sarkakaiaima

The Lord Jesus modeled for us how to walk with God. He did this by himself learning to walk faithfully in affliction. Thus this saying is true: “As with Christ, so also with those who follow him.” N ote once again in the text (Matthew 4:1-11): It was the Holy Spirit who sent Jesus out into the desert “to be tempted/tried by the devil.” (v.1) Here is what I think is the heart of the reason for God doing this. The experience is not unique to Jesus but rather the Lord went through this because it is common for human beings to be tried/tempted by the devil. Therefore, if it common for us then he must experience it firsthand himself as the incarnate Son of God. In this testing in the wilderness we see the Lord’s perfect faith-relationship with God and steadfastness of faith. We see that his character and moral center are rooted in God alone and thus he can see through the evil one’s temptations for what they are and stand firm. He has given us a way to stand strong as his disciples....

There are threads in these three temptations (Matthew 4:1-11) for they appeal to genuine human needs and aspirations. This is part of what makes them so appealing. All three urge for a person to be self-dependent and self-assertive in order to satisfy one’s own self-love to get what one needs or desires. All three temptations are countered with the necessity of trusting God to meet one’s needs and to faithfully listen with obedience to his word and his way of acting (“righteousness”) in and for his children.    At one of my former workplaces, I was able to drive company vehicles. But my use of those vehicles is restricted to the specific activities I do in the course of completing my work for the company. I can use vehicles only in the way specified in my job description. This is because the vehicles do not belong to me but the company. THE SAME RULE APPLIES IN THE KINGDOM—THE LORD FOLLOWED IT AND WE MUST TOO. The Lord overcame the trial and did not yield to the tempter’...