Jesus Tempted

Continuing in the temptations of Jesus in Matthew 4, the second temptation, Satan wanted Jesus to throw himself off the highest point on the temple, and see if God would send His angels to save him. 

Matthew 4:5-7 NIV

[5] Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. [6] “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” [7] Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

https://bible.com/bible/111/mat.4.5-7.NIV

What can we learn here? In the first temptation and this one, Satan tries to get Jesus to doubt who he is. He says,"IF you are the Son of God..." He does that to us today..."If you were really a Christian then you..." or "Are you really a Christian? Look at how you act?" Again, he throws thoughts at us hoping they will stick in our minds and give him a foothold in our minds. Ignore it all. He is the great accuser and liar. Don't listen to any of it, lies or accusations. 

Jesus answered him with scripture, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test." He wasn't about to jump off the highest point of the temple and test God to see if the angels would save Him. He is the Son of God, so He did not have to prove who he was to Satan. We don't have to either. We are born again children of God forever, end of story. That's who God says we are, so that's who we are. Period. Never let Satan question who you are in your thoughts. 

Satan knows the scriptures too. He paraphrased Psalms 91:11-12 here. It doesn't matter what he knows. He will distort and twist the truth. So again, ignore it all when he throws thoughts at you. Jesus ignored his questions and answered with scripture. If you don't know scriptures just yet, then just ignore him. It says, "Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." When you don't listen to him, he always goes away. 

The last temptation, Satan wanted to give Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if Jesus would bow down and worship him. Ridiculous. Promising the world, delivering nothing. Lies, lies, and more lies. The world wasn't Satan's to give first of all. Next, Jesus is the Son of God. Why would He bow down and worship Satan? Duh. Lol. Just abunch of nonsense. 

Matthew 4:8-11 NIV

[8] Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. [9] “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” [10] Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” [11] Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

https://bible.com/bible/111/mat.4.8-11.NIV

Again, Jesus quoted scripture. Satan finally gave up and went away.

So, we learn here how to get Satan off our backs, so to speak. We resist him by ignoring him or answering him with scripture. Don't listen to any of it. Never let anything he throws at us take root in our hearts. Resist all his thoughts he throws at you and "he will flee from you." 

Jesus provides THE example on how to handle the dark forces out there, be it Satan himself or his demons. 

So, have confidence now when the attack comes. We are God's children. He will fight for us. Just submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.

What a great start to learning the teachings and commands of Jesus.

Love you all dear readers,

Jeffrey Post