August 22, 2016

PAVING THE WAY

Matthew 4:1-6

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:

‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’and,
‘In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”

Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

Encouraging Words

Sometimes people will ask why it is so important for us to recognize Jesus for being a human being as well as God Himself. This passage shows us so clearly why this is so important. When Jesus went out into the desert, He went there as a human being. He fasted for a long time. I think the longest that I have even done a total fast was somewhere between 30 and 40 hours. Believe me, your body starts feeling some strange things and your mind starts going to some weird places. Even when you do a fast where you can drink fluids and juices, your body and mind revolts. Jesus felt hunger pangs like you or I would. He felt alone in the desert like you or I would. His human nature was ripe for the enemy to confront Him and tempt Him. And it was His human nature that denied Satan in all of the temptations. He made it possible for me to do the same by becoming human and paving the way for people like me to also say "No!" to the enemy and his attempts to steer me away from God. Jesus exercised His free will as a human being showing me that I can strive to be like Him and do the same. Thank You, Lord Jesus Christ for showing me the way and giving me a Helper so that I could follow in your footsteps.