This was a sequel...
Illustration
Object:
This was a sequel to the fall of Adam. Adam was tempted and fell. If Jesus was the second Adam, then he had to be tempted also. He was led into the desert. I live in New Mexico and know what a desert can be like without food or water for miles. It was a good place to be tempted. Forty seems to be the number of completeness.
We can never tell God that he should understand what we are going through! Our complaints would seem puny compared to what Jesus had to endure for his desert trip. I am frustrated when my computer doesn't work and I have to waste a whole morning trying to get it fixed! Maybe four hours -- not forty days! Keep this passage in mind the next time you have a complaint.
The tempter is trying to entice Jesus by pointing up all the power Jesus has! Temptation is hardest when we know we have the power to end our problem with just a few words. Sometimes our problems don't have simple ethical solutions. Sometimes we read about people in government or business who take a simple solution and accept a bribe or are able to "borrow" cash from one of their "accounts." It sounds so simple -- like that old movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, where he is told that all he has to do is bend a little here and there if he wants to be elected. All these questionable bends catch up with him when he is elected and finds that he has trapped himself in a quagmire of obligations.
All Jesus has to do is say a word and his hunger will be ended. Simple! But then he will be of no use to us or his Father in heaven! This passage does tell us that "he was tempted in every way such as we are."
What PR if all the people saw Jesus jump from the temple and be saved by a bevy of angels! Then the Pharisees would believe him and he would not have to face a cross! How simple! He had the power, but he chose to resist the temptation. I'm not sure I would be able to resist if I could solve my problems so easily! Especially if the alternative were a terrible, agonizing end!
No day goes by when I am not tempted. As President Carter said, "I have lusted." All those who have never lusted, please raise your hand now!
I believe that Jesus must have been tempted by Mary Magdalene. If he wasn't, then he wasn't tempted in every way that I have been tempted. But I think he may have been "tempted" to settle down and raise a family and be a carpenter like his dad.
We have been given the power of the Holy Spirit to resist temptation, just as Jesus was. We need to memorize this passage and call on God to save us in every temptation!
We can never tell God that he should understand what we are going through! Our complaints would seem puny compared to what Jesus had to endure for his desert trip. I am frustrated when my computer doesn't work and I have to waste a whole morning trying to get it fixed! Maybe four hours -- not forty days! Keep this passage in mind the next time you have a complaint.
The tempter is trying to entice Jesus by pointing up all the power Jesus has! Temptation is hardest when we know we have the power to end our problem with just a few words. Sometimes our problems don't have simple ethical solutions. Sometimes we read about people in government or business who take a simple solution and accept a bribe or are able to "borrow" cash from one of their "accounts." It sounds so simple -- like that old movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, where he is told that all he has to do is bend a little here and there if he wants to be elected. All these questionable bends catch up with him when he is elected and finds that he has trapped himself in a quagmire of obligations.
All Jesus has to do is say a word and his hunger will be ended. Simple! But then he will be of no use to us or his Father in heaven! This passage does tell us that "he was tempted in every way such as we are."
What PR if all the people saw Jesus jump from the temple and be saved by a bevy of angels! Then the Pharisees would believe him and he would not have to face a cross! How simple! He had the power, but he chose to resist the temptation. I'm not sure I would be able to resist if I could solve my problems so easily! Especially if the alternative were a terrible, agonizing end!
No day goes by when I am not tempted. As President Carter said, "I have lusted." All those who have never lusted, please raise your hand now!
I believe that Jesus must have been tempted by Mary Magdalene. If he wasn't, then he wasn't tempted in every way that I have been tempted. But I think he may have been "tempted" to settle down and raise a family and be a carpenter like his dad.
We have been given the power of the Holy Spirit to resist temptation, just as Jesus was. We need to memorize this passage and call on God to save us in every temptation!
