I heard the story of an exasperated motorist who parked his car in a handicap parking zone in London and attached the following message to his windshield: “I have circled this block 20 times. I have an appointment to keep. ‘Forgive us our trespasses.’”

When the owner of the car returned, he found the following reply attached to his note: “I have worked this block for 20 years. If I do not give you a ticket, I lose my job. ‘Lead us not into temptation.’”

Temptation is something that we all experience. Someone said, “I can resist anything but temptation.” We all face times of temptation, so, this is an important story for us in the life of Christ. The temptation of Christ is recorded by all three synoptic Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And the interesting thing about this is that it is autobiographical; only Jesus could have related the story of this incident in the wilderness.

Now Jesus is ready to embark on His public ministry, a ministry designed to destroy the works of the devil. So, it was no surprise that He would encounter the devil himself. Let us look at the temptation that Jesus faced and discover how He was able to do it.

 

The first temptation is in verses 3-4. “And the devil said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.’” This first temptation was toward the lust of the flesh; that Jesus would use His divine power in a selfish way to meet His own need.

That is where so many times Satan will tempt you—to satisfy your human appetite outside the will of God. If Jesus had used His divine power to feed His own human appetite, He would have defeated the purpose for which He came into the world. Jesus’ purpose was to experience our sorrow, our suffering and to bear our sins upon the cross.

Jesus uses the Word of God, verse 4. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’”

So Jesus takes out “the sword of the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17) to defeat his argument with truth. Jesus said, “Satan, the Word says that we shall not live only by bread, our human appetite, but by every word of God.” True satisfaction comes by doing the will of God to the glory of God. It is better to be hungry in the will of God than be full out of the will of God.

The second temptation is in verses 5-7, “Then the devil took Him up and revealed to Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. The devil told Him, ‘I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them – because they are mine to give to anyone I please. I will give to you if you will bow down and worship me.’”

He was saying that if Jesus would bow down and worship him, he would give Jesus all this power. This temptation involves “the lust of the eyes.” The first temptation was “the lust of the flesh.” And wherein lies this temptation? Jesus came to redeem the world back to God. So the devil is offering Jesus a shortcut. This shortcut would involve Jesus not going to the cross to suffer and die. The devil tried to entice Jesus to take that shortcut. The enemy says that the end will justify the means. No, it does not. You cannot get a godly end through an ungodly means. You must be obedient to God’s will, go God’s way to arrive at God’s glory.

Jesus makes it clear that “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.” Why did Jesus add that? The devil did not say anything about serving. The devil said, “If you worship me, I will give you these kingdoms without You going to the Cross. Take a shortcut.” But Jesus said, “We worship God and only serve Him.” Jesus knew that whatever you worship, you serve. If you worship the true God, you will serve the true God. If you worship an idol, you will be worshipping that thing made of stone or clay. Jesus knew that worship and service were tied together.

The third temptation is in verses 9-13. “Then he brought Him to Jerusalem and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple.” The pinnacle of the temple is on the southeast corner of the outer wall of the temple. From this temple pinnacle atop the wall to the bottom of the Kidron Valley below was 450 feet down. Then the devil “said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. For it is written: “He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you,” and “In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”

The devil gets very subtle by then quoting Scripture. Yes, the devil knows the Bible. He is quoting from Psalm 91:11-12. But the devil is misusing it. The enemy was saying Jesus could throw Himself off the temple, God had promised in His Word to save Jesus, and all the people would see Jesus was the Messiah and follow Him. That is not God’s will.

“And Jesus answered and said to him, ‘It has been written, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’” Jesus was quoting Deuteronomy 6:16.

Let me give you three practical suggestions when dealing with temptation. Number one, temptation will come; expect it. Verse 13 says that the devil “departed from Him until an opportune time.” That meant that he would be back. He will come.

Number two, temptation will come; detect it. It will come in the form of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, or the pride of life.

And number three, not only expect temptation to come, but reject it. How do we reject temptation? By the Word of God, by praying to God and by relying upon God the Holy Spirit. Jesus used the Scriptures, Jesus prayed and Jesus, filled with the Spirit, was led by the Spirit. Galatians 5:16 says, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”

Remember that “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

                                                                                                Until Next Week When We Meet at the P.E.W.

                                                                                               Pastor Joel