The Humanity of Jesus - Matthew 4
In a group discussion, someone described an aspect of their journey as a Christian. She explained how she struggled to relate to Jesus because He was perfect and we will never be. She asked herself, how could He possibly know what we are going through if He did not struggle as we do? She continued to explain she eventually found comfort in realizing Jesus did experience many things we do. He was falsely accused, tempted, bullied, laughed at, called names, and persecuted. He was human, Son of Man, but also God, Son of God. It may be a tricky relationship to understand, but I want to focus on the first part.
In the beginning of Matthew, chapter 4, Jesus was led by the spirit and tempted by the devil. It reads, “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry.” My study bible included a note saying: this was a test of character, initiated by God.
The devil tested Jesus three times. In the first attempt, he said, "If you are the Son of God, turn these stones to become loaves of bread. Jesus told him, "No! The scriptures say, People do not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Here, the devil tried to get Jesus off of His destined path, tempting him to take the easy way out. It’s not that Jesus could not turn the stones into bread, but He knew that was not his purpose.
In the second attempt, the devil manipulates scripture to try to get Jesus to jump off of the highest point of Jerusalem. The devil quotes Psalm 91:11-12 saying, “He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won't even hurt your foot on a stone”. Jesus responded with scripture saying, “You must not tempt the Lord your God."
In the final attempt, the devil takes Jesus to a high mountain and shows him all the kingdoms of the world saying, “I will give it all to you if you kneel down and worship me”. To which, Jesus replied, “Get out of here, Satan. You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.” The passage ended with the devil leaving defeated and angels coming to care for Jesus.
What was a time where you were tempted? Have you ever heard a voice saying, “You can have it all!” knowing it is not something you should have?
Jesus was tempted, but he overcame foreshadowing his ultimate defeat of evil through his death and resurrection. Like Jesus, we will be tempted by the devil. It's inevitable. Satan might use scriptures to manipulate our thinking or give us promises to distract us. He might even try to get us to compromise our values, thinking we can have everything. I know I don't want anything from the devil, regardless of how shiny it is. One thing that is very clear throughout the Gospel is Jesus knew his purpose and was determined to fulfill it. The devil tried several times here to get Jesus off of his clear and destined path, but Jesus resisted.
As simple as it may seem, these are three truths that I now understand after reading this passage in Matthew.
Jesus experienced temptation in a similar way we have.
Jesus is greater than the devil.
Through Jesus, we can resist our own temptation. The same spirit in Jesus is in us too!
My prayer: God, thank you for sending your Son, Jesus to conquer evil. Thank you for giving us the gift of the Holy Spirit, guiding us to say no to temptation as Jesus did. Help me to quickly recognize the schemes of the devil and overcome temptation. Continue to expand my understanding of Jesus as the Son of Man and His life here on Earth.