Lessons from Matthew 4: Jesus Confronts Satan
Thank you for joining me for part 2 in the Lessons from Matthew 4 series. You will remember in part 1 we learned that God’s people resist temptation. Now let’s learn how we can model our own lives after the way Jesus confronts Satan.
After 40 days and nights of fasting when Jesus was hungry, the tempter came to Him. I think it is very telling of the enemy that he waits until he thinks he has us at a moment of weakness before he comes in and tries to undo us.
You see Jesus was fully man and so we can only imagine what he felt like after 40 days and nights of fasting. Jesus was likely weak, tired and vulnerable. However, it was at this exact moment that Satan steps into the scene and immediately begins with his taunts and temptations.
He says to Jesus, if you are the Son of God, basically, prove it. I want you to prove it by telling these stones here to turn to bread. If you truly are who you say you are why don’t you just take care of your own needs? Why are you forgoing something? Why are you waiting on God the Father to provide it for you when you can have it or make a way for yourself?
Jesus Confronts Satan
Right away Jesus responds by quoting God’s Word from Deuteronomy 8:3 As it is written, (Satan) “man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” It is interesting that it was with food that Satan tempted Adam and Eve who chose to sin against God. It is through food or the offer of it that Jesus stands against the enemy. The food for which Jesus stood was the spiritual food.
Spiritual food is the eternal goodness of God’s Word that feeds and nourishes a hungry, tired, and weary soul that comes to Him for nourishment. Jesus resisted using His divine powers for a temporary filling. Instead He kept His focus on God His Father and His eternal purpose in a temporal world. Jesus’s words and actions proved that He trusted that when the time was right, God His Father would provide for Him.
Do you exercise this same trust in your place of suffering? Or are you trying to make your own way out, doubting or not trusting that God will take care of you?
What can you do to show Him that you love Him and trust Him right here, right now in your present circumstances?
God promises He will be there with you and for you! Do you take Him at His Word? If not, confess your weakness and get on with God!
In Matthew 4:5 we read that “Then, the devil took Jesus to the holy city and had Jesus stand on the highest point of the temple.” The Devil then challenged Jesus to test God’s love for Him for all to see by throwing Himself down. Then this cunning creature quotes scripture out of context hoping to cause Jesus to doubt God’s Word. Does this remind you of his play on words to Eve in the garden?
Jesus, who not only knows the Word of God but is the Word of God, answers Satan’s temptation by quoting Deuteronomy 6:16, “As it is ALSO written: Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” One commentator I read said that Satan was tempting Christ to advance the work of God by spectacular and obvious worldly means, which is what many preachers are doing today. They are trying to impress people with so called “signs and wonders” or by means of entertainment.
We cannot accomplish invisible spiritual work by outward worldly means. We should never presume upon by God’s goodness by putting ourselves or allowing ourselves to enter into a place we know we do not belong. To do so puts us in a place of disobedience and consequence. But Jesus stood again for what was right in the heart and mind of His Father.
Matthew 4:8 says, “Again, the devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.” Where this was we do not know. I wonder if Satan was so bold or arrogant to enter into the heavenly realm where the throne of God resides or somewhere in that vicinity and offered to Jesus what he knew was not his to give. Nor was it the way the Father intended for the Son to inherit it.
The way to Jesus’s rule and reign was through the cross, through suffering, shame, and scorn. It was after this that Jesus would inherit the world and those in the world who confessed Him as their Lord and Savior. There was no other way and no other Savior.
Revelation 11:15 says, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.” But the path to Jesus’s triumph was through suffering.
And so it is there that Jesus again quotes God’s Word and instructs Satan to flee… “For it is written,” says Jesus, “to worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.”
After Satan had departed, God the Father sent ministering angels to care for His Son whom He loved.
What is the path to victory over Satan and the temptation to sin against God in the life of a Christian? Our answer is found here in the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: “It is written! Again it is written! and again I say, It is written!” Paul instructs us in Ephesians 6:17, that the only offensive weapon we have is, “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
And Satan’s desire is to cast:
Doubt: He tries to cause you to question God’s Word and His goodness.
Discouragement: He tries to cause you look at your problems rather than at God and His power , provision and protection.
Diversion: He tries to cause you to see wrong things as attractive so that you will pursue them more than that which is right in God’s eyes.
Defeat: He tries to cause you to feel like a failure so that you don’t even try or put forth an effort, thus causing your faith to waver or appear non-existent.
Delay: He tries to cause you to put off doing what God has called you to do so that God’s will in your life in that area never gets done.
Remember, Satan is our enemy and he will do anything he can to try and get us to follow his evil, deadly path. Believers have the power of Jesus Christ living in them in the person of the Holy Spirit. Therefore along with the power of God’s word we can all be more than conquerors in Christ Jesus as we exercise our faith and belief in what His Word says!
We must also remember not to fear Satan’s attacks because Satan cannot exceed the limits God sets. Be careful and prayerful not to let any experience that God may allow to drive wedge between you and God. Although you cannot control how Satan will attack or tempt you, you can always choose how you will respond when it happens.
And although God is present everywhere, at times He may seem far away. This may cause us to feel alone and to doubt His care for us. But we should serve God for who He is, not what we feel.
God is all wise and powerful. His will is perfect, yet He does not always act in ways that we understand. But remember that He is never insensitive to our suffering. Because God is sufficient, we must hold on to Him and His promises for us. God, through His Holy Spirit, helps those who seek Him to resist temptation by helping you recognize those people and situations that can give you trouble.
He enables you by His power and might to run from anything you know is wrong. He will help you to choose right over wrong as you seek His wisdom and guidance and as you exercise what you know to be true from His Word.
Believing and acting upon God’s Word keeps a believer from sin.
Will you hide God’s Word in your heart so that the next time temptation comes knocking on the door of your mind and heart you can exercise the power of God through His Word and cause the tempter to flee?
Are you tempted to return to your old way of life? To return to your former habits? Don’t do it!
Here’s your choice: keep looking back and inching towards that former sin or call upon the Lord who has the power to overcome every temptation!
What temptation are you facing right now? And how does this passage about Jesus encourage you?
Who will you ask to pray with you today for victory over that temptation?
Terri Hamman
Faith & Fitness Coach