Overcoming Temptation Matthew 4:1-11

Here is a quick refresher from the previous devotional…

Jesus visited John the Baptist, where John was preaching repentance and baptizing those who wanted to follow in baptism. Jesus asked John to baptize Him, and John spoke humbly, saying he was unworthy to do such a thing. Jesus doesn’t get baptized for repentance, because He has never sinned; however, He does so to fulfill prophecy, and as I like to look at it, as an anointing by God. This is truly when Jesus’ ministry begins, and we have more witnesses recording the events as they remembered.

There are different points of view during this time: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. All are just as important as the next. We are so blessed to have such accounts recorded for us to gather more details surrounding the same event, but through different individuals’ perspectives of what they recall. This is another confirmation to know these accounts are valid.

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Let’s continue our next section on what Jesus does after He is baptized by John the Baptist.

Matthew 4:1-4

Temptation #1

“Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. (2) And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward a hungered. (3) And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. (4) But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

Verse 1

After Jesus was baptized, He was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. I believe Jesus was alone during this time, it was a time for Jesus and the Holy Spirit to unite as one. This is also a time that Jesus experienced temptation by satan. We don’t know if this was the first time Jesus had ever been encountered by satan, but I believe God had shielded and protected Jesus during the time He was growing up. Much like a lamb guarded by the Shephard. 

Verse 2

Jesus fasted for over a month, which is hard for us to imagine, but I have teenage boys. There’s a thing we like to call HANGRY, Hungry-Angry, a bad combination! They are NOT their best when a meal is late!

Imagine being out in the wilderness without food for 40 days and 40 nights. Our bodies begin to feel weak, our mind begins to go into survival mode, and at this point, Jesus must be past the feeling of hunger. Remember, Jesus is 100% man and 100% God, so He is experiencing what we would, but we would most likely be in far worse condition.

How can Jesus be 100% man and 100% God?

One way to better understand this is to put our own being into perspective. We are made of 3 parts- our body, mind, and spirit. Genesis 1:26. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…”

What Can We Learn From This Verse?

Satan attacks when we become weak; it’s never a convenient time when he shows up to wreak havoc in our lives. Now let’s see how Jesus handles satan

Verse 3

The tempter comes to visit Jesus, and the first word out of satan’s mouth is a lie…’IF this word is used as a condition/uncertainty. “If thou be the Son of God.” Satan is tempting Jesus into trying to believe a lie about who He is. We all know that’s not going to work! Jesus is omnicent-He knows all and sees all.

Satan continues to say, “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.” Let’s remember that satan knows a few weaknesses of mankind, so he foolishly attempts to try these on Jesus. Satan wouldn’t try this if he didn’t see Jesus as a threat.

Jesus was hungry, but Jesus was not desperate; He would not play into satan’s game. If Jesus made the stones into bread, what gain would Jesus have? To entertain satan with questioning who Jesus is and His capabilities, Jesus doesn’t have to prove anything to satan.

 Let’s continue to see how Jesus handles satan with his lies…

Verse 4

“But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

It is written…these 3 words are powerful! We are weak when it comes to satan’s attacks, but when we put on the armor of God, we can defeat him! We will be doing a study on the armor of God soon!

Jesus goes on further to explain to satan that man shall not live by bread alone, food is not our only form of substance that we need to consume. To be strong Christians, we should consume God’s Word and pray; these two things are our daily bread, which gives us nourishment, hope, strength, joy, and protection.

So, we see satan has attempted to attack Jesus by using his hunger-his physical body. Now let’s take a deeper look at temptation 2…

Matthew 4:5-7

“It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”

Matthew 4:5-7

Temptation #2

(5) “Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, (6) And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against the stone.(7) Jesus said unto him, “It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”

Verse 5

The pinnacle in this verse is on a high point on top of the temple overlooking the town, this point that was described as some to be a ‘dizzy height,’ this was estimated to be around 500-700 ft high. It’s insulting to imagine satan thinking that he could put fear into Jesus; fear does not affect God.

Verse 6

Here we go once again to hear lies from satan. IF thou be the Son of God- IF is the false portion here.

 Satan is telling Jesus to cast himself down; this in itself shows that satan knows why Jesus came to be amongst His people, to be a sacrifice for the sins of the world. Why would satan ask Jesus to do such a thing? Perhaps to see if he could destroy the opportunity for the entire world to have redemption through His sacrifice? God has protected Jesus since he was conceived, satan won’t ruin God’s plans at any time.

Then the tempting portion, to tempt God to see if He will save Jesus, so satan is encouraging Jesus to tempt God. This would be a sin against God. Remember that Jesus is God, therefore, He cannot sin, He has no sin, and never will.

Verse 7

I imagine Jesus must be calm through all this, imagine satan trying to be conniving and a smooth talker, but there Jesus is, standing tall, unfazed with a calm disposition about him while he defeats satan with His simple replies.

Again, Jesus begins- “It is written, Thou shalt NOT tempt the Lord thy God. “

This can also be found in Deuteronomy 6:16 “Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.” This is also in reference to when the Israelites were freed from Egypt and God was having them journey to the promised land. They murmured for water and provoked God to anger against them; the location where this occurred is also called Meribah. Source

Matthew 4:8-11

“…Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.”

Matthew 4:8-11

Temptation #3

“Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; (9) And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. (10) Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, satan: for it is written Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve. (11) The devil leaveth him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto him.”

Verse 8

The third temptation, satan takes Jesus to a high mountain to show him the entire kingdoms of the world. It’s odd to think about this. Why would satan be showing Jesus the world in which He created? God is the creator of it all, but who is the one occupying and ruling the land? Satan uses his temptations to influence leaders.

1Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”

 Verse 9

Satan begins with another lie: “All these things will I give thee.” There is a lot to note about what he said here. First, this world does not belong to satan, even though he is in the world, he does not own it. Therefore, it would be stealing on his behalf if he were to give something that isn’t his to own in the first place.

The second part of this verse is ridiculous- “…if thou wilt fall down and worship me.” Jesus (God) does not worship his creation. God created all the angels, yes, satan as well. He is a fallen angel amongst several others he convinced to follow him.

Veres 10

Jesus replies with authority…”Get thee hence, satan.” Hence meaning from this place. Again, Jesus proclaims the Word of God, ‘for it is written’; this word written has a significance, meaning laws, statutes, laws enacted by the supreme power, and recorded. With few words, Jesus speaks with authority, reminding satan it is law- it is written.

Jesus continues to say, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” Jesus makes known that even satan needs to worship God, notice Jesus says THY when He is speaking to satan. This puts satan in his place, that he is a creation made by God, and He is to worship his God, for he is not above God.

Verse 11

The devil leaves Jesus, and God’s angels came to minister unto Him. This word minister means the angels came to serve Jesus. During this time, He hasn’t eaten for over 40 days and nights, He has endured satan’s attacks through temptation and the deceptive psychology. Jesus is now in need of rest and rejuvenation.

What can we take away from all this?

Temptation #1-Physical

Physical is our temporal existence. The things of this world will one day fade away; our bodies are made of dust, but we have what no other thing on this earth possesses: the spirit of God. We are responsible for taking care of our bodies in the best way possible by eating a healthy diet, exercising to stay mobile, and getting enough rest. God mentions rest, and even Jesus needed rest. God created a day and a night, He knew we needed rest. When we neglect these important aspects of our life, satan likes to take advantage.

Temptation #2- Spiritual

Spiritual Health: How can we strengthen this aspect of our lives? We get our spiritual inheritance from God- Genesis 2:7 “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” So if we are to strengthen our souls, we should get our spiritual health through our fellowship with God. Praying, also referred to as talking with God, and reading the Bible, are key to keeping spiritually fit.

Temptation #3- Worldly

Worldly gain leads to spiritual decline. When we put the things of this world ahead of God, we lose out on so many blessings from God. Just like we discussed in Temptation #1-Physical, the things of this world are not permanent. We are to lay our treasures up in heaven and not in this world. Matthew 6:20-21 “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth nor rust doth corupt, and where thieves do not break through or steal: For where your treasure is, there will her heart be also.”

How can we follow in Jesus’ example to defeat satan?

We are to put on the whole Armour of God, which can be found in Ephesians 6:11-17.

Why did Jesus have to go through this series of temptations? All the accounts in the bible are for our benefit, including this section, to set an example for us.

We are often encouraged to become students of the bible, where we can find our refuge. God is our protector, He loves you and me, He wants the best for us, and He is also known as our Heavenly Father. He wants what’s best for us, He made sure to preserve His love letter to us, one of our ancestral history and our future. The more we learn from the past, the better we can prepare for the present and future.

These are ancient times we are reading about, but to God, they are but a glint in time. People joke about there not being a book given to parents when a child is born, or when we face life’s challenges. Oh my friend, but they are wrong.

We do have a life manual, a book for every situation that we may come across in our lives, that has a solution for. The Bible. It’s filled not only with history, but with God’s unconditional love towards us. He has a verse to defeat anything that satan may tempt us with. God’s word ministers and heals us, gives us comfort, hope, and most importantly, salvation.

Salvation gives us the greatest gift of all, eternal life with our Heavenly Father. All the ones that passed on before us, if they accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, we will meet them again one day.

 Closing thoughts…

Let us make note of our weaknesses, so we know to be cautious, and we can be prepared when temptations arise. “Never give place to the devil.” Ephesians 4:27

Take care of yourself, and as a mom of 4, I can vouch that you need to make time. If you are not resting, then you are not at your fullest capacity to nurture your family. It’s not selfish to take a day to yourself or just an hour to relax after a long day at work. Everyone values rest in different ways; find yours and be more intentional with it. Don’t let that huge to-do list run you to the point you are burned out. Your physical, mental, and spiritual will all be affected. If you have a young baby or toddler, rest when they do; you may not realize it, but you need as much rest as they require. Rest can be getting a book in a quiet area, propping your feet up, and getting a cozy cup of tea. Permit yourself to unfold, melt all to-dos away, and just be present with God, the Bible, yourself, and a freshly steeped cup of tea.

Let us pray together before you leave…
Heavenly Father, we come to You first to thank You for living the example and showing us how to defeat satan. I pray that we will take this lesson and apply it to our daily lives, reminding us when we feel tired and exhausted that we need to take time to refresh in your presence. Guide us in putting on the full armor of God each day so we may be prepared for challenges and temptations that may come into our lives. Forgive us where we fall short, reveal to us of sinful nature that we may have ignored, help us to be cleansed of our sins, for we are not sinless but sinners saved by grace through Jesus Christ our Savior. We thank You for always being there for us. Be with us as we continue to study Your Word, and I pray You will continue to guide me as I type these blog posts. May You get all the honor, glory, and praise, in Jesus’ Holy name we ask, Amen.

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Some Bible studies may take longer than others to get through, as I am led to explain in greater detail the verses that we come across. These blog posts are not created by AI or used with any AI-generated assistance. These comments are of my own and where God leads me to write. I am not a professional, just a southern wife, mother of four, and I have a desire to spread the truth of our loving Heavenly Father. I want you to know, He loves you and He desires to have a relationship with you. We are not expected to be perfect, but we are expected to be lead by God and I feel that He has given me so much to share, I am not here for the fame or glory, but to get the message of Gods’ Love out to you, my new friend and so many others.

God be with you!