Matthew 4 Devotional Bible Study

 

THEN… Tempted

Matthew 3:16-4:1

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

 

Satan attacks no one as much as he attacks Christians. Before we come to Christ, the devil doesn’t have to work very hard to get us to sin. We want to sin. We want to be selfish. If we think we can get away with something and not face any consequences, we will.

 

But THEN, the Lord opens our spiritual eyes and transforms our mind. He gives us a new heart and puts a right spirit within us. He changes our will so that we don’t want to sin, but rather, we want to please Him. We want to be holy as He is holy. Our conscience is more sensitive to how deep sin runs.

 

So, Satan (which means “accuser”) has to work extra hard on us to get us to sin so that he has something to accuse us of before God. He wants us to look as bad to God as he does. He wants to drag us down with him.

 

But look at Who led Jesus into the desert to face the devil’s temptation – the Spirit! The Holy Spirit who descended on Jesus at His baptism was still with Him when He went into the desert. The Holy Spirit of God is also with each of us every time we are tempted. The question is, Will you allow Him to guide you through your temptations?

 

Why does God allow the devil to tempt us?

 

God gave us free will. He allows the devil to tempt us to give us a choice of whether we will choose to love and obey God or not.

 

“If You Are…”

Matthew 4:3

The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

 

At first, we might think this first temptation is about Jesus fulfilling His hunger, but it’s more involved than that. We see the devil repeat this line a few verses later: “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down…” The third temptation is similar; the devil offers to give Jesus all the kingdoms of the world.

 

What’s the core temptation in all of these? “Take what’s Yours! You’re the Son of God, aren’t You? If You’re hungry, eat. If You throw Yourself down, the angels will catch You. If you want to rule the earth, go ahead and do it.”

 

It reminds me of people saying, “I’m going to get mine for me.” Or, “I deserve this…” Or, “Ooh, shiny! I want it.”

 

But Jesus, who did deserve all power and wealth and honor, took a different attitude. He knew that life wasn’t about what He could get but about how He could best honor God. He lived simply and trusted His Heavenly Father to meet His needs. His focus wasn’t on gaining material goods for Himself but on the spiritual good He could do for others.

 

As you go about your day, remember that, like Jesus, you are a son or daughter of God, but that doesn’t mean you live like a prince or princess in this world. It means you are loved by God and have a place in His family. It means you are to carry on the family business of spiritual redemption, not material consumption.

 

What is the purpose of fasting?

 

Someone fasts to seek God. Their hunger is a reminder to turn their attention away from physical comforts and to pray to God. They may be in a mindset of repentance or asking God to do something or seeking God’s will. In this case, Jesus may have been seeking intimacy with God and preparing for His ministry.

 

Live On the Word

John 4:4

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

 

What’s your relationship to Scripture? How much time do you spend in it? How often? Jesus’ quote from the Old Testament here makes it sound like God’s Word is just as important to our daily lives as food is.

 

If we want to be in good health spiritually, we need to be taking God’s Word in daily – maybe a few times a day, just like you eat more than once a day. It doesn’t always need to be an in-depth Bible study, but your time in Scripture should take some time and thought. It takes a bit of preparation to ready your meals, so it should take some effort on your part to be nourished from God’s Word.

 

Some ideas for getting more Scripture time in include:

 

• Getting up 15 minutes early to read
• Substituting podcast or radio time to listen to an audio Bible
• Listening to Scripture songs instead of other music
• Watching word-for-word movie adaptations for your TV time

 

We also want to notice that Jesus says we live on “every word that comes from the mouth of God.” We want to take all of Scripture into ourselves, not just our favorite parts over and over. We need a well-balanced diet that includes every part of the Bible. Scripture is what we live on spiritually.

 

The Angels Will Lift You Up

Matthew 4:6

“‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

 

This quote from Psalm 91 (check it out!) is a promise to all who seek refuge in the Lord. He will protect you. No, He won’t protect you every time – believers can still get hurt and die – but neither do we know all the times He does protect us. I imagine there have been times I have been in severe danger and never knew it because God sent His angels to save me. The angels’ activity on our behalf is something we get only a rare glimpse into, but I think we’ll be surprised when we get to Heaven and God shows us all the near-misses we had (and how tired our guardian angels are!)

 

Though Satan is using this quote to tempt Jesus to take advantage of God’s promises, I want to encourage you to reflect on God’s word to you. Thank Him for His protection. Thank Him for sending His angels to keep you safe. He loves you enough to send His angelic servants to intervene for you.

 

 

“Worship the Lord”

Matthew 4:8-10

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

 

Worship.

 

How do you keep from wanting all the kingdoms of the world their splendor?

 

Worship. Turn your attention away from yourself and worship your God. Worship is an emotion that unbelievers can’t experience. It’s a mixture of love, adoration, transcendence, awe, thanksgiving, praise, surrender, excitement, anticipation, fulfillment, joy, triumph, and assent. It’s like no other human emotion because it’s not entirely human. The Holy Spirit participates with your spirit in worship.

 

Can I encourage you to worship today? When you’re feeling anxious, worship. When you need to realign your priorities, worship. When you recognize temptation in your life, worship.

 

 

The Devil Has No New Tricks

What is the devil tempting Jesus with in each of these temptations?

 

In the first temptation, he’s tempting Jesus to fulfill His physical needs. In the second, to prove and take pride in His identity. In the third, to wield power.

 

How does this compare to the devil’s temptation of Eve?

 

Genesis 3:5-6 - “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ⁶ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.

 

The devil tempted Eve with something that was good for food (physical need), with wisdom (taking pride in her own knowledge and decision-making), and with being like God (power). All temptations can fall into these categories – physical desires, pride, and some sort of power. The devil has no new tricks, so once we recognize these temptations, we can resist them.

 

Think about the last time you were tempted. Identify what the root of the temptation was: physical need, pride, or power. 

 

 

What do all three of Jesus’ answers have in common?

He used Scripture to refute the devil, showing our need to know God’s Word. He also relied on and honored God in His decisions. He put God above anything else He might have desired in those moments.

 

“Devil Left…Angels Came”

Matthew 4:11

Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

 

Luke 4:13 says the devil left Jesus until an opportune time. We don’t read about another temptation of Jesus, but we can imagine that like us, Jesus was tempted on a regular basis. The Letter to the Hebrews says He was tempted in every way we are (Hebrews 4:15).

 

Combining the two verses, we see that the Christian life is a cycle. You will face temptation, angels will attend to you, then the devil will tempt you again. When you recognize the pattern, you can anticipate it and live into the rhythm. It’s like exercising. You push yourself, rest, then push yourself again.

 

So, get ready. Anticipate the time of temptation that’s coming. You know the things that tempt you. Set your mind and will to resist it. Pray for the Lord’s strength ahead of time instead of when you’re in the midst of the temptation. Come up with a game plan of how you’re going to get through it. And then look forward to the time of rest and renewal that comes after your victory.

 

Temptation doesn’t last forever. It comes in waves. It ebbs and flows. The tide of temptation comes in, and it goes out. Like Jesus, you can stand against it because you have the same Spirit He did and you recognize the pattern.