SESSION SESSION SESSION SESSION SESSION Lake Grove All-Church Study Week of February -8 Sermon Dates: February 8 & March 1 Matthew 4:1-11 I Love to Tell the Story: His Temptations Christ in the Wilderness, Ivan Kramskoi, 187 PRAY. GET STARTED. We all have to eat to live, but sometimes we need to remind ourselves that we do not live to eat! However, food is one of the pleasures of God s creation, and variety, after all, is the spice of life. Share some thoughts about your favorite foods. (This opening exercise is taken from Serendipity House s Bible study called Life of Christ, Understanding the Savior, 008 reprint.) 1. What s your favorite kind of food? (fast food, Italian, Mexican, American, Greek, Asian, other?) Page 1
SESSION SESSION SESSION SESSION SESSION. When you were young, what was your favorite snack when you arrived home from school? 3. What is the longest you ve gone without food? How does hunger affect you? READ. Matthew 4:1 11 Jesus was not tempted so that the Father could learn anything about His Son, for the Father had already given Jesus His divine approval. Jesus was tempted so that every creature in heaven, on earth, and under the earth might know that Jesus Christ is the Conqueror. He exposed Satan and his tactics, and He defeated Satan. Because of His victory, we can have victory over the tempter. ~ Warren Wiersbe, Be Loyal Following the King of Kings, NT Commentary on Matthew, 1980, p.38 Note: You can find the presumed area of these temptations on the map included in the introductory pages of this study The Life of Christ. It is #7, north of the Dead Sea. There is a traditional high mountain site east of Jericho. Others believe He wandered the Judean Wilderness south of Bethlehem. RESPOND. 4. (vv.1-) - What do you think about the Spirit leading Jesus into temptation? 5. (v.) - What is the significance of forty days and forty nights? Why was He fasting, and what is the significance of His being hungry? Page
SESSION SESSION SESSION SESSION SESSION The First Temptation (vv.3-4). 6. What is the purpose of this temptation? 7. How does Jesus answer, and what context does His quote come from? The Second Temptation (vv.5-7). Temptation of Christ, Ary Scheffer, 1854 Page 3
SESSION SESSION SESSION SESSION SESSION 8. What differences do you notice about this temptation, compared to the first? 9. What is Satan s purpose with this temptation? 10. How does Jesus answer, and what context does His quote come from? The biblical texts Jesus used as his key weapons were all taken from the story of Israel in the wilderness. Jesus had come through the waters of baptism, like Israel crossing the Red Sea. He now had to face, in forty days and nights in the wilderness, the equivalent of Israel s forty years in the desert. But where Israel failed its tests again and again, Jesus succeeded. Here at last is the true Israelite, Matthew is saying. He has come to do what God always wanted Israel to do to bring light to the world (see v.16). ~ N.T. Wright, For Everyone Bible Study Guides, Matthew, 009, p.1 The Third Temptation (vv.8-11) 11. What are Satan s purposes with this third temptation? Page 4
SESSION SESSION SESSION SESSION SESSION All the kingdoms of the world and their splendor title and artist unknown 1. What is Jesus response, and where does His quote come from? 13. (related to the whole passage) Satan has been offering Jesus ways to achieve His goals. What are these ways that Jesus is rejecting? MAKE IT REAL 14. N.T. Wright says that though our everyday temptations may be very different than those of Jesus, they have the same point. It is more than just getting us to commit sin. They are trying to distract us, to turn us aside from the path of servanthood to which our baptism has commissioned us. What calling or purpose has Jesus given His followers, and how are we distracted from it? Page 5
SESSION SESSION SESSION SESSION SESSION 15. What can we learn from Jesus here, about temptation and how to resist it? REALLY MAKE IT REAL: CLOSE IN PRAYER. Extra! Memorize First Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to us all. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. Page 6