THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER
"Search the scriptures: for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. " (John 5:39)

VOLUME 7, NUMBER 44, NOVEMBER 4, 2007

THE TEMPTATION IN THE WILDERNESS

            The well-known account of the Lord’s temptation in the wilderness is found in Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, and Luke 4:1-13.  We must understand the reality of what Jesus went through.  The temptations were real.  Having taken upon Himself humanity, the reality of the temptations and the possibility of failure were things that Jesus had to face.  Hebrews 4:15 tells us, “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”  Hebrews 2:17-18 says, “Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.  For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succour them that are tempted.”

            There are those who would say that since Jesus was God on earth, He did not feel temptation the way that we do.  I believe that misses the point entirely.  No one knows temptation to the extent that Jesus did.  At some point all of us have given in and succumbed to temptation.  Jesus reached that point and went beyond, never failing.  Do we want to know how to endure temptation?  Look to the One who experienced it at its zenith and never gave in.

            By combining Matthew and Luke’s accounts, we know that immediately following His baptism, Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  There He fasted for 40 days and 40 nights.  After that time of isolation and deprivation, Jesus was hungry.  Thus the stage was set for the first recorded temptation.

            “If thou art the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”  This brings to mind the “lust of the flesh” that John speaks of in 1 John 2:16.  Jesus was hungry.  Would He use His miraculous powers in a selfish way?  He certainly could have turned the stones into bread, but He did not.

            The Lord’s response is a lesson for all people for all time.  He quoted Deuteronomy 8:3.  He said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”  In His answer Jesus showed that that which is most important is not physical in nature, but spiritual.  He who lives by bread only does not truly live, but he who places God’s Word before his physical needs has attained spiritual maturity.

            The second temptation according to Matthew (Luke places it third) was for Jesus to be placed on a high pinnacle of the temple.  There the devil said, “If thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, he shall give His angels charge concerning thee: and, On their hands they shall bear thee up, lest haply thou dash thy foot against a stone.”  This calls to mind John’s words, “the pride of life” in 1 John 2:16.

            What was the temptation?  Satan, by misusing scripture (Psalm 91:11-12), was tempting Jesus to endanger His life for no other purpose than to prove the protection of and close communion with His Father.  Again, our Lord responded with scripture.  He quoted Deuteronomy 6:16. Who is man to tempt God?  What He says He will do!  That is enough!

            The third temptation (second in Luke) has the devil taking Jesus to an exceedingly high mountain and showing Him all the kingdoms of the world and the their glory.  Luke tells us that was done in a “moment of time,” illustrating the supernatural aspect of what was happening.  To Jesus Satan said, “To thee will I give all this authority, and the glory of them: for it hath been delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship before me, it shall all be thine.”  This brings to mind John’s words of 1 John 2:16, “the lust of the eyes.”

            “From the standpoint of Christ’s humanity, how overwhelming the temptation!  It was the world’s honors to one who had for thirty years led the life of a village carpenter: it was the world’s riches to him who had not where to lay his head” (The Fourfold Gospel, p. 97).

            In answer Jesus again quoted scripture, this time Deuteronomy 6:13, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.”  He demanded that Satan depart, which he did, and the angels came and ministered to the Lord.  

            Contained within the pages of God’s Word is everything we need to endure temptation.  Let’s fill ourselves with that Word. It will sustain us and help us in the hour of trial and temptation.

                                                            Greg Litmer