Matthew 4:1-11: VICTORY OVER TEMPTATION
Have you ever tried to do something yourself, but in the end, it didn’t work out well? You should have depended on someone else do it. Maybe that has happened to you with a home improvement project – you did some painting yourself, or some plumbing yourself, you finished up, and now, there are some things wrong with what you did. “Good enough,” you might say. But someone else with higher standards probably wouldn’t like it. But you did it yourself. You didn’t want to depend on someone else.
Isn’t that how it is with life? When you look back on your life, you might say to yourself, “Good enough!” But there are some flaws there, aren’t there. You can look back on some different moments you’ve had in your life and see the mistakes you’ve made, the temptations you’ve fallen into. “Good enough,” you might say. But someone else with higher standards probably would say, “No, your life has not been good enough.” And we know who that someone else is, don’t we. That someone else is God. At the end of our lives, we stand before him, and he is the one that judges you. How good of a job have you done with your life? God has some pretty high standards as he determines how well you’ve done. Do you know what his standard is? It’s perfection. “Have you kept my commandments perfectly? Have you resisted temptation perfectly?” “Good enough” just doesn’t cut it. This isn’t some home improvement project. This is your eternal soul we’re talking about. And when you think about God’s high standard of perfection, you realize that if you try to come before him, depending on yourself, then you’re in trouble.
That’s why Jesus Christ came. Most of the time, we think of Jesus as our substitute in his death. He died on the cross for us. And that’s true. But we often forget that Jesus also came as our substitute in his life. Since you and I can’t please God with perfect lives, Jesus came to do that in our place. Instead of you, depending on yourself to please God with your perfect life, you can trust in Jesus, who came and pleased God perfectly for you. Jesus is your Savior, not just by dying on the cross for your sins, but also by living a perfect life in your place, and giving you the credit.
And that’s especially true when it comes to temptation. Have you ever fallen into a temptation? Today, let’s look at how Jesus, our substitute, did what you and I could never do – he perfectly resisted temptation and defeated the Devil, and he did that, for you. This is a big moment in the life of Jesus – it’s the beginning of his victories over Satan, eventually culminating in his victory at the cross and the empty tomb.
Right after his baptism, the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit led Jesus out into the desert to be tempted by the Devil. The time had come for Jesus to start doing battle with Satan. God the Father put him into this situation, and notice what kind of situation this was: “After fasting forty days and forty nights, Jesus was hungry.” Jesus was weak and in pain and not feeling well at all after not eating for almost a month and a half. Can you imagine how weak Jesus must have felt? But he was trusting his Heavenly Father. Fasting is what God the Father wanted him to do, and when this time of fasting is over, God the Father will let Jesus know. Jesus was trusting that this is how it would work out.
That’s when Satan shows up with temptation #1: “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” In other words, Jesus, you don’t need to put up with this hunger. You are the Son of God, aren’t you? You don’t need to trust that your Heavenly Father will take care of you. He hasn’t let you eat for a month and half, for goodness sake! And you are the Son of God? It doesn’t make sense! Do your own thing, Jesus. You have special powers. Use them! Eat! It’s silly for you to be starving like this!
This was a very real temptation for Jesus to deal with, to doubt his Heavenly Father’s word. And isn’t this how Satan tempts us today? Maybe God has led you into a difficult situation. And the Devil says to you, you don’t need to put up with this. You can disobey God, here. You can do your own thing here. You’re suffering, for goodness sake. This is when you need to put the Word of God off to the side and look out for yourself. God will understand. This is a difficult situation.
Look at how Jesus resists this temptation. He doesn’t use his powers as the Son of God, and vaporize the Devil. He could have done that. But remember, Jesus was being our substitute. And as our substitute, he has to fight temptation as every human being would fight temptation. He has to use the Word of God. And that’s he did: “It is written, ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” In other words, “I’m not basing what I do on my stomach. Man doesn’t live on bread alone. There are other things I’m basing my life on, Satan. I’m basing my life on every word that comes from the mouth of God. My Heavenly Father put me here in this desert to fast, and I’m going to honor that. I’m going to trust him, and his words and his promises.” Do you notice how Jesus quotes from the Bible? He doesn’t try to reason with the Devil. He doesn’t check to see what the rest of the world is doing. He doesn’t base what he does on his feelings of hunger. Instead he fights off the Devil with God’s Word. In the life of Jesus, this is victory number one. And remember, he does this as our substitute. He wins for us the victory.
Then temptation number two comes Jesus’ way. The Devil takes Jesus to the temple structure, to the very highest point. It might have been at the corner of a wall, and below them may have been a deep valley. Jump, the Devil says! Since you trust in God so much, and trust in God’s Word so much, then you should jump! And then notice how the Devil quotes from the Bible: “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.’” Isn’t that interesting, how the Devil quotes from the Bible? Why don’t you jump and see if God will keep his promise to you, if you are his Son?
This is how the Devil sometimes tempts us too: “Why don’t you test God, and see if he really will take care of you. Drive recklessly. Spend your money recklessly. Don’t worry about your health. Don’t worry about your family, your marriage. Don’t plan. God will take care of you, the Devil says. Doesn’t God say in the Bible that “everything will work out for something good”? So why don’t you just do what you want? “God is love,” right? This is how the Devil tempts us. He quotes from the Bible. He wants to see if he can get us to test God.
Notice how Jesus once again resists this temptation. Jesus answered him, “It is also written…” Jesus wasn’t going to let the Devil take one passage out of the Bible and twist it. “It’s also written,” Jesus says, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” In other words, “Satan, I’m not going to fall for your trick. I’m not going to believe one part of the Bible, and ignore the rest. Yes, God is love. Yes, everything will work out for something good. Yes, God will take care of me. But the Bible also says, “Don’t test God.” Don’t be reckless. Be careful with your life. No, I’m not going to jump off of this building.” Once again, Jesus resists the Devil, not by relying on his own strength, but by relying on the Word of God. And remember, Jesus doing this as our substitute. Here we see him once again winning for us a victory.
And then there was temptation number three. The Devil took him to a very high mountain, and in an instant showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world. “All this I will give you, he said.” Do you see the lie there? Satan was implying that he owned everything. “I’m God,” Satan was essentially saying to Jesus. “Look at how all these people are sinning. Obviously, I’m in charge here.” Isn’t that why you came down here, Jesus, to rescue all these people? To save their souls? You don’t need to die to do that. You don’t need to sacrifice yourself, or to shed your blood. No. Why would you want to go through all that? Skip the cross. Instead, just bow down and worship me, and I’ll give you all the kingdoms of the world, right now.”
Doesn’t the Devil tempt you this way too? Bow down to me, the Devil says, and you’ll be happy. Instead of worshiping God, worship money. Instead of striving to be pure in your life, be immoral. Then you’ll be happy. Disrespect authority. Gossip about other people. Never read the Bible. Live like an unbeliever, and you’ll find happiness in your life. Do what I say, the Devil says.
What does Jesus use to ward off this temptation from the Devil? He uses the Word of God, doesn’t he? Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan. For it is written: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.” Jesus wasn’t going to fall for that temptation. He would bow down to, and serve only his Heavenly Father. Even if that meant dying on a cross. Even if that meant sacrificing his life, shedding his blood, dying a terrible death. I will not take the “easy way out” and follow you, Satan. Away from me!
And so, the Bible tells us, Satan left him, and angels came and attended Jesus. Very likely, the angels from heaven provided Jesus with food, and restored him back to health and full physical strength.
Why did Jesus need to face the Devil this way? Many people read this account and say, “Well, Jesus is teaching us how to fight temptation and win.” And there is some truth to that – in this account we learn some valuable lessons about how Satan tempts us. Sometimes he appeals to our physical needs, just has he appealed to Jesus’ hunger. Sometimes the Devil quotes from one part of Scripture, and ignores the rest, as we see here. And sometimes the Devil just lies, promising us that our lives will be better and happier if we would just do what he says. You can learn a lot about how the Devil works from studying this part of the Bible.
And you also get some good “tips” on how to fight temptation. Here we learn that the only way to do that is by relying on the Word of God. If you rely on your logic, or if you rely on your feelings, or if you rely on what the rest of the world is doing, you’re going to fall into temptation, guaranteed. Relying on the Word of God is the one and only way to resist temptation, and that’s something we can learn from this part of the Bible too.
But that’s not the primary reason why Jesus had to face Satan in the desert. You see, for there to be any hope for the human race, someone had to perfectly defeat temptation. From the time of Adam and Eve, until today, no one has ever successfully resisted all temptation in his or her life. We’ve all fallen short. Someone needed to come, and to stand in that desert face to face with Satan, and defeat temptation for us.
And that’s what Jesus did. Jesus was crippled with hunger, and armed only with the Bible. Satan hit Jesus with his best shots. But here we see Jesus defeating him, and winning for us the victory.
If you ever fallen into a temptation in your life, then be comforted in knowing that Jesus has stood in your place, and has defeated the Devil for you. And after defeating the Devil, Jesus lifts you up and takes you to his Heavenly Father, and says, “Here, accept this person. I defeated the Devil for him.” And so God the Father accepts you for Jesus’ sake, because of what He has done for you.
If you’re looking for strength to resist temptation, then look to Jesus. Follow his example, and rely on the Word. And remember that this same Jesus who defeated the Devil, will give you the strength you need to stand up to every temptation he sends your way. Amen.
