THE PERSON AND LIFE OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

Lesson Six

The TEMPTATION IN THE WILDERNESS OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

Scripture reading: Matt. 4:1-11

Burden to Impart:

The main point in this lesson is that Jesus overcame the Devil's temptation in the wilderness by using the Word of God. Adam failed when he was tempted in the Garden of Eden, but Jesus fully overcame the temptation in the desert. As a man, Jesus was strengthened, empowered, and had the true wisdom to overcome the ancient tempter of mankind through the Word of God. By taking in the Lord's Word each day we are also strengthened and can say, "No!" to the tempter when he comes to us. The Devil tempts us to sin. Then when we do sin, he laughs at us. When we say, "No!" to him again and again, he will go away and stop bothering us for a while (cf. Luke 4:13, note 131).

Memory Verse: "Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee" (Psalms 119:11).

Facts to Teach:

1. Because the Lord Jesus was a man of flesh and blood, He was subject to every temptation as we are (Heb. 2:18; 4:15). Yet, He overcame every temptation victoriously and never sinned. He lived a perfect sinless life as a man.

2. He was tempted in His human living with hunger, yet He refused to use His divine power to do a miracle. Jesus would not take any suggestions from Satan, not even one that seemed "good." He quoted Deut. 8:3, "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God." This shows that He would only live and do things according to His Father's word.

3. He was tempted to do an exciting miracle in religion as the Son of God by jumping off the temple without being hurt and attracting a lot of attention to Himself. The Lord refused to take Satan's suggestion and quoted Deut. 6:16, "You shall not tempt the Lord your God." To allow the Devil to lead us into a dangerous or tempting situation and expect God to do a religious miracle to save us is to "tempt the Lord our God." Instead of listening to the Devil we should take the normal way down, finding a stairway and walking down slowly and carefully.

4. He was tempted to worship the Devil in order to get all the power and glory (vainglory) of the world, yet He refused to worship the Devil in any way by quoting Deut. 6:13, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve." To worship or serve anything other than God in order to get something you want in return, is always a temptation and surely comes from the Devil. He tempts us like this in order to get our worship.

5. We must read God's Word and even hide it in our heart as the Lord Jesus did. This is the only way we will be strong enough to resist Satan's temptations and not sin against the Lord.