In the Shadow of the Cross

July 2004 -- Back to current issue and main Archives

Temptation, can we escape it? No, we cannot. Can it be overcome? Yes, it can be overcome. Jesus gives us an example in Matthew’s Gospel.

Before we examine Matthew 4, let’s first understand the nature of Jesus. Jesus was 100% man, 100% God – a Theophany. Jesus existed as part of the triune Godhead before the Earth began, and in fact Jesus created the Earth as we see in John 1:1-5 ‘Through Him all things were made”

Jesus is God in human flesh. The Bible continually reflects this truth. Jesus elected to strip off His Divinity and come to earth as a man. (yet still fully Divine in nature and substance). The tempter, the devil tempted Jesus as a man, while He was in the desert for 40 days. This occurred right after His baptism and when the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove. So if Jesus was tempted, you can rest assured, we as humans will be tempted as well. Many, many times our temptation will occur right after a great spiritual victory.

The devil tempted Jesus while he was hungry during His time in the desert. The devil was, and is, clever – as he knew Jesus was the Son of Man, and tempted Him as a man. The devil tempted Jesus to use His divine power to make bread out of stones. Jesus surely could have easily done this, but refused. Jesus replied, “It is written, man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4 NIV)

Later Jesus was tempted again by the devil. Jesus was taken to a high place overlooking the holy city and was tempted to jump down from the high spot, for the devil knew that per the scriptures, God will command His angels to protect Jesus. Jesus again responded soundly and boldly to the devil, saying, “It is also written: Do not put the Lord your God to the test” ( Matthew 4:7 NIV)

Not deterred, the devil yet again tempted Jesus. This time the devil tempted Jesus to renounce God and to worship the Devil, and he would then give all the kingdoms of the earth to Jesus. The devil said, “bow down and worship me and all this will be given to you” I always thought this was odd that the devil would be tempt Jesus with what was already His to begin with. This is evidence that the devil is not omnipresent, all-knowing or omniscient. It is possible that the devil did not know the redemptive plan of God- or maybe he did but tempted Jesus nonetheless.

However, Jesus at this point said, “Away from Me Satan! For it is written: worship the Lord your God, and serve only Him”. ( Matthew 4:10 NIV ) The devil left him and the angels then came and took care of Jesus.

What can we learn from Jesus’ rebuttal to the devil? Each time Jesus was tempted, it is recorded that he replied by saying, “it is written”. This would suggest that Jesus was well acquainted with scriptures, and why would he not be, since the Word is Jesus. Jesus’ source of power was Himself. “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us…” (John 1:14 NIV) This creates a dilemma for God cannot be tempted. But I believe Jesus took these temptations as a man, not as God. If the reverse were true, God cannot be tempted by the devil, as the devil has no power over God. However, as man Jesus would be susceptible – just like any other man.

Again, Jesus power to rebuke was from the Word of God. Satan can’t argue or wield any power against God. He is powerless against God. In Job, we see that Satan is permitted to test Job, but this permission came from God – again Satan is not all-powerful or omniscient.

The power we have over temptation is the Word of God, just as Jesus tells us in the fourth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel when He Himself was tempted. Jesus’ first and most powerful words against these three temptations were: “it is written”. Our power over temptation is our knowledge of, our desire for and our ability to keep God’s word in our heads, hearts, our daily lives. The more one is in the Word of God, the more keen the senses are to wrongdoing, to sin, to world, to the flesh, to Satan and his agents seeking to devour us.

Jesus also said a few very powerful words of rebuke to Satan, as he said “Away from Me Satan”, and the devil left Him. Do we also have that same ability to shove Satan aside? We sure do!

James, through the Holy Spirit tells us to “submit yourselves then to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you…wash your hands you sinners, and purify your hearts you double-minded” (James 4:7-8 NIV)

"Submit yourselves to God”, what are the implications of that phrase? I think the Apostle Paul had a grasp of this when he called himself a slave of Christ. I believe a deeper meaning of what James was trying to convey was a submission to Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and to God as our loving Father and Creator; as a child loves his/her parents, but at a greater degree and depth. This greater degree comes from studying, meditating, memorizing, analyzing, and practicing the Word of God. Why would one wish to do this? To get to know our God more intimately, to understand His ways, from a deep desire to please Him and love, honor and give praise to Him as He rightly deserves. In this understanding, one will realize that God loves us tremendously. With this submission through love, worship, knowledge and understanding, we then become more apt to combat the constant barrage of junk that is being thrown at us, by Satan and his agents. Are we then totally immune? No, not as long as Satan and his demons are roaming around. But we has Christians can constantly confess our need for God’s protection in prayer, constantly be in God’s Word as our devotion to submit to Him and hold on to God’s promise t us, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful, He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV)

1 Corinthians 10:13 is just one verse of hundreds of thousands that are in God’s Word; look for yourself…for it is written.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All Rights Reserved.

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