Home Bible Study - Jesus being Tempted in the Wilderness - Day 4
Matthew 4:1-11 - Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ Then 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.’”
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’
8 Again, 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.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Day 4
We've spent the last three days learning about temptation, but now that we know what temptation is and how the devil uses it, a very important question is how can I be ready for it? I think in the way Jesus handles the Devil's temptation we get a road map of how we can better handle temptation. Now, the most important think to remember is that we can do better handling temptation, but we are still going to make mistakes and sin from time to time. The only perfect person died on a cross for our sins. It is important to remebmer in those times that God wants us to come to him and ask for forgiveness. He is waiting for us to come back. In the parable of the Prodigal Son (watch below) the Father, who represents our heavenly Father is waiting for his lost son to return. The is watching for him and as soon as he sees him coming, he runs out to meet him. He hugs him, forgives him and restores him to the family. That is the Father's love and forgiveness for us too!
Now, to understand how we can better resist temptation, I want to draw a quick parell between how Jesus overcomes temptation and how Adam and Evil fell to the serpent’s tricks in the Book of Genesis. Each time Jesus is tempted what does he go back to? That’s right. The scriptures. Think about this for a minute and let it sink in. The Son of God, 2nd member of the Trinity (God the Father, God the SON and God the Holy Spirit) who was up in heaven with God before coming to earth uses scripture to make sure he is not tempted. Wow! If Jesus uses it, what shot do we have without it.
Day 4
We've spent the last three days learning about temptation, but now that we know what temptation is and how the devil uses it, a very important question is how can I be ready for it? I think in the way Jesus handles the Devil's temptation we get a road map of how we can better handle temptation. Now, the most important think to remember is that we can do better handling temptation, but we are still going to make mistakes and sin from time to time. The only perfect person died on a cross for our sins. It is important to remebmer in those times that God wants us to come to him and ask for forgiveness. He is waiting for us to come back. In the parable of the Prodigal Son (watch below) the Father, who represents our heavenly Father is waiting for his lost son to return. The is watching for him and as soon as he sees him coming, he runs out to meet him. He hugs him, forgives him and restores him to the family. That is the Father's love and forgiveness for us too!
Now, to understand how we can better resist temptation, I want to draw a quick parell between how Jesus overcomes temptation and how Adam and Evil fell to the serpent’s tricks in the Book of Genesis. Each time Jesus is tempted what does he go back to? That’s right. The scriptures. Think about this for a minute and let it sink in. The Son of God, 2nd member of the Trinity (God the Father, God the SON and God the Holy Spirit) who was up in heaven with God before coming to earth uses scripture to make sure he is not tempted. Wow! If Jesus uses it, what shot do we have without it.
Now, let’s compare that with Eve.
When the Serpent approached her, Eve told the serpent what God said, and the
serpent replied, “Did God really say that?”
He was able to get her to doubt what God had said and question whether
it was right and/or good. This is why it is so important
for us to know God’s Word, the Bible. If
we don’t, we could be left guessing what God really said and what we are really
supposed to do. Or, if we don’t know, we
may just do what we think is best and that will not always be right.
What is the difference between how Adam/Eve handle temptation in Genesis and how Jesus does it here in Matthew?
Ever been lost? It is not as bad now, because we have GPS on our phones, but when I was little, if you had to drive around looking for a place that was either familiar or where you could stop and ask directions. It is scary to be lost. You are making moves and decisions, but you don't know if they are the right ones. That is how life can be if we don't know the Bible. We are just making guesses hoping we are going to the right way.
Tell about a time you were lost and how it made you feel.
It is not just knowing the scripture, because look what the Devil
does in the second temptation. The devil
quotes scripture to Jesus to try and trip him up. We need to make sure we have a good working
knowledge of the Bible and this will only come through reading it, doing devotions,
praying about it and coming to Church.
The Bible is on of the best tools God gave us to not be tricked by the
devil.
What can you do to help make sure you know the Bible well enough to handle tough situations?
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