THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS (PART III)

“Invincibility Leads to Vulnerability”

By Akin Ojumu

Temptation is a reality of life. You can’t run from it. You can’t hide from it. It’s an inescapable fate that haunts all humankind. Like a cunning predator stalking its prey, temptation doggedly hunts all mankind. 

Ensconce yourself on a remote island, and be totally cut off from all human beings, soon enough, temptation will come calling. Seclude yourself in a cavernous dark dungeon, devoid of all human contacts, even in there, temptation will come knocking.

When it comes to temptation, your spiritual status is irrelevant. As far as temptation is concerned, your religious stature is immaterial. Temptation is an equal opportunity tormentor. It doesn’t matter how high you are on the spiritual totem pole, temptation will bring you down low if you are not careful.

Last time, we saw that the word tempt is the Greek word peirazo (temptation is peirasmos). In its Greek usage, the word can have either a positive or a negative connotation. It’s a neutral word with a dual meaning in the Greek language.

A good example of the dual meaning of the word peirazo (or peirasmos) in how it’s used in the Bible is the experience of Joseph. Out of jealousy, Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery thinking they were getting rid of a nuisance. They did not realize that God was divinely orchestrating the events as a means of delivering His people. Joseph’s temptation became his trial and tribulation. What his brothers meant to use to destroy him, God used to promote him. The temptation that was meant to prove him unfaithful, God used as a test to prove him faithful.

Genesis 50:20

“As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this – to preserve the lives of many people.”

Another example of the duality in the use of the word peirazo is found in the Book of James where the biological brother of our Lord Jesus teaches us on the proper response to trial and temptation.

James 1:2-3

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”

James 1:13

“Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.”

The word translated trials, testing, and tempted in the above passages is the Greek word peirazo (peirasmos). On the one hand, the word is used in James 1:2 in its positive sense to convey the idea of trial and testing that God allows to come our way to prove us worthy. This is using trials and tribulations as stepping stones, or as ladders, to greater victories in Christ.

On the other hand, the use of the word in James 1:13 carries a negative connotation. Here, it’s been used to convey the idea of an enticement to evil. This is when a man is lured to a trap like a prey, or baited like fish, by his own unique lust in order to yield to sin. 

Now we know that the Almighty God is of pure eyes, and He cannot behold iniquity. He does not entice anyone to evil. God would never dangle a bangle of sin before the eyes of any man to tempt him to sin. Satan is the one who inflames in man the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life to cause to fall into temptation. It’s the devil’s modus operandi to entice to evil.

Furthermore, in the previous installment of this commentary series, we saw how the temptation of Jesus was preceded by His baptism. Immediately after his baptism, the Holy Spirit drove Him into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 

As you’d recall, we did say that the Book Matthew presented Christ Jesus as King. The Gospel of Matthew is a book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. And the Book started by tracing Jesus’s royal lineage to King David. Also, the Book of Matthew wrote about how at the birth of Jesus, kingmakers from the East, i.e., the Magi or Wise Men, came to pay their homage to the King of the Jews and they brought kingly gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The Magi only bowed down to Kings.

With this context in mind, we did say that the baptism of Christ Jesus was His coronation as monarch. In his baptism, God declared Jesus as King of kings. When He stepped out of the Jordan River, the Holy Spirit descended on Him like a dove anointing Him as King. And God spoke from Heaven proclaiming the Lordship of Christ.

Matthew 3:17

“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Up to that point in His life, the baptism was the greatest event to have happened to Christ Jesus. In the thirty years He had been alive, His baptism was His highest victory and greatest triumph. It was in the baptism that God publicly revealed and declared Christ as His beloved Son. This was the occasion in which the Almighty God proclaimed Christ as King for the whole world to know. 

Just as it was necessary to proclaim Christ as King, it was equally necessary that Christ be proven to be worthy to be King. Having been declared as King, it must also be demonstrated that He has right to be King. It was for this reason that the Holy Spirit led Him into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 

While His baptism attested Him to be worthy to be King in His baptism, His temptation tested Him to be worthy of being King. When the Almighty God drove the Lord Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil to prove Him deserving of the throne, the devil saw an opportunity in the temptation to prove Him undeserving of the throne. What God purposed to use to pronounce Christ as faithful, the devil determined to cease to denounce Christ as unfaithful.

Here’s the lesson we must all learn from this. 

Empires fall at the zenith of their power. Powerful nations come tumbling down at the summit of their influence. Great victories are always followed by great testing. Immediately following every monumental accomplishment is a monumental trial. No sooner have we reached the crowning height of an endeavor than we are confronted with massive tribulations.

For the Christian, there can be no resting of the oars; we cannot afford to rest our laurels. The Christian life is lived one spiritual battle at a time. Great spiritual victories tend to draw great spiritual reactions. Hell boils over when a believer in Christ is victorious. Whenever the child of God is triumphant in their walk with God, the kingdom of darkness combusts in an uproar.

Consequently, Christians cannot afford to be complacent. A spiritual negligent believer will soon find himself in the mouth of the roaring lion. Whenever the children of God becomes self-conceited, they are bound to wrest defeat from the jaws of victory.

Unfortunately, too often, Christians let their guards down at the height of spiritual conquests. Those moments after spiritual triumphs are when many Christians get sloppy, as they fail to realize it’s at the peak of victory that they are most vulnerable. Because the intoxicating taste of triumph makes the believers feel invincible, they inadvertently render themselves vulnerable.

The Bible warns about spiritual complacency.

1 Corinthians 10:12

“Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.”

1 Peter 5:8

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

And the Lord Jesus Himself admonishes us to be vigilant and to be prayerful in order not to fall into temptation.

Matthew 26:41

“Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

It’s worth repeating that temptation is a fact of life. The only way to avoid getting tripped up and falling into temptation is to watch and pray. We watch by keeping our gaze on Christ because He was subjected to greater degrees of temptation than we could ever imagine, yet without falling.

Hebrews 4:15

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

Unlike some would have you believe, keeping our gaze on Christ is nothing mystical. We keep our gaze on Christ by studying His Word. Spiritual muscles are developed on the Word of God. It’s by feeding our minds on the diet of Scriptures that we grow. The more of God’s Word we know and do, the more like Christ we become.

2 Corinthians 3:18

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

We’ll take it from here next time when we’ll examine the strategy the devil used in his temptation of Christ. We’ll see how Satan’s temptation was targeted directly at the core of Christ’s ability.