Jesus' Temptations

Satan didn’t stop working after he was successful in achieving his evil purpose in the Garden of Eden. The Bible clearly shows him being given permission by the Lord to afflict Job (Job 1:12; 2:6). Jesus tells Peter of Satan’s desire to “sift him like wheat”, and he evidently was given permission to do so (Luke 22:31,32). Now that we understand how Satan works and know how lust makes us vulnerable to his attacks, let’s consider another example of Satan at work.

After Jesus’ baptism he was led of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. As you read the account of His temptations in Luke 4:1-13, a few things stand out that show him using these tactics we’ve studied. First, Satan’s temptations are directed at Jesus’ desires. This is most easily seen in the first temptation. Jesus hadn’t eaten for 40 days, and naturally was hungry. Satan tempted Him to prove His divinity by challenging Him to turn a stone into bread, attacking Jesus where He may have been weakest at the time.

In the second temptation Satan offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if He would bow down and worship him. In this temptation we learn there are things which Satan has been given and over which he has control. Sometimes we hear people say they received something they desired greatly, and that this was a gift given to them by God. That may not be the case. Since Satan has been given all the glories of the kingdoms of this world and is free to give them to whomever he wishes, the things we receive in this life may have been given to us by Satan, either as a temptation in hopes of enticing us to commit an act of sin or as a gift he’s given to someone who worships him. Frequently James 1:17 is used to support the idea that God provided something one badly wanted. But this verse tells us that every good and perfect gift comes from above. Anything that draws me away from God is neither good nor perfect. If I have a problem handling money as God would want and I unexpectedly receive a sum of money, that gift didn’t come from God.

In the third temptation we see Satan using one of the deceptive tactics we studied earlier. He quoted scripture in his ongoing attempt to get Jesus to commit the act of sin. Jesus, just as He had in the prior two temptations, replied with the proper use of scripture to counter Satan’s attack.

Consider how many times Satan tempted Jesus: three. Remember how Eve looked at the fruit in three different ways after Satan told her why God wouldn’t want her to eat it? She saw it was good for food (lust of the flesh), pleasant to the eyes (lust of the eyes), and desirable to make one wise (pride of life). Satan tempted Jesus with food (lust of the flesh), the glory of all the kingdoms of the world (lust of the eyes), and with the pride of life (“you’re too good to dash your foot against a stone.”) In 1 John 2:16 the apostle tells us these three things are not of the Father but are of the world.

In Satan’s temptations of Jesus we see him using the same deceptive tactics he used on Eve. He took advantage of Jesus’ desires through the same three worldly lusts and he quoted God’s commandments. Next, let’s consider how he uses another of his deceptive tactics today.