The Temptations Of Christ Pt 2

Reading Matthew 4:5-7

We begin this message by looking at the second time Jesus is tempted by the devil.  Jesus is located in the wilderness; a dry, barren, unsociable, isolated, deserted place communing with God forty days and nights then the tempter comes... Certain people consider fasting forty days and nights as an achievement but they are not located in a physical wilderness at the time of the fast.  

Jesus overcame the first temptation in the wilderness by correctly quoting in context, the Rhema Word of God at the devil (Deut 8:3).  Notice that Jesus never used philosophy, debate or discussion with the Word of God.  He stuck the sword of the Spirit into the devil's heart.   This is a pattern and a principle for the Christian believer to follow when dealing with sinful opportunities presented by the devil.  The devil could not manipulate, entice or influence Jesus Christ to sin.  Jesus would not be brought under the power of the kingdom of darkness.   Jesus was told to command the stones to bread!  Command means to exercise authority which He has over a certain person or thing.  The devil wanted  Jesus to demonstrate power.  However, Jesus is not a puppet pulled along by any alliance other than His Heavenly Father, (John 2:24).  He is not a politician following the party rhetoric or the majority of the people's wishes, unlike Pilate (the government) or the Pharisees (the religious bigoted fraternity).  If anyone questions the divine authenticity of the book of Deuteronomy they are wrong because Jesus quoted from it as His source.  

Looking, more closely at the following scriptures  (James 1:2,13-15, Romans 7:15-23), we can see that temptation to the believer can come from within or from without.  

What do I mean by that?  Temptations can come from an external source being presented and made readily  available to you.  Or they can come from an inward lust, a weakness and inclination for certain things, like an internal desire, yearning or craving, seeking fulfilment.    

It is not always the devil or one of his agents presenting the opportunity to sin (fall).  Considering the life of Moses he forsook the pleasures of Eygpt being the grandson of the Pharaoh and all that entailed, rather to suffer reproach, with the people of God (Hebrews 11:24-25).  Sin being referred to as pleasure for a season.  If it was not pleasurable, people  would not commit and practice it.  

In the book of James it refers to the within after being offered from an outside source.  In the book of Romans it is portrayed more as an infectious disease, present within carnal bodily members referred to as "sinful nature" or what can be termed "the flesh".  For any person, a believer in Jesus Christ or unbeliever to think you cannot be tempted and fall into sin means you are in pride at the height of deception. (Galatians 6:1). 

With reference to the original sin of Adam in the garden of Eden known also as the  "Fall of man". It was no a physical fall that happened to Adam and his wife that lead to expulsion from the garden it was spiritual and moral.  All of creation everything under Adam for which he previously had dominion over also got corrupted.  Weeds in the garden, briers, thorns, rust on the metal products, fruit that will perish and decay the land will not yield a harvest so easily.  It will be harder through sweat and toil to get the produce of the ground.  Child bearing pains in birthing children, no longer clothed in glory but dressed and covered with animals clothes.  The concept of atonement is introduced by the slaying of the animals and the blood being shed for pardon and forgiveness reading Genesis chapter 3. 

Regarding Jesus, because He has a divine nature ( impeccable), He can only be tempted externally.   Now the Bible says Jesus was tempted in all points yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). 

 The thee temptations in the wilderness presented by the devil to Jesus touched His body, His soul and His spirit.  The first being a physical temptation to the body, stones to bread to relieve the physical hunger.  The second being a soulish temptation throw yourself down from the pinnacle of the temple, it is somewhat spectacular in nature very eye catching to to the on looker.  It is very much like a bunge jump with no safety net or bunge. 

The final one is about worship, loyalty,  mission, commitment and reward.  It is aimed at the spirit of Jesus. He is being enticed by a reward.  Nevertheless He must offer His worship and allegiance to the devil to get it.  He must sell His soul His complete life over to total darkness and be an instrument of Satan on order to gain all the kingdoms of this world and their glory.

In conclusion, it is apparent that Jesus never compromised, negotiated, succumbed to manipulation, gave into fear, intimidation or domination of the devil.   He maintained, being straight and true faithfully committed to a divinely appointed mandate.   

The Temptations of Christ

The Reading Matthew 4:1-4 

Notice in verse 1 it was the Spirit of God who did the leading.  However, it was the devil who did the tempting.  Does God lead us into temptation?  One has to emphaticall say no, it is against His character and nature! (James 1:13-14)

The Bible says that Jesus had been fasting 40 days and 40 nights.  It was an abstenation from food for such a long period of time.  The duration was forty days and for forty nights, the location was a wilderness.   It was a consecration, a separation, a devotion a surrender, an abandonment to the purposes God, a purification and purging, a soul searching, and an isolation to God Almighty, the eternal Heavenly Father.   Jesus was preparing Himself for His earthly ministry of around three years in length.  

It is interesting to note in Luke's gospel (6:12) that He prayed all night long then He chose His disciples who became His apostles.  The sanctification and the separation to God had to come before the selection.  

By way of comparison Paul the apostle was in Arabia for 3 years before announcing himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ (Gal 1:17).  "Private philosophy determines public performance".  

Before looking at the first temptation of Christ, I am inserting an article about Christ and whether or not He could sin from www.gotquestions.org.   Could Jesus have sinned is it peccability or impeccabity?  

Could Jesus have sinned? If He was not capable of sinning, how could He truly be able to 'sympathize with our weaknesses' (Hebrews 4:15)? If He could not sin, what was the point of the temptation?"

There are two sides to this interesting question. It is important to remember that this is not a question of whether Jesus sinned. Both sides agree, as the Bible clearly says, that Jesus did not sin (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22). The question is whether Jesus could have sinned. Those who hold to “impeccability” believe that Jesus could not have sinned. Those who hold to “peccability” believe that Jesus could have sinned, but did not. Which view is correct? The clear teaching of Scripture is that Jesus was impeccable—Jesus could not have sinned. If He could have sinned, He would still be able to sin today because He retains the same essence He did while living on earth. He is the God-Man and will forever remain so, having full deity and full humanity so united in one person as to be indivisible. To believe that Jesus could sin is to believe that God could sin. “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him” (Colossians 1:19). Colossians 2:9 adds, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.”

Although Jesus is fully human, He was not born with the same sinful nature that we are born with. He certainly was tempted in the same way we are, in that temptations were put before Him by Satan, yet He remained sinless because God is incapable of sinning. It is against His very nature (Matthew 4:1; Hebrews 2:18, 4:15; James 1:13). Sin is by definition a trespass of the Law. God created the Law, and the Law is by nature what God would or would not do; therefore, sin is anything that God would not do by His very nature.

To be tempted is not, in and of itself, sinful. A person could tempt you with something you have no desire to do, such as committing murder or participating in sexual perversions. You probably have no desire whatsoever to take part in these actions, but you were still tempted because someone placed the possibility before you. There are at least two definitions for the word “tempted”:

1) To have a sinful proposition suggested to you by someone or something outside yourself or by your own sin nature.

2) To consider actually participating in a sinful act and the possible pleasures and consequences of such an act to the degree that the act is already taking place in your mind.

The first definition does not describe a sinful act/thought; the second does. When you dwell upon a sinful act and consider how you might be able to bring it to pass, you have crossed the line of sin. Jesus was tempted in the fashion of definition one except that He was never tempted by a sin nature because it did not exist within Him. Satan proposed certain sinful acts to Jesus, but He had no inner desire to participate in the sin. Therefore, He was tempted like we are but remained sinless.

Those who hold to peccability believe that, if Jesus could not have sinned, He could not have truly experienced temptation, and therefore could not truly empathize with our struggles and temptations against sin. We have to remember that one does not have to experience something in order to understand it. God knows everything about everything. While God has never had the desire to sin, and has most definitely never sinned, God knows and understands what sin is. God knows and understands what it is like to be tempted. Jesus can empathize with our temptations because He knows, not because He has “experienced” all the same things we have.

Jesus knows what it is like to be tempted, but He does not know what it is like to sin. This does not prevent Him from assisting us. We are tempted with sins that are common to man (1 Corinthians 10:13). These sins generally can be boiled down to three different types: “the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16 NKJV). Examine the temptation and sin of Eve, as well as the temptation of Jesus, and you will find that the temptations for each came from these three categories. Jesus was tempted in every way and in every area that we are, but remained perfectly holy. Although our corrupt natures will have the inner desire to participate in some sins, we have the ability, through Christ, to overcome sin because we are no longer slaves to sin but rather slaves of God (Romans 6, especially verses 2 and 16-22).

In conclusion; we can see that Jesus is impeccable not capable of sinning and that the first proposition is evident from the Biblical account of Him in the wilderness with the devil.  He was presented externally with the opportunities to sin.  It was not something He was conceiving in His mind or heart to later act upon.  His very nature is different to sinful human nature.  

Impeccable means without flaws, perfect, not capable of sinning. 

The Bible says that we are partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).  

The first temptation of Christ was a physical one.  The lust of the flesh,  the Bible records it similar to Eve in the garden gazing at the fruit on the tree, surely it must taste delicious.  A carnal worldly appetite for fleshly pleasures that appeal to the lower, the sensual, the base nature of man for instant gratification, satisfaction and relief.  

One would question was it a legitimate temptation?  Of course it was in many different forms.  Not just a natural temptation to alleviate the hunger of Christ.  Biologically speaking after 40 days and nights the human body can no longer sustain itself.  It has no reserve fats in it or foods to digest so it starts to eat itself, malnutrition is starting to set in.  Soon an individual will be looking boney their is nothing the human body can draw upon to eat so food is very necessary, imminently.  Jesus overcame the temptation with a counter "man cannot live on bread alone but by every word that proceeds out from the mouth of

God".  Peter realised the validity of following Christ not just for material gain after He had fed the 5000 men (John 6:67-68).  "You have the words of eternal life".   Eternal life is nothing to compared with material gain in this life time. 

Another aspect of this temptation was that it was supernatural.  In order for it to be a legitimate temptation we must consider the command of the devil.  He says to Jesus "command these stones to be turned into bread"v3.  That is a supernatural happening of a metabolic miracle to change the structural composition of one thing to another.  Stones being turned into bread.  We have to realise here the depth of this statement.  In order for this to be a legitimate temptation of Christ, it has to pre-suppose that the one who is being tempted has the authority, the power and the ability to do such a thing.  I guess that the devil has never tempted you with this because he knows you cannot turn stones into bread.  So in your case; it is not a legitimate temptation, to perform or produce supernaturally is not within your ability or remit. To do something like this ...turning stones into bread is a metabolic compositional structural change miracle.  Furthermore, this brings us to the greater revelation of  who Jesus really is!  My previous sermon "what is your concept of the Messiah".  He is so powerful the winds and waves obey Him, a fig tree dries up when He speaks to it.  What is your concept of the Messiah?  Have you limited the miracle producing power of Jesus Christ, to fit into your limited theological, self  contained, boxed in, church attendance, low level, framework of reference? The devil knew that Jesus can change structures and substances by just speaking a word.  The Bible says the devil's believe and they fear and tremble (James 2:19).  How powerful is your Jesus, this is very frightening to come into the presence of an all powerful living King.  It makes you tremble what He might pronounce!  

Going deeper with this temptation.  The  devil says "If you are the Son of God"...  The devil wants Jesus to prove Himself and His identity with a miraculous demonstration of power.  Christ is not insecure and He does not need a tangible sign to prove who He is.  Secure people do not need to prove themselves they already are.  They have a proven testimony and track record that distinguishes them.  A secure person does not submit to manipulation or the need to turn it on at the people's wishes.  

In this context, the devil is goading Jesus to prove it.  Scripture teaches that we please God by faith (Hebrews 11:6).  Why does the devil and unbelievers always want physical tangible evidence before they believe? 

Now the devil already knew Jesus was and is the Son of God.  Jesus had gotten onto the devil's radar.   In order to make those propositions, legitimate temptations, you have to know someone first, and how they tick.    Otherwise how can you realistically tempt them, if you do not know the triggers or the pressure points?  The devil had insight of Jesus.  The devil could well of heard the confession of the Heavenly Father following His baptism in the river Jordan "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased". (Matthew 3:17).  Jesus already had His commendation and validation from His Heavenly Father heavens highest authority.  What further need was there to give audience to the devil...?     

Jesus did not need to prove to the devil or a crowd of people who He was.  People in Scripture knew Him by revelation of the Holy Spirit not by just demonstrations of miracles.  Jesus Himself  said "except you see signs and wonders you will not believe." (John 4:48).   Neither Jesus nor the devil had any identity crisis.  It was the devil trying to set Jesus up by undermining His personhood, and challenging His divinity.  

Again going deeper with the temptation, we must consider the nature of Christ.  He is impeccable without flaw He cannot sin.  Consider His words in John 5:19 "verily, verily I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the  Father do..."  Jesus never violated divine instructions or compromised them.  If heaven didn't ordain it or sanction it, then Christ would not fulfil it on the earth.

Jesus fulfilled everything His Father told Him to do (John 17:4).  He is God incarnate (John 1:14).  To bow down or to be dictated to by the devil would be sin. Perish the thought!!!

So in closing, it was a real legitimate temptation concerning the lust of the flesh, appetite.  It was physical and appealing, it had manipulation woven into it, supernatural demonstration of power to prove Christ's identity.   Jesus would not and cannot be compromised!  The tempter knew Jesus and His abilities before hand and His authority and His power.   In order to make it a real temptation the devil knew the trigger points not just Christ's physical hunger but to superimpose His divine rights over His earthly human state as the Son of Man.  

Which brings us to the final conclusion.  That God, will not violate or abuse His principles.  He came in the form of a man suffered as a man and that meant hunger after forty days and nights without food.  He could eliminate His hunger immediately with a demonstration  of miraculous power but He would not violate His humanity and His own principles as the Son of Man in the flesh. Jesus suffered in the flesh as a man and would be manipulated by the devil's desires. 

To be continued ...next time looking at temptation two and three as the Holy Spirit unpacks and reveals more truth Praise God forevermore!!!!