Suffering servant or conquering Messiah? Israel had long awaited their conquering Messiah. Many sects had arisen claiming that their leader would be him, but each one rose and fell. Our Savior was called by the Holy Spirit of God to go into the desert for 40 days to show who the Messiah really was—a suffering servant sent to heal His people.
Old Testament Parallels in Jesus’s Temptation
When we see Jesus in the desert we can see Old Testament parallels. Jesus, the second Adam, instead of going into a garden like the first Adam, was brought into a fallen world, into a desert. Where the first man, Adam, failed, Jesus did not. In fact, this event would be the beginning of His ministry of reconciliation of the world to Himself. Where Adam was born into the perfect Eden, but then cast out because of his sin, Jesus entered willingly into a fallen world, so as to provide an escape from the consequences of sin.
Israel's Wilderness Lessons
The Jewish people were brought into the desert and wandered there for 40 years. Why? Because they failed to acknowledge where their help came from. They complained, they built an idol to worship and they endured hardship. This taught them and built them into the nation that would become Israel. They wandered so God could teach them humility (Deuteronomy 8:1-5). In the end, the Israelites learned to depend on God, a lesson that Jesus Himself would serve as an example of during His time in the desert.
Relying on God Through Temptation
Jesus, led by the Spirit, wanders in the desert for 40 days, but in Him we are given a perfect example of relying on God for all our needs. Jesus was an example of one who was offered everything by Satan. "Turn the stones into bread," Satan told Him. "You're hungry, take care of your needs," Satan implied. Forget God. Haven't we also been tempted to rely on ourselves instead of relying on God?
Satan’s Tactics in Tempting Jesus
Next, Satan tells Jesus to throw himself off the temple because the angels will let no harm come to Him. Satan's temptation was for Jesus to gain glory for Himself by displaying His power in ways that were not God's will. Have we not been tempted to do things for self-glorification that had nothing to do with what God wanted for us? Notice also that Satan himself quoted scripture to Jesus from Psalm 91:11-12 in an attempt to entice Jesus to reveal who He was before it was time.
The Power of Scripture Against Temptation
Finally, Satan offered Him the kingdoms of the world: power and glory without suffering. This kingship was destined to be Jesus's, but the temptation to avoid the cross, the will of God, was probably a powerful one. All Jesus had to do was worship Satan. But quoting Holy Scripture, Jesus told Satan to "be gone" because only God was to be worshipped. It is truth that the "father of lies", the Devil, fears the most. As Hebrews tells us, Jesus was tempted in every way as man but did not sin (Hebrews 4:14-16).
God does not tempt us, but He does allow temptation to happen. Why? To build character, to build the spiritual strength it takes to live life for Him and to teach us humility. Jesus shows that temptation can be overcome by three things: prayer, fasting and knowledge of the word of God. Why does the Devil leave each time? Because Jesus quotes scripture. The Devil knows scripture as well. He also knows who he is addressing—the Son of God. The power of the word of God cannot be underestimated. How do we escape temptation?
Escaping Temptation Through God’s Provision
The Bible says that God has provided a way of escape when we are tempted (1 Corinthians 10:13). It is up to us to use it. We can ignore God. We can pretend that we aren't doing anything wrong. We know the lies of the Devil can be very convincing. He whispers to us, "You deserve this," "This won't really hurt anyone," "Your needs are more important," or "Just this one time won't matter." But if we belong to God and hear Him, the Holy Spirit reminds us these are lies (Romans 6:6).
The Subtle Temptations of Neglect
We often think that the Devil only tempts us to "do" certain things, but often he tempts us "not to do" things. When we should give to people, he tells us we cannot because it will not leave enough for us. When someone needs our time he tells us we cannot because we are too busy. When someone needs us to use our skills, whatever they may be, he tells us someone else can do it. Whether the Devil is tempting us to do wrong, or to not do what we know is right, he often chooses a time when we are at our weakest.
The Timing of Jesus's Temptation
Think about the timing of Jesus's temptation by the Devil. He had just been baptized. He had not yet begun to preach and teach. If the Devil could get to Jesus at this time and cause Him to sin, before Jesus could spread His message, before He could work miracles and before the Cross, then He could stop this world from ever having the opportunity to restore our relationship to our Creator. The world truly would be Satan's. Likewise, the Devil understands the timing of temptation in our lives. He chooses a time when we are the most vulnerable to the lies he speaks to us.
The Beginning of Jesus’s Ministry
Jesus's ministry began when Satan failed to successfully tempt Jesus. Our Lord began to preach His message of repentance, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). Jesus calls us, not just to feel sorry for our sin, but to turn from it. He calls us to turn towards God and trust and obey Him because our hearts are changed. We will repent because we love God.
From here, Jesus began to call His disciples. Next, He went throughout Galilee teaching in the synagogue, which was a place of worship and teaching for the Jews. In Luke 4:14–30, we learn that, in the synagogue in Nazareth, He read a prophecy about the Messiah from Isaiah 61:1 and claimed, before everyone, to be the fulfillment of it.
Jesus’s Proclamation of the Kingdom
He also preached "the gospel of the kingdom", literally the good news that Christ will rule in the hearts of believers. John tells us Jesus's kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). In Matthew 24:14, He reveals that, "...this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come." What He began won't end until His message has reached the whole world.
The Healing Messiah and His Growing Fame
Finally, Jesus healed the sick and cast out demons. By curing the sick and casting out demons, Jesus showed His followers that He really was the bringer of the Kingdom of Heaven, the Messiah. He showed love and compassion for those who had no hope. For He was, and is, the bringer of hope to the fallen world we live in. His fame spread throughout all of Syria. Later on, Antioch, Syria becomes the location where Jesus's followers were first called Christians (Acts 11:26).
Jesus's Temptation: Lessons on Overcoming and Faith
So what does all this teach us today? First, that we will, just as Jesus was, be tempted. We will, as He did, suffer, for we are not above our Master (Philippians 3:8-11). We also learn that temptation can be overcome. That Satan, the father of lies, can be defeated by the powerful word of God, prayer, and fasting. And after overcoming temptation, we can be used in great and mighty ways by God to further His kingdom, because we are His witness to all the nations.
Living Out the Victory of Christ
Through His temptation in the desert and His ministry on earth, Jesus revealed Himself as both the suffering servant who endured for our sake and the conquering Messiah who overcame sin and death. His victory over temptation not only fulfilled God's plan but also provides us with a powerful example of how to live a life of faith.
Jesus's Temptation: Lessons on Overcoming and Faith reminds us that the same tools our Lord used—prayer, fasting and the word of God— can be used by us today to overcome temptation. We can bring hope to a lost and dying world by living lives of faith that show the Kingdom of God to the world.
The story of the temptation of Jesus in the desert can be found in
Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13.
