! So I’d like to share with you some things I have learned and which I apply to myself every time I am tempted.
I would like us to turn to Luke 4v1-14 and take a look together at the Temptations of Jesus to see what we can learn from them for our own lives. I want to go beneath the surface and see what was really going on there.
Straight after his baptism and before he began his ministry, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. During that time he was being tempted for 40 days. Why would the Holy Spirit lead him into a place where he would be tested so strongly? I think that we will see that it was essential that he was placed in this position in order to be tested to the limit - and come through it victoriously.
I don’t think we have any idea of how intense and powerful these temptations were for Jesus in his vulnerable state or how devastating it would have been if he had given in to them. When I was at Bible College the students often debated among themselves whether Jesus could have given in to these temptations and what would have happened if He did. Some argued that as God - as Son of God he could not have sinned (see James 1:13). Well how about as Son of Man? With these temptations the devil tempted Jesus not only in his humanity but also attacked his Sonship (Luke 4:3 &9).
The devil tried his hardest to make Jesus give in. These were not token temptations – they were real and powerful but I believe that for Jesus there was NO QUESTION of giving in to them and the reason is found in Psalm 40:7-8: “In the volume of the book it is written of me ‘I DELIGHT to do your WILL Oh God.’” This is quoted of Jesus in Hebrews 10:5-7. Jesus came to do one thing – the Will of God – He was TOTALLY committed to doing that - and ONLY that. So here is the first lesson:
Lesson 1: Jesus overcame temptation because His life was all about doing GOD'S WILL – NOT HIS OWN.
If we DELIGHT to do God’s will – we can overcome temptation too but we must understand something about God’s will in order to delight in it. Romans 12:2 gives us the key – God’s will is ALWAYS – GOOD, PERFECT and ACCEPTABLE. – It may not be acceptable to our flesh – but to our SPIRIT it is! – God’s will is the BEST. It’s the best thing for our lives – if we truly understand that we can delight to do it – and we will not want to do our own will or the devil’s!!
But what do Jesus' temptations have to do with us? We can’t really relate to turning stones into bread – we couldn’t do that even if we were tempted to. We can’t really relate to being offered all the kingdoms of the world or jumping off the pinnacle of the temple. So how do the temptations of Jesus relate to us and our everyday lives?
Well all temptations are uniquely fitted to each individual person. The things that tempt you may not tempt me and things that I would be tempted by - would not tempt many of you. The temptations of Jesus were special and intense for HIM but they are very relevant to us when we understand what was really going on here. Let’s look at each temptation one by one & see what we can learn from them for ourselves.
Notice as we begin that these temptations came at the worse possible time (as they always do), when Jesus was physically weak and mentally and emotionally vulnerable from fasting. I don’t know about you but the longest I have ever fasted for was 3 days and that was long enough! Jesus fasted for 40 days and nights (unlike Islamic fasting!). He stayed alone in the wilderness – with no shelter - in the heat of the day and the cold of the night. Guys – can you see what a REAL MAN Jesus was? – He makes Bear Grylls look like a kindergarten beginner! Jesus as Son of Man was a man's man - the complete man, the perfect man. It was not because he is the Son of God that he had that strength – He was a man just like you and me – but what it really shows is how focussed he was and how much he was dedicated to doing the will of God.
It says at the end of the 40 days he was hungry – that is a very special kind of hunger – to go on any longer would be death. So now the devil comes and picks up a stone and says “Quickly turn this into bread – if you are the Son of God you can do it!” What a temptation – How easy it would have been to give in to it!
Some people think that turning stones into bread was a temptation for Jesus to prove to himself that he was God's Son, that he was somehow doubting whether he was the Son of God, but remember he had just come from his baptism where God the Father said “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” No, Jesus knew exactly who he was and so did Satan – that’s why the devil was tempting Him. The devil knows if you are a son or daughter of God and that’s why he tempts you too!
So when the devil said “If you are the Son of God turn these stones into bread” It seems to me that Satan is saying “OK because you are THE SON OF GOD – you can use your power as the Son of God to do this.” “Since you are the Son of God and since you are so hungry – turn these stones into bread."
Others have said: it was easy for him to resist these temptations because he was divine. Actually Jesus NEVER used his power as Son of God in his ministry. He laid not only his glory but all his authority and power aside to become a man – just like us (Philippians 2:6). When he ministered – he relied totally on the Holy Spirit and on what God the Father was saying to him (John 8:28). In other words he ministered on the same terms as we are to minister and he resisted the devil on the same terms that we have to as well. He does not ask us to do anything that he did not do himself (the mark of a good leader by the way)!
So this was a temptation to use his divine power for HimSELF. So the real issue here is: Jesus was being tempted to use his power as Son of God to satisfy his OWN human needs. The devil always offers us the quick way to satisfy our desires. So this was a temptation for Jesus to abuse his power as Son of God for selfish reasons – and that is where it applies to us also.
Basically all temptations are aimed at our SELFISHNESS - they are all to do with SELF – what I FEEL, what I NEED, what I WANT. As Christians we need to die to self. I heard a very successful business woman speaking on the radio some time ago and she said – “I don’t deny myself ANYTHING that I want.” Now she was not a Christian - but as Christians we must learn to deny ourselves – that’s not something we hear a lot of preaching about these days - but if we want to please God there will be many times when we cannot just do whatever our flesh wants or needs. That’s what Jesus did in resisting that temptation – He denied his flesh – He denied HimSELF. The lesson in this for us is: there are far more important things in life than our bodily and soulish needs.
Notice Jesus’ reply: “It is written man does not live on bread alone” (Deuteronomy 8:3). Moses said "God gave you manna to teach to you that man does not live by bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." Notice Jesus said: It is written – see the respect Jesus has for the written Word of God. He is the Son of God but he is standing totally on what is written. They were the words of Moses – but they are written for all time and they are the Word of God. We need to equally respect and stand on what is written! – If we do - we will be strong like Jesus was!
Next, Jesus says Man does not live by bread ALONE - basically he was saying – “I do need bread to live as a human being – man does live by bread - but not bread ONLY - there’s something more important than that – I live by God’s Word.” – (God’s Word is His Will). What we really need is to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God - and then we will be truly satisfied. We have to learn to say NO to what our body and soul wants – if it is against God’s Word. Only God can satisfy our deepest needs. We must not let the devil trick us into thinking that we can find happiness in trying to satisfy our human needs as the first priority – there is something more important than that - and that is to stay in God’s blessing and in the centre of God’s will for our lives. Jesus did that by resisting this temptation.
Lesson 2: Deny Self – Deny the flesh and let God’s Word direct your life
These temptations came at the worse possible time - When he was just about to start his ministry. The devil was trying to stop the ministry of Jesus from happening before it had even started! If Jesus had given into the next temptation it would have been the end. That’s what the devil is trying to achieve when he tempts us too. He will very often tempt us just when we are about to minister in some way – maybe preach or lead a Bible study or lead worship – and then we feel guilty that we are tempted. Remember that it’s not a sin to be tempted, but that is the time to resist the Satan strongly – because it’s worth it to hold on and win the fight!
So next, the devil offers to GIVE JESUS THE WORLD in exchange for worship. That’s what the devil tries to offer us – the things of this world – the easy way. The word worship literally means to BOW DOWN so the devil was expecting Jesus to bow down to him - to submit to him and serve him.
Notice by the way that Jesus answers all these temptations quickly. Remember this was a real and powerful temptation for Jesus – just because he answers this quickly does not mean that it was easy for him. Jesus answers all these temptations quickly - and that’s the best way to deal with temptation – if we play around with it – we can end up sinning.
Jesus’ answer to the devil is that he will NOT bow down to him. The only One he will bow down to is God Himself - and serve Him – notice Jesus always refers back to Father – His life is not to please Himself but to please his Father. It needs to be the same for us!
This temptation is all about OBEDIENCE. All temptations are about obedience to God – are we going to obey God or the devil? Hebrews tells us that although Jesus was the Son of God he LEARNED obedience through the things that he suffered. (Hebrews 5:8). One of the ways Jesus suffered - was to be tempted in all points like we are yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus was the Son of God – so why did he have to learn obedience? How do you learn something? You can know the theory - but until you do it you have not achieved it. How do you learn to drive a car? You can learn in theory – but you still can’t drive - the only way we can learn to drive is to do it! It’s the same with obedience – the only way to learn and achieve obedience is by doing it - by obeying.
The same principle applies to us – we have to LEARN to be obedient – there will be many opportunities in this life to be disobedient to God – and if we are disobedient we may NEVER learn to be obedient – or at least it may take a long time and we will have to learn the hard way – because there are ALWAYS consequences to being disobedient to God. So all temptations are a test and a challenge to our obedience – Am I going to please myself or God?
In Deuteronomy 8:2 it says: "Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these 40 years (Jesus was in the desert 40 days) to humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would OBEY his commands!"
Lesson 3: Bow down to God – Obey Him – we can't serve two masters
– that’s why James says “Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7)
When we learn that obedience is the best way – that it’s the only way to please God – this will enable us to overcome temptations and be in a good place before God.
In some ways the final temptation was the strongest test of all. Up to now Jesus has replied to the devil with the Word of God - now Satan quotes the Bible to Jesus! The devil quotes Psalm 91:11-12 - the promise that God will send angels to save him and protect him. Actually the devil is misquoting the Bible – as usual. He misses out the condition for this to happen. – which is v9: “If you make the Most High your dwelling” - God will protect those who remain in the right place with him. As soon as we take ourselves out of God's hands we are in trouble. And that is what Jesus would have done if he had listened to the devil.
So if he jumped from the top of the temple - God would be forced to send angels to rescue him before he touched the ground because that is what was written – and it could not be broken. This would show the world that Jesus was the Son of God, all his work would be done the easy way. So this is not only a test for Jesus – it’s a test for God - to see if God will do what He says - That’s why Jesus replies “You shall not test/tempt the Lord your God”
So often in a temptation the devil will whisper to us “go ahead and do it” – “God will forgive you - it will be alright.” “You’re special you can get away with it.” THE DEVIL IS A LIAR – don’t believe what he says. If we think that God will forgive and therefore we can go ahead and sin - that’s tempting God or putting God to the test.
Yes God does forgive (when we truly repent - and that can be hard to do when we have sinned deliberately) but there are always consequences to sin – always. The wages of sin is death. When we sin – it works death in us - something dies – something that otherwise would be life and blessing is lost because of giving in to temptation and depending on how great the sin is – it can be truly devastating and even life changing to give in. James 1:14-15 says: "Each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
The good news is there are also good consequences to RESISTING TEMPTATION - one of them is to receive the crown of life (James 1:12).
At the end of the temptations of Jesus - Matthew 4:11 tells us that God did send angels to come and minister to him. After he had overcome the temptations – he got what he needed but he got it the right way and at the right time. Luke tells us that Jesus returned in THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT to Galilee. This was the beginning of his ministry – the devil had done everything he could to STOP him – but Jesus had passed his tests and now he was full of power and blessing which he was ready to pass on to others.
That’s what temptations are all about for us too – they are tests that are designed to spoil everything and if we give in to them that is what happens - we lose our power, our blessing and our effectiveness. But if we resist and overcome the temptation they are tests that make us stronger, more powerful and give authority.
There have been a number of cases where famous preachers have given in to temptation and fallen into sin. It has destroyed their ministries and been a terrible witness to the unbelieving world. I know a very famous pastor in America and he tells the story of how early on in his ministry one of the women in his congregation wanted him – he was a married man, but he wanted her too and he agonised over this temptation - without giving in to it – but it would not go away.
Eventually he faced it and made his decision – he denied himself and he testifies to how wonderful it was when he came to that point of obedience – what blessings and power began to be released in his life and ministry and now he is one of the most highly respected pastors in all of the United States and has been for many years. He has been a mentor and an inspiration to many other pastors including myself. All of that would have been lost and destroyed if he had given in to that temptation!
So next time we are tempted – let’s remember this is a test that is worth passing.
Jesus won the victory over temptation and He is able to help us to overcome too – we are not alone in this fight - like He was (Hebrews 2:18). “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted he is able to help those who are being tempted.”
But we do have to DENY SELF, CHOOSE to OBEY, RESIST THE DEVIL’S LIES
We must not let the devil deceive us into thinking that we can get away with it. Temptations pass - but the consequences of falling into them do not pass so easily - but the results of resisting temptation are power, effectiveness and blessing!
Lesson 4: The rewards of resisting temptation are far greater than a few moments (and that's all they are by the way - just a few seconds or minutes) of pleasure from sin or by taking the easy way.
One final thing – it says having finished every temptation the devil left him for a time. Victory over temptation does bring blessing and make us stronger – but actually there is nothing more dangerous than a victory – It can make us complacent /careless. If any man thinks he stands let him take notice or he will fall. The devil came back many times in different ways to tempt Jesus – for example Jesus says "Get behind me Satan" to Peter when he told Jesus that he did not need to die or go to the cross.
So we do need to be constantly alert to the different disguises the devil uses – temptations come all through life – at just the worst possible times - when we are weak, vulnerable or just about to do something important for the Lord.
Lesson 1: Jesus overcame temptation because his life was all about doing God’s will – not his own.
Lesson 2: Jesus overcame temptation because he denied HimSELF – we need to do the same!
Lesson 3: Jesus overcame temptation because he bowed down to God – he obeyed Him he wanted to serve only God – we must learn to obey just like He did.
Lesson 4: The rewards of resisting temptation are far greater than a few moments of pleasure from sin or by taking the easy way!
I hope these thoughts help us all to resist temptations when they come.