Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”. (Matthew 4:1 – 7)
One of the classic Biblical passages on Spiritual Warfare is, of course, the temptation of Christ found in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Interestingly, in the first two temptations there are clear references to identity (“If you are the Son of God”).
Please prayerfully read the passage above which captures two of the temptations and consider Jesus’ response to the devil.
Something to think about:
Recognizing that it is the devil’s strategy to attack the identity of God’s children, how does your response strategy stack up against the approach Jesus adopted?
February 23, 2018 at 8:14 am
If we remain strong in our Lord Nothing but Nothing can puncture the armour of that belief. He feeds us with his love, protection and grace and if we resist temptation, that food becomes more nourishing. Don’t tamper with God’s works, (his doings his children, his world) is how I read it. We must remain strong and not weaken when tempted.
February 23, 2018 at 8:33 am
Jesus’ strategy = It is written…
Lee’s strategy = Respond emotionally, feel hurt, rejected, worthless, insignificant, spend time processing with the Lord, confess and repent before the Lord for not believing what He says about me, apologise to and ask forgiveness (most often) from my husband. 😊. I pray that I will be more alert to recognise the attacks of the devil to deceive me which can only done through more bible study and walking more closely by the Spirit.
February 23, 2018 at 7:41 pm
Lee, I wish I read your response before I posted mine. I could have saved myself some time by cutting and pasting parts of your comment. Thank you for sharing this, it gave me a visual of my own strategy and how I can make improvements.
February 23, 2018 at 12:47 pm
The ultimate word for temptation “IF” ….. What is amazing is that Jesus did not respond impulsively or in anger. To me, the narrative presents Him as calm and grounded although He was tired and famished! Jesus did not waver in his identity nor did he respond to defend his identity. He responded with certainty as the Son of God and with the authority and unwavering surety that what He was saying (as the Son of God) in response to the devil, was and is true. The devil had no come back!!!! The truth crushed the strategyt of the enemy. What is also amzing to me is that Jesus stood in His identity at several levels , not just in His verbal response. Here goes…. (1) PERSONAL – He knew who He was and who His Father is therefore He did not defind the statement “IF you are th Son of God..” (2) COGNITIVE – He knew His Father’s Word; He depened on it, He believed it and He lived by it, hence his response “it is written….” – that was His defense ..the truth of His Father’s Word (3) HEART, SOUL & SPIRIT – He knew where His Father’s Word resided … The Word was written in the holy Scriptures but the Word actualy says (Hebrews 10:16) I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds. (4) PURPOSE – Jesus remain in His role as the Son of God doing the will of His Father, NOT Jesus as God doing His own will. I will contnue to practice being grounded in my identify as the daughter of the Linving God. I am a princess because my Father is the King of Kings 🙂 . Are you a prince or princess? Do you really and truly believe that?
February 23, 2018 at 2:36 pm
Shows how to react to temptation.I will remember when tested to not waver but to be firm.
February 23, 2018 at 7:38 pm
My strategy doesn’t always measure up to Jesus’. It points to the gaps in my knowledge of the scripture. The enemy quoted parts of the scripture. Since Jesus knew the scriptures well He could quickly respond with the full understanding of the Word. Now I know that I will never fully grasp the breathe and depth of the whole Word but I certainly could do a better job at knowing more of it. So that when the enemy comes with half truths I will be able to resist.
February 23, 2018 at 9:06 pm
An excellent reminder, that when we are tempted our response should not be emotional but on the sound knowledge of who we are.
February 28, 2018 at 2:48 am
Confident of who I am in Christ, I don’t need to “prove” anything by doing the spectacular, if this is to “show off”! Jesus could easily have “proven” whatever to Satan and in the process end up obeying Him but there was no need to as he knew Himself. Simply stated, that is true identity: knowing oneself. I know who I am in Christ and as such should be able to recognize the subtle schemes or strategies of the cunning deceiver. Knowing the Word of God and praying “without ceasing” are key elements in my spiritual persona that provide the spiritual fortitude necessary for my identity in Christ. I am reminded that as a child of God, it is possible that God allows me to be tempted (just as how Jesus was led by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil) but even in the desert (to me symbolic of spiritual aridity) there is THE oasis, the Lord Jesus Christ, that constantly waters my identity in Him.