1 – Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert 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 does 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 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.
You know since I became a pastor nearly two years ago, I have learned a great deal when it comes to the subject of preaching….much more by the way than I learned in my preaching classes at seminary! I guess necessity IS the mother of invention! * One of the first things I discovered is that it is not enough to just give people information in a sermon. You must organize it in a way that they can understand and remember it. You can see this same principle in musical composition. To illustrate this I’ve asked Marilyn to play a very familiar hymn to see if you can recognize it. [MARILYN plays all the notes of “Amazing Grace” but not in any recognizable order] Can anyone name that tune? No…of course not….but when we organize these pitches with rhythm, the melody becomes familiar. Listen: [MARILYN plays “Amazing Grace” normally.] Now…understand…all the same notes were there both times Marilyn played but the second time they were organized in a way that we could recognize this familiar tune. Applied to sermons, this means that when you preach you can’t just throw a bunch of information at people….like you were throwing feed to chickens.
No, an effective message must be structured in a way that people will recognize it’s truth and how it applies to their lives. This is what many experienced preachers mean when they say that every sermon should all have “three points and a poem.” In the past two years, I have also seen the importance of having a “hook” at the beginning of my messages-you know….something to make people sit up and pay attention and want to hear more. Hopefully that is what is happening right about now as I begin today’s message! And then…one other thing I have learned is that there are basically two types of sermons: There are topical sermons These messages begin with a specific issue or need like “How to Raise Children Without Raising Your Blood Pressure” and use scripture from all over the Bible address that issue. The other type of sermon is an expository sermon. This type of message begins with a specific passage of scripture and basically draws all of it’s content from an explanation or teaching of that text.
Both forms of preaching are valid….neither better than the other. Jesus used both styles in His ministry. Which brings us to today’s text.
Now you could “preach” the truth that is contained in this conversation that Jesus had with Satan in the wilderness in either way. But today I want us to organize our study of this text into more of an expository style.
So, you might want to think of this message as more teaching than preaching. Keep your Bibles open and let’s study this passage verse by verse. As we go along, I believe we’ll glean many various lessons that will help us as we seek to serve God. I don’t promise three points….but if I can I’ll try to squeeze in a poem or two!
Let’s begin by getting an image in our mind’s eye of the setting of this conversation.It took place in the wilderness that lies between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. The Old Testament calls this area “Jeshimmon”, which means “the Devastation,” and from having seen it myself, I would say this is a fitting name. It stretches over an area of thirty-five by fifteen miles and is filled with yellow sand, crumbling limestone, and scattered shingle. The ground itself is contorted…ridges run in all directions as if they were warped or twisted. The hills are like dust heaps; the limestone is blistered and peeling…rocks are bare and jagged…the whole area glows and shimmers with heat like some vast furnace. Even to this day as one drives through or flies over this region it appears to be forsaken by man and God. But, in this desolate area, Jesus could be more alone than anywhere else in Palestine. And perhaps this is why the Spirit of God led Him there. He had just been baptized in the Jordan River, after which God had commissioned Him for His life’s work and before He got started He needed some time alone.
And, you know, in our own lives there are times when we need to be alone with God…
….times to stop doing and start thinking and praying. I think that most of the mistakes we make in life might never happen if we learned to stop regularly and give ourselves a chance to be alone with God….time to “look” at things from His perspective before we “leaped.”
So Jesus went to this desolate place to fast, and pray, and plan….so that He could prepare Himself to begin the task that had been His since the foundation of the world. Note that verse 1 says that one part of this preparation involved Jesus being led by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil. And it is important for us to understand the exact meaning of that word, “tempt.” The Greek word here is “peirazein.” And “tempt” is not the best translation. To “tempt” means to “entice someone to do wrong…to seduce a person to sin.” But “peirazein” means “to test.” It is the same sort of word used in Genesis 22:1 where it says, “Some time later God TESTED Abraham….” by commanding him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. As it says in James 1, God never tempts someone. He would never lead someone to do evil. But He does test us as He tested Abrahams’ faith. You know when a new plane is designed, it’s structure is TESTED. It is forced to hold more weight and endure more stress than it would ever have to do in real flight. But it is tested in this way before it is put to a useful purpose. And in the same way a man or woman must often be tested before God can use him or her for His purposes. In I Timothy 3:10 Paul advises young Timothy that before deacons serve they, “….must first be TESTED….” Job 23:10 Job referred to his trials in this way. He said, “…when He (God) has tested me, I will come forth as gold.”
So God’s TESTING is a good thing…William Barclay writes, “What we call temptation is not meant to make us sin; it is meant to enable us to conquer sin. It is not meant to make us bad, it is meant to make us good. It is not meant to weaken us, it is meant to make us emerge stronger and finer and purer from the ordeal.”
I Corinthians 10:13 is a great summation of this principle. It says, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
So sometimes what we think of as trial or temptation is really a test that comes to a person whom God wishes to use. We reap a rich harvest of spiritual maturity when God sows tribulation in our lives. In Romans 5 Paul reminds us that when trials come, we learn perseverance which produces true character. Then this quality of character brings forth hope. As John Stott says, we learn that “the God who is developing our character in the present can be relied on for the future too.”
So testing is something to be thankful for. It is good for us. Remember the words of James 1:2-4 : “Consider it pure joy my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the TESTING of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking in anything.”
Okay,back to the text…it says in verse 1, “….Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted or tested by the devil.”
Now,who or what was this “Devil?” Well, first of all we should understand that he is not some impersonal evil force. Matthew introduces him here as “THE” Devil….using the definite article with a masculine noun, implying personality. And the entire Bible teaches that Satan is a person….a fallen angel…who rebelled against the sovereign rule of God and is in the world working against both God and man. In Matthew 9:34 he is called “the prince of devils,” implying that he has under his command a host of devils or demons who do his bidding. The Bible presents Satan as one of great power, and records several different names for him, each of which speak of his nature and work. In I Peter 5:8, he is called “Adversary.” In Revelation 9:11 he is referred to as “Apollyon” which means “Destroyer.” He is also called “Belial” in II Corinthians 6:15 which means “worthless.” In John 8:44 Jesus refers to him as the “Father of all Lies.” …. and we could go on and on for he is mentioned 83 times in the Bible. Seventy-four of those times he is called either “Satan” or “Devil,” which means “slanderer.” This is appropriate for….in Genesis 3:4 we see him slandering God to man (Genesis 3:4) and then in Job 1 he is slandering man to God.
What is interesting though is that when Satan appears to man he never does so in his true form. In Eden he appeared to Eve as a serpent, perhaps a beautiful, graceful, flying serpent, before the fall.
In II Corinthians 11:14, Paul says that he transforms himself into an “angel of light.” And for this reason he is all the more deadly an adversary. For, if he appeared to us in his true form, we would fear him and run from him but because he does not, people listen to him and face the inevitable painful consequences. An equally impressive truth is that the devil always appears before God in his true form. You see, God knows him for who he is…..the enemy….at war with God and His purposes. Jesus is God’s main weapon in this war. I John 3:8 says, “…the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”.
And while, according to Romans 8 and I Corinthians 15, this battle rages even in the natural elements, the main arena of this conflict is in the mind and thoughts of man. Since we are so directly involved in this battle, then I think it would be prudent for us to note WHEN Satan attacked Jesus…Verse 2 says that he did so at Jesus’ weakest point…at the end of the 40 days of fasting. And this is the way Satan works. He always attacks us when we are weak. As Max Lucado writes, “He doesn’t challenge us to a fair fight….no, he is the master of the trapdoor and the author of weak moments. He waits until your back is turned. He waits until your defense is down. He waits until the bell has rung and you are walking back to your corner.
Then he aims his dart at your weakest point and……bull’s eye! You lose your temper. You lust. You fall. You take a drag. You buy a drink. You kiss the woman. You follow the crowd. You rationalize. You forget who you are. You walk into her room. You break your promise. You buy the magazine. …You deny your Master.”
Remember, Satan always attacks us at our weakest point…..so one key to winning over him is to know where the chinks are in our armor.
Now ask yourself….do you go about your life dressed in the FULL armor of GOD? Is the “belt of truth” buckled firmly about your waist? Is your “breastplate of righteousness” in place? Are your feed fitted with a readiness to share the Gospel of Peace? Is the “Helmet of salvation” on your head and the “shield of faith” in your hand? And do you know how to use your weapon? Are you ready to use the “Sword of the Spirit” which is the word of God? You can be sure of this….he knows which part of your armor is weakest and that is where he will attack.
And Satan’s principal weapon in this conflict is not TESTING but TEMPTATION.
Now what exactly is TEMPTATION? Well, at its core, TEMPTATION is a shortcut…..a fast track to quick results. TEMPTATION masquerades as better, quicker, and easier, but in the end it is always the more expensive and painful way. From steroids, to premarital sex, to cheating on Wall Street, TEMPTATION looks, sounds, and feels good on the surface. But beneath its facade, the reward is short-term and the consequence is long-term and painful. As Proverbs 14:12 says “There is a way that SEEMS right to man, but in the end it leads to destruction.”
Now, all of us have taken these shortcuts…these ways that have seemed right and end up painfully wrong.
When I was in High School I took a one. I ran track.. I may not look like it but I was a sprinter. I ran the 180 yard low hurdles and have the knee scars to prove it. But, like most sprinters I had a humility problem. Sprinters run the quick, flashy races…not the boring distance runs which only provide spectators a chance to head to the refreshment stand. And this sin of pride reared its ugly head one day at track practice when our coach commanded the entire team to go on a 4-mile run.
This was unheard of…only the distance runners on the team did this at practice…not the sprinters!
I remember thinking….I don’t NEED to do this. I’m a sprinter…not a jogger….I only have to cover 180 yards…why is he making me run 4 miles!? Well, the route we were to take was a huge circle….west a mile to the little town of Camden, Delaware, then north a mile to the neighborhood where my family lived, then east a mile to RT 13, and south a mile back at the High School. By the way, we had just been issued our brand new uniforms that day…sweat suits that were bright gold with blue piping — very flashy. Perhaps the coach had us run all over the community for a little track team publicity! Well, as we started off, I found a shot putter, named CELIO, who was as disgruntled as I was about this run….and we came up with a plan. Our route surrounded a huge forested area where I played as a kid. And since I was so familiar with the terrain I suggested that we pull out in front of the pack, take a short cut through the woods, cutting about 2.5 miles off the route. We would come out in front of the group later….no one would know and we would be spared the majority of this pointless run.
Well it worked at first. We sprinted out ahead of the group and when we rounded a corner and got out of their line of sight, CELIO and I took a hard right turn into the woods. But we hadn’t gone too far until we came upon a muddy stream. And…in trying to cross the stream by tightrope-walking across a fallen tree, we both fell in, turning our brand-new gold uniforms a deep chocolate color. When we finally got back to the school our crime was of course obvious to the coach who responded by throwing us both off the team. After receiving additional discipline at the hands of my parents that night, I apologized to my coach the following day and he eventually let me back on the team. But that’s the way it is with temptation…it always looks good in the beginning but ends up bad. And my experience was painless compared to the agony of other shortcuts Satan tempts us to take. For…yielding to temptation pushes us away from God’s best will for our lives and in so doing bars us form the rich and lasting rewards that come from doing things His way.
And, when you think about it, Satan often offers us things that are already ours…if we are willing to wait and trust God for them. In the wilderness Satan challenged Jesus to prove His power — yet He is the Creator of the universe….He had all power! Satan offered Jesus prominence-yet He was already the King of kings and Lord of lords. In the beginning, Adam and Eve were blessed with authority, position, and power. God had glorious plans for their lives!
But they took a deadly shortcut and it cost them joy, their relationship with God….and so much more….mankind is still paying the unbelievable price of that shortcut. God promised Abraham a son from union with his barren wife, Sarah. But then he took a shortcut with Sarah’s maid, Hagar.
And this shortcut is the root cause for all the unrest in the middle east today. Esau took a shortcut to fill his belly and lost his birthright. And we could go on and on with examples. Satan continually tempts us by saying, “Take it NOW….indulge yourself NOW…get your satisfaction NOW….make your big play NOW….grab your pleasure NOW.” It’s like those TV commercials we have seen since January….advertising lending institutions’ offer to loan people the exact amount of their tax refund. Why do this? So people won’t have to wait for few weeks to spent the money Uncle Sam will eventually refund them! These lenders say, “Why WAIT for Uncle Sam’s check in the mail? Go out and get that boat NOW. Take that cruise NOW. Buy those new clubs NOW. Build that deck NOW.” Funny, these loan sharks never say anything about the interest rate in those commercials. And Satan is the ultimate loan shark….he never mentions his interest rate. But don’t kid yourself. It is extremely high…it adds up quickly and compounds daily…before you know it he owns you. He whispers to you young people…. “You want sex NOW? Why wait? Take it. I’ll advance you whatever you want. Enjoy yourself. Go for it. Do it NOW. Don’t worry about by fees. We’ll talk about that later.” And later the fees come due in the form of broken hearts and shame and guilt and unwanted pregnancies and venereal diseases…and a lifetime of plans and dreams that are forever destroyed. While sex within marriage is a proper and wonderfully pleasurable experience, Satan offers to advance us the erotic pleasures at an improper time. When people follow this and all of Satan’s shortcuts they discover that they cheated themselves…they lost far more than they gained.
So Satan’s main weapon in his war against God and His purposes is the shortcut known as TEMPTATION. And this was Satan’s suggestion to Jesus in this conversation…to take a shortcut to found His kingdom. Look at the three ways Satan tempted Jesus…. First of all, as it says in verse 3, he tempted our Lord to turn stones into bread.
Now, this was not just a temptation to satisfy His hunger….it was Satan’s way to pollute Jesus’ choice of methods to win men to God. How was He to persuade men and women to follow Him-to be a part of the kingdom of God? Why not bribe them by giving them bread…and all manner of material possessions? But Jesus said “NO!” to this shortcut. Skillfully using the Sword of the Spirit, He quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 and pointed out that man’s problem was not hunger for material things…it was hunger for a relationship with God. He knew that “bread” is a dead end shortcut …. material things will never satisfy the hunger in man…this will only come with a relationship with God in which we trust Him for our needs. This temptation didn’t bear any fruit so as it says in verse 4, Satan took Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple. This was probably the southeast side of the temple which was four hundred and fifty feet above the Kidron Valley. Tradition says that it was from this place that the martyr James, the half-brother of Jesus was flung to his death in the valley below. And as Jesus stood here Satan offered Him another shortcut….Satan said, “Do you want people to follow You? Then, take a shortcut…..amaze them with feats of power.”
Well Jesus again used the Sword of the Spirit to fend off this attack and quoted Deuteronomy 6:16 which says that it is wrong to test God. God calls for us to have faith in His timing…not to try and force His hand so as to hurry things along to match our schedule. God invites us into a faith-relationship with Him in which we trust Him to provide for us. Faith that is dependent on signs and wonders is not faith. In fact sight is the opposite of faith. Jesus also knew that enticing people to follow Him because of the sensations He could provide was a dead end….sensations only make people want more. This year’s sensation is next year’s common place.
So a kingdom founded on sensation is doomed to eventual failure. The kingdom of God was not to be founded on RAZZLE DAZZLE. Men and women were to follow Him not for entertainment but for salvation.
So the TEMPTER tried a final time…..Verse 8 says that He took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world. He then perverted the words of Psalm 2:8 and promised to give Jesus all these kingdoms if He would only bow down and worship him.
This whole exchange was sort of a scriptural fencing match. Using the technique employed by many cult groups, Satan would attack by misquoting scripture…and Jesus would defend and counter attack by using Scripture properly.
But in this third attack Satan was saying, “You want to save the world? You came for that purpose didn’t you? Well, then take a short cut! Compromise! Worship me and I will give you all the people of the world to rule.” Jesus’ response was to send Satan away and by quoting Deuteronomy 6 to remind Him that we are to worship God and God alone.
Before we conclude we should note one other thing….this was not the only time Satan attacked Jesus. In Luke’s account of this conversation, it says that after failing to lure Jesus into this shortcut, “Satan withdrew of a more opportune time.” And those opportune times came again and again. In Luke 22:28 Jesus thanks His followers for standing with Him in His “temptations”.
One attack came at Caesarea Philippi when Peter tried to talked Jesus out of taking the way of the cross. And when he did Jesus said the same things to Peter that He had to Satan in the wilderness, “Satan begone!” I think we can infer from this that our struggle with Satan is continual. We never reach a stage in our Christian maturity that we are beyond the power of temptation. When it comes to being victorious in spiritual warfare, “Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom.” Jesus had to fight battles like this right up to the cross…..which is why He can help us to fight and win in our struggles with Satan.
Also I hope you realize that Jesus must have been the source of this story. He was alone in that wilderness so He must have told His disciples what had happened. He apparently thought it was important for us to know of this battle and by reading of His tactics, learn how to win in our own struggles with principalities and powers. He wanted us to know that like us, He had the possibility to yield to temptation but He also had the power not to — which is why He can help us.We don’t have to be victims in our battles with Satan…we can be victors. As it says in Romans 8 “we are more than conquerors over all things-the devil included-through Him who loved us.”
Well, what can we learn from Jesus’ battle of wits with Satan that day that will help us in our struggles with him? We learn the importance of living on every Word that comes from the mouth of God. We see how vital it is that we spend so much time reading His Word and listening to His voice that we Know God! We know His ways so thoroughly that if something doesn’t measure up to God’s ways, we turn away from them. This is what Jesus did in the wilderness that day. He said to Satan in essence, “I understand that you are saying this…but that is not the last word I had from God. The scriptures actually say…..” Jesus never discussed it with Satan. He never analyzed it. He just kept doing the last thing God told Him to do until God Himself told Him what to do next. He lived on the Word of God…. He also showed us that we must not TEST God…. We must not try to manipulate God to bless our efforts. We must obey Him….trust His timing….avoiding tempting shortcuts. We also see that we must worship God and God alone….There must not be any thing else in our lives that we give homage to….when we do not apply this principle…we give the devil a foothold in our lives.
You know, the wonderful thing about scripture is that no matter how you study it…..whether you need help with understanding a specific topic….like how to be a better parent….or if you just want to understand a certain chapter in the book of Matthew and look at it in expository fashion…..verse-by-verse.
No matter how you study, you discover that as it says in II Timothy 3:16, “all Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the faith and correcting error, for re-setting the direction of a man’s life and training him in good living.”