Matthew 4:1-11(NKJV)
4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”
5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:
‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’
and,
‘In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”
7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not [a]tempt the Lord your God.’ ”
8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
10 Then Jesus said to him, [b]“Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”
11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
At the start of Jesus Ministry, right after the water baptism, Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit to the wilderness to fast for 40 days.
After fasting Jesus was physically weak and hungry thus proving His full human nature.
Seeing the Lord Jesus' condition the devil had the opportunity to tempt Him.
Matthew 26:41 "Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."
James 1:13-14 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
Satan's goal is make Jesus act in His own will and not in perfect obedience to the will of the father, by using His power in a wrong way.
Since the fall of man Satan is the tempter destroying the plan of God. John 10:10
The first temptation is putting physical needs before obedience to the will of God the father.
People will do unimaginable things just to ease hunger. e.g. Crash Plane incident.
John 4:31-34 In the meantime His disciples were asking Him, saying, Master, eat. 32 But He said to them, I have food to eat which you do not know. 33 Therefore the disciples said to one another, No one brought Him [anything] to eat? 34 Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of [Him] who sent Me and to finish His work.
Second: Proving to the unbelievers that He is the Messiah by performing a miracle. If miracle outside God's plan. God will not do it, even if He is able. Matt 16: 1-4
Third: To gain a new kingdom not through a cross. A physical kingdom, not the spiritual kingdom. (see Matt 16:21-23; John 6:15)
The same way Jesus overcome temptation can be applied to the believers:
1. Use the word of God.
That's why every Christian should read, memorize and study God's word so that when temptation comes, you can apply the word of God. Deut 6:13,16; 8:3
2. Don't just read but study God's word.
Satan knows the Bible, and will tweak it to make us compromise about our faith.
3. Cast out the Satan (tempter)/demons using the Lord's name (Jesus Christ).
Acts 16:16-18
As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.
