In this chapter we read of these two combatants in conflict: sin in the flesh and the Son of God, and we observe that three influences were brought to bear upon Jesus to tempt him to sin: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life 1 John 2:16.Waiting for response for 1 John 2:16 These are the influences which can divert us from the way of righteousness and, referring back to Genesis 3, we see that Adam and Eve were also tempted in these same three ways, but unlike them Jesus resisted these evil influences to overcome sin successfully.
It is instructive to observe that Jesus was able to resist temptation by applying God’s word to the circumstance. In particular, he overcame the intense hunger for food, without using God’s power to provide it miraculously, by the conviction expressed in the book of Deuteronomy that such food only keeps us alive for a short while, whereas feeding on God’s word results in everlasting life.
Jesus was given the Spirit without measure so that he could demonstrate that he came from God and that his message also was from God. Therefore he went about the land, with specially chosen companions, using God’s power to heal people of various diseases, of mental illnesses, and of paralysis. However his most important work was to preach God’s good news or “gospel” for this is the essential message of salvation. It should be noted that this good news was about the Kingdom of God, the grand finale to which world events are leading, in which Jesus, God’s Anointed, will reign on his promised throne as the King of Israel and ruler of the whole world to bring blessings upon all people.
Verse 1
Waiting for response for Matthew 4:1Jesus, possessing God’s power, was able to perform extraordinary deeds, but this magnified the temptation on him to depart from doing God’s will. Therefore the Spirit immediately led him into the wilderness to determine “whether he would keep God’s commandments, or no” - just as the people of Israel were led through the wilderness for 40 years for the same purpose Deuteronomy 8:2.Waiting for response for Deuteronomy 8:2 This temptation was part of God’s purpose, not that of a supernatural evil being. “Devil” in Greek means “false accuser” and the greatest of these, the enemy of mankind, is sin in our flesh - and Jesus’ mission was to defeat this traducer.