Tempted
Opening Prayer
Lord God, help us to worship You only.
Read MATTHEW 4:1–11
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
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.’”
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.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
If the Holy Spirit allowed Jesus to be tempted by the devil, isn’t it a forgone conclusion that we will be similarly be tempted?
Think Further
My needs, my image, my power and my status can seem important. Although this passage has much to say about our own struggles with temptation, Matthew is concerned primarily to show how Jesus, the Son of God—understanding the idolatrous nature of temptation—fulfills messianic prophecy. After the spiritual high of his baptism, Jesus is now led by the Spirit into the desert (1).
The Gospel accounts recall the Israelites’ 40 years in the desert and their failures in the face of temptation. After 40 days and nights in the desert, Jesus is physically weakened—as they were—through hunger, but strengthened by God’s Word, he defeats the tempter again and again. The devil cunningly applies the words spoken at Jesus’ baptism: “If you are God’s Son…” and mockingly repeats the phrase “it is written” (4,6; cf. Matt. 3:17). The subtext amounts to an invitation to avoid the way of the cross by getting quick, tabloid celebrity (6). Recalling the Israelites’ wilderness defeats, Jesus quotes a second time from the Scriptures: “It is also written…” (7).
The third assault is the culmination of the devil’s plot. It’s not only about inducing Jesus to doubt his divine nature but also asking him to abdicate in the devil’s favor (9)! In reality, of course, the devil has nothing to give. Jesus’ dismissal reminds us of his rebuke to Peter when Peter also tried to deter him from the cross (10; Matt. 16:21–23). This, above all, is the tempter’s mission: success would mean defeating God himself. Jesus guards God’s honor and purposes with the deeply learned words of Scripture: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only” (10). After this agonizing confrontation, angels come and minister to the exhausted Jesus.
Are you struggling with your own temptations? Let’s learn from Jesus, trusting in God’s Word and care.
Apply
Praise God that the victorious Jesus is “at the right hand of God… interceding for us” (Rom. 8:34).
Closing prayer
Lord, strengthen me in Your Word that I may use it more effectively against our common enemy.
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Encounter with God is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.