Matthew 4:1–4
1Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. 3And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.’ ”
Focused Thinking:
Who led Jesus into the wilderness?
He was led by the Spirit.
Why did the Spirit lead Jesus into the wilderness?
He was led by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil.
Why did God lead His Son to be tempted by the devil?
The passage doesn’t tell us directly, but I will speculate.
God wanted Satan to know he couldn’t defeat His Son.
God wanted Jesus to face and overcome the enemy immediately.
What was Jesus doing in the wilderness?
He was fasting forty days and forty nights.
He was preparing for His public ministry.
He was preparing to deliver His people from exile again.
He was preparing to establish His kingdom.
What did the devil do?
He tried to tempt Jesus.
He tried to tempt Jesus as his 40 day fast.
He thought Jesus was weak and vulnerable.
Jesus was physically weak but spiritually strong.
Why did the tempter say, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread”?
Again, Satan is trying to attack where He is the weakest.
- What is your weakest area?
- Where are you most vulnerable to attack?
Jesus’ spiritual strength is stronger than His physical weakness.
What did Jesus say to the tempter and his temptation?
But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.’ ”
Why does Jesus respond this way?
What does He mean by this response?
What verse is He quoting and why is the context so important?
Deut 8:1–3
1All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to give to your forefathers. 2You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.
Do you see the parallels?
Do you see the purpose?
- To humble you
- To test you
- To know what was in your heart (obedience or disobedience)
Why did He do this?
He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.
Jesus is proving that He can stand against the temptations of the devil.
Jesus is proving that obeying God’s is more important than obeying the flesh.
Personal Application:
I need to discern when the Spirit is leading me to fast and pray.
I need to plan times to get away for the sole purpose of being with God through His Word and prayer.
I need to live on words from the Word daily.
I need to live on the Word to fight against temptations.
I need the confidence of the Word to overpower the weakness of my flesh.
Interactive Prayer:
Father, help me to prioritize my time in the Word and prayer more than ever before. The more I see and experience God’s presence in our church the more I sense opposition from the enemy. Father, strengthen me in You, strengthen me in Your Word and prayer for the purpose of playing offense in spiritual warfare instead of just defense. Father, give me the desire and discipline to put on the full armor of God. Give me the ability to play both defense and offense. Give us the ability as a church to lead our people to stand firm against the temptations of the devil.
Father, help us realize how serious the attacks of the enemy are and that we can’t survive by being passive. Father, help us to be soldiers and to develop soldiers. Father, protect us from the ways that prosperity and luxury make us soft. Give us the ability to abandon the desires of the world and to embrace the desires of God. Give us a vision for You that is captivating and inspires us to live wholeheartedly for You. Give us the desire to come after You, to deny ourselves daily, and to pick up our crosses, and to follow You.
Father, we desperately need our people to become people of the Word and prayer. Please bless and anoint the “My Priority Time” book and use it ground our people in the Word, to grow them in grace and to give them to ministry. Father, help us to master the basics. Help us to increase our vision for You and to decrease our vision for the world. Father, I go back to John’s prayer: “He must increase, I must decrease.” Give us the strength of Jesus by giving us the desire and discipline to fast, to pra, and to use the sword of the Word of God. Father, show our people that the best way to protect themselves from temptation is to equip themselves with the Word.
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