Grounded

Read It: Matthew 4:1-11 (NRSV)

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished.3The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 5Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple,6saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” 7Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor;9and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”10Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” 11Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

Learn It:

The temptations of Jesus is a very famous passage and many people know all about Satan coming and tempting Jesus three times and Jesus denying every time. One of the best parts of this passage is a great example of how well Jesus knew scripture. When Jesus says that "One does not live by bread alone..." he is quoting Deuteronomy 8:3. Then again when Jesus says, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test," comes from Deuteronomy 6:16. When Jesus is tempted a third time he quotes, "Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him," which is a quote from Deuteronomy 6:13. Jesus was able to fend off temptation which is great, but the amazing example that he gives us is that he is able to do it so well by quoting the Bible.

Share It:

Look again at the first thing that Jesus is tempted with...food. Not all temptations in our lives are BIG things. What are some of the things that tempt you in your life? What are some of the ways that you have been able to resist that temptation? Have you ever used scripture to resist temptation? Talk with your family about some of these things and other ways that you are tempted either by friends or things.

Live It:

Spend some time as a family or by yourself and search through the Bible for some scriptures that you think would be great verses to say to yourself when you are experiencing times of temptation. You could also use the scriptures that Jesus used in the verses above. Write down or think about what ways that Word of God was able help you resist temptation. God's Word is a very powerful tool.

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Please post comments with your experience with the share it or live it part of this weeks post. Let others know if you and your family found this useful.