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S. Michael Houdmann
Supporter
The three temptations by Satan in the wilderness were not the only temptations our Lord ever suffered on Earth. We read in Luke 4:2 that He was tempted by the devil for forty days, but He was undou...
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JD Abshire
Supporter
I believe Christ's temptation (testing) proved His impeccable nature which was divine. (James 1:13) Christ's response to Satan in Matthew 4:7 has a tremendous doctrinal significance. "Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." From the text we see that only the devil and The Lord was present. Who did Jesus state the devil was tempting? "THE LORD THY GOD" Jesus was not only claiming his personal deity as God but also stating he was The Lord God of the devil. After all, he created Satan. John 20:31 "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name."
Bethany Barber
Supporter
I believe Jesus was tempted to show us Christians that he too went through temptations and so that we would know that he knows what we go through and to show us that we can over come temptations by the word if the father because if Jesus did it so could we after all we are called to be like Christ right? So we should be able to withstand the snares of the enemy, I believe he also wanted to show us that through him we got the power to conquer most anything... Nothing's impossible with God, and through Christ we can be who where ment to be
John-Luke Muresan
Supporter
The purpose of Christ's temptation was to demonstrate the victory we have and to usher in the new creation. Too often we underestimate the importance of Christ's Temptation. Is it not written, "'The first man, Adam, became a living soul.' The last Adam became a life-giving spirit" [1 Corinthians 15:45]? And again it is said of Him, "For as through one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous." [Romans 5:19]. Christ takes what was Adam's and flips it upside down, the first Adam was given life; but the second Adam gave life. The first Adam fell through disobedience the second through obedience was glorified and brought many sons to glory [Hebrews 2:10]. At the moment of the fall a new kingdom was created, one of failure, at the moment of the temptation, Christ demonstrated that through the power of the Holy Spirit a man could overcome the evil one [Matthew 4:1], that is why He begins His ministry after His temptation [Matthew 4:11-17], in parallel to Adam He begins building a new kingdom of mankind once He leaves the "Garden" [Matthew 4:1], which is the wilderness we inherit from Adam. Is not the Spirit coming in fire a sign of the different ages between judgement and mercy? [Genesis 6-9; Mark 1:8; Acts 2; 2 Peter 3:6-10] I will now briefly expand on the individual purposes and natures of each temptation. Matthew 4:1-4 Christ was fasting for forty days [1 Kings 19:8; Exodus 24:18], not for repentance but because He had a burden on His heart to do so by the Spirit [Nehemiah 1:4; Daniel 10:3; Matthew 6:16-18] He sought the LORD with much prayer and supplications. Christ did this being fully human, just as He could have died from being stabbed with a sword He could have died from lack of food. Just as He died on the cross. This fast was to tame the flesh, [Romans 7:14-25; 1 Corinthians 9:27]. Fasting is taking the word of God literally, if we truly hunger for the LORD more than food we must show Him. "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." [Matthew 4:4;Deuteronomy 8:3]. How much greater would our walk be if we imitated the LORD and longed for the LORD more than our fleshly desires? Matthew 4:5-7 "Then the devil took him", took comes from the Greek "παραλαμβάνει", meaning, to take, coming from the root word "παρα" meaning "near" and "λαμβάνω" meaning "lay hold of" [G3880; G3844; G2983]. The Greek strongly implies that the devil carried Jesus, this was to demonstrate his power to Christ, to show that he was stronger than God Himself. The devil sneered at Jesus, "If you are the Son of God" then prove it! Show me that you are stronger than me. That you have power apart from Your Father. Jesus responds with absolute humility, "You shall not put the LORD your God to the test". Jesus didn't even assert His own divinity, such humility! He merely asserted the divinity of His Father, though God Himself, such humility! The LORD did not exalt Himself but exalted His LORD! Matthew 4:8-10 Satan again carried our LORD and brought Him to a mountain, Jesus abased, hungry, and weary endured the final test. The test of laziness, to put your will for your life before God's will for your life. The devil said, "All these things I will give you" he said this long ago, "did God really say" that it has to be this hard? But Jesus knew that "a little sleep, a little slumber" would ruin Him [Proverbs 24:33]. He stayed vigilant and responded "You shall worship the LORD your God!" I will take whatever God has for me, to worship Him instead of Myself. What is important here, listen close, this is the recipe to defeat temptation, to always say"It is written" and to always be "led up by the Spirit". This is how to defeat temptation, this is the final purpose, that we would imitate our LORD.That we put God first, humble ourselves under Him and do His will for our lives [Mark 12:32-33; 1 Peter 5:6; Ephesians 4:28]. God bless.
Steph Sturm
Supporter
Jesus is our Advocate 1john 2:1. I strongly believe that the best advocate is not someone who knows what you're going through on an intellectual basis, but someone who can say, "I've walked in your shoes and seen things through your eyes." For example, pretend that you have cerebral palsy. You are wheelchair bound and you don't talk very clearly, but you are smart and capable of taking care of yourself and you love your independence. Now, you have two people who are willing to talk for you. One knows all about disabled people from a college course. He looks at you and says you need 24/7 care because you are disabled. The other one is disabled too so he can understand your NEED for independence. He actually takes the time to sit down and talk to you, and learn about you as an individual. This is what Jesus is doing. He's taking time to walk in your shoes and feel what you feel when Satan is attacking you. Disclaimer: I only used cp as an example because I HAvE cp
Muherman Harun
Supporter
What was the meaning and purpose of Jesus' temptations? Just before His crucification, Lord Jesus was tempted by satan through apostle Peter. Satan was immediately rebuked (Mat 17:23). But there were three consecutive tempations almost similar to the one Peter was tempting. Jesus, heavily distressed, begged His Father that the cup of horror could be passed. In great agony, His sweat even turned into blood. (Luc 22:44). The pleas had been refused by God so the crucification process must go on. Eventually, Christ victoriously declared that “Not His will, but God’s will be done”.
Jeremiah Kaaya
Supporter
In Matthew 4:2-10, we learn that Jesus fasted forty days and forty nights at the end of which He was confronted by the devil in three ways of which are the following: 1) Matthew 4:3-4, turn stones into bread 2) Matthew 4:5-7, the devil tempted Jesus about His personality and how He (Jesus) would use His power. 3) Matthew 4:8-10, the devil tempted Jesus about His view of the things (riches) of this world. Meaning and purpose of each of the above. Turning stones into bread Meaning The script in Matthew 4:3-4 is referenced in Deuteronomy 8:3. Even though it is presented as a matter of hunger, it is only symbolic of whatever directly touches our bodies such as sex. There is a possibility that if denied these; we are likely to be compromised in our faith and trust in God. We should never place our bodily demands in any position above God. We are not to give in to the devil’s manipulations. Our strength is only traced in doing the will of God rather than meeting all our bodily selfish demands. Purpose The insatiable daily demands of our bodies such as; hunger and thirsty, and bodily dangers such as pain and infirmities, tend to compromise our resolve to serve God’s will. By Jesus overcoming the devil on this front, He gave us ground to stand to the wiles and machinations of the devil. That we can overcome the devil even when with bodily pains. There is all grace to overcome. Job 2:4-6 tells us how much Job stood even in the face of deep pain. The word of God is better food and more precious than what the body requires. Jumping from high so as to prove that God was with Him (Jesus) Meaning The script in Matthew 4:5-7 the scripture which the devil presents as one of the ways to tempt Jesus has its reference in Psalms 91:12, and Jesus’ response has its reference in Deuteronomy 6:16. The devil wishes to ignite the ego in us by using God's promises and assurances to us. We tend to use all material to express it and the devil knows it. This is the same way the devil misled Adam and Eve. Purpose The purpose is that much as God would love to use us mightily and exhibit His presence in us, it is not intended to be used to puff up the ego in us, but to serve God’s purpose and that is it. We should understand that it is not about us but about the one we serve and that is God. We are only to use God's promises and assurances to us not not any way we wish, and not to serve our own personal interests, but to fulfill the will of God in us. We should never use them selfishly. Riches Meaning The script in Matthew 4:8-10 is referenced in Deuteronomy 10:20. The devil had sought to use greed for riches and power as a way to woo Jesus to his side. The devil has done such to many of us and by it, he has managed to get many to his side. The purpose This teaches us that much as riches may be good, the way and the cost at which we get them is what is most important. We should use proper Godly ways to get earthly riches, not the ways of the devil. The devil only gives earthly riches and he only wishes to use such to get our allegiance to him away from God. It is only a trap. The devil does nothing in genuine terms. Anything with the intention to get us away from the only true God should be resisted to the tooth. In all such, we should learn to always be in position to detect the wiles and machinations of the devil. We must also additionally be always equipped with the word of God. Jesus only defeated the devil with the right approach blended with the timely word of God. Additionally, temptations are part of our Christian journey, we must not quake when they came, and we must only possess our tools to overcome them.
Salem Markus Purba
Supporter
The meaning and purpose of Jesus's temptations is: A confirmation and warning to anyone who believes and follows Jesus, that he/she will be tempted in the same way Satan did to Jesus. Believers must follow Jesus' way to overcome Satan, as Jesus said: "If anyone would come after me, he/she must deny himself/herself and take up his/her cross and follow me." (Mathew 16 : 24-26).
Bruce Lyon
Supporter
Hebrews 2:18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted. Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. James 1:13-14: Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Notice that verse 13 of James one says that God cannot be tempted, and yet we know that Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by Satan, yet when he was tempted he was not drawn away to sin, but met every challenge of Satan by the word of the living God, his God and his Father.
Evelyn Asante
Supporter
To me, the meaning and the purpose of Jesus temptation were: (1) His coming to the world was to bridge the gap that came between God and man because of sin from our first parents. (2) The main goal of satan's temptation was to distract Jesus from his purpose on earth; (3) and since he did not sell his soul to the devil, the purpose was achieved and satan, defeated.
Tim Maas
Supporter
One interpretation that I have seen regarding the significance of the three specific temptations that were recorded as being presented to Jesus is that each one of them constituted a seemingly "easier" -- although actually false, but still powerfully appealing to His (and our) human nature) -- way to "win the hearts" of people, in contrast to the message (and example) of service and sacrifice that He came to proclaim and perform. The temptation to turn stones into bread (aside from appealing to Jesus' own hunger) represented a temptation to convert people by centering His message and mission on the satisfaction of their physical needs, rather than focusing on calling attention to recognizing and fulfilling their overriding spiritual "hunger" (which they might not even be aware of), and cultivating their reliance on faith in God's ability to provide. The temptation associated with throwing Himself off the Temple represented gaining a following through appealing to people's appetite for the sensational by the performance of spectcular, seemingly impossible (but ultimately superficial) feats, which might draw them to Him, but again would leave their deeper spiritual needs unaddressed. It would make them like the people of Nazareth who were primarily concerned not with recognizing Him as the Messiah, but with why He did not perform the type of miracles among them that they had heard of Him performing elsewhere (Luke 4:23). The final temptation to worship Satan derived its power from the scope of its offered reward, and its "ease" compared to the suffering and death that He knew that He would have to go through. It represents the countless ways in which Satan, and the fallen world system that He controls, constantly calls on Christ's followers to abandon their faith as not being worth the effort and discipline that it requires, or compromising their faith (even within the community of believers) by viewing it primarily as a means of gaining material prosperity in this life. These were not just "random" temptations, but encompassed the full scope of the reasons for Jesus' incarnation, and represented the traps that lie in wait for His followers even today.
Myron Baska
Supporter
Temptations by Satan in the wilderness. We gloss over the “back drop,” meaning of the following: Matthew 4:8-9: 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." Although Satan was cursed, he nevertheless received great authority by his victory in the Garden of Eden. Because he was successful in making man disobey God, he inherited spiritual dominion over him. Recall that Adam was given dominion over the earth (Gen 1:26). Whoever was master over Adam would therefore be master of the dominion. Since Adam chose to obey Satan and not God, Satan became master of the creation by right of conquest (cf. Lu 4:5-6). This is why the Bible refers to him as the "prince of this world" (Jn 14:30) and "the prince of the power of the air" (Eph 2:2). Satan had been given dominion of this world! He has been very busy historically removing/destroying the followers of The Way (by using the Roman emperor) from the days of wrapping them in pitch, dipping them in tar and burning them as torches for Nero’s dinner parties and to dissuade other possible believers but they just increased in numbers; to Satan’s plan to infiltrate and pose as a “christian organization” the present day Roman Catholic organization (Roman Empire). This has been very successful – just look at the vast number of misguided members! We are directed to “get out of her”. Satan has really buffaloed many people throughout the centuries. From using the Roman Empire leaders to eliminate the believers/followers of the Messiah, which grew in numbers instead, to his change in the game plan of infiltrating the flock by producing the Catholic Church and guiding its leadership. The need to hide the true identity was/is accomplished with the aid of the Jesuits. The Jesuits have pushed their deceptive Antichrist concepts during the last 500 years, so that they are taught to pastors at seminary, and then preached to their congregations. The Roman Catholic Church had Jesuit Priest Francisco Ribera, a brilliant man with a doctorate in theology; write a 500 page commentary with an opposing view, where he manipulated prophecies in the books of Daniel and Revelation, to create an end-time 7-year tribulation antichrist. Ribera applied all of Revelation to the end time rather than to the history of the church. His explanation was that the prophecies apply only to a single sinister man, who will arise up at the end of time; instead of a beast, which the Bibles say is a powerful kingdom (the Roman Catholic Church). He said that the Antichrist would be an infidel from outside the church of God; instead of someone who presents himself as Christ (the Pope, who calls himself the Vicar of Christ). ‘Vicar of Christ, rendered into the Greek is ‘Antichristos‘ = ‘Antichrist.’ This world is mostly running on lies; truth requires a lot of digging and removing the blinders that are imposed by the Jesuits through so called Bible teaching schools which have formed our religious organizations.
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