Topic(s): Jesus, Sin, Satan

Bob Prichard

When we are sorely tried by temptation, we tend to think that no one else has ever experienced such powerful temptation. Paul said, however, that “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). Although each person may be tempted by different things, there are many that have had to deal with similar tests. The good news is that God helps the Christian to overcome temptation.

Christ faced temptation, so that He can help us in our testing. “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 4:15). Christ was tempted just as we are, and yet He did not sin. He paved the way for us to deal with temptation without succumbing to sin.

As He was ready to begin His public ministry, Jesus faced severe temptation. “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:1-4). At the very limits of human endurance of hunger, Satan told Jesus to prove that he was the Son of God by turning the nice smooth stones around Him into loaves of bread. Jesus could not do this, though, because it would have meant putting His physical needs ahead of spiritual needs. Quoting from Deuteronomy 8:3, Jesus pointed to the problem of the Israelites who had not sufficiently learned that bread does not feed the soul.

“Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone” (Matthew 4:5-6). No doubt this putting of God to the test might have gained Jesus some early followers, but it was not an acceptable way to gain disciples. Jesus responded with scripture, “It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” (Matthew 4:7).

Satan’s third temptation was the most blatant. “All these things [the kingdoms of the world] will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me” (Matthew 4:9). If Jesus had chosen this short cut, He could have avoided the cross, but would have ceased to please His heavenly Father. Christ again answered, “It is written” (Matthew 4:10), giving the key to handling temptation. He was truly tempted, but decided to obey the Father and use the power of scripture to stand against Satan.