TEMPTATION! WHEN IT COMES TO DEALING WITH OUR HUMAN NATURE AND SIN, WE KNOW THAT “HINDSIGHT IS 20/20!” YES, IT IS EASY TO SEE SIN FOR WHAT IT IS WHEN WE ENCOUNTER AND DEAL WITH ITS EFFECTS FURTHER DOWN THE ROAD.
WHAT IS NOT SO APPARENT IS HOW WE GET TO THIS POINT. WHEN LEFT UNTREATED AND IT ADVANCES AND WHEN IN ITS BEGINNING STAGES, SIN IS NOT SO OBVIOUS OR APPARENT.
SIN ALWAYS BEGINS FAINTLY, HARMLESS, BUT GROWING UNTIL IT CAN BE SEEN FOR WHAT IT IS; DEADLY. GREAT SIN DOESN’T JUST HAPPEN IN A MOMENT, BUT OVER TIME. TEMPTATION IS THE NUTRIENT THAT GROWS AND YEILDS SIN AND DEATH.
JESUS SHOWS US NOT ONLY THE IMPORTANCE OF HOW TO DEAL WITH TEMPTATION, BUT WHOM WE ARE DEALING WITH WHEN WE ARE TEMPTED AND ENTICED TO TURN FROM THE WAYS OF GOD.
THE CALL FOR PRECAUTION IS DUE TO THE POWERFUL FORCE THAT IS BEHIND TEMPTATION WHICH IS SATAN HIMSELF! SATAN IS ALWAYS SEEKING FOR AN OPPORTUNE TIME TO NOT JUST TEMPT US, BUT TO TOTALLY ANNIHILATE US. 1 PETER 5:8, “STAY ALERT! WATCH OUT FOR YOUR GREAT ENEMY, THE DEVIL. HE PROWLS AROUND LIKE A ROARING LION, LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO DEVOUR.
HE WANTS NOTHING MORE THAN TO KEEP US AWAY FROM GOD, TO LIVE BROKEN, DEFEATED AND POWERLESS LIVES IN BONDAGE TO SIN SO THAT WE ARE MISERABLE, DISPLEASING AND UNFRUITFUL FOR GOD THE FATHER.
SATAN DOESN’T WANT US JUST FALLING INTO SIN, BUT TO SEE US STAYING IN SIN BY JUSTIFYING OUR ACTIONS, MAKING EXCUSES, OR BLAMING OTHERS OR OUR CIRCUMSTANCES AS IF WHAT WE’RE DOING ISN’T EVEN SINS AT ALL. SATAN TRIED TO USE THIS TACTIC ON JESUS IN THE WILDERNESS TEMPTATIONS.
WHAT IS SO FASCINATING IS THE CONNECTION TO GENESIS 3! SATAN USED THESE VERY SAME TACTICS ON ADAM AND EVE IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN AND WAS VERY SUCCESSFUL. THE ARROGANCE OF SATAN IS ASTONISHING TO THINK THAT HE USES THE EXACT SAME TECHNIQUES TO TRY TO FOOL AND DEFEAT JESUS.
HE WAS VICTORIOUS WITH THE FIRST ADAM. NOW, HERE WE WATCH SATAN TRYING TO GET THE “NEW ADAM” TO JUSTIFY MEETING HIS OWN NEEDS IN HIS OWN WAY, NOT JUST TO OBTAIN BREAD, PROTECTION, AND AUTHORITY, BUT TO KEEP HIM FROM GOING TO THE CROSS AND COMPLETING HIS TRUE MISSION.
OF COURSE, WE WILL NEVER BE TEMPTED IN THESE UNIQUE WAYS, SINCE WE ARE NOT THE SON OF GOD, BUT WE MUST BE AWARE AND PREPARED SINCE WE WILL BE CHALLENGED BY THE SAME KEY ISSUES THAT FUELS TEMPTATION: FAITHFULNESS!
SATAN’S PRIMARY USE FOR TEMPTATION IS TO DESTROY OUR FAITHFUL ALLEGIANCE TO ALMIGHTY GOD. ONE OF THE EASIEST WAYS HE ACCOMPLISHES THIS IS BY OFFERING US SHORTCUTS TO SPIRITUALITY! "DO-IT-YOURSELF-I-CAN-HANDLE-IT" SPIRITUALITY!
THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT JESUS, AS THE NEW ADAM, WAS PREPARED, CAPABLE AND FAITHFUL TO HIS FATHER. HE DIDN’T FALL FOR THEM, AND NEITHER SHOULD WE! LET’S LOOK AT THE LESSONS BEHIND THE THREE TEMPTATIONS OF JESUS:
THE FIRST TEMPTATION WAS FOR JESUS TO TURN A STONE INTO A PIECE OF BREAD. THIS TEST OF FAITHFULNESS WAS FOR JESUS TO "FEED HIMSELF" AND PROVIDE HIS BASIC NEEDS WITHOUT ANY OF GOD’S HELP.
SATAN’S TEST WAS FOR JESUS TO GET HIMSELF OUT OF A DIFFICULT SITUATION BY AN ACT OF DISOBEDIENCE. HUMAN NATURE WILL ALWAYS CRY OUT THAT, “I DON’T NEED YOUR HELP! I CAN DO THIS MYSELF AND I’LL DO IT MY WAY!”
GOD LED HIM TO THE DESERT SO GOD WOULD PROVIDE FOR HIM. THIS TEST WAS AN OBVIOUS TACTIC FOR JESUS TO USE HIS SONSHIP IN A WAY INCONSISTENT WITH HIS GOD-ORDAINED MISSION. HE WANTED JESUS TO USE HIS POWER IN THE WRONG WAY AT THE WRONG TIME.
JESUS REJECTS THIS TEMPTATION, AS SHOULD WE, BY QUOTING DEUTERONOMY 8:3 TO SIGNIFY THAT EVERYONE MUST RECOGNIZE THEIR UTTER DEPENDENCE AND TRUST IN GOD. GOD CALLS US TO REORDER OUR PRIORITIES AND PLACE ALL OUR CONFIDENCE IN HIM, AND HIM ALONE.
THE SECOND TEMPTATION TOWARDS FAITHFULNESS IS TO JEOPORDIZE GOD’S WILL IN ORDER TO SHOW PEOPLE TO WHAT EXTENT WE’RE WILLING TO GO TO PROVE WE “TRUST GOD.” IT IS ALSO IS A TEST TO SEE IF WE ARE WILLING TO TAKE SCRIPTURE OUT OF CONTEXT IN ORDER TO PROVE OUR POINT.
IN OTHER WORDS, SATAN USES SCRIPTURE OUT OF CONTEXT TO TRY AND PUSH JESUS INTO FULFILLING THE PROPHETIC MESSAGE OF MALACHI 3:1 IN ORDER TO GAIN PUBLIC ATTENTION THROUGH SENSATIONALISM AND SHOWMANSHIP RATHER THAN THROUGH HIS RIGHTEOUS LIFE, TRUST, AND OBEDIENCE OF GOING TO THE CROSS.
SATAN QUOTES PSALM 91:11-12, BUT DOES SO OUT OF CONTEXT BY LEAVING OUT THE PHRASE “TO GUARD YOU IN ALL YOUR WAYS.” THE DECEIT: IS NOT IN OMITTING THE WORDS, BUT IS MIS-APPLYING SCRIPTURE INTO A TEMPTATION BY MAKING IT SOUNDS AS IF GOD CAN BE FORCED INTO DEFENDING HIMSELF BY PROVIDING HIS SON SUPERNATURAL INTERVENTION AND TRICKING PEOPLE INTO THINKING “THE MESSIAH HAS ARRIVED” WITHOUT ATONEMENT.
SATAN WANTED JESUS TO MAKE A SENSELESS EXPERIMENT WITH THE POWER OF GOD. SO JESUS QUOTES DEUTERONOMY 6:16 "DO NOT TEST THE LORD OUR GOD…" BECAUSE DEMANDING MIRACULOUS PROTECTION AS PROOF OF GOD’S CARE WAS SIN.
OUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS GOD IS TO BE ONE OF FULL TRUST AND RADICAL OBEDIENCE. DEUTERONOMY 6:17, "YOU MUST DILIGENTLY OBEY THE COMMANDS OF THE LORD YOUR GOD - ALL THE STIPULATIONS AND LAWS HE HAS GIVEN YOU. DO WHAT IS RIGHT AND GOOD IN THE LORD’S SIGHT…." MAY WE NEVER QUESTION GOD’S FAITHFULNESS AND LIVE IN COMPLETE TRUST.
THE THIRD TEMPTATION GOES 450 FEET ABOVE THE KIDRON VALLEY WHERE THE HIGHEST POINT OF THE TEMPLE TOWERED ALOFT ON MOUNT MORIAH. THIS TEST OF FAITHFULNESS TEMPTS JESUS WITH ACHIEVING POWER BY TAKING SHORT-CUTS AND TO “SPEED THINGS UP” BY REVEALING HIS TRUE IDENTITY THROUGH ACTS OF PRIDE AND DEFIANCE AGAINST GOD’S WILL.
IRONIC, THAT SATAN WAS CLAIMING TO POSSES THE WORLD WHICH WASN’T EVEN HIS TO GIVE AWAY. BESIDES, SATAN ALREADY KNEW JESUS WOULD RULE THE EARTH AS THE PRINCE OF PEACE.
ALSO UNIQUE, IS THE FACT THAT ONE INTERPRETATION OF THIS EVENT HOLDS THAT THE JEWS OF THE TIME WERE EXPECTING THE MESSIAH TO CONFIRM HIS IDENTITY BY APPEARING AT THE VERY TEMPLE THEY WERE STANDING UPON.
SO, IF SATAN COULD GET JESUS TO LEAP FROM THE PINNACLE OF THE TEMPLE AND GET RESCUED BY GOD IN A SPECTACULAR MANNER, JESUS WOULD FULFILL JEWISH EXPECTATIONS AND THUS CONVINCE THOSE WHO WITNESSED THIS DRAMATIC DISPLAY OF POWER THAT HE WAS THE MESSIAH. HE WOULD HAVE NO NEED TO EVEN BOTHER WITH GOING TO THE CROSS.
SATAN TRIES TO OFFER JESUS A PAINLESS AND LESS INSTRUSIVE SHORTCUT. SATAN WILL MAKE THINGS EASIER WITH LESS EFFORT, BUT WITH A “CATCH;” BOW DOWN AND WORSHIP HIM. THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A PRICE TO PAY FOR GOING SATAN’S WAY.
JESUS QUOTES DEUTERONOMY 6:13, THAT STATES TO WORSHIP ONLY GOD. HAD JESUS BOWED AND ACCEPTED SATAN’S OFFER HE WOULD FORGEIT HIS MISSION AND SALVATION TO THE WORLD WOULD NO LONGER BE POSSIBLE!
SO, FROM START TO FINISH: THE FIRST ADAM PUT THE LORD HIS GOD TO THE TEST. HE GAVE IN TO THE SERPENT’S TEMPTATION, TRYING TO SEIZE FOR HIMSELF ALL THAT GOD HAD ALREADY PROMISED HIM. BUT IN HIS HOUR OF TEMPTATION, THE “SECOND ADAM, JESUS PREVAILED WHERE THE FIRST ADAM FAILED—AND DROVE THE DEVIL AWAY.
STILL, WE SIN AFTER THE PATTERN OF ADAM’S FAILURE. LIKE ADAM, WE LET SIN IN THE DOOR WHEN WE ENTERTAIN DOUBTS ABOUT GOD’S PROMISES, WHEN WE FORGET TO CALL ON HIM IN OUR MOMENT OF TEMPTATION.
THE GRACE WON FOR US BY CHRIST’S OBEDIENCE MEANS THAT SIN IS NO LONGER OUR MASTER. WE BECOME ITS MASTER AS WE CONQUER AND SUBDUE IT IN THE NAME OF JESUS.
ROMANS 6:6, “WE KNOW THAT OUR OLD SINFUL SELVES WERE CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST SO THAT SIN MIGHT LOSE ITS POWER IN OUR LIVES. WE ARE NO LONGER SLAVES TO SIN.”
THREE TEMPTATIONS JESUS SHOWS US VERY CLEARLY THAT SPIRITUAL VICTORY CAN NOT ONLY BE OURS IN THE FACE OF ALL TEMPTATION, BUT ALSO IN THE REALM OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE.
I LEAVE YOU WITH 1 CORINTHIANS 10:13, "…REMEMBER THAT THE TEMPTATIONS THAT COME INTO YOUR LIFE ARE NO DIFFERENT FROM WHAT OTHERS EXPERIENCE. AND GOD IS FAITHFUL. HE WILL KEEP THE TEMPTATION FROM BECOMING SO STRONG THAT YOU CAN’T STAND UP AGAINST IT. WHEN YOU ARE TEMPTED, HE WILL SHOW YOU A WAY OUT SO THAT YOU WILL NOT GIVE IN TO IT." RESIST THE DEVIL, HE WILL FLEE, AND THEN SING JOYFULLY OF YOUR SALVATION, RENEWED IN GOD’S PRESENCE!
