Matthew 4:1-11
The King goes to war
Open your Bible to…
Heb. 4:15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Pray
Intro
√ The King goes to war
In chapter 4 of Matthew’s Gospel we find Jesus taking the first steps toward redeeming Mankind from the power of the devil.
We follow Jesus as He heads into the wilderness of Judea to meet the devil face to face.
It’s a war between the devil and the King.
The stakes are high because Jesus must demonstrate that He is able to do what Adam could not do…
…say “no” to the temptations of the devil.
Ap. Jesus demonstrates how to beat the Devil and temptation
Success in combat often comes down to choosing the right weapon!
Can’t fight against an assault rifle with a knife.
However, a knife would be the right weapon if you were operating behind enemy lines within earshot of enemy troops.
As we follow Jesus, the King, into war we learn a great lesson regarding the most effective weapon to fight against temptation.
Why was the King tempted? (vs. 1)
Matt. 4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
√ Why was the King tempted?
The first question we might ask is…
“Why was Jesus tempted by the devil?”
The answer to that question is revealed in our first verse, note…
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit”
Mark tells us…
“Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.” Mark 1:12
That is, it was the Holy Spirit that led, or drove, as Mark tells us, Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted!
The point is that it was the Father’s will for Jesus to be tempted…
…and that the Holy Spirit was responsible for making this the first priority of Jesus’ public ministry.
The reason that Jesus had to be tempted by the devil as the first step of His ministry to redeem Mankind was so that He could gain victory over the devil…
…where Adam and Eve had failed!
Ex. Sin and death enter the world
The story of how Satan defeated Mankind is recorded in Genesis chapter 3. Of special interest to our text this morning is vs. 6…
Gen. 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
We see that Satan gained victory over Man by means of temptation.
Rather than resist the temptation we find that Adam and Eve failed and bought into the lie of the devil and ate the forbidden fruit.
Sin and death entered the world at that moment.
Now we see Jesus, the “second Adam”, begin His war to defeat Satan by facing the same kind of temptation that Adam and Eve faced…
…yet without sin!
Ex. General MacArthur returning to the Philippines
The first step toward defeating the Japanese began where the US forces had failed.
So, King Jesus begins His war to redeem Mankind and retake planet earth by going out to face the best that Satan had to offer…
…and win!
Why in the wilderness (vs. 1)
√ Why in the wilderness?
Vs. 1 tells us…
Matt. 4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
Have you ever wondered why this battle between Jesus and the devil is fought in the wilderness?
Why not in Jerusalem at one of the schools of theology? Why not at the Temple…
…where Jesus could make a public display of the devil and show the world that He was the promised King?
I’d suggest that this battle takes place in the wilderness for a couple of reasons.
1) The wilderness is the end result of sin
Remember that when Adam and Eve fell to Satan’s temptation that it was in a Garden!
Surrounded by the beauty of God’s Creative genius.
Trees filled with food in every direction you looked.
A perfect environment for people to live.
But, when sin entered the world so did corruption and the perfect world that God had created for Man began to deteriorate.
The desert (wilderness of Judea) was a perfect place for this battle to be fought because it was a harsh reminder of all that Man had lost as a result of sin!
Surrounded by hot sand and void of life.
Not a tree or a plant in sight that might provide food.
A hostile environment that could kill a Man.
So, it would be the wilderness that the Father chose for Jesus to face off with the devil…
…to begin the war to redeem not only Man but also the Creation that had been destroyed by the sin of Man.
2) It was Satan’s turf
Not only was the wilderness a reminder to Jesus of the result of Man’s sin…
…it would also be a trophy that Satan could wave in the face of the King reminding Him that Adam and Eve had rejected God’s love there in the Garden so long ago.
It was Satan’s turf if you will.
Jesus had no one to stand with Him.
No army of angels.
No disciples.
No home field advantage.
Yet, the Father chose the wilderness to begin the war of redemption that He might demonstrate that the King was more than able to beat the devil as a Man…
…even on his home turf.
√ The combat in the wilderness
The greatest value in our text this morning for our own lives is to take a closer look at the combat between Jesus and the devil.
To examine the weapons of temptation that Satan uses.
The defense that Jesus uses to win victory over temptation.
What we find is that Satan is still using the same weapons that he used in the Garden…
The lust of the flesh…
“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food.”
The lust of the eyes…
“that it was pleasant to the eyes”
The pride of life…
“a tree desirable to make one wise”
…and that Jesus beats the devil without use of His divine power or attributes using the same weapon that was available to Adam and Eve, and to us – the Word of God!
Ap. Model for us!
We understand that Jesus can whip the devil anytime because He is God. Yet, He chose to fight the temptations of the devil as a Man so that we might learn from His example how we can resist temptation too.
The lust of the flesh (vs. 2-4)
Matt. 4:2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.
Matt. 4:3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
Matt. 4:4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”
√ The lust of the flesh
The first weapon of temptation that Satan uses is the lust of the flesh.
That is, Jesus is hungry, who wouldn’t be after fasting for 40 days…
…and Satan suggests that Jesus use His divine power to transform rocks into bread.
Doesn’t seem like a bad idea, after all, Jesus was probably in need of food! So where’s the sin?
No commandments in the Bible that read…
“Thou shalt not turn rocks into bread”
So what’s the problem?
The sin is found in that if Jesus turned rocks into bread it would have been an act of disobedience to the will of God.
The Father’s will for Jesus was to be hungry in the wilderness (the Spirit led Him there).
Therefore, to satisfy His hunger would have been contrary to the will of the Father.
The essence of all sin is disobedience.
So, while the devil’s temptation doesn’t seem unreasonable, after all Jesus needed food…
…Jesus recognizes it for what it is, an invitation to disobey His Father.
√ The weapon Jesus chooses
Note Jesus’ response…
“He turns Satan into bread dough and casts him into the Lake of Fire to cook for eternity!”
1st Opinions 2:7
Not! Note the King’s weapon of choice…
“But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” – Vs. 4
Jesus responds to the Devil’s temptation with a Bible study reminding him that people need more than physical food…
…they also need the spiritual food of God’s Word, specifically to obey God’s Word even when it means denying one’s fleshly desires.
√ It’s a war
At the root of this temptation is the war between the Flesh and the Spirit.
That is, the lust of the flesh (that ungodly desire to feed our physical appetites)…
…wars against the Spirit for dominance of a person’s life.
At issue, whom will we obey…
The Flesh?
The Father?
The Father knows what is best for us, and that includes providing for the needs of our body. However, the flesh knows no restraint and will indulge itself to the point of harm.
Ex. Kids and Candy
They’ll eat until they’re sick!
Well, the Father knows what’s best for us and has given us perimeters to protect us from our flesh nature.
The pride of life (vs. 5-7)
Matt. 4:5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple,
Matt. 4:6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:
“He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and,
‘In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”
Matt. 4:7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’ ”
√ The pride of life
The second weapon of temptation that Satan uses is the pride of life, note how it works…
Satan reminds Jesus that the Father had promised to watch over Him and protect Him from harm.
He then suggests that the Father is obligated to protect Jesus no matter what…
…even from self-inflicted harm because He is the Son of God.
The sin results from doing what one knows to be wrong, or harmful…
…in an attempt to manipulate God and force Him to save us from the consequence of our disobedience.
Ex. Child threatening to hold their breath until they get their way
At its core the pride of life is the sinful behavior that tries to manipulate God to do my will…
…instead of His will.
Ex. The children of Israel who rebelled and went to fight the Canaanites when God told them not to (Num. 14)
√ The weapon Jesus chooses
This time Jesus blasts Satan into carbon!?
Nope, vs. 7 tells us that…
“Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’ ”
Isn’t that interesting? Once again Jesus appeals to the Word of God to deflect the temptation of the devil!
The point is that Jesus sees right through the temptation of the devil and recognizes that to follow Satan’s suggestion would…
…violate God’s Word!
So, Jesus finds strength and protection from Satan’s temptation by correctly applying God’s Word to His life experience.
Ap. God isn’t obligated to protect us from our own stupidity
In the early days of the so-called “Jesus people” a problem developed among some of those young converts.
They reasoned that since Jesus was coming back any day now…
…they could run up their credit, borrow heavily, and stop working because they weren’t going to have pay for all that debt after the Rapture!
God has given us His Word to guide us in life so that we can make wise decisions. To that we need to know His Word and how to apply it correctly in our lives.
The lust of the eyes (vs. 8-11)
Matt. 4:8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
Matt. 4:9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
Matt. 4:10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”
Matt. 4:11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
√ The lust of the eyes
The third weapon of temptation that Satan uses is the lust of the eyes, note how it works…
Satan shows Jesus something He wants, in fact, it’s the very thing He has come to redeem…
…the world!
But, there’s a catch!
To get the world Jesus has to worship the devil and forgo the Cross!
Both require Jesus to disobey what the Father had given the King to do.
In a sense the lust of the eyes is that sin which takes our eyes off of what God wants us to do…
…and captures our affection with what the devil wants us to see.
Close
√ The King goes to war
Jesus’ first act of public ministry is to serve notice to the devil that He’s come to redeem…
Mankind and the Earth
He does so by go toe-to-toe with the devil in the wilderness and defeats him at the very point where Adam and Eve failed.
Ap. The weapons of war
His Word! We need to know it so that we can use it effectively to counter the temptations that the devil brings our way.
Jesus has given us an example to follow – let’s do it His way!