Thursday, September 10, 2009

I’ve Got What it Takes




Scripture Reference: Matthew 4: 1-10 (NIV)

1Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." 4Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. 5Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6"If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: " 'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. 7Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test. 8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9"All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me." 10Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.


The temptation of Jesus begins in Matthew 4:1 and is connected to the baptism of Jesus in Matthew 3:13-17. Following the temptation, Matthew 4:12 states that Jesus withdrew to Galilee and there began his ministry, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 9:1-2 "that the people of Galilee would see a great light". By viewing the temptation through the two periscopes of Isiah and Matthew, underscores that the temptation of Jesus signifies the kind of ministry upon which Jesus was about to embark and the manner in which He was to fulfill Gods's purpose in this world.

The accounting unfolds with Jesus departed the Jordan River led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. A the events unfolded it is clear that it is God who is leading Jesus by means of the Spirit. Jesus did not invite temptation, he went to be alone to contemplate His mission and work here on earth. Fasting and praying He braced himself for the bloodstained path he must travel.

Satan knew that the Saviour had gone into the wilderness, and that this would be the best time to approach Him. Satan made his presence known, we recall, he was among witnesses at the Saviour’s baptism, who saw the Father’s glory overshadowing His Son. He heard the voice of God testifying to the divinity of Jesus. Ever since Adam’s sin, the human race had been cut off from direct communion with God; but now that Jesus had come “in the likeness of sinful flesh” (see Rom. 8:3), the Father Himself spoke. God and man had been restored.

Satan saw the he must either conquer or be conquered; and he set out to conquer. He personally conducted this warfare railing with all of his energies against the Son of God, trying to make Christ the mark of every weapon of hell.

Many look on this conflict between Christ and Satan as having no special bearing on their own lives; and for them it has little interest or relevence. But within the domain of every human heart this controversy is repeated. Never does one leave the ranks of evil for the service of God without encountering the assaults of Satan. The enticements which Christ resisted are those that we find too difficult to withstand. God Allowed Jesus to face these enticements to demonstrate His strength of character, and that His character is superior to our. With the gigantic weight of the sins of the world upon Him, Christ withstood the many tests Satan presented, including of the appetite—upon the love of the word---and upon that love of display which leads to presumption. These were the temptations that overcame Adam and Eve, and that so readily overcome us.

The Son of God as the Son of Man took on humanity, with all its liabilities. He took the nature of man, with the possibility of yielding to temptation. On man's behalf Christ conquered by enduring the severest test. For our sake He exercised a self-control erthan hunger or death, defeating and overcoming the powers of Satan and the temptations of his world. Jesus was more than a conquerer and with the grace of God, we too can have what it takes.


by: B Stevenson and Joyce Lewis

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