“THE TEMPTED JESUS”
Matthew 4:1-11
INTRODUCTION: Read text
ILLUSTRATION: “Cocoon”
The cocoon of the Emperor moth is flask like in shape. To develop
into a perfect insect, it must force its way through the neck of the
cocoon by hours of intense struggle. Entomologists explain that this
pressure to which the moth is subjected is nature’s way of forcing a
life giving substance into its wings. Wanting to lesson the seemingly
needless trials and struggles of the moth, an observer said, "I’ll
lesson the pain and struggles of this helpless creature!" With small
scissors he snipped the restraining threads to make the moth’s
emergence painless and effortless. The creature never developed
wings. For a brief time before its death it simply crawled instead of
flying through the air on rainbow colored wings! (By the way.....the
struggles of childbirth...i.e., the child squeezing through the birth
canal are also a God designed way of forcing liquid out of the
newborn’s lungs.)
Sorrow, suffering, trials, and tribulations are wisely designed to grow
us into Christlikeness. The refining and developing processes are
oftentimes slow, but through grace, we emerge triumphant.
A. So we see Jesus Himself going through a time of tribulation (right after His baptism).
B. Satan does to Jesus what he has always and will always do to every believer who makes a commitment to do the Lord’s will…..he tests their resolve.
C. Jesus made a commitment at His baptism to do the will of the Father.
1. The will of the Father for Jesus was the cross.
2. Satan was determined to keep Jesus from doing things God’s way.
D. Jesus was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days and nights following His baptism.
1. What we have recorded for us is not everything that happened during those 40 days.
2. It is probably a summation of the types of temptations Jesus was posed with.
E. The purpose of Satan in these temptations was not just to get Jesus to sin in the sense that we might think of it.
F. His purpose was to determine what kind of Messiah or Savior Jesus was going to be.
G. Our text states that Satan posed the challenged, “If you are the Son of God…”
1. The better translation of the text is “Since you are the Son of God….”
2. Satan knew quite well who Jesus was (as evidenced by the demons knowledge in other events).
H. We know that Jesus knew the will of the Father was the cross.
1. We are not sure to what extent Satan knew in foreknowledge about the cross.
2. What he knew in advance is really unimportant.
3. The important thing is that he tries to keep Jesus from doing the will of the Father whatever that might be.
I. Satan’s temptations to Jesus could be summed up in the phrase, “Walk by sight and not by faith” a complete reversal of what the Bible teaches that we are to "walk by faith...and not by sight."
PROPOSITION: As Christians, we must walk by faith and not by sight!
TS: As we examine the temptations of Jesus we will note some temptations that
we must avoid if we are to walk by faith and not by sight.
I. THE FIRST TEMPTATION: THE ECONOMIC ROAD
A. “Turn these stones into bread.”
B. After 40 days without food this must have been an appealing idea. (Palestine is covered with rocks that have the look and size of little loafs of bread.)
C. What Satan is suggesting to Jesus is that He take the economic road towards becoming the Messiah.
D. If Jesus would do this, He would have no trouble getting a following.
1. In the days of Jesus, you were fortunate if you got one good meal a day.
2. Wouldn’t you follow a leader who could promise you three or more meals a day?
E. The problem is, however, that if Jesus did it this way, people would be following Him for the wrong reasons.
F. There were two dangers to Jesus giving in to this temptation:
1. There would be no cross. (You don’t kill the hand that feeds you.)
2. People would walk by sight and not by faith.
G. Satan would much rather have people walk by sight rather than by faith. Why?
1. Because once the signs and wonders stop coming in, their faith goes out the window.
2. Those religious movements today that constantly seek after signs like tongues speaking or healings are no better than the sign seeker’s of Jesus day.
3. Satan’s temptation to Jesus is basically this, “Go ahead Jesus. Give them the signs that they crave.”
H. The answer of Jesus to Satan is profound. “Man shall not live by bread
alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
1. Man cannot live just on the physical.
2. There is a dominant spiritual side of man that must be satisfied and that
satisfaction only comes from the word of God.
I. Faith is the essential element to a relationship with God. If I constantly need God to give me signs, then the Bible states I do not have what it takes to have a relationship with God.
Hebrews 11:6 “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who
comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those
who seek Him.”
J. The danger of falling into this temptation is illustrated for us by an incident that happened to Jesus recorded for us in John 6:66-69.
1. The feeding of the 5,000 plus. The popularity of Jesus is at an all time high.
2. Then He preached a sermon on the Bread of Life.
3. Everyone left Him, except the disciples and He was not sure about them, so He asked them, “Do you want to leave too?”
4. I believe what Peter says next is one of greatest things ever said by a mere mortal.
5. He stated, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You alone have the words of eternal life.”
6. My paraphrase….”Been there, done that, now let’s get on with business.”
K. This temptation presented to Jesus calls us to ask ourselves, “Why do we follow Jesus?”
1. If you are like me, there have been times in your life, that you have entertained the thought of chucking this whole Christianity thing.
2. If you are like me, you have also come to the conclusion, “Where would I go?”
3. “Been there. Done that. Now let’s get on with business.”
II. THE SECOND TEMPTATION: THE RELIGIOUS ROAD
A. “Since you are the Son of God, cast yourself down.”
B. From the pinnacle of the Temple into the valley below it was a 400 foot drop.
C. The Jews had a tradition that when the Messiah would come, he would present himself by doing a great miracle at the Temple.
D. Well I think you have to admit a 400 foot drop with an invitation to come to worship is not a bad miracle!
E. Satan’s underlying suggestion to Jesus is to take the religious road to the
Messiahship.
F. I mean, everybody back then knew, just like they do today, that all good Preacher’s are able to perform miracles.
G. But again, would people be following Jesus by faith or by sight?
H. If Jesus would have fallen to this temptation (forgive the pun), there would have been no cross.
I. But Jesus had His own ministry to fulfill which was to do the will of the Father.
J. Jesus was not going to let religious ideas and presuppositions pattern His ministry.
K. I challenge you also, not to fall to the same temptation.
L. There are all kinds of churches out there that are doing all kinds of things to try and influence people.
M. Many are susceptible to it. “Well if there is so many people involved in it, it has to be right.”
N. There are two ways to bring growth to a church:
1. The easy way: Jump on religious bandwagons.
The easiest thing in the world for us to do is jump on the band wagon
and say, “Boy ain’t this wonderful.” You can fill a stadium with 65,000
people.
2. The hard way: Teach the Word of God. Growth does not come very fast. The clear teaching of the Word of God makes a lot of people uncomfortable.
3. Let me tell you something though, 40 years from now when bandwagons are just another fad to be remembered, the Word of God will still stand.
O. We must not let religious whims and fancies shape our thinking. Our minds must be conformed to will of the Father outlined for us in the Bible.
P. Jude 3 states that the gospel was delivered once for all mankind. That
gospel delivered 2000 years ago should be sufficient for us today.
Q. Let’s not be sucked in by what I am convinced is Satan’s temptation to get
us to let down our guard.
III. THE THIRD TEMPTATION: THE MILITARY ROAD
A. From the traditional site where these temptations took place, as you stand on top of the hill, you can see the highways leading away to Damascus, Egypt, Arabia, Persia, and the ports communicating with Greece, Rome, and other places Jesus had visited or heard about.
B. Once again, the Jewish expectations about the Messiah played into this temptation.
C. The Jews believed that when the Messiah would come, that he would come as a military ruler who would drive out the Romans and restore the Jewish people to world dominance.
D. Satan is suggesting to Jesus that he take the military route towards becoming the Messiah.
E. The people sure would have followed Him. (Wouldn’t you follow a guy who could put your head back on you if it got cut off in battle?)
F. Satan offers to give Jesus the whole world. Was it his to give?
1. Yes! Satan is the prince and the ruler of this world.
2. But he is usurper. And he is a defeated ruler.
G. The whole point here is that Satan’s way was the easy way.
H. Jesus, however, did not choose the easy way.
1. He choose the way of suffering. He choose the way of the cross which was the Father’s will.
2. He would have no political prestige or powerful friends to help Him.
3. It would be a slow process of centuries of time and infinite cost.
I. The spiritual way that Jesus chose was a hard and long way. He knew that.
J. But if He took the easy way, it would be bowing down to Satan.
K. I am afraid that we (including myself) look too many times for the easy way.
L. We act like spiritual babies.
M. We always want things easy and instant.
1. Not surprising in our day of instants.
2. The road to eternal life is not a primrose path but one strewn with problems to overcome.
N. Satan provides a lot of easier ways.
1. “You don’t need to attend church to worship God. Lots of people worship God in nature every Sunday.”
2. “You don’t need to study your Bible. The Preacher will do that and tell you what it says.”
3. "You don’t need to pray....your Preacher does that for you!"
4. "You don’t need to give your money. There are a lot of people in church
financially better off than you that can afford to give.”
O. Folks, Jesus realized what we must realize, that the easy way is walking by sight and not by faith.
P. Jesus knew the Father would be there to help Him just He will for us.
Q. This congregation has made some giant steps of faith in past years.
1. Lord willing, we will take more.
2. Let’s never get in the rut of asking, “Is it the easiest way?”
3. Let’s ask, “Is it the way of faith?”
4. Let’s never attempt to do anything we can do on our own.
5. Let’s only attempt things for God that require His help in order for us to accomplish it.
CONCLUSION: Therefore, we see that as Christians, we must walk by faith and
not by sight.
We will do this if:
1) We recognize Jesus alone as the source of eternal life.
2) We trust His word rather than religious traditions and ideas.
3) Stick to the path of faith.
Being a disciple of Christ is a risky business.
May God help each of us to remember, that the way of faith is not always easy.
However, it is always rewarding.
May we be committed to helping each other walk by faith and not by sight!
