Eyewitnesses of his Majesty Luke 4:1-13 (The wilderness temptation of Christ)

The wilderness temptation demonstrates the power of Christ. Even in the midst of his weakness. Though he refused Satan's request to make a spectacle of his ability yet this picture of his strength has endured for two thousand years. In the wilderness temptation we see that the greatest power, and the one which evades us so often is the power of self control.

Let us take note of the tempter. Satan is a cruel attacker. He came to Jesus when he was weakened. Satan used his chiefest allies: the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions (1 John 2:16).

First Satan attacked the physical hunger in a way beyond our comprehension. To have not eaten in 40 days and to resist the temptation for bread. The desire of the flesh must have been overwhelming.

In the second temptation every imaginable desire is offered. Everything you've ever seen that you wanted: every experience, every possession, every accomplishment. All the pride and glory you could ever have. For Christ what more of a temptation to grasp what was rightfully his in the first place. To be in a state of humility no more, but to rule the nations now.

And when these two had failed Satan tries to tempt Christ to test God. Satan wants nothing more than to alienate Christ from the Father. He seeks to accomplish this by convincing Jesus to test the Father

Christ answer to every challenge is essentially the same. The Lord God. The Lord God is what gives him life more than bread. The Lord God is the one who alone should be worshipped. And the Lord God is the one not to be doubted or put to the test.

In Christ's unshakable trust and obedience to God he succeeds where men fail. God's people in the Old Testament fell continuously into temptation in the wilderness. And we fail in many ways.

We see in the wilderness temptation patterns that continued Christ's life, and would be be displayed even more powerfully in his greatest work: going to the cross. Christ suffered. Christ was tempted. He submitted to the Father's will. And in his obedience Satan's plot and attack were turned to the God's victory.

As you and I see Christ in this passage we can know we have a Savior who has been tempted like us. Satan attacked him the same way he attacks us only with far greater severity. Every time we are in temptation it should comfort us to know that we are walking the path our Lord walked.

And we can walk by his example. We must also stand and control ourselves in midst of temptation. To do so we must seek the Holy Spirit. Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit (Vs. 1). We should speak the truth of the Bible against the lies of Satan (out loud if necessary). But most of all Jesus' example shows us to focus on the Lord God like he did continually. We should look to what God provides, what God promises, and what God requires of us.

Even when we fail we can look to this passage and remember there was one who succeeded. And we are his. And because of his obedience to the Father we can be forgiven.