The First Temptation For Jesus

1. The first temptation, turning a stone into bread, is believed to cause Jesus to doubt himself and to doubt his sonship. However, this temptation is really to tempt Jesus to use his own power to comfort himself and to betray the Father. If Jesus had turned the stone into bread he would have been doing the exact opposite of God’s will and would not have been showing the true character of God. Jesus needed to resist this temptation and look to God alone, not turn to his own “powers” to feed himself. This temptation provides a slew of learning for Christians. We need to evaluate ourselves and remember, that just because we have the power to do something, does not mean God wants us to do it. Jesus did exactly what his Father willed him to do.

Satan attempts to lure Jesus to hurl himself off of the pinnacle of the temple. Satan says that if Jesus is who he really says he is, then the angels must come and save him. Jesus surely could have done this and the angels would have saved him. Also, the people around would have seen this great wonder that Jesus preformed to save himself. Satan was attempting to make Jesus force God into saving him. If Jesus had leapt off the pinnacle of the Temple and forced God to save him, this is not trust. Jesus would not be trusting in God and being obedient. Instead Jesus would have been forcing God or “holding a gun to God’s head in an attempt to manipulate him into doing what he wanted” (pg. 38). Jesus again, responds in a manner that ultimately shows his true Messiahship. Jesus tells us not to test the Lord our God. Jesus also refers to the Old Testament, when the Israelites tempted God and demanded that He saved them. The Israelites wanted this protection and power to show that God was in fact there, when God had already been doing incredible works to show them he was

The final temptation, as the book describes, “is probably the most unsubtle and yet most alluring of the three” (pg. 44). Satan attempts to tempt Jesus into rivaling God. Satan tells Jesus to worship him and he will give him all things on the earth and under his control. This was a huge temptation for Jesus, because it meant a way to bypass the cross. It was a way for Jesus to gain complete sovereignty that he is promised after the cross, but he could get it before having to die on the cross. This would ultimately deny everything that God had for Jesus. It would go against every plan or purpose. Jesus could have missed all the suffering he was about to face. He would not have had to submit to the Father daily, he would not have had to die for us, he would not have had to suffer for 3 years thinking about his death that was too come. Jesus could have avoided all the suffering by simply bowing to Satan. Satan’s ultimate goal was to tempt Jesus away from what God had for him. Satan was trying to manipulate God and manipulate how Jesus viewed God. Jesus would receive all these things that Satan was “offering” to him and much more if he remained obedient to his Father, which he