Reading:
Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be
tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty
nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to
him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be
made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not
live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the
mouth of God. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and
setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou
be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall
give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their
hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot
against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou
shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh him up
into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of
the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these
things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then
saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou
shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then
the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto
him.
Commentary:
On the night of His betrayal, Jesus told His disciples, "Pray
that ye enter not into temptation, the spirit is willing but the
flesh is weak." Satan uses different temptations for us at
different times. Just as in this reading Satan tempts Jesus with
bread, then proof that Christ is as He says He is, then glory on
earth, so Satan tempted Judas with money, David with Bathsheba, or
Miriam with the ministry. If we want honor among men, he may tempt
us to lie for the sake of a higher office or position. By the
example of Christ in this lesson, we should learn the only way to
fight temptation is by the Word of God and prayer. Jesus was fasting
and praying in that wilderness, and at every temptation He countered
the devil by God's Word. In His successful resisting of every
temptation, we can be comforted knowing God will never allow Satan to
tempt us in something which is too great for us, "but will with
the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear
it.
Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry" and "love
not the world nor the things of this world."
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