Grace Baptist Church, Nokomis, IL.

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It’s truly amazing how Christ fulfilled the whole Law. Mathematically, it’s impossible for Jesus to fulfill all of the prophecies of the Old Testament. But Jesus didn’t stop there. He fulfilled the stories of the Bible as well, even when there was no explicit prophecy made.

The Israelites disobeyed God while in the desert and were sentenced to wander 40 years in the wilderness, and were forced to rely on God to sustain them. Jesus willingly depended on God the Father to sustain Him in the wilderness for 40 days, and remained faithful even afterward.

Where the Israelites failed, Jesus was shown to be faithful. Are we doomed to fail as the Israelites did, or can we learn for Jesus and be faithful?

“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)

We can learn a lot from this passage concerning temptation and how to face it. But I’d like to frame how we approach all of these things by asking this question: what can we learn about Jesus?

We can learn from Jesus that we must always be ready to face temptation (v. 2). Jesus fasted for 40 days! Fasting in the Bible is always accompanied by prayer.

The Moody Bible Institute published a story years ago about early African converts to Christianity. They made it a habit while they prayed to pace in the yard, each having their own space in which they walked. Over time, the paths became well worn. As a result, if one of these believers began to neglect prayer, it was soon apparent to the others. They would kindly remind the negligent one, “Brother, the grass grows on your path.”

We can often tell when our brothers and sisters are neglecting prayer. Their attitudes grow impatient and their hope becomes small. We ought to turn to them and say, “Brother, the grass grows on your path.”

Jesus knew temptation was coming, and He wanted to be ready for it. We ought to know temptation is coming as well, because it is. Be ready!

Not only was Jesus prepared for temptation, but Jesus was actually tempted. How is a person tempted? (James 1:13-15) Sin is something different from temptation. They’re two different things.Yet doesn’t James still say that temptation comes when we’re dragged away our own evil desires? But Jesus didn’t have any evil desires! How was He tempted? I think what James is saying is that when we allow temptation to entice us, we’ve already lost the battle.

What’s truly perplexing about this passage is that Jesus is God. Can God sin? Can God even be tempted to sin? God can do whatever He wants, but can He sin? Does temptation even appeal to Him? In His wisdom, God chooses not to sin. Not only that, but sin is completely opposed to God’s character.

Yet, for Jesus, the temptation He faced was real. He struggled. He felt our pain (Hebrews 4:15). Must man sin? We blame many of our mistakes on the fact that we’re human. But often we sin not merely because we’re human, but because we plan to sin.

Chuck Swindol wrote a story that went something like this. A father told his son, “I don’t want you swimming in that river any more. It’s getting too high and the current will be too strong for you.” “Ok, dad,” the boy replied. But that evening he came home carrying a wet bathing suit. “Where have you been?” the father asked. “I was swimming in the river,” the boy replied. “Didn’t I tell you not to swim there?” asked the father. “Yes, sir, but I had my bathing suit with me and I couldn’t resist the temptation.” “But why did you have your bathing suit with you?” The boy replied, “Just in case I got tempted to swim in the river.”

The fact is, Jesus was fully human, and He didn’t sin. When faced with temptation, we must never give in saying, “I’m only human.” God always provides a way to be faithful when faced with temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13). On the TV show “Hee Haw,” Doc Campbell once say a patient who said he broke his arm in in two places. The doc replied, “Well, then, stay out of them places!”

That’s often the answer to being faithful in the midst of temptation. Run from it! That’s what Joseph did. Someone once said, “When you flee temptation, be sure you don’t leave a forwarding address.” But Jesus gave us an even bolder example.

We learn from Jesus that we must always battle temptation with Scripture (v. 3-4). This is why it’s so important that we know God’s Word well. We must not only know what it says, but how to apply it correctly. Satan is tricky (v. 5-6). Satan hates the Bible, yet he will use it and twist it in order to tempt us. But Satan is powerless against the commands of the Lord (v. 10-11).

It’s interesting that it wasn’t Satan who led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted, but it was the Spirit was the one who led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted in the first place (v. 1). God doesn’t desire that you have an easy life. Sometimes God may lead you straight into the desert. Into Satan’s path. But He does this not so that you’ll fall, but so that your faith will be strengthened. But life with God will always be a blessed life. The Spirit of God will empower you. The Spirit of God will be with you during your trials.

Satan promised Jesus several specific things (v. 3, 4-5, 8-9). Jesus knew that He was entitled to all the things that Satan offered to Him. If we seek to claim God’s promises before God would give them to us, then we have sided with Satan. Be faithful to God, and wait patiently for God to show His faithfulness to you. God would not allow His Son to starve. God would command His angels concerning Christ. God would give all the kingdoms of the world to Christ. Jesus knew God would provide. In fact, he would tell his followers the same thing (Matthew 6:33): “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” But Christ would have forfeited all those things had He listened to Satan.

Now, we can’t be as faithful as Jesus was, but there’s good news in this for us. We can’t resist sin perfectly, but we don’t have to. Perfection is still the standard, and we ought to strive for it to please God, but we also rest knowing that Christ was perfect for us, and that He died for us, both paying the price for our sin, and living the righteous life that we fail to live.