Jesus is Tempted - Matthew 4:1-11*

The Story in a Nutshell

The story continues...

After his baptism, Jesus was led out into the desert by the Holy Spirit where he would be tempted by the Devil.  For forty days and nights Jesus ate nothing and became very hungry.  Then the Devil tempted Jesus three times.

First, the Devil said, “If you are the son of God, change these stones into loves of bread.”

Jesus said, “No!  People need more than bread for life; they must feed on every word of God.”

Second, the Devil took Jesus to the highest point of the Temple and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off.  Scripture says that God’s angels will protect you and keep you from getting hurt.”

Jesus replied, “Scripture also says not to test the Lord your God.”

Third, the Devil took Jesus to the top of a very high mountain and showed him all the nations of the world.  Then the Devil said, I will give you all these nations if you will kneel down and worship me.”

Lastly Jesus replied, “Get out of here Satan.  The Scriptures say only to worship and serve the Lord your God!”

With that, the Devil left, and angels came and cared for Jesus.

To be continued…

* The resource for telling the story is: Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1996.

What did you learn from the story?

If you want to gain a full understanding of the complete story, and for help in answering some of the questions below, you may want to have the following items as additional resources:  a Bible, a dictionary, and a Bible commentary on the Book of Matthew (optional).

1. What was the purpose of the Devil tempting Jesus?
2. What was the Devil’s first temptation?
3. What was Jesus’ answer?
4. What did Jesus’ answer mean?
5. What was the Devil’s second temptation?
6. What was Jesus’ response?
7. What did Jesus mean?
8. What was the Devil’s third temptation?
9. What was Jesus response?
10. What did Jesus mean?
11. What did all of Jesus' responses have in common?
12. Why did the Devil leave after the third temptation?
13. What did you learn about God, Jesus, and people from this story?

Have questions about God, Jesus, and the Bible? An excellent source for answers to your questions is gotquestions.org. Check it out. gotquestions.org.

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