I had
finished all my lesson questions and was well prepared for the leadership
meeting at our Bible study. I had spent
a few hours digging into Matthew chapter 4 and was enjoying hearing everything
that all my fellow brothers in Christ had learned--when a thought came to
me. I was actually a little scared at
first at what it might mean and my mind quickly started racing at what The Spirit
was trying to help me understand…
The Temptation of Jesus
1Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into
the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. 2For forty days and forty
nights he fasted and became very hungry.
3During that time the devil came and
said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of
bread.” 4But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by
bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’
5Then the devil took him to the holy
city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, 6and said, “If you are the
Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to
protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt
your foot on a stone.’ 7Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must
not test the Lord your God.’
8Next the devil took him to the peak
of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their
glory. 9“I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and
worship me.” 10“Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures
say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’
11Then the devil went away, and angels
came and took care of Jesus. (Matthew 4:1-10, NLT)
See image here: http://btscelebs.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/thebible_hope_jesuschrist_actor_20130317.jpeg
Bible Study
Our Bible study
asked a great question with “What are some possible reasons Jesus was sent to
be tempted and how does that encourage you today”?
The Word tells
us God uses trials to help strengthen our character. Romans tells us that we grow in our character
by enduring
the hardships of this world. As our character
grows, so does our confidence in our hope for living in perfect fellowship with
The Shaper of the Universe in heaven. (Romans 5:3-5, NLT)
I believe God
was using the very same tools that he gives us in our mortal lives to help his
Son Jesus in preparing him for his ministry.
Christ was living in perfect duality as both man & God-- and I believe
that we see here how The Father was helping grow Jesus’ human character to equip
his son with everything that he would need to fulfill God’s will. My spirit is filled with hope when I read how
God’s promises hold true all throughout his Bible and I can’t tell you how encouraging
it is to hear that the savior of the world knows exactly what it is like to
live with incredible hardships & temptations.
Though Jesus
was Holy, more Holy then I think we can even understand with our human
understanding, he was at the same time one of us, living a mortal life, enduring
all the hardships and struggles we all face.
Obedience
If Jesus was
empowered with the spirit without limit, then Christ could see the future and
already knew the outcome of the incredible temptation that he was going
to experience at the hands of the enemy.
This was the thought that came to me during our leaders meeting at Bible
Study and one that left me a little fearful at what it might mean…
Can you
imagine the incredible level of sacrifice that the Son of Man &
God went through for us in enduring the incredible hardships of starvation and
temptation, only to have the evil one attack Jesus at his weakest point? I imagine Satan used everything he had at his
disposal to make the human side of Jesus fall. The enemy is crafty, he used the very same
tactic he employed in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve in twisting the words
of God to try and tempt The Savior to fall, yet Jesus did not Sin or fall short
of the glory of god. It is interesting
that Jesus used the Word of God to combat Satan’s attacks, and is a great
example to all of us on what we should do when we are tempted.
Even though
Jesus already knew the outcome, as a good and faithful servant he obediently
followed the will of God and endured the trials. Just as he would later endure the Cross for
all of mankind, even knowing what the future held, He still chose to walk on in
the wilderness, enduring all the storms from the enemy and never yielded!
The bible
teaches us that love is sacrifice, and if that is true, then
just imagine how much Jesus loves each and every one of us?
12This is my commandment: Love each
other in the same way I have loved you. 13There is no greater love than to lay
down one’s life for one’s friends. (John 15:13, NLT)
Peace be with
you Brothers and Sisters.
See Unspoken’s music
video for “Lift my life up” here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UveOPq_iao
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