You Are Not Alone In You Temptation Series

Today we are going to begin to look at the Temptation of Jesus Christ.

In Oscar Wilde's play “Lady Windemere's Fan” Lord Darlington says “I can resist anything but temptation”. It is said rather flippantly in the play, but for us it is a good starting point. Should we try to resist temptations, or should we just give in to them? That is the proposal in another of Oscar Wilde's plays - “The Picture of Dorian Grey”, where Lord Henry says “The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself, with desire for what its monstrous laws have made monstrous and unlawful.”. It is quite a contrast to the response that Jesus had when He was tempted.

There are so many truths that we can learn from the encounter of Jesus Christ with Satan.

Today I want to give an introduction to this section of Scripture.

Mark 1:1-15 (KJV) 1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; 2 As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 5 And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.

6 And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey; 7 And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. 8 I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.

9 And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. 10 And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: 11 And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 12 And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness.

13 And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him. 14 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

Today in our introduction we will look at

The timing of the temptation

Mark 1:12-13 (KJV)12 And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness. 13 And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.

I want to begin by looking at the time of the Temptation.

This is a big day for Jesus.

Jesus, is around 30 years old. Before this day in His life, not much is known of him.

Now, what we looked at, before we took some time over the last few weeks to look at the Reforms of Josiah is the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist.

A large part of the purpose of the Baptism of Jesus was that it was signaling the beginning of His public ministry.

The Baptism is what told the world, this Jesus is God's Son. And Mark records, immediately the Holy Spirit drives Him into the wilderness for this time of testing and tempting.

Matthew and Luke concentrate more on three particular temptations and serve as templates on how we too can overcome temptation by using God’s Word against Satan. Mark sticks to the main thrust of his gospel, which is to prove that Jesus is the Son of God who has authority over sickness, the elements, life and death itself, and most of all, Satan and his demonic forces.

For you and I, the story of the Holy Spirit descending like a dove and the voice of God the Father proclaiming that this is my son in whom I am well pleased, for you and I we too often cannot see the immediate significance of that moment.

We see it and we really don't think too much about it.

But I want us to try and think about how it would have been to be there and to be an Israelite, a Jew.