Jesus’ Temptation
Following the Lord’s baptism, Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tempted by the devil. This was the second thing he did after entering his earthly ministry. God often tests men whom he plans to use or bless. God tried Abraham when he told him to kill his son, Isaac.
The temptation of Jesus was compounded by a 40-day fast. His fast matches the fasts of two other men in the Bible: Moses and Elijah. Moses fasted on Mount Sinai 40 days in Ex. 24:15-18. Elijah fasted 40 days on Mount Horeb in 1 Ki 19:8. Mount Horeb is the same as Mount Sinai, 1 Ki 8:9, Mal 4:4. Undoubtedly, the place in the wilderness where Jesus was tempted was Mount Sinai, just like Moses and Elijah. For more on these two men and their connection to Jesus, see Two Tribulation Witnesses.
In Jesus’ temptation, we notice two very important facts:
The devil attacked him in the three main areas in which he attacks everyone (Heb 4:15), and
The devil tempted Jesus with scripture.
The First Temptation
The devil questioned Jesus’ deity, just like the Pharisees did, later (Matt 27:40). He said, “If thou be the Son of God…”. Jesus was tempted to turn stones into bread to prove that he was the Son of God.
This temptation appealed to the lust of the flesh. According to 1 Jn 2:16, this is one of the three places the devil attacks. He tempted Eve by showing her that the forbidden tree was good for food (Gen 3:6). Turning stones to bread was not far-fetched.
The devil knew from scripture that Jesus could raise up children to Abraham from stones (Matt 3:9). He had seen Jesus bring forth water out of a rock (Ex 17:5-6). He knew that Jesus is the Rock, 1 Cor 10:4, and that he would become bread, Jn 6:32-35.
But Jesus didn’t fall for this temptation. Instead, he quoted scripture (Deut 8:3) to the devil, applying it correctly. Rather than give into his appetite, Jesus did like Job, who said, “I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food,” (Job 23:12). Truly, the words of God had sustained him through the 40-day fast.
The trouble with us is that we would rather eat food than read the Bible. Tom Geer taught our children to quote a little saying as a reminder of the relative importance of food and God’s words. “No Bible, no breakfast”.
The Second Temptation
The devil took Jesus to a high mountain (like “the mountain of God,” Ezek 28:16) so that he could view all of the kingdoms of the world at the same time (Lk 4:5). The devil offered Jesus all of this power and glory (Lk 4:6) in exchange for his worship. This is what motivates men.
He said, “for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it”. He lied. See Dan 2:37; Ps 75:5-7; Rom 9:17; Jer 25:8-12; Is 44:28; etc. The devil may be the god of this world. But he’s not “solely” in charge of who gets the power and glory of the kingdoms. He’s going to wind up in a bottomless pit pretty soon, Rev 20:1-2, and in the lake of fire thereafter, Rev 20:10.
This temptation appealed to the lust of the eyes, 1 Jn 2:16, the second area of temptation common to man. When the devil tempted Eve, she SAW that the forbidden tree was “pleasant to the eyes,” (Gen 3:6). Jesus would not worship the devil to get the kingdoms that are rightfully his, according to the Bible. According to Rev 11:15, Jesus will rule over all of the kingdoms of the world following his second coming.
Jesus answered the devil “and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve”, quoting Deut 6:13.
The Third Temptation
Jesus was tempted to jump off the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem so the angels could catch him. Thereby, he could prove his deity, which the devil still questioned. This time, the devil used scripture to tempt the Lord. He quoted Ps 91:11-12. However, the master deceiver left out the part of the verse that said the angels would keep thee “in all thy ways”. And he added the words “at any time” to ‘thou dash thy foot’. He violated Deut 4:2.
Jumping would have only proved that Jesus didn’t believe the scripture; the angels were already keeping him. Notice that they came to minister to him the moment the devil left him (Matt 4:11).
This temptation appealed to the pride of life, 1 Jn 2:16, the third major area of temptation. This is the same way that the devil tempted Eve. He showed her that the forbidden fruit came from “a tree to be desired to make one wise,” (Gen 3:6). Rather than fall to pride (Prov 16:18), Jesus simply quoted Deut 6:16 to the devil, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God”.
Conclusion:
Jas 4:7 says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” That’s precisely what Jesus did. And the devil left him alone after three attempts. When you believe the words of God, exactly, and resist the devil by following those words and quoting them, the devil will flee from you, too. However, don’t forget that the devil will use the Bible against you, if he has to, in order to get you to sin.
Therefore, pay close attention when someone starts using the Bible to justify sin. You’ll hear them misquoting verses, lifting them out of context, only quoting part of them, adding something to them, or lying about them.
That’s why you need to believe every word of God in your King James Bible. We defend ourselves with the shield of faith and fight with the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Eph 6:16-17). Notice, that after Jesus’ temptation, the devil only “departed from him for a season”. He is a relentless adversary.
To study the previous lesson, see Mary’s Genealogy. To study the next lesson, see Jesus’ Early Ministry.