The temptation of Jesus

Post by **_schoel** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 9:46 pm

In Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus is tempted by Satan in 3 attempts:

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
4 But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple
6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”
11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

What are your thoughts regarding the spiritual significance of the "flavor" of each temptation? Are there meanings in the kind of temptations, or is this recorded to show Jesus resisting temptation?

Post by **_Dolphin** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 10:45 pm

Well it is obvious that each temptation seems bigger and more spactacular than the previous. If I were satan, turning the stones to bread seems like the easy kill because first, it serves an immediate need, and second, "hey, it's no big deal. You're hungry and you have got to eat sometime. No one else is around even. No one will ever know." Seems small and insignifigant.

With the other two, pehaps satan was playing to some form of dillusions that Jesus may have been having because of lack of food???

Post by **_Christopher** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 11:17 pm

I've heard it compared to this passage:

1 John 2:16-17
16 For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world.
NKJV

The bread temptation being lust of the flesh (hormonal desires)

The kingdoms temptation being the lust of the eyes (greed, covetousness)

And the throw yourself down tempation being the pride of life (status/haughtiness).

It was suggested that all sin fits into one of these 3 categories. I can't think of any that doesn't off the top of my head.