Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. Matthew 4:1 ESV1
Read Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, & Luke 4:1-13
Temptation is bad, isn’t it? Why then was Jesus led by the Spirit into temptation (see Matthew 4:1, Mark 1:12, and Luke 4:1)? We are supposed to plead with God not to lead us into temptation (see Matthew 6:13). And the Scriptures tell us God “tempts no one” (James 1:13b). Yet, God, through the Holy Spirit, led Jesus right into it. Why?
The first reason Jesus was tempted is so that He might be personally acquainted with temptation so as to be able to help us when we are tempted.
“He [Jesus] had to be made like His brothers in every respect … because He Himself suffered when tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews 2:17-18). “For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Temptation is not sin; it is what one does with temptation that results in or does not result in sin.
The second reason Jesus faced temptation is to teach us how to deal with temptation.
Satan can outwit us if we are not aware of his schemes (see 2 Corinthians 2:11). Taking an in-depth look at the temptation of Christ can give us a good idea of the way Satan works.
Satan plays dirty; he waits until we are most vulnerable, and then he attacks.
Jesus had “fasted for forty days and forty nights, [and] He was hungry. And the Tempter came and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread” (Matthew 4:2-3). The thing is, Jesus was hungry. He could have really used some bread right then. And Jesus was the Son of God, and He had the power to turn stones into bread. Satan dared Him to prove His deity by doing a miracle. But the Devil had no authority over Jesus. Jesus didn’t have anything to prove to Satan. Instead, Jesus confronted Satan with truth from the Scripture which applied to the situation. “He answered, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God”’ (Matthew 4:4).
If you are in Christ, Satan has no authority over you either. You don’t have to prove anything to him. You are a child of God. But you are also human with physical needs. Satan waits for an opportune time (see Luke 4:13). He will watch to see when you are feeling needy, and he will tempt you with something which is in your power to obtain, but it won’t be the right time for such a thing. Jesus could have turned stones into bread, but it wasn’t the right time for a miracle. Jesus knew that. Deep down you probably know when you are tempted, that is isn’t the right time to fulfill your need either. Follow Jesus’ example, and use truth from the Scriptures, as it applies to your situation, to combat the Tempter. To be effective in silencing the Devil with Scripture, though, you have to know the Bible.
Satan is persistent; when he is shot down, he steps up his game.
Notice, in the second temptation, how the Devil attempted to use Jesus’ previously successful strategy against Him. Again, Satan tempted Jesus to prove that He is the Son of God. This time the Tempter used Scripture. “’If you are the Son of God, throw Yourself down, for it is written, “He will command His angels concerning you,” and “On their hands, they will bear You up, lest You strike Your foot against a stone”’ (Matthew 4:6). Jesus, still knowing He had nothing to prove, again used Scripture to render the Devil speechless. Jesus said to him, “’Again it is written, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test”’” (Matthew 4.7).
You are in particular danger if you think you are safe just because you have once defeated Satan. “Let anyone who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). “The Devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking to devour someone” (1 Peter 5:8). Who better to devour than someone who complacently thinks he/she knows how to conquer the Devil? Satan will continue to come at you with greater fury than he has in the past. You will not be able to fight him in your own power. “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the Devil” (Ephesians 6:10-11). Remember who you are and Whose you are. “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble … Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you” (James 4:6 & 8). He will enable you to be victorious (see Romans 8:34-37).
Satan is a deceiver (see 2 Corinthians 11:3). He will tempt you with something good to be obtained in the wrong way.
He tempted Eve to become like God. There is nothing wrong with striving to be like God. We are, after all, created in His image (see Genesis 1:27), and once we are saved, we are being “conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29). Satan tempted Eve to obtain God-likeness by taking an easy way out. But the easy way out was disobeying God, and the easy way out has caused pain for all mankind ever since.
Jesus came to buy back humanity from Satan’s control; He knew He was to do that through His death. Satan was willing (or at least pretended to be willing) to give Jesus that for which He had come in a seemingly much easier way than death. “Again, the Devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said, ‘All these I will give you if you will fall down and worship me’” (Matthew 4:8-10). One little bow, one act of worship, and what Satan owned would have become Jesus’. But one little bow, one act of worship and Jesus would have been disqualified as our Savior. Humanity would have had no hope for freedom. Jesus knew that, and “said to him, ‘Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve”’ (Matthew 4:10). “Then Satan left Him” (Matthew 4:11).
Satan wants to destroy you and your purpose, too. He will attempt to do that by giving you an easy way out. You may have heard the saying, “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.” If Satan is the salesman, that proverb is always true. How can you prevent yourself from becoming another tragedy? “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). Look for the way out; the way out is Jesus and your reliance on Him. Pray for the courage to take the way of escape through the power of Jesus. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). Don’t be afraid to demand, “Be gone, Satan!” If you are a child of the King, you have just as much a right to say that as Jesus did. “You are from God and have overcome … He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Use the Power that is within you to defeat the lesser power that torments you.
The third reason Jesus was tempted was to prove He would not and could not fall into sin.
By not falling for Satan’s dares to prove Himself the Son of God, He actually proved He was the Son of God. “God cannot be tempted by evil” (James 1:13b). Jesus was fully man, but He was also fully God. He never lost sight of Who He was or why He had come. You are not God, but “His divine power has granted [to you] all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called [you] to His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to [you] His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become [a partaker] of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (2 Peter 1:3-4). Take God up on His Word, and no longer be subject to Satan and his lies and trickery.
1Scripture quotations marked with ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All Scriptures are taken from the ESV unless otherwise noted. I have capitalized references to God.