EVEN JESUS THE CHRIST WAS TEMPTED

PROCLAMATION

“Then Jesus was led by The Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.  The tempter came to Him and said, ‘If You are The Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.’  Jesus answered, ‘It is written: Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”  Matthew 4:1-4 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

These words are from the gospel, the good news regarding Jesus, The Christ, as recorded by the Apostle Matthew.  After He was baptized by John the baptizer, Jesus, The Christ, was led into the wilderness by The Spirit.  There He fasted for forty days and nights.  Then the devil came and tempted Him, not just once but three times. (Matthew 4:3, 4:6, and 4:8-9)  Jesus did not yield or give in to the temptations.  He refused the devil on all three times. (Matthew 4:4, 4:7, and 4:10)  After this the devil left Him, and angels came and ministered to Him supplying all of His needs. (Matthew 4:11)  From that time on Jesus, The Christ, began to preach saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17)

APPLICATION

Since the devil tempted Jesus, The Christ, why are we so surprised that he tempts us?  The devil knows each of our weaknesses, and he knows exactly what to tempt us with.  The weaknesses that we have for certain sins, he probably helped us to cultivate them.  It’s not temptation if it is something that is easy for us to refuse.  The test comes when the temptation is something that we like or want but shouldn’t have.  Temptation is not a sin, yielding to temptation is a sin.  If we are not strong enough to resist the temptation, then we should avoid the situations where the temptations occur.  The Bible says, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”  But the first part of that Bible verse says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God.” (James 4:7)  Only with God’s help can believers resist the temptation to sin.