Matthew 4:1-11

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TALKS FOR GROWING CHRISTIANS

The Testing of the Lord Jesus in the Judean Wilderness

BACKGROUND NOTES



DOCTRINAL POINT(S)

  1. The temptations of Christ do not imply that Jesus could sin.

  2. The temptations of Christ illustrate how we are tempted.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

  1. How many verses can you quote from Deuteronomy?

QUESTIONS

  1. Did the devil lead the Lord into the wilderness?

  2. Why did God allow the devil to test Jesus?

  3. Matthew 4:2 says that the Lord was hungry. Was this wrong?

  4. If Jesus could not sin, does this make the temptations meaningless?

  5. How did Jesus respond to Satan’s temptations?

ANSWERS

  1. No, the Holy Spirit led Him into the wilderness. God was in control of the situation.

  2. To prove that He would not sin. This proved that Jesus was the Son of God.

  3. No, it was not a sin for Him to desire food. This shows that the Lord was truly Man.

  4. No, the Lord felt the pressure of His temptations even more than we do, because He was more sensitive to sin – yet He did not yield.

  5. He quoted scripture. Each of these scriptures was from the book of Deuteronomy.

DISCUSS/CONSIDER

  1. Jesus did not sin – at the temptations, or at any other time. See 1 Peter 2:22, 2 Corinthians 5:21, and I John 3:5. Some people are hesitant to speak of the Lord being tempted, because they think temptation is a sin. Refer to James 1:14-15. Temptation is not a sin; we sin when we yield to that temptation. Our Lord faced real temptations, but He did not yield in any way. Hebrews 4:14-16 shows how we should be encouraged by this truth. Praise the Lord that we have a great High Priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses.

  2. Discuss how the three temptations of Christ fall into the same categories encountered in the Garden of Eden, and listed in I John 2:16. Satan knows that we are susceptible to temptation in these areas: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. He is very experienced at appealing to these sinful desires. Discuss ways to combat these temptations when they occur (Hint: Look at our Lord’s example).

CHALLENGE

  1. Satan will often twist scripture to lead us astray. You can defeat this tactic if you are familiar with scripture yourself. Hide God’s Word in your heart, so you can withstand temptation.

KEY VERSES

  • “Then Jesus was lead up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” Matthew 4:1

  • “For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world.” I John 2:16

Matthew, Talks, New TestamentDeb HarmsMatthew 4:1-11