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

Jesus was true God, but He was also true man, and it was to His human side that Satan was appealing. Symbolically, Satan was tempting Jesus to use His power as God to take three possible "easy" diversions from the narrow, painful path of suffering and redemptive death that He had been incarnated to follow.

The first was to win followers by making His ministry about satisfying people's material desires, in a type of "prosperity gospel", rather than addressing their deeper spiritual needs.

The second was to convert people by spectacular (but pointless) displays of divine power that had no purpose other than to question or test God's protective care.

The third was to gain a following through becoming part of the world system that Satan controlled, rather than overcoming it, and saving people from it.

Each of these presented a powerful temptation to Jesus' human side. However, in each case, Jesus (as true God) refused (as James indicated) to succumb to the temptation by refuting and resisting the devil through the quoting of Scripture (God's word) to show that what the devil was tempting Him to do was directly opposed to the manner in which God had commanded humans to act.

July 24 2018 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report