Moments with my First Love [UNDER REVISION]

MOMENT 75: TEMPTATION

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.

But he answered, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 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.

Jesus said to him, Again it is written, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.

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.

Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. -Matthew 4:1-11

Jesus was led into a desert—a place where most people face strongest and most seductive temptations in life. It is where the enemy is most intimidating and where we are most vulnerable. And there, Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights.

After those moments, Jesus, in the form of man, had a skin that parched and lips that cracked from hunger and thirst. After those moments, he is famished.

This is the best time for me to strike, Satan thought. Funny to think, that a certain loser like him thought that he could tempt Jesus, the Lamb of God. Let's take a look if he will succeed.

Satan takes a tentative step toward Jesus, seeing how thin and frail he became.

First attempt: If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to becoms bread.

This temptation does not meant to make Jesus doubt himself but for him to depend on himself. Since God the Father hasn't lifted a finger to alleviate his suffering, why not take things into his own hands?

After all it's been forty days. Imagine, forty days. No food. No drink. Just purely fasting, just purely feeding the Spirit and soul. Who would blame him?

But, no! Jesus doesn't take the temptation. Instead he answered Satan, "It is written: Man shall not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."

Despite his consuming hunger, Jesus would rather be fed with the smallest crust of His Father's word than with an entire landscape of fresh bread from anywhere else especially from Satan.

Satan will entise us to look at the world instead to the God who created the world.

Satan's first temptation: lust of the flesh

 So Satan failed on his first attempt. He draws back and plan his next move. He changed his strategy and changed his scenery. He brought Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and persuaded him to throw himself down if He really is the Son of God.

And out of Satan's unshameful confidence, he also used the Scripture as he said, For it is written: '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.'