Temptations

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:15-17 NAS95

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, "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 ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'" Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand 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 WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU'; and 'ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.'" Jesus said to him, "On the other hand, it is written, 'YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.'" Again, the devil took Him to a very 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 fall down and worship me." Then Jesus said to him, "Go, Satan! For it is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'" Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him. Matthew 4:1-11 NAS95

I hope you looked at the two Scripture passages for today and went, WHAT? I hope you asked how in the world are these two passages even related. If you didn’t…that is okay with me. Maybe you know why these two passages are related. If you have it figured out, you are dismissed from reading my musing for the day. We will see you soon in another musing. If you don’t know or are curious about what I think, then hang on for a few minutes with me.

So, what does the “Temptation of Christ,” have to do with “lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.” It is really so simple that I wish a few more preachers would talk about it.

John is very plain about loving the things of this world and he lists the things of the world we are to avoid, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Simple, profound, and to be honest the three things that trip up most Christians. The Scripture declares:

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15 NAS95

Jesus, if this passage is correct and I believe it to be correct, faced every temptation you and I will ever face. If you are looking for an excuse for a behavior you know you should give up, you will no doubt think, "well, Jesus never was tempted by…” fill in your own blank here. My argument is whatever you are filling in the blank with will fit into one of the three categories listed above, a. the lust of the flesh, b. the lust of the eyes, or c. the pride of life.

You might be thinking by now that I am implying, without saying it, that all sin fits into one of these three categories. If you are, you are right. If you missed it, let me say it plain and simple. There is no temptation you will face that will not fall into one of the three categories of 1 John chapter 2. It will either be the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, or the pride of life.

Let us look at the Matthew portion of our reading for a moment, Jesus is tempted three times. The temptations are:

1. "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."

2. "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, 'HE will command HIS angels concerning you'; and 'on their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"

3. "All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me."

I recognize that these are not in the same order as John used, instead it is the lust of the flesh, the pride of life, and the lust of the eyes. The first temptation was given at a time when Jesus had just fasted 40 days and nights. He was most likely rather hungry, the flesh wanted to eat. The flesh wanted to be satisfied. (Paul the apostle admonishes to put to death the flesh. See Romans 8:13)

The third temptation appealed to the eyes. It is a foolish temptation in my thinking, the enemy takes Jesus to the top of the mountain and offers Him everything He already owned. At the moment of the temptation, we need to recognize Jesus had laid down control of what He owned. He had walked away from heaven’s throne room to come to earth to be offered as a sacrifice for the sins of humanity. Now the enemy says, I will turn it all over to you and I will walk away, if you worship me. The lust of the eyes.

When did anything you ever lusted after totally satisfy your longing? In case you haven’t figured it out, the enemy has never told the truth. What he says will be yours, will never be yours, because every word that proceeds out of his mouth is riddled with lies.

I have not forgotten the second temptation. John listed this one third, and it is the one that is more subtle than the other two. It is pride.

We are peer pressured into doing things so that our pride is not damaged. Jesus is challenged to show off His power. You and I get challenged to show off the depth of our wallets, our strength, our willpower, and just about every stupid thing you can imagine. Jesus could have shown off, but He did not need to do so.

We show off. We do things that prove our worth to the world. Some of it might be okay, but sometimes we are doing it to impress others, and sometimes to avoid humiliation. It is often done out of our pride.

To wrap this musing into a neat bundle, Jesus was tempted, in the same ways you and I are tempted. Jesus taught us the manner in which we can successfully defeat temptation, it begins with three simple words…It Is Written! If you are battling with temptation, find the Scripture relating to the temptation, from lying, to slander, to murder, to adultery. Then when the temptation comes quote the verse related to the temptation. It Is Written… The Scriptures are your best weapon in the warfare of temptation.