Tuesday: “Not By Bread Alone”
Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, . . . was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil
(Luke 4:1-2, NKJV). Born for a God-ordained mission, commissioned to the task at His baptism, equipped with the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus the Christ retreated into the wilderness to contemplate the task ahead.
Image © Krieg Barrie from GoodSalt.com
The temptation in the wilderness was a significant battle between Christ and Satan in the great controversy, which has raged ever since Lucifer’s rebellion in heaven. In the wilderness, when the Savior was weak from 40 days of fasting, when the journey ahead looked bleak and weary, Satan took personal command in his attack against Jesus. Satan saw that he must either conquer or be conquered. The issues of the conflict involved too much to be entrusted to his confederate angels. He must personally conduct the warfare.
-Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 116.
Note what Satan said to Christ: If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread
(Luke 4:3, NKJV). What is Satan trying to do in this account that reflects what he attempted to do in heaven?
Bread is not the central issue here. Yes, the 40-day fasting in the wilderness must have made the Savior hungry, and Satan used that circumstance as bait. But Satan knew that Jesus is the Creator of the universe. To Him who created the universe out of nothing, making bread out of stone was not an issue. The crucial point in the temptation is found in its preface: If You are the Son of God.
Only 40 days before, the voice from heaven attested that Jesus was indeed the Son of God, and now should Jesus doubt that heavenly assurance? Doubting God’s Word is the first step in yielding to temptation. In heaven Satan challenged the authority of Jesus; he does so here, as well; even if in a much more subtle manner than he tried in heaven.
How can you learn not to succumb to Satan’s attempts to get you, as he tries with all of us, to doubt God’s promises?
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Satan's favorite place is in the murky shadows, in the gray areas where there isn't a clear yes or no. It is in those gray areas that he has a field day with us and when we lose no matter what we do then he delights in pounding on us, telling us we can never be saved because of our choice. As Jesus once said of His opponents, "For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say,`He has a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say,`Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'" (Matt. 11:18-19 NKJV). How can one win under that kind of thing? Heads I win, tails you lose.
What Jesus saw in those temptations was the underlying insinuation to doubt an undeniable statement from God as to Jesus' relationship with the Father. We usually get tripped up when we fail to see where the real action is, the sleight of hand that has our focus in the wrong place while he comes in through the back door and nails us where we least expect it.
In the temptation to cast Himself down because angels had charge over Him Satan used scripture but he was twisting it and was putting the emphasis in the wrong place. It wasn't an argument from scripture or its interpretation but another temptation to doubt God's continual guidance and support. It was to prove something that by faith we are to have as a matter of routine. If we need to have a miracle to show us God is with us then we have lost our faith in God's abiding presence and as scripture says, "for whatever is not from faith is sin" (Rom. 14:23 NKJV). But Jesus saw through that and wouldn't go there. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Heb. 11:1 NKJV). The claim of the real Christian is that God has promised and I believe it.
"But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead,and Christ will shine on you.”
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit," Ephesians 5:13-17.
I used to think that the Holy Spirit only started His real work after Jesus ascended to heaven but I have discovered that He had a major part to play right from the start of the New Testament.
John was filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb.
Mary became pregnant with Jesus through the Holy Spirit
Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit
Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit
Simeon was filled and instructed by the Holy Spirit
John foretold that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire
The Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descended on Jesus
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit was led by the Spirit into the wilderness
I used to wonder why would the Spirit lead Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted, when Jesus taught us to pray “lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil”?
But this was Jesus mission to conquer Satan, he was perfectly prepared for this combat, He was full of the Holy Spirit, He had just been anointed as the Messiah, His Father had declared that He was the Son of God, He then spent 40 days in intimate communion with His Father, He would never be in a better state spiritually to take on the devil. Jesus faced Satan head on and overcame him so that we didn’t have to fight him because he is a defeated foe.
Thanks for that. I never looked at it like that.
The three Temptations have a parallel in the Holy Place of the Sanctuary.
Table of showbread:
1. The table of showbread represents Jesus as the bread of life.
2. Jesus was tempted to turn stones into bread to satisfy his hunger.
7 Branched Candle Stick:
1. The 7 Branched Candle Stick is a symbol of Jesus who is the light of the world.
2. Satan shows Jesus cities bright and beautiful in exchange for worship. Satan didn’t show Jesus the poverty and decay also found in cities. Jesus would not trade this false picture of cities for the worship that only belongs to God. Jesus came to save those caught in poverty and decay.
The Altar of Incense:
1. The Altar of incense is a symbol of the prayers of God’s people ascending to heaven.
2. Jesus was tempted to offer a presumptuous prayer asking God to save Him from harm.
The HolySpirt is the one that leads and guides us no one will come to Jesus unless he or she has been led to Him. John3.16. all three are One. I thank God Jesus was willing to go to the cross for mankind.
Thank you so much Tyler! your words were so profound and exactly what I needed to hear. God bless you Sir. You wouldn't even know how what you said transformed me. Thank you all for taking the time to comment and edify believers and lovers of Christ around the world. I feel so blessed to be part of such a community. Thank you so much for your willingness to share.
I also am blessed to be here. So much infor.
One of the points in todays lesson is that Satan's temptations are well calculated to cause us to doubt the promises of God.
But what if one poor soul doesn't have a knowledge of God's promises?
It is important for us to learn from the bible all the Promises that God has assured us that He will perform. Let me give 1 example:
Genesis 1:1; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Isaiah 1:18; Jeremiah 31:33; Psalms 51:10; 1 John 1:9.
These verses give the promise that no matter how sinful and dark my life maybe, God has promised that He is willing and able to forgive, and create me into a new person the same way He made the earth from a dark ball of water.
So next time Satan comes and tempts me to believe that i can never be fit for heaven, i have Gods promises to assure me of Gods plans in my life.
"Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." Psalms 119:11 (KJV)
Blessed be the Name of the Lord.
It has always been Satan's tactic to get us to doubt or disobey God's word. Here he is telling Jesus to prove that He is the Son of God by disobeying the Father. Just before Jesus went into the wilderness, the Father affirmed that He was His Son whom He was very pleased with--why? Jesus had obeyed the Father when He asked John to baptize Him, setting an example for us. The Holy Spirit alighted on Him, bearing witness that Jesus was the Son of God. It was the Holy Spirit who led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted (Matthew 4:1). The devil was not the one in control here. Jesus was. When the devil challenged Jesus to satisfy His hunger, Jesus made it clear that He would not put self before God. He was there to do the will of the Father. Before his fall from heaven, Lucifer was all about self--In Isaiah 14:13, 14, he said "I" five times. When Jesus told him that man does not live by bread alone, He was in essence saying that obeying and living by the word of the Father was more important to Him than satisfying His own needs. By not giving into the temptation to turn the stone into bread, Jesus was showing that He was the Son of God.
In heaven the enemy challenged God's authority and he did the same in the Garden of Eden when he succeeded in getting Eve to disobey God's instruction to Adam and her and here he is trying to get Jesus to disobey the Father. In both cases, he tried to usurp God's authority by casting doubt and always making it appear harmless. In Eve's case, what's so wrong about wanting to be wise like God? Here, it's You're hungry, what's wrong with using Your divine powers to feed Yourself? He could tell any one of us to do something that might seem harmless at the time and even reasonable. However, the problem is not in the temptation itself but what it would mean if we give into it. It would mean listening and obeying the enemy instead of God who always wants what is best for us while the enemy wants to destroy us. In the Garden of Eden, Satan didn't care about Eve, He wanted to hurt God. Here, he wanted Jesus to disappoint His Father through this act of disobedience but, Jesus was unto Satan and his wiles and He used the Word of God to defeat Him.
We too can learn not to succumb to Satan's attempts to get us which he will try to do until Jesus comes again, by doing what Jesus did--use the Word to defend ourselves. God's Word is our weapon against Satan's temptations. We have the armour of God to deflect those darts. As long as we put God and His Word before our desires and needs, the devil will not succeed.
glory be to God i have learnt alot here God bless you fellows so much
I beleive that as long as we look to Jesus for strength during our hour of temptation He will deliver us. I beleive that the more we resist tempations in our lives as they will come, the stronger we will become with the help of the Holy Spirit. We must understand that we can not stand strong against temptations in our lives without the help of the Holy Spirit. Look to Jesus.
Thank you very much about your comments i'm learning something out of it. May the good Lord give us strenght to defeat satan and don't allow him to rule our lives