The Devil Didn't Make Him Do It Series

Now let’s spend some time now have a closer look at the 3 temptations recorded here.

Temptation 1 – About Personal Pleasure

The end of vs 2 says that Jesus didn’t eat anything during these 40 days and so was hungry. This is probably a slight understatement. I use the word hungry when I’ve missed 1 meal. If I was to miss 120 meals in a row, and I were writing this, I’d probably use a different word – probably something like starving or near death. And this point of physical need just so happens to be Jesus’ first weak spot so guess where Satan aims his attacks – but remember, Satan will attack you where you are weak, but the choice to sin is yours.

Vs 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

Satan was no doubt there at Jesus’ baptism – just watching carefully. He would have heard God’s declaration in 3:22 “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” In this first temptation, Satan may have been casting some doubt on Jesus’ Sonship in this statement. Saying in effect … “Prove you are God’s Son, by turning this stone into bread.” But when we look at Jesus’ response it is more likely here that Satan wasn’t questioning his Sonship. Rather the temptation was more subtle. He was saying in effect … “Jesus, we both know you are God’s Son, so why don’t you use your powers and turn this stone into bread and satisfy your hunger.”

What is wrong with this. Jesus was literally starving and unlike Elijah when he spent 40 days in the wilderness. There was no ravens or angels coming down to minister to Him. Had God forgotten Him? Of course not. Well maybe he just wanted Jesus to use his own powers to fend for Himself and provide for His own needs. There was nothing wrong with bread – it was a staple food needed to survive.

There was nothing wrong with wanting bread, the temptation here was for Jesus to act independently of God and His plan. For Him to act himself would mean that he wasn’t depending fully on God for all His needs. And in acting himself, He would be disobeying God’s will. Sure, He had the power to provide for all His needs, but that wasn’t what His power was to be used for. Jesus’ miracles always accompanied His teaching and were used to prove that what He was saying was true. To perform miracles for His own needs, no matter how valid, had no benefit and would amount to sin for Him.

I think we can all relate to these sort of temptations. There are all sorts of cravings we have in life, and it is so easy for us to use our own resources to satisfy these personal desires. It is so easy for that person on a diet to secretly buy that ice cream after a hard day a work. That hidden, exciting affair is just the thing to satisfy the love craved spouse. A pornographic movie watched late at night in a motel room helps satisfy the need for intimacy. That shopping spree is used to distract us from our emotional fragility. Some of these things may not be wrong in themselves, others are, but by trying to satisfy our personal needs ourselves, we fail to live dependent upon God. We displace God from the throne in our lives and place little old me on the throne. This is sin.