Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

As I see it, whatever happened to Jesus in the wilderness (including the fact that He submitted to the Holy Spirit's leading Him there for fasting; that He was allowed to be tempted by the devil; and that He accompanied the devil to the top of the temple, as well as to the top of the high mountain) were all experiences that were required (as noted in Hebrews 4:15) for Him to be tempted in all respects as humans are, and yet without sin.

As also indicated by the same passage from Hebrews, these experiences allowed (and still allow) Him (as truly human as well as truly God) to fully know and sympathize with the temptations that all humans face.

January 20 2023 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Jack Gutknecht ABC/DTS graduate, guitar music ministry Baptist church

The temptation of Christ is found beginning in Matthew 4:1, Mark 1:12, and Luke 4:1. "The word for 'drove him out' [Mark 1:12] is ekballo (ἐκβάλλω). It’s a word that is most typically used by Mark of Jesus driving out a demon. When you’re a bouncer and you need to remove some cat who doesn’t belong, you’d use ekballo to say you bounced him out on his head. Matthew and Luke use a different word (anago -- ἀνάγω). It’s less jarring. It has the Spirit leading—or guiding by the hand—into the wilderness. Mark uses a word that would bring to mind a whip instead of wooing word."--Mike Leake

I think this tempting by the Devil was to prove that He could resist ANY temptation. That in itself gives us an encouraging example to follow. Also, we might think that God only leads in green pastures as David said in Psalm 23: “He [God] maketh me to lie down in green pastures.” But this is not always the case. Sometimes He leads us into trials to experience them. BUT He never tempts us to sin according to Jesus’ half-brother, James, in his book, the book of James 1:13, “God cannot be tempted with evil, neither does He tempt any man.” This would be to develop our perseverance. 

We have to ask ourselves, though, did we bring this temptation or trial upon ourselves by some dumb thing we did (I do a lot of them)? Then it is not Satan that is driving or leading us into that trial; it is us. Then we need to confess our sins to God, not a priest, because, “If we confess our sins to God, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

If there are no sins to confess, then it is God’s Spirit or Him allowing Satan to give you this trial. Compare what God did by allowing Satan to test Job in Job 1-2. And then we need to faithfully follow the Spirit’s leading and depend on His strength to win this battle (see Ephesians 6:11).

January 20 2023 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report