Post on 22-Mar-2018
Very brief in Mark … 12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him. (Mk 1:12–13) Much more detail in Ma7hew and Luke … Tempta<on of Jesus follows same pa7ern as the Israelites disobedience in the desert. The Israelites: Demanded Bread -‐-‐-‐ Doubted the Lord’s Presence -‐-‐-‐ Despaired of His help (Jesus reverses all these acts of faithlessness)
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Then -‐-‐-‐ WHAT A HUGE WORD. What had just happened? Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted … It is not surprising that Jesus was tempted by the devil immediately aMer his bap<sm. Think back to your bap@sm? What were the weeks/months to follow like? No ma7er how good we think we are. How much we pray. How much we know God’s Word. We aren’t perfect, and even if we were, we would STILL be tempted. Why does the Spirit lead Jesus to be tempted? (rest, thought, joy, think through what was to come, how to do what was to come, how to deal with peoples view of what a messiah was to be) He JUST got the Spirit, and what does the Spirit do? Lead him out to save the world? Nope. Into tempta<on? Why is it a GOOD thing that the Spirit leads Jesus to the desert? (the devil is allowed to TEST Jesus/us, but not LEAD) Tempta<on = To Test (usual meaning) = But here (and most of NT) it’s to solicit to sin. What else was Jesus doing during this 40-‐days? Why did Jesus fast? (to commune w/God) Any experiences w/fas@ng? Any experience being hungry? What is the importance of knowing he was hungry? (doesn’t appear to be supernatural, he really fasted, and was hungry). What other emo<ons does Jesus show? Did Jesus get <red, feel pain, endure tempta<on, find jokes funny, etc … we must remember Jesus is fully God and fully
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If you are the Son of God (eluding to the words the Father used at the Bap<sm “this is my beloved son” ) What’s Jesus’ iden@ty? Does that iden@ty determine his biography? What’s our iden@ty? Should that help us combat tempta@on? • If you are saved? If God loves you? If all this bible stuff is true? Command these stones to become bread … Why? (preying on Jesus hunger/weakness) Would it be wrong for Jesus to feed himself? What is Satan really temp@ng Jesus to do? • To use his Sonship/power selfishly, to do it his way, not God’s way. To obey Satan,
and not God. • Is it a sin for us to feed ourselves bread? Too much – yes. Reply comes from Deut. 8:3. WHY this verse? Jesus is saying … I know what you’re doing, it worked with Adam, it worked with Israel, but it won’t work with me. Does Jesus ever do a miracle (feed, heel, etc) for himself? Does he ever use his “divinity” for himself? Why not?
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What’s the problem with throwing himself down and having God rescue him? • Would have go7en him a huge following, proved he was the Son of God, but not
God’s redemp<ve plan of suffering For it is wriKen … • Possibly mocking Jesus using scripture in 1st tempta<on. • Satan blatant misuse of scripture/out of context (Psalm 91:11-‐12) … no men<on of
God saving someone who would throw himself off a building in an effort to manipulate.
Is this a tac@c Satan s@ll uses today? How? (cults, prosperity, works, etc.) • Satan takes truth (God protects his sons) -‐-‐-‐ and turns it into a selfish act Jesus rebu7al (Deut. 6:16)… correct interpreta<on of scripture, shows devils misinterpreta<on/twis<ng of scripture. What is a tac@c Satan is using here, that he also uses with us? (he re-‐baits the hook)
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What is Satan temp@ng Jesus with? • a shortcut, an easier way, to power and glory … a way without the cross • Idolatry (worshipping Satan instead of God) Is the world available to Satan to actually give away? • prince of this world, John 12:31, god of this age 2 Cor 4:4 • can only offer kingdoms of THIS world (not heavenly) Do you see any modern versions of this par@cular bait? (prosperity, the good life) Be gone Satan! (says similar thing to Peter, Mt. 16:23 … Peter probably hoping for a similar worldly power that Satan is offering here). Jesus takes charge, simple command, and Satan must slink away.
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2 Cor. 2:11 … so that we would not be outwiKed by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs. Who is the enemy? • It’s not human choices, social systems, psychological problems, lack of educa<on,
or those evil people over there • It’s not dualism, monism, secularism, etc. • Devil/Demonic Forces, fallen angels … YET, they aren’t equal to God • Nazi Germany … where the people evil? Was the system evil? There is a real force
out there, that perpetuates evil.
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Where is the front? • “If you are the son of God …” God has just assured Jesus that he is the son of God,
yet where does Satan a7ack him? • Isn’t this the bulk of his a7ack against us? Isn’t every a7ack against our faith in
God? Our iden<ty in Christ? • He wants to keep us from believing the Jesus really is the son of God and the
SAVIOUR of the world. • Our self image rests in a love we can’t lose. Satan wants to keep us from that kind
of POWER. • People who don’t know Christ, keep them blind. • Those who say they believe, keep them ignorant of the Gospel. • Or get us to SLIDE BACK into moral jus<fica<on. He hopes to take away our
“blessed assurance” that we are made right in Christ. • Satan suggests ideas to the HEART, that contradicts God’s Word
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What is our best defense? • The rehearsal of truth • Most obvious, knowing God’s Word … (If Jesus Christ was saturated in God’s Word,
to combat Satan, how can we think we can do any less)
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So as we fight Satan’s lies in our hearts, and his works in our world, let’s rely not only on the Word of the Lord, but also on the Lord of the Word. We don’t simply have a Book, as perfect as it is— we have Jesus himself. Two guys are at a gym liMing weights, one guy is a spo7er, the other trying to liM the weight. Who understands the weight the most? The guy who is unable to liM the weight, or the spo7er who picks it up? Jesus understands the full weight of tempta<on. Whatever we’ve been tempted with, Jesus was tempted by it. He understands. He relates. He’s been tempted. But unlike us, he doesn’t yield to that tempta<on. He goes to the cross, he suffers and dies in our place for our sins. He’s our high priest. He’s our Savior. He’s our deliverer. He’s our redeemer. He’s our righteousness. He’s our hope.
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