11-23-2019 The Temptations
of Jesus and What they Mean For Today
Squaring Off, Mixing it up and Victory
On Nov. 24,
2018 the post was “Who is fighting Whom?” and on December 22, 2018 it was “The
Flower, the Soldier and the Church”.
These two entries moved into our spiritual warfare with the enemy. They introduced a three-pronged fight we must
fight and be involved with in order to find victory over Satan and his dark forces. Move over Luke Skywalker. In Star Wars, the “dark forces” were what
motivated Darth Vader and the “dark side”. Those “forces of dark’ are representatives of our enemy which we face in our
Christian walk, the powers of darkness, Satan and his agents. After all, we do fight against the
principalities, powers and rulers of darkness of this world and against spiritual
wickedness in high places, (Eph. 6:12)
right?
Here, we’re
digging a bit deeper for a better understanding of this three-pronged battle. The previous entries suggested that our first
fight is in ‘natural’ man”, the area we are most familiar with and our weakest
point. The second stage of battle is for
our mind, our thought processes, our soul, the things that motivate us. But because we have the guidance and support
of the Holy Ghost, we have something stronger within us with which to fight
back. The Third is for our heart, our
true relationship with the Father through His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and
Savior. When we are abiding in the Lord
(the Word, living & written), we have all the power of heaven fighting with
us. Not that they weren’t with us before
(through our salvation), but now, as we draw closer to God, we have a deeper
understanding of what those resources are and how to tap into them (at least we
should).
Should Satan
gain victory over the natural man, the battle is lost. We become like the seed by the wayside (in
the parable of the sower), which were immediately eaten up by the birds (Matt. 13: 1-8).
So as we go
deeper, let’s take a look at how Jesus dealt with this three pronged attack –
body, soul and spirit.
Matthew 4:1-11
1 Then
Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
2 And
when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.
3 Now when the tempter came
to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones
become bread."
4 But Jesus answered and
said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceeds from the mouth of God.' "
As the
passage says, Jesus had been fasting for forty days, He had to be very hungry. The
natural man needs food and water to sustain existence. We eventually die without them. Scientific American has documented cases of
people surviving ‘starvation’ diets of between 21-40 days. Also Scientific American cites that, in
comfortable conditions, a person could survive 21 days without water. When conditions are not ideal, it could be hours
instead of days (to put things in perspective between a controlled environment
vs not so inviting conditions).
Now, does
this mean that Jesus wasn’t tempted at all during those forty days? I can’t say, the bible doesn’t tell us, but
these three temptations are important because they address the three main battlefields
in which our enemy approaches us.
So Jesus, in
the wilderness, was at His weakest, physical point when the enemy approached
Him. And with what did he approach Him? His
natural hunger. Turn these stones into
something He could eat. Sustenance for
the natural man. Satan tries to entice
Jesus to do that which He could easily do.
He knows that the Son of God can do anything, even turn stones into bread.
But this
also tested Jesus’ trust in the Father to sustain Him and just how deeply did
He trust the Father to provide for Him. He
had already trusted Father for forty days.
Why stop now? Jesus knew that
there are things more important than ‘just’ natural food. After all, didn’t God send the ravens, with
food, for Elijah when he was hiding out from Jezebel (1Kings 17:1-6)? If we
can’t trust God to provide us with ‘natural’ things, how can we trust Him for the
Spiritual? Jesus told the masses “If I’ve
told you earthly things and you haven’t believed, how can you believe heavenly
things?” (John 3:12). Father allows situations to fall upon us so
we can see that He is with us. We learn to trust God for the little things in
this life so we can know to trust Him for bigger things and then eternal life. Think about it. We will have to trust Jesus in the
rapture. We’ll be caught up in the air
with Him (1 Thess. 4:17). Who will be keeping us from falling back down
to earth? Remember Peter on the water (Matt. 14:25-32). As long as he had his eyes on Jesus, Peter
also walked on water.
So, in this,
Jesus is telling Satan that He trusts only the Father for things He needs. Satan knows the Word. He was a witness to or a part of it
practically from the beginning. He knows
what God has said, His Word. Jesus knows
the Word, too. He is the living Word! And we
need to know it then, so we can trust God for what He has said in His Word.
Satan
attacked with a half-truth, Jesus fired back with the whole truth.
5 Then the devil took Him
up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple,
6 and said to Him,
"If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: 'He
shall give His angels charge over you,' and, 'In their hands they shall bear
you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.' "
7 Jesus said to him,
"It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.' "
On the
pinnacle, the highest point of the temple in Jerusalem, Jesus is challenged again. Satan knows that God protects His own (Job 1:8-10). As with Adam and Eve in the garden (Gen. 3:1-6), Satan quotes a partial
biblical truth. God will send His angels
so You don’t hurt yourself, but Jesus knowing the full scriptures fires back
with “You shall not tempt the Lord, your God.”
Yes, God is over Satan, God
created Satan. If we jump off the Empire
State building, we’re going to go “SPLAT!” when we hit the streets below. Don’t do something harmful or stupid just to
prove God is with you. That’s tempting
the Lord. However, should the Lord tell
you to do something, be sure it’s Him, then be obedient. But take note that God will not tell us to
jump off a mountain without a parachute or step in front of a moving bus. He doesn’t tempt us either (James 1:13). Remember Paul. A deadly snake was hiding in those sticks he
was collecting. He was bit by that snake
and those watching waited to see how quickly he would keel over dead. Read the passage (Acts 28:1-6), did he? Paul
didn’t know that the snake was there.
Also
consider that a country boy, from outside Pittsburgh, Pa., Dave Wilkerson, went
to witness to the gangs of New York City in the strength of Jesus Christ (The
Cross and the Switchblade). As Dave
lived in God’s love, Father protected the minister in the midst of a dangerous
environment. The result? The “warlord” of that gang (Nicky Cruz), came
to Christ and together they started Teen Challenge. God does look after His own, but we ought not to put Him to the test. Dave went to New York because God told him to
go, not because he thought it would be a neat challenge. God says to test Him to see if He will keep
His promises (Mal. 3:10), not tempt
Him with foolishness.
In
Revelation chapter one, Alpha and Omega states in part “… the seven stars are the
angels of the seven churches …” and in Genesis chapter one God says “… let
there be lights in the firmament …”.
Lights here is the Hebrew word maowr
(3974), luminous body, bright, light, etc.
Revelation chapter twelve says that with his tail, the dragon drew the
third part of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth … Three passages which seem to correlate angels
with stars. Stars were created on the
fourth day (Gen. 1:14-15). Is there a connection between stars and
angels?
Nonetheless,
Satan is an angel (though fallen) therefore a created being. And we, also are created beings (Gen 1:27). So Jesus is telling a created being that we
should not tempt the Lord God – that is asking Him to do something not logical
just to prove Himself. God endured
Israel even though they tempted God in the desert with food (Exod. 16:1-18) and water (Exod. 17:1-7). And yet, we should not tempt the Lord. God will
provide what we need.
Our spiritual man must become our Spiritual man for us to press
forward in our walk with the Lord (did you note the ‘s’) . Just where is our
trust in the Lord? For what do we really
trust and believe God? Are we obedient
to His Word?
8 Again, the devil took Him
up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the
world and their glory.
9 And he said to Him,
"All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship
me."
10 Then Jesus said to him,
"Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your
God, and Him only you shall serve.' "
As our trust
grows in the Lord, we discover Father desires our companionship. Just as He came down into the Garden of Eden
to be with Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:8). Just as He talked with Abraham (Gen. 18:1-33). Just as He visited with Moses in the
tabernacle (Exod. 20:19-22). He desires to walk with us. At the celebration of the Passover, the
apostle John lay his head upon the chest of Jesus (John 13:23-25). Jesus wants a
relationship this close with each and every one of us who love Him. Jesus desires us to come close and commune
with Him.
So, when
Satan took Jesus to the high mountain and showed Him all the lands and Kingdoms
of the earth and said “… bow down and worship me and all this will be
yours.” First of all, Jesus’ heart is
always right with the Father because He and the Father are one (John 1:1-4). Secondly, all things were created by Him (Jesus)
and for Him (Col. 1:16). So how could Satan give Jesus that which was
already His, for with the Father, He created everything (John 1:1-3).
Initially
Adam and Eve had dominion over the earth (Gen.
1:27-30) but when Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden, because of
their disobedience (do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil Gen 2:17), evil fell upon the earth en
masse. Satan was cast out of heaven (not
necessarily in this order), with 1/3 of the angels, so as to give us a fit (Rev. 12:1-10). Please, don’t split
hairs over the order of events here.
So when
Jesus told Satan that we should worship the Lord our God and serve only Him, He
was asserting that His heart is with the Father forever. Not only was He resisting the temptation of
power, He knew He already had it! We
should do the same.
Satan
attacks us in the natural man. This is
the realm we most readily understand and it is our weakest point. He does his best to keep us out of God’s plan
for eternal fellowship with Father. Once
we have accepted Jesus into our hearts, Satan has to change his tactics and
deal with our spiritual man, our mind, our intellect, our soul. We are learning how to stand in the strength
of our Savior through reading His Word and prayer. Our enemy doesn’t forget our body but now both
our body and soul are being attacked. He
is still trying to draw us away, or at least, discourage us. We discover that we stand against not just
natural things but we begin to realize that we also fight spiritual forces in
high places because they are what motivate people.
But as we
continue yielding ourselves to the Father, living in His will, being a true
reflection of His love, Satan has to step it up a bit more. Okay, a lot more. Now, if he is to succeed, he has to tear our
hearts away from the Lord. He now turns
up the heat. Don’t be surprised when
subtle temptations come which seem almost impossible to resist. He pulls out all the stops to get us to turn
away from our Father. Satan knows that a
full frontal attack (“here I am, dummy.
What’re ya gonna do about it!”) would just send us running into the
loving arms of God. He has to be more
subtle so we don’t recognize what he’s doing. False prophets would seduce the elect, if it
were possible (Mark 13:19-22). We keep our hearts right with our Father. We already know what we have and are solid on
(in) the Rock (Psalm 62:1-8), Jesus! We know our victory is sin Jesus. Yet, we still continue to renew our minds so
our heart continues to follow our Lord (Romans
12:1-2) and draw closer into His love.
We continue to commune with Him, becoming very familiar with His voice.
Complete
victory comes when we abide by taking on the yoke of Jesus (Matt. 11:29), for there we have rest,
strengthening ourselves by knowing His Word and resting in the peace from God
the Father, Jesus and the Holy Ghost. We
strengthen our spirits by communicating with Him – regularly. Not once a year or once a month, not even just
once a week but daily. Daniel prayed
three times a day (Dan. 6:10). Paul says “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). This doesn’t mean we spend 24/7 on our knees,
for then, we’d be no good to those yet in the world. It does mean to have a continual attitude of
prayer. As things happen, give God
thanks. We find ourselves in a
situation, we ask God for direction at that time, not later. However, ‘resting’ here doesn’t mean sitting
back and taking it easy. It does mean
trusting in the Lord knowing that He will get us through whatever Satan throws our
way.
In case you
missed the point, as we draw closer in our relationship with the Lord. We will be putting on the armor of God, through
knowing what God’s Word says and our prayers and our understanding (Eph. 6:10-18).
We deal with
three battle fronts: the natural man, the spiritual man and the heart of man. Jesus shows us how He deals with these three
fronts. Knowing the Word (written and
living), Praying without ceasing and putting God’s Word into action in our own
lives brings us to victory.
Amen