Temptations? Respond as Jesus Did

When Jesus was tempted, he showed us how to deal with temptation.  The first step is to decide who we are living for.  The second step is to know the Word of God.

Image by Daniel Herron, provided by Unsplash via Wix.

Everyone faces temptations.  We want something, or something makes us angry, or someone offends us.  Our passions rise and we want to take action.  And the question is: What do we do about it?

There are godly ways to respond, and ungodly ways to respond.  But notice a key point: The emotions that arise in us are not, in themselves, evil.

• Not all desires are bad.  Parents desire good things for their children.  Jesus had desires.  For example, before the Last Supper he said, “I have desired to eat this Passover with you” (Luke 22:15).  These desires are not bad.

• Not all anger is bad.  When we see injustice, the anger that rises within us may be because we have the heart of God, who hates injustice.  Jesus was angry when people opposed his healing works on the Sabbath (Mark 3:5), and Paul said, “Be angry but do not sin” (Ephesians 4:26). 

• Being offended is not necessarily wrong.  When we are not treated respectfully, the hurt we feel is a recognition that, as people made in the image of God, we are more than just things to be mistreated for the pleasure of another.  Jesus said, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault” (Matt. 18:15).  He didn’t say, Don’t be offended.

The issue is not the initial emotions we experience in these situations.  The issue is what we do with them.  That’s why Paul says, “Be angry but do not sin.”

Jesus shows how to deal with temptation

So how can we experience our natural human emotions but keep them from leading us into sin?  We have a great model in Jesus, who was tempted but did not sin (Matt. 4:1-11; Heb. 4:15).

There are many things we can learn from Jesus about handling temptation, but here I want to focus on two ways Jesus set an example for us when he was tempted in the dessert (Matt. 4:1-11).  These are not specific instructions for dealing with specific types of challenges.  These are the fundamental starting points or building blocks for a godly response to any temptation.

Jesus’s temptation in the dessert

When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the dessert, Satan suggested actions that were designed to appeal to natural desires that Jesus might have been experiencing as a human person.  The first was to turn stones into bread to assuage his hunger.  The second was to jump from the parapet of the Temple and let the angels catch him, which would gain attention so that he might spread his message.  The third was to worship the devil in exchange for power.

We all face our own versions of these temptations:

• the temptation to put our own wants ahead of the ways God wants us to work in our lives.

• the temptation to draw attention to ourselves and get God to do things our way.

• the temptation to compromise with evil and go against our commitment to God in order to gain power or control in a situation.

All three of these forms of temptation are, at root, temptations to put ourselves ahead of God.

Jesus had two fundamental starting points that allowed him to deal effectively with these temptations.

Jesus is absolutely clear in his commitment to do the Father’s will

When the temptation comes, Jesus already has an irrevocable commitment to the Father, and he knows that the Father loves him and will see him through whatever he faces.

Many people go through life with a subtle or explicit feeling that God is looking down from on high with a frown, just waiting to catch us in sin.  That’s not the God Jesus reveals to us, and it is not how Jesus-as-God acts.  Yet that image lurks in many minds and hearts.

The Creator God who made us and loves us, always stands with us to empower us to be what he has made us to be.  We are never alone or outside his reach.  Jesus knows that he stands with his loving Father, and he invites us to do the same.

When we have made a fundamental decision to live for God and not for ourselves, when we have chosen to try to see all of life from his perspective, when we have already put our trust in him before the temptation comes and have already decided that our greatest happiness and greatest fulfillment comes in living the life God calls us to live, then some of the world’s temptations become less alluring.

If we have that foundation, the challenge is to remember who we already are, not to try to decide who we want to be under the strain of temptation.  That is the first thing Jesus shows us.

But in the moment, how do we know how God wants us to respond?  That question leads us to the second major point about Jesus’s temptation in the desert.

Jesus is fundamentally committed to the Word of God and knows it well, so he can respond with Scripture to the temptations he faces

Each time Satan offers an alluring option, Jesus counters it with truths he knows from his knowledge of the Word of God – truths that make it clear that the action proposed by Satan is not what God wants.

• He quotes Deuteronomy 8:3, recalling that humans do not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

• He quotes Deuteronomy 6:16, which tell us not put God to the test but to trust him.

• He quotes Deuteronomy 6:13, which tells us to worship only the Lord God and to serve only him.

Notice that these treasures Jesus pulls out of his storehouse of Scriptures he knows so well, address the temptation but also reiterate the fundamental commitment to God that Jesus already has.

Scripture is our first response when we are dealing with temptation.  Why is this so?  Because most of the temptations we face are not new.  Almost always, we know the sin or vice or failing that the temptation asks us to embrace.  And if we know our Scriptures, most of the time we know how God would want us to respond.

We can use Scripture to identify how to respond to the temptation at hand.  And we can use Scripture to remind ourselves of just how great and good and loving our God is, so that we can be comfortable doing the right thing.

Next steps

There is much more to learn from the story of Jesus’s temptation.  Here are some possible next steps:

• If you haven’t ever made a decision to commit your life fully to God, this might be a good time to do so.  Talk to him and tell him.  Or have a conversation with him about what holds you back, and do as much listening as talking.

• If you find that you don’t have a storehouse of Scriptures that would help you deal with temptation, start a practice of reading the Bible.  Just open up to one of the Gospels and go from there (use a Bible with a modern translation).  There are apps that help people engage in daily Bible reading, and podcasts if you would rather have the Bible read to you.

• Explore the rest of my study of Matthew 4:1-11 to learn more about how we can apply this passage to our lives, or dig into the whole Gospel of Matthew.

Just remember, God never asks you to face temptation on your own.  He is always with you, and you can always call on him for loving help and grace.