TEMPTATION

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Matthew 4:1-17
Lesson #07
TEMPTATION

• Memory verse: Mat 4:17
• Read Mat 4:1-11 Temptation of the King
  • The word “tempt” in Hebrew is peirazein which not only means tempt but test and trial as well. While one word is used in Hebrew, we use different words in English depending on the focus of the situation.

	Test	Tempt	Trial
Source and Focus:	God is testing the believer	Satan is tempting the believer	The believer is going through a trial

• • The timing of the temptation:
    • Jesus was tempted immediately after His baptism.
    • Temptation often comes just after a great success.
  • What prompted Jesus to go into the wilderness?
    • The Holy Spirit led Him there.
    • Perhaps this was the same wilderness area where Moses and Elijah fasted for 40 days. (Exo 34:28 1Kin 19:8). The area was called Jeshimon (meaning devastation). It was between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. It was an area 35 miles by 15 miles of sand, crumbling limestone, and jagged rocks. It glows and shimmers with heat like a furnace.
    • 40 days has a meaning. The number 40 signifies a period of testing.
      • Why did Jesus have to spend time in the wilderness?
      • A person is not ready to minister to others until God has tested his faith and obedience.
        • Read Heb 5:8
        • The disciples’ faith was tested when they saw Jesus die on the cross and everyone scattered and fell away.
        • Paul was tested when he spent 3 years in Arabia and Damascus between the time he was first saved and the time he began to preach.
        • Moses spent years in the desert in Midian before God met him in the burning bush.
      • Jesus knew God had a job for Him to do. He had come to lead men to God. Now He must decide how He will do that. Would He choose to be the mighty conqueror, or would He choose the method of a suffering servant?
  • Was this Jesus’ only temptation?
    • No. Jesus was tempted when Peter tried to persuade him from going to the cross. (Mat 16:23). Jesus was tempted in the garden of Gethsemane (Luk 22:28, 42-44)
    • Why was Jesus tempted?
    • If God knew that Jesus would pass the testing, why was Jesus tempted?
      • He was tempted for our benefit.
      • Read Heb 4:15
      • In order for Jesus to identify with man, He would have to suffer the same temptations we suffer.
      • He was tempted to show us how to fight Satan.
    • Temptation #1 Turn stones to bread
      • One way to get men to follow him would be to give them material things. God had done this for the Israelites in the wilderness when He gave them manna, but they failed to be faithful to God.
      • Satan tempts at the level of your authority:
        • Satan knew Jesus had the power to change stone to bread and to call on angels to save Him.
        • However, Jesus did not use his godly power to supply his own needs.
        • We are tempted in what we know we have the power to do.
        • If Satan tempted me to turn stones to bread, it would be no temptation at all because I know I do not have the power to do that.
    • Temptation #2 Showed Him all the kingdoms of the world
      • The pinnacle of the temple
        • One corner of the temple was called the pinnacle.
        • There was a drop of 450 feet into the Kidron Valley below.
      • Satan tempts at the level of his (Satan’s) authority:
        • He promised Jesus power over earthly kingdoms.
        • Adam gave Satan authority over this earth in Gen 3.

Therefore, Satan could have given Jesus power over earthly kingdoms.

However, Jesus knew that the ultimate authority over this world belongs to God who promised it to Him in Psa 2:8.

• • • • • We are tempted in areas where Satan can deceive us in believing he has the power to fulfill it.

If you do not acknowledge Satan’s authority, he has none.

Satan was offering him the kingdoms of the world without going to the cross.

It was to be a compromise with Satan.

• • • • • Jesus proved you can never defeat Satan by compromising with evil.
    • Temptation #3 Cast yourself down and God will send angels.
      • The temptation was to attract followers by doing sensational miracles.
      • However, such a method will never produce faithful followers.
      • More and more sensational miracles would be necessary to please them.
      • Faith dependent on signs and wonders is not faith.

Temptation	Basis of Temptation: Real Needs	Doubts that Made Temptation Valid	Weakness that Satan Exploited	Jesus’ Answer
Make bread	Physical hunger	Would God provide?	Hunger, impatience to prove His Sonship	Depend on God! Focus: God’s purpose
Worship Satan	Psychological need for power or achievement security	Would God be the ruler?	Desire for quick power and easy solutions	No compromise with evil! Focus: God’s person
Dare God to rescue you	Emotional need for security and attention	Would God protect?	Pride and insecurity	Don’t test God! Focus: God’s plan

• • The Nature of Temptation

1 John 2:16

	“lust of the flesh”	“lust of the eyes”	“pride of life”
Gen 3:6	“good for food”	“pleasant to the eyes”	“…to make one wise”
Mat 4	“command these stones be made bread” (Mat 4:3)	“showed him all the kingdoms of the world” (Mat 4:8)	“…cast thyself down from here…he shall give his angels charge over thee…” (Mat 4:6)
Focus of the Temptation:	Body It draws us away from the will of God. Gal 5:16	Soul It draws us away from the word of God. Gen 3:6b	Spirit It draws us away from the worship of God. 1Pet 5:5-11
Results:	Destroys our Dependence on God Joh 15:5	Destroys our confidence in God Joh 15:7	Destroys our obedience to God Joh 15:8-10

• • • Every temptation that we endure, falls into the same three categories above.
    • The four stages of temptation
    • Read Jam 1:13-15
      • =1= Suggestion: “…drawn away of his own lust” (14)
      • =2= Meditation: “…enticed” (14)
      • =3= Mental consent: “…when lust hath conceived…” (15)
      • =4= Commitment: “…when it is finished…” (15)
  • Recognizing the deceptions and defeating the enemy:
    • The grand deception is getting a believer to believe that the will of Satan is the will of God; to twist your thinking so that you believe something is good when it is evil.
    • Mat 4:6 Satan misquotes the word of God (Psa 91:11-12) to try to get Jesus to believe that Satan’s will is God’s will.
    • Satan is defeated by the power of the spoken word of God intelligently used.
    • The spoken word is not a magic formula but is available to a believer living an obedient life.
• Read Mat 4:12-17 The beginning of the King’s ministry
  • John the Baptist was put into prison (12). The one sent to point the way to the King had completed his job. Now it is time for the King to show himself to the people.
  • Jesus fulfills prophecy:
    • Zebulun and Naphtali
    • These were the first 2 tribes to fall under the Assyrian captivity. In Isa 9:1-2, there was a prophecy that the Messiah would bring spiritual light to these two tribes. (Mat 4:13-16)
  • Jesus’ message is the same message of John the Baptist (17).
    • The center of Jesus’ ministry at this time is to be Galilee.
    • There were 30 fishing villages around the lake. Capernaum was the largest.

Homework
Matthew 4:18-25

• Application of Mat 4:1-17
  • In your walk with the Lord, what is one big temptation that you experienced?
  • How did you handle that temptation?
  • What was the outcome?
• Preparation for Mat 4:18-25
  • Read Mat 4:18-25
    • How do you explain that as Jesus called specific men to be His disciples they seemed to immediately follow him and left their old lives behind?
• Memory verse: Mat 4:19