Responding to Temptation

Matthew 4 covers so much territory that it's hard for me to pick an area of focus. The temptation of Jesus (vs 1-11)? The calling of the disciples (vs. 12- 22)? The beginning of Jesus' public ministry (vs. 23-25)? Perhaps because we are just now leaving the "holiday season", the issue of temptation seems at the forefront of my mind as I ponder this reading. Having been taught over the years to pay attention to connecting words, I note that Verse 1 begins with "then". At the end of Chapter 3, Jesus was baptized by John and the Spirit of God descended upon him. "Then", at the beginning of Chapter 4, the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness towards temptation by the devil. The link between the presence of the Holy Spirit and the ability to withstand temptation seems implied. The temptations begin with these words: "If you are the Son of God". Does Satan doubt Jesus' sonship? My assumption is no, but that rather he is trying to get Jesus to reflect on what it really MEANS to be God's son. Satan seems to be saying that at the very least this sonship must mean that Jesus both deserves and has the power to have His needs met. If I am not mistaken, the same taunt of "If You are the Son of God" will be hurled at Jesus again later in Matthew as he hangs on the cross. The message in those words seems to be this: "do for yourself what God is refusing to do on your behalf". When the scripture foretold a Savior that would be "familiar with our griefs", clearly it meant that Jesus would choose obedience in the face of temptation and escape. It seems that in all of Satan's temptations, the aim was to get Jesus to use the power and authority that he had temporarily given up when he came to earth to live as a man. Satan wanted to trap Him into to using His power in a way that would make Him stray from His God-ordained mission on earth. The first temptation was to meet a physical need - hunger. Not many of us know hunger in our land of plenty, but we certainly have physical needs. However, the temptations we face in this area more often are over desires than needs. Many believers struggle with food issues, drugs, alcohol or pornography, and the enemy tempted Jesus in much the same way that some experience this today. The second temptation of Jesus resembles one where we might be led to measure God's love for us with a test. "Do you love me, Lord? Then....heal my cancer......help me to get pregnant......let me land that promotion......bring home my prodigal child, etc." The list could go on and on. As we believers look for those tangible measures of God's love, apparently we must take care not to pose it as a test. After all, we must look no further than the Cross to measure His great love for us. Finally, Satan offers Jesus the "kingdoms of the world and their glory" in exchange for His devotion. I suppose for us the equivalent temptation would be a quest for money, status, reputation or power. The irony in Satan's offer was that he only showed Jesus the GLORY of the kingdoms and not the SIN. As we are tempted to "get ahead" in this world, striving to live an externally successful and significant life, we can overlook the sin attached to those lifestyles, as well. Too often, people seem not to realize that the exchange of their allegiance from God to the ways of the world can be the price of "success". Jesus modeled for us the appropriate way to withstand the attacks of the enemy by reciting scripture. Our response begins with the phrase (or thought) "It is written". Unless we have the Word of God written on our hearts, how can we respond to the temptations Satan throws at us? And unless we read and meditate on God's Word, how can it be written on our hearts? I must confess that I seldom make New Year's Resolutions and that I am prone to procrastination, forgetfulness and occasional laziness . In other words, I'm pretty normal. That is why I am so glad to have personally committed to read through God's Word with my church family, and am looking forward to this BIG accountability group helping me to dive in to scripture in a fresh way in 2007. May our hearts and minds be filled to overflowing with new knowledge and better understanding of God's Word so that the messages of the enemy will not tempt us, and we will become Master-full in our handling of the "Sword of the Spirit, the word of truth". Karen