Few passages in the Gospel show the clash between Satan and Christ in more graphic detail than this one. That clash is never far from the surface, but often Satan is hidden, using others to attack, whilst himself staying hidden. That in itself tells us quite a bit about our adversary. But here in the wilderness, with Christ at the very limits of life, he steps into the open. It has often struck me as quite profound that when these two greatest of intellects (which isn’t to say they are in any way equal) clash, the point of contention is the question of what the Bible teaches about Jesus.
We have to engage with this passage at two distinct, but connected levels. At one level Christ is our Representative. He is led by the Spirit into the wilderness, whereas we are taught to pray: Lead us not into temptation... The first way to read this passage is from the side-lines, watching Christ, our champion, fighting the enemy of our souls on our behalf, resisting his approach in our place and retaining His holiness as our substitute. We are the army of Israel, watching whilst our Anointed King defeats Goliath in our stead. In the first analysis, Christ is forging the human righteous that, unbreached, will be given to us as we trust Him for our salvation. As Isaiah puts it: I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness... (61:10). Our first response to what we read here must be worship and gratitude.
Only then can we come to learn from Christ how to follow in His footsteps as our Example. Clothed in His Righteousness alone, we can learn how to emulate His Righteousness in our own actual experience. Only then can we learn to fight for holiness, wielding the sword of the Spirit (Eph.6:17). But learn we must... that is after all what disciples do. By definition they learn from their Master. And here we have the opportunity to learn from our Master how to resist the devil such that he must flee from us... (Jas.4:7). And without any fear of contradiction, I can tell you – it’s a Master-class!
Questions:
Why does the Spirit lead Jesus into the wilderness to face the devil before His public, priestly ministry begins? What does Jesus have to ‘prove’?
What is Satan trying to achieve with each of these temptations?
Why would it have been sinful for Jesus to satisfy His chronic hunger by turning stones into bread? Why does His Father want Him to be hungry?
Why would it be sinful for Jesus to receive the kingdoms of the world from Satan? In what sense do you think ‘the whole world is under the control of the evil one’ (I Jn.5:19)?
in 4:10, Satan cites Ps.91:11-12. Do you think this Psalm is actually about Jesus, or is Satan distorting its meaning in order to use it to tempt Jesus? Why would it have been wrong for Jesus to seek the fulfilment of this Psalm?
Jesus’ replies are from Deut.6-8. Why does Jesus gravitate to these passages of Scripture? How does this help us understand the reason why Jesus is in the wilderness?
Do you think the Spirit would lead us into situations where we would face temptation? Does the possibility of that unnerve you? Why might He do that?
What temptations do you commonly face? How can you – as a homegroup - support each other in your battle for holiness?
What passages of Scripture have you memorised and internalised, that help you to resist temptation? Can you share some examples with the homegroup of how you seek to follow Jesus’ example here?
