Overcoming Temptation Like Jesus

One of the most informative accounts in the gospels is the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness found in Matthew 4:1-11. Satan wasn’t going to let Jesus carry out His ministry unopposed. At every turn, he looked for ways to throw obstacles in Jesus’ way. This is maybe seen most clearly when he directly tried to tempt Jesus. But more importantly, Jesus’ response teaches us how we can defeat Satan. 

Time and place. Why did Satan choose this moment to tempt Jesus? Jesus had just been baptized by John (3:13-17). Of course, Jesus did not need the forgiveness of sins that baptism would come to offer in the church. Baptism for the remission of sins works because it is the response of one who trusts in God for salvation and because it connects the sinner to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Neither of these things applied to Jesus for obvious reasons, but his baptism was still important. It was a sort of anointing to signify the start of His ministry. Jesus was given the Father’s stamp of approval and the empowerment of the Spirit.

 

After this anointing, Jesus went out into the wilderness to fast for forty days (4:1-2). This was a period of spiritual focus and preparation for the work that was ahead. From Satan’s point of view, this is the perfect time to try to undermine Jesus’ work before it even gets started. This is a good lesson for us. Satan doesn’t necessarily wait until there’s a weak moment in your life. He will go after you even when you are trying to make good decisions and serve God. This can ironically be a blind spot for us and Satan may win at a moment that we perceive to be without risk. 

 

Satan attacks from multiple angles. Satan was not content to put just one temptation in Jesus’ path. When one failed, he quickly tried again with new tactics (4:3-10). He appealed to Jesus’ power, His relationship with the Father, and desire for kingship that was rightfully His. Of course, Jesus was not fooled for an instant. He rebuffed the devil at every turn and did not yield. 

 

We can gain some insight from this into how Satan tempts us. He doesn’t wait around for the timing and pace that is convenient for us, nor does he restrict himself to one vector of attack. Wherever he can find an opening, he will take advantage, and he will probe relentlessly to find it. 

 

The power of Scripture. If you tried to imagine a battle between Jesus and Satan without knowing anything about what really happened, you might think that Jesus called upon His unique divine strength to overpower His enemy. Maybe the angels appeared to muscle Satan away, or maybe Jesus called down fire from heaven to consume him. In reality, Jesus did nothing of the sort. He repeatedly quoted Scripture in response to Satan’s temptations. This should be significant to us. 

 

If Jesus had done something supernatural, it wouldn’t have been very useful of an example for us. What am I supposed to do when Satan sets temptation in my way? I can’t overpower him with anything inherent in me. But Jesus used something that I do have access to—the word of God. This should give us more motivation to learn to use Scripture. God has given us such a powerful tool to change our lives and to fight off the devil! 

 

Twisting Scripture. Jesus was not the only one to quote Scripture in this account. Satan also used the word of God to his advantage and to try to convince Jesus to sin. Matthew 4:6 shows him quoting Psalm 91:11-12. This is one of Satan’s greatest weapons against religiously-minded people. He blurs the line between truth and error by misusing Scripture so that it serves his purposes. We must be on high alert when God’s name and words are invoked. Just because something sounds holy and godly doesn’t mean that it is true or being used accurately. 

 

In this account, Satan made some assertions from Scripture that were correct. The passage was repeated accurately and the underlying principles were valid. The problem was that he took those true principles and jumped to a conclusion that was unnecessary and incorrect. A lesser student of the Bible could be easily tricked by this tactic, but Jesus was able to use more Scripture to disprove Satan’s conclusion. We must learn from this. A small amount of Bible knowledge is a dangerous thing and can leave us open to deception. Take the Scriptures seriously and do not jump to hasty conclusions, no matter what an eloquent teacher may tell you. The truth will be revealed through thorough and careful study. 

 

Conclusion. The struggle between Jesus and Satan in Matthew 4 is a relatable one because we face the same kind of struggle. Will we learn from Jesus to use the word of God skillfully to defeat Satan?