WEEKLY DEVOTION

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

— “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:14-16

When temptation comes, so often we fall. Whether the temptation arises from within ourselves - from our old evil and sinful nature - or comes from outside of us - in the form of temptations from the devil himself or allurements from other people and the world around us - we seldom offer much resistance. We doubt God’s Word, or take it lightly, and yield ourselves to disobedience and sin.

Our Lord Jesus, too, endured temptation, but He did not give in and sin. Rather, He trusted in the truthfulness of God and His Word and used the Word of God to resist the temptations placed before Him by the devil (Read Luke 4:1-13; cf. Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13).

After His baptism, the Holy Spirit led Jesus out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. We don’t know what all those temptations were, but as the Scripture says, Jesus was “forty days tempted of the devil” (Luke 4:2). As the children of Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness, with many falling into unbelief and sin, so Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness, enduring temptation of the same old evil foe who brought about the demise of so many in the wilderness centuries before. But Jesus did not sin. He was “in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

After fasting there and being without food for 40 days and 40 nights, “the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.” Certainly Jesus could have done so. He was and is the very Son of God, the Creator of all. And so, why not? He was hungry. He had the power. He could prove Himself the Son of God. But Jesus didn’t. He replied with a quote from Deuteronomy 8:3, Jesus said, “It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.” What was more important here? Having food to eat? Or trusting in the LORD God and the promises of His Word - including the promises to supply all our needs?

The devil, took Jesus up into a high mountain and shewed unto Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time - could he have taken Jesus up to Mt. Pisgah, where God showed Moses all the land of promise? - “and the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.”

Jesus had come into the world to establish a kingdom. God the Father promised Him all the peoples and nations of the world as His inheritance (cf. Psalm 2; Daniel 7:14). So again, why not? All He had to do is fall down and worship Satan once. But Jesus again responded from the book of Deuteronomy (6:13; 13:4), saying, “Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”

And Satan brought Jesus to Jerusalem “and set Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto Him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.” Satan now used Scripture (Psalm 91:11-12) in this third attempt to cause Jesus to sin. It was as if Satan were telling Jesus to prove His identity as the Son of God and to prove His trust in God’s care and protection by putting God to the test and throwing Himself off the top of the temple, trusting that God would indeed send His angels to bear Him up and prevent Him from being harmed.

Again Jesus responded with Scripture from the book of Deuteronomy (6:16), “It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” In the same way as it is sin to take matters into our own hands and not trust in the LORD God to keep His Word, so it is sin to misuse God’s Word and foolishly put God to the test.

Have we ever had similar temptations? Are we ever tempted to take matters into our own hands rather than living day-to-day trusting in the promises of God’s Word? To go out and get what we desire instead of waiting for God to give us what we truly need? Are we ever tempted to compromise our faith in order to gain the power and riches of this world? Are we ever tempted to put God to the test, expecting Him to keep us from suffering the consequences of our own foolishness? Has Satan ever said to us, “If you’re really a child of God, prove it by demanding miracles, wealth, power, prestige and the like? Have we ever fallen? Have we taken Satan’s offer rather than trusting and waiting for God to fulfill His words?

Though we have so often come short and fallen into unbelief and sin, Jesus did not. Jesus “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” Rather than doubting God and His Word, Jesus used God’s Word to fend off the attacks of the devil (cf. Psalm 119:9-11). And how important this is to us as sinners to have a Savior who was tempted but did not sin! Jesus fulfilled all righteousness for us, being perfect and without sin. And He then went to the cross and suffered our punishment that we might receive God’s mercy and forgiveness for Jesus’ sake. Because Jesus was tempted in all points like as we are and did not sin, He could suffer and die for the sins of the whole world. He, as the spotless Lamb of God, made atonement for us and won for us salvation.

Because Jesus endured temptation and did not sin, and because He suffered, died and paid in full for our sins and the sins of the whole world, we have forgiveness and life in Him. He, as our high priest, offered up Himself in our stead, once for all, that we might receive God’s grace and favor. For that reason, we can “come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” God grant that we do turn to Him for mercy and grace!

[From The Still Small Voice, Gentry, Ark., Scripture Quotations from the King James Version of the Bible]

For The Record, Pages 4 on 02/24/2010