Matthew 4:1-11

Resisting temptation...

Right after Jesus is baptized and receives the Holy Spirit he is, "Led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil." Why? Why in the world would he, or anyone, put themselves in a place simply for the purpose of being tempted? Doesn't it say somewhere (1 Tim. 6:11) to flee from all evil and evil desires? Maybe looking at the temptations Jesus faces will shed some light on why he went to be tempted.

Temptation 1 - Attacking the Physical
After fasting for 40 days and nights, I can only imagine the hunger he must have felt. Food would be an obvious tactic for Satan to use - it worked on Eve, Jacob and Esau, and even Moses. But when you step back and think on a bigger scale; what greater physical need could one have than food and water? Today most of us never even have to think about what going without food would be like. Our physical temptations center around our sexual desires or our vanity, but how much greater would the temptation for food be? While we may not know personally, most of the world does.

Temptation 2 - Attacking the Emotional
"Throw yourself down..." At first glance and to a logical thinker, this is not that big of a temptation. It seems like an egotistical challenge - "Prove you are truly the Son of God!" - would probably seem to fit equally as well. But Satan is attacking a much deeper places and much stronger desires: love and security. For most of us, these are our two biggest areas of struggle and challenge. The desire to be loved and to know that we are loved (security) drives almost all of our actions. They are written on our hearts and cause us to seek out the Father more than anything else in us. So, when Satan tempts Christ with the "challenge," he is really pulling on the strings of his heart - "Will God really be there for you, does he really love and care for you?" Now how many of us have wrestled with that same temptation over and over in our lives? More on that after the third temptation...

Temptation 3 - Attacking the Mind and the Soul
Satan's final attempt is actually more of an egotistical challenge than the second temptation because the offer is power. He is offering "the world." Again, the temptation of power...or rather the illusion of power tends to be a common struggle for most of us. Whether it presents itself in monetary terms or in the titles we hold, power is another core struggle for most of God's creation. At the same time (as with the first two) Satan is leaning heavily on the spiritual aspect, only this time he verbalizes it, "...Worship me." He knows that the key to deterring Christ's purpose is to deviate his spiritual holiness. To separate Jesus from the Father would make him just like all the rest of us - Fallen.

Perhaps Satan is tempting Jesus with the same desires that did Satan himself in when chose to separate himself from God? But there is no doubt about it - Jesus faced the temptations we all struggle with. For a long time I have heard people (and possibly Scripture, although I don't know where) say that Jesus has faced every temptation we face and so he knows our struggles. Now I have read through the Gospels several times, and I have never read anything about Jesus fighting road rage, pornography, drug use, or many of the other things I know we face today. Yet when I read about the temptations he faced here, I see the same essential temptations - only at their core elements. Today we face much more decorated and disguised versions of the same essential questions. I can only speculate on which form would be harder to resist, but I see the resemblance and I can appreciate Jesus' ability to resist in places I know I have fallen.

Now rather than viewing this as discouraging and a challenge to be better (as I have heard and read it for most of my life); what a breath of fresh air to know that Christ himself would be tempted by the same things I am lured away by. Despite Paul's writing, "Christ himself did not think equality with God was something to be grasped..." we somehow tend to believe that we are called to be perfect. Yes, Jesus models for us how to resist temptation, but his presence alone signifies that he knows we will fail. "Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?..." (Romans 6:1-2) But the realization that Satan attacks us with the same measures he used against the Son of God should 1. Give us confidence in knowing that we are great creations and 2. Alarm us to how serious the war for our souls is! Satan is not holding back. The fight is on and the gloves are off, but because of Jesus' conquering, "...sin shall not be [our] master, because [we] are not under law, but under grace."

Going back to the post that started all of this - isn't it great to know that we serve a God who is not only pulling for us and on our side, but made himself vulnerable and susceptible to the same struggles we face everyday. How could we not live with confidence and pride in his redeeming love and our place in his family! We are alive and Christ and "we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." (Romans 8:17) Share the power!!