November 10, 2013 11 Unit 3: Jesus Early Ministry Biblical Reference: Luke 4:1 13 PREPARE FOR THE LESSON n Bibles n Student Handouts 11.1 and 11.2 Jesus Is Tempted The story of Jesus temptation in the desert is the final stage of preparation for Jesus before He begins His public ministry. The overarching theme in this narrative is the steadfast obedience Jesus displays to the will and way of the Father. In this story, Jesus demonstrates His faithfulness as the new Adam and also as the new Israel. Adam, the firstborn of creation, failed his first test to resist temptation. Israel, when being delivered into freedom, also failed their test when they were led into the desert. Jesus forty days of fasting are directly analogous to Israel s forty years of wandering. Israel is intimately familiar with its history of failure: 76 All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com
Israel was tested with hunger in the desert in hopes of learning to depend completely on God. Israel was also tested in her commitment to worship God alone, but repeatedly turned to idolatry. Israel constantly doubted God s power or provision, testing God numerous times throughout its history. Any hearer listening to this story would immediately have been reminded of these historical stories and interested to hear how Jesus responded. There are many different names for the one who tempts Jesus in the New Testament. Sometimes, he is called the devil and other times he is referred to as Satan. The name literally means, accuser, adversary, or slanderer. Throughout the Scriptures, Satan is God s adversary, maligning, slandering the words of God and attempting to oppose and destroy God s plans. The first temptation immediately parallels the provision of manna in the desert. The adversary is trying to get Jesus to step out on His own, to prove His independence from the Father. Should Jesus try and make His own bread, he abuses the relationship He has with the Father instead of trusting and depending on God alone for all things. Throughout His ministry, Jesus would have been tempted to meet all the physical needs of the people around Him. (Interestingly enough, many people, especially youth ministers, end up playing this same game today.) Jesus responds directly and simply with the first words of Deuteronomy 8:3 (Matthew has the whole verse). Life as a human is more than just meeting physical needs. The second temptation is a confrontation of power, politics, and worship. In the writings of John, the devil is described as the prince of this world. Here, he tries to tempt Jesus to submit to his authority. But Jesus knows that all authority finds its place in God alone. He again quotes from Deuteronomy (6:13) and says that worship is reserved for God alone. In the final test the accuser also quotes from Scripture. Using the Psalms as his text, he again tempts Jesus to prove His sonship, calling upon the Father to prevent His death. Many writers have said that this test is a form of crowd-entertainment because of its location. Jesus death would, in fact, occur in Jerusalem, but in the Father s timing. Jesus response here is to be held in tension with His prayer in the garden the night before He is crucified. Jesus does not prove His sonship by avoiding death, but by obediently submitting to death death on the Cross and then conquering it. Submission, obedience, and trust are the beginnings of Jesus ministry, not testing the power and authority of the Father. 77
The devil is not finished testing Jesus. He flees this encounter to later appear as Jesus approaches death. If the Son of God faced struggles and temptations throughout His life on earth, we should also expect the same as we follow in His footsteps. The Holy Spirit empowers Jesus to overcome temptation. He gives us the same power and strength (1 Corinthians 10:13). He provides a way out always! Helping Students Connect to the Story There are some students who are frustrated that they are tempted. They try hard to do what is good and right and find themselves distracted by any of a number of things. There are others students who love to push the boundaries of sin. They don t necessarily want to sin, but they sure love the feeling of exploring everything that s out there. The reality is that, for now, temptation is a part of life. It entered the picture in Genesis 3 and time and time again, everyone is usually tempted in three areas: money, power, or sex. Though this is a great oversimplification, we start to see how, at the root, all temptations are the same: do we trust that God is able to do what He says He is going to do or do we try and take matters into our own hands and bring about our desired end? Do we seek instant gratification instead of being patient for the better, more rewarding thing God has in store? The Scriptures remind us that Jesus was tempted in every way that we are tempted, yet He remained steadfastly faithful and obedient to God, proving that there is a way to live a fully human life devoted to God. God has promised, whenever we are tempted, to provide a way out. This way is sometimes the quiet prompting of the Spirit, calling us to flee, to run away, and can be difficult to hear over the roar of peer pressure. Temptation, in and of itself, is not sin. It s just part of our broken world. Just as the Holy Spirit gave Jesus the courage and power to resist temptation, we are given that same strength! Welcome We reflect on the week that has passed since we were together last. Where did you see God at work in the world around you this week? Where did you see God at work in you this week? YOUNGER OPTION For those who work with younger students, you could play a game to help think of common temptations they face on a consistent basis. A game similar to hangman, wheel of fortune, or Taboo could get their creative juices flowing. Let students take turns leading the game to think of different temptations, silly or serious. 78
Time line from Last Week Revisit the time line to review last week s step in the story of Jesus baptism. Point out the drawings on the time line. Say, We can find ourselves in God s story because it is our story, too. What was our story last week? Where did you find yourself in that story? How does this story fit in with the rest of the story of the Bible? Luke 4:1 13 Reading 1: For the first reading, invite a couple of guest leaders to come and act out the Scripture as a duet, possibly with another person serving as the narrator. Give them great room to be creative in interpreting the text while it is being read. Reading 2: For the second reading, ask for a couple of student volunteers to act out the Scriptures using their own theme and setting. For example, it could be set in modern times, or using a science-fiction setting. As the story is told, keep dialogue to a minimum; you might want to encourage the tempter to continue to pester and harass Jesus while Jesus remains focused on remaining obedient to God. SENSORY OPTION There are numerous websites and apps that have the game called Do Not Push the Red Button. It s a game where the screen tells you to not press the red button. If you do, another message pops up. If possible, have this site open and sitting out for your students to see as they gather. Don t say anything about the red button, just see how the students react to it. If you don t have internet access in the classroom, create your own red button game. Use as a way to lead into the discussion about temptation. Reading 3: For the final reading, distribute Student Handout 11.1 and ask students to get into pairs, read the Scriptures together, and consider the following questions: Which temptation would be the hardest for you to resist? Is it important that Jesus fasted before He was tempted? If you were telling the story today, where would you have it take place? How would you imagine the temptations? 79
Use the following questions to lead your students in a time of reflection based on the Scriptures: How is Jesus introduced in this passage? Why is it important to know that He is full of the Holy Spirit? Where does the temptation take place? What other important biblical narratives take place in the wilderness? Is it comforting to know that the Spirit leads Jesus to the wilderness? How long was Jesus in the wilderness? In what other stories have you heard this number? Why did Jesus fast for 40 days? Is this even humanly possible? What s the point of fasting? Describe the first test. What do you think the real issue is at stake in this test? Describe all the kingdoms of the world. Whose kingdoms are these? Does Satan have the right to give them to Jesus in the first place? Describe the nature of the second test. What do you think is the real issue of the second test? Describe the third test. Do you think that there are witnesses gathered around to see it? Why or why not? What twist does Satan use in the third test? How does Jesus respond? Why do we have this story in Scripture? What questions do you have about the story? Who gave Jesus the strength to resist temptation? Do you think we, as humans, have the power to resist temptation as well? Why or why not? 80
Share in your own words: Temptation is a daily part of life. Sometimes parents and schools try to influence and control teens by removing any forms of what they think might be temptations. However, in doing this, the objects or activities that these authority figures speak and work against become more attractive to teens, leading the teens to explore them on their own. In this story, we don t see Jesus being anxious about the accusations of Satan. Instead, Jesus knows who He is, whose He is, and what He is called to do. He knows these things because He has given Scripture the space to take root deep in His life. Distribute Student Handout 11.2 and ask students to get in small groups, trying to find Scriptures that would help them to stand strong when they face the following temptations: Underage Drinking Pornography Cheating at School Lying to Parents/Authorities Speeding Stealing Are there one or two verses that seem to help speak against all temptations? Have someone read 1 Corinthians 10:13 out loud. Have your group reconvene and share their answers. Keep track of which Scriptures seem to connect most deeply to your students. Address other specific temptations that your students may face on a regular basis. Help them come up with helpful Scriptures for these temptations. MEDIA OPTION Bluefish TV (www. bluefishtv.com) is an incredible and affordable resource for youth ministries on a tight budget. One of the best tools that Bluefish offers is downloadable videos that cover a multitude of topics. Search for temptation and choose the video that you best feel communicates to your students about this topic. 81
SKILL BUILDER Say, Today s story is one that can guide us in faithful and obedient discipleship on a daily basis. We remember that Jesus is fully human, that He was faced with every temptation we struggle with. We are not alone on this way of life, but have His Spirit to guide and protect us. He has also given us friends and a family of faith with whom we share life. Together we learn to stay faithful to God no matter what we face. Some of us succumb to temptation more when we are alone; others succumb when we are in a group. What do you struggle with? Divide students into groups of two or three (same gender). Use your judgment as to which students should be the same group together. Have one student pray silently, listening for God to speak to them. Have the other student(s) pray silently for the other student, that their mind will be open, and that they will hear from God, to know and understand what temptations they really struggle with. Give them 2 minutes to do this. Then have them switch roles. Do the same for the third student. Give students time to journal about what God was speaking to them. Say, Using Student Handout 11.2 as a guide, talk honestly with your friends about what things really are temptations for you. Add other temptations to the list. The best plan to walk in holiness is to think through our actions ahead of time. Develop a plan or secret code with your friends so that the next time you are tempted, you can walk through it with honor and integrity. Youth ministry, and ministry in general, was never intended to be a solo endeavor. The most successful ministries, however you want to define the term success, are team efforts; they are the result of a body of believers coming together to exercise their gifts. Always be on the lookout for new people to welcome into your youth ministry who are strong in the gifts where you are weak. This means that you ll have to know what your strengths really are, and be quick to recognize the strengths of others. Finally, regularly find time to pray together as a team, because youth ministry is ultimately God s responsibility. Our job is to love them like Jesus does. You might even use this time as a way to begin accountability groups within your youth group. For the time line activity, give each student a marker and have them write the verse from 1 Corinthians 10:13 on the time line. It doesn t matter if the writings overlap with one another. What we see when everyone has written is that God does walk with us through our temptations. God also provides people and friends as a good resource to fight temptation. 82