Jesus in the Wilderness: Triumph Over Temptation

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Now, following that episode, the very first thing the Spirit directed Jesus to do was to go into the wilderness to be tempted for forty days by Satan. Now, before we look at the record of that temptation, let me ask the preliminary question, Why? Why did the Holy Spirit drive Jesus into that desolate wilderness to be exposed to the unbridled assault of Satan. Well, I think it’s clear that part of the essential work that Jesus was called to perform in His earthly ministry was the work of what the New Testament calls the last or the new Adam, showing the relationship that Jesus had to the first Adam, who also was subjected to a temptation by Satan. [00:00:48]

And so we see this comparison and this contrast between the first Adam and his failure in the terms of his test, in the terms of his probation under the attack of Satan, and the successful obedience of the last Adam, Jesus, after He endures the same kind of temptation. Well, it was the same kind in some degrees, but in other ways, the terms of the temptation of Jesus differed radically from those that were imposed upon Adam. Let’s think for a minute where the temptation took place. [00:03:23]

In the case of the first Adam, the temptation came while Adam and Eve were enjoying luxury in the Garden of Eden, which we often refer to as Paradise. Now, the place where the Spirit drove Jesus to be tempted could hardly be called Paradise. It was into the desolate Judean wilderness. If you’ve ever seen it or ever been there, you will be looking at one of the most ominous and foreboding pieces of God forsaken wilderness to be found anywhere in this world. [00:04:12]

What else is different? While Adam is exposed to the temptation from the serpent, he’s in the company of his wife, who was given by special creation to him as his helpmate. Whereas when Jesus goes into the wilderness, he is in absolute solitude. We know that loneliness is that which received the first malediction of God in creation. After He created everything, He pronounced it good with a benediction. The first thing He said was not good was this, He said, “It is not good that man should be alone.” [00:05:09]

When Adam was tempted, he was tempted in what could be described as a gourmet restaurant because there in the lush environs of Eden were trees bearing all kinds of fruit that were wonderful to eat, and it was given to Adam and Eve the freedom to choose from any one of those fruit bearing trees to satisfy their hunger. Jesus’ test comes in the context of a fast where He’s not able to eat anything for forty days. [00:06:29]

Now, I’ve just pointed out the difference between the first Adam and the second Adam in terms of their temptation. But what I… what I want us most to understand today is the similarity between the two temptations – that is, the point of the attack of Satan against Adam and against Jesus are virtually the same. Let’s look first at the way in which the serpent attacked Adam through Eve. The serpent was called the most crafty of all of the beasts in the field. [00:08:21]

So do you see the subtlety of the way in which the serpent tempts Eve? Did God say that you couldn’t eat of any of these things? This is like a teenager that you’d have to deal with it in your house. On Monday night, the teenager says, “Can I stay out late tonight, go over to one of my friend’s house? They’re having a party?” And you say, “Yes, but I’ll let you do it this night, but remember there’s school tomorrow, and you have to be home at a certain time.” [00:09:56]

The issue – the Word of God, and the Word of God is more important to me, Jesus is saying to Satan, than my hunger. I will starve to death before I will deny the truthfulness of my Father’s word. So then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the Temple, and said to Him, “If you’re 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.” [00:16:32]

Jesus said, “Well, obviously you don’t understand the first principle of hermeneutics, the cardinal rule of Biblical interpretation, Mr. Satan, that you don’t set one portion of Scripture against another portion of Scripture, because all of Scripture is coherent because the Bible also says, “As it is written, you shall not tempt the Lord your God. And so if I agreed to your proposal to go up to the Temple and jump, I would be putting my Father to the test. [00:18:00]

Three times the assault comes. Three times the assault is directed against the trustworthiness of the Word of God. And with every subtlety at his disposal, including quoting Scripture, Satan tries to seduce Jesus to go against the Word of God. Jesus says, “Thanks for the offer of all these kingdoms, but there’s one problem. The Word of my Father says that you shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.” [00:20:28]

And so Jesus obeys at every point in the temptation. And what happens as soon as the serpent leaves? The angels appear and minister to Jesus in His hunger, in His loneliness, and in His pain. You know, they didn’t just get there at the last second like the cavalry. They were there the whole time. And Jesus knew that the Father would give the angels charge over Him. [00:21:54]

The temptation will often come from His best friends. As soon as He tells them that He has to go to Jerusalem to suffer, they say, “God forbid. You can’t do that.” And when Peter said to Jesus at the Caesarea Philippi confession that He can’t go to Jerusalem to suffer, what did Jesus say? Right after Jesus had called Him the rock, He turns around to Peter, and He says, “Get behind me, Satan. I’ve heard this message before.” [00:21:24]

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