TEMPTATION ONE: THE LUST OF THE FLESH—TURN THESE STONES TO BREAD
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
Matthew 4:1
Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
Luke 4:1
SUSAN: Luke’s gospel tells us that Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit; for even though He was completely man, He was still completely God.
SUSIE: After He was baptized by John in the Jordan River, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness for a time of prayer, fasting, and ultimately temptation.
SUSAN: Seeing the temptation of Jesus anew when studying this time, it clicked with me for the first time that the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted. Jesus’s resolve to not use His divine power unless directed by the Father was tested, and He passed with flying colors. It was no accident that Jesus ended up in the wilderness. To be the perfect atoning sacrifice for our sin, Jesus had to live a sinless life. In order for His sinless life to be authentic, He had to be tempted like any other human but not give in to the temptation. God does not tempt people Himself but allows us to be tested and go through trials. Satan is the instrument of temptation, but Satan is under God’s control and must do God’s bidding. He has been given temporary but limited freedom on earth.
When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone.
James 1:13
SUSIE: We will see that Jesus, in His humanity, was tempted in all the ways we are but remained sinless.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin.
Hebrews 4:15
SUSIE: There are three broad categories of temptation, and Satan tried to trip Jesus up in each of them. Our focus in this study will be the way in which Jesus combatted and replied to these temptations.
For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.
1 John 2:16
After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.
Matthew 4:2
. . . where for forty days He was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He was hungry.
Luke 4:2
SUSAN: Jesus fasted 40 days and nights as Moses had at Mount Sinai (Deuteronomy 9:9) and Elijah had after the Lord consumed his offering on Mount Carmel, and he had slain the prophets of Baal, making a spectacle of Baal (1 Kings 19:8). Then we have the great understatement that Jesus was hungry! Famished would be the word I would use.
SUSIE: Enter Satan (who had probably been tempting Jesus the entire forty days) to capitalize on the fact that Jesus was starving and tempt Him in the area of “lust of the flesh”—putting your physical wants and even needs above the Father’s will.
The tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Matthew 4:3
The devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
Luke 4:3
SUSAN: The “if” in this verse is not best rendered as a question. It is better translated “Since You are the Son of God.” Satan was well aware that Jesus was truly the Son of God.
SUSIE: The Jews ate small round loaves of brown bread. Therefore, the stones probably looked very much like bread to Jesus in His famished state. Satan was tempting Him to use the power He had set aside to become human (Philippians 2:7) for His own immediate gratification.
. . . but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness.
Philippians 2:7
But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Matthew 4:4
But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
Luke 4:4
SUSAN: Jesus’s rebuttals to Satan as concerns all three temptations recorded both in Matthew and Luke are found in the book of Deuteronomy.
SUSIE: His first response explains why He used Scripture to refute the Devil’s reasoning. He quoted from a passage about the time when God preserved the Israelites with manna which I’m sure got pretty boring after an extended time. But God was making the point that being sustained spiritually by His word was far more important than delicious food for the body.
He humbled you, and in your hunger He gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had known, so that you might understand that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
Deuteronomy 8:3
Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
Job 23:12 (KJV)
SUSAN: Jesus had the scripture internalized because He not only wrote it; but as a human, he had studied it like all Jewish boys. He was portraying for us the example of the importance of internalizing God’s word in order to use it in our arsenal of Holy armor:
I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.
Psalm 119:11
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. . .
Ephesians 6:17
Ways this applies to our lives:
- The Bible is the sword, the only offensive weapon mentioned Ephesians 6. We must learn to wield it skillfully against Satan NOT people.
- It is impractical to carry a Bible everywhere we go, and cumbersome to need to look up a verse when we need it. Therefore, we MUST memorize and internalize God’s word.
- Just as we need our “daily bread” to sustain us physically, we need a DAILY dose of God’s word to nourish and invigorate us spiritually.