Temptation seems to easily come my way. Pride, lust, control, even superiority -appear at my door, at my step, and in my life. Sometimes I will commit myself to a new plan of overcoming them, other times I will confess to a friend and seek his help. But more often than not, they continue to try and trap me.
Maybe you can identify, may be not. It seems like each of us is tempted -but in different ways. One friend can't have a glass of wine, while another brews his own beer.
Is there a pattern that we can follow to help us overcome the temptations that we face?
We read in Matthew 4 that Jesus was tempted. But when we read the story it seems bizarre and with little relevance to us today...
We find the Spirit leading Jesus out to the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. Satan tempts Jesus to turn stones into bread, to jump from the Temple and finally to bow to Satan in exchange for authority over the world.
Two extremes should be avoided when studying this passage...
- We must be careful to blame God for causing temptation. James 1.13 makes it clear that God is never directly responsible for temptation.
- We want to avoid ascribing to Satan the power to act independently of God. Satan can only act within God's sovereign will.
The First Temptation is for Jesus to turn the stones into bread. This temptation is all about Jesus using his power for his personal gain versus using his power to advance God's mission.
The Second Temptation is for Jesus to throw himself off the temple and have God catch him. Satan is wanting Jesus to test God, pushing Jesus to see if God will serve his personal needs.
The Third Temptation is for Jesus to bow to Satan in exchange for the kingdoms of this world. This final temptation involves immediate success- instant gratification. Satan tempts Jesus to skip his suffering and to become popular right now.
The temptation story reminds us that Jesus was unlike previous Kings, that he was unlike Israel. They succumbed to temptation, while he placed his obedience to God before his personal desires.
Now we can see the link to us today...
The triple-threat of Relevance, Popularity and Power are some of the greatest temptations we face. Jesus shows us the antidote, which is obedience to God.