December 1929
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
600
Approach.— How many of you have ever made New Year’s resolutions and then, almost as soon as they were made, broke them by doing something you didn’t
V. 15. Why was Jesus baptized? Did His baptism have a different meaning from that of other men? V. 16. What remarkable seal of ap proval did God give to Jesus? Is a dove a fit emblem of the Holy Spirit? What was the meaning of this incident to John (John 1:33) ? What was Jesus doing when the Spirit came upon Him (Luke 3 :21) ? Was the Holy Spirit given to Him in preparation for service (Acts 10: 38)? V. 17. What further testimony was given concerning Jesus ? Is He the Son of God in a sense in which no other can be (John 3:16; Heb 1:1-6)? Matt. 4:1. Why was Jesus tempted (Hell. 2:17, 18)? What influenced Him to go to the desert (cf. Mark 1 :12) ? Vs. 2, 3. How long did the tempta tion continue? What did Satan bid Jesus do? Did Satan have any doubt about the deity of Christ? Had Jesus just had a new affirmation of His deity (cf. 3 :17) ? V. 4. Would it have been wrong for Jesus to create food for Himself by a miracle? Why? Had Satan ever tempted any one else in a somewhat similar way (Gen. 3:1-5)? How did Jesus overcome? What answer did He give the tempter? Vs. 5, 6 . Where was Jesus taken? What new form of temptation came? What Scripture did Satan quote? Did he quote it, or interpret it correctly? V. 7. How did Jesus overcome? What is the difference between trusting God and tempting God? Vs. 8 , 9. Where was Jesus next taken? What was He shown? What offer was made Him? On what condition? Might Jesus have had the kingdoms of the world from Satan if He had yielded? What would He then have missed (Phil. 2:6-11)? V. 10. What was Jesus’ final answer to Satan? Is it the chief duty of all men to worship God? V. 11. Did Satan leave Jesus forever? Who ministered to Him? Golden Text: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17). G olden T ext I llustration God’s confirmation and endorsement of His Son quickly came into conflict with the opinions of men. The verdict of the many rose no higher than a recognition that He was probably a good man, per haps even a prophet. Israel’s rulers finally condemned Him as a blasphemer. To Rome, He was a disturber of the peace. Only a few humble believers accepted God’s estimate of Christ. Sin had so warped the minds of men that they could not understand our Lord Jesus Christ when He appeared “in the form of a servant.” His kenosis, ot self-emptying, is not easily understood. Dr. F. B. Meyer beautifully illustrates it as follows: “It was like keeping my right hand, by a vol untary act of my will, behind my back, doing all my work, with my left hand. Thus Christ voluntarily put behind Him certain of His divine powers when He became man.” —o— When Jesus Was Baptized Matt. 3:13-17. Memory Verse'. “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”—Matt. 3:17.
mays" and argue that this omission af fects the meaning. But the real error was in Satan’s misinterpretation and mis application of the passage. In their hands . . . . There are limitations to such a promise. The angels of God do minister to, and protect, His people when they are in His will, but not when they are presumptuous (Heb. 1:14). V. 7. It is written again. The passage quoted by Satan contains a figurative ex pression ; it must be interpreted in the light of the plain and unfigurative pas sage quoted by Jesus. No promise or com mand may be appropriated and applied to conditions which are clearly forbidden by other Scripture. Thou shalt not tempt the Lord. Quoted from Deuteronomy 6 : 16. The word “tempt" is emphatic. It means to make trial of God. The lan guage was first used in a word to Israel at Massah when they demanded a supply of water as an evidence that God would keep His promise to provide for them (Ex. 17:2). Jesus would likewise have tempted God if He had put Himself in jeopardy to see if God would protect Him. V. 8 . An exceeding high mountain. Satan no longer said, “I f thou art the Son of God." He concedes that Jesus is Messiah and will have a kingdom (cf. Psa. 2:8), and proposes a partnership. From the mountain top Satan gave to Jesus the view of the glories He might obtain, at a price, and at once—avoiding the cross. V. 9. All these things m il I give. They were, and are yet, to some extent in Satan’s possession and control (1 John 5:19). I f thou wilt . . . warship me. The temptation seems to have been two fold—an appeal to a natural love of power and desire to rule over others, and a suggestion of a short cut to the ob taining of His desire. The price was to be a submission to Satan’s authority. To “fall down” would indicate subjection. To “worship” might mean merely to ren der respect or homage as to a superior, but if given to Satan, would necessarily lead to idolatrous worship (cf. Rev. 9: 20). V. 10. Get thee hence. A stern com mand, spoken with a feeling of abhor rence, It is written. Quoted from Deu teronomy 6:13—the first and greatest commandment. V. 11. The devil leaveth him. Luke ex plains (4 :13) that Satan left “for a sea son." Jesus was doubtless tempted fre quently (cf. Matt. 16:21, 23). He was at tacked in body, soul and spirit, as was the first Adam, and was a conqueror (Gen. 3:1-6; 1 John 2:15-17). Therefore He is able to deliver those who are tempted (Heb. 4:14-16). Angels came. Came near—the same term as in verse 3. Ministered. Or, were ministering. An gels' attended Him as servants.^ Appar ently they waited on Him, supplying food (cf. 1 Kings 19:6, 7). He had refused to test ’.God. in reliance upon angelic help (vs. 6 ) ; now God sends angels to His help. —o—>■ ■ L esson Q uestions Matt. 3:13. From what place did Jesus come?. To whom did He come? For what purpose ? V. 14. What protest did John make? Didyhe show humility ? .
mean to do ? Or, perhaps at Sunday school, you g a v e your heart to Jesus and decided to do always t h e things that pleased Him, and then the very next day, you lis tened to a v o i c e that led you to do something that was w r o n g and you were so sorry. This
was Satan tempting you to displease your Saviour. Satan is a very real person and delights to cause God’s children to do wrong. In our story today Jesus shows us how to win victory over Satan. Lesson Story. —While Jesus was grow ing from babyhood to manhood in the little village of Nazareth, John the Bap tist was in the wilderness. Here God prepared him to be a herald of the King, the Lord Jesus. At the right time God called him from his wilderness home to the banks of the Jordan River. Here he preached to all of the people who passed, telling them of the coming of the Lord Jesus. Then, one day, Jesus came. He asked John to baptize Him, but John hesitated, saying that he, John,’ should rather be baptized of Him. But Jesus said that He must be baptized of John, so together they went down into the River Jordan and John baptized Jésus there. As Jesus came up out of the water a most wonder ful thing happened. The heavens opened and the Holy Spirit, as a dove, came down upon Him and a voice said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Immediately after this, Jesus went into a desert place among the wild beasts. Here He went without food for forty days, and when He was suffering from hunger, Satan came unto Him and tempted Him. There were three tempta tions in which Satan tried to make the Lord Jesus do wrong. First, Satan tempted the Lord Jesus to turn stones into bread to satisfy His hunger. Now Jesus could have done this, but He knew it would be using His power for Himself, so He refused and answered Satan from the Word of God, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word from the mouth of God.” Then Satan thought of another plan. He took Jesus away to a temple having a high steeple. Here he tempted Jesus to throw Himself from the highest point, saying that according to the Word, God’s angels would bear Him up. Now Jesus knew that He could do this also; but He also knew it would not be pleasing to His Father, so again He refused and said, “It is written in God’s Word, ‘Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.’ ” Then Satan took Jesus to a very high mountain, from which He could see the whole world. This he promised to give Jesus if He would worship Satan, but Jesus quickly replied, “Get thee hence, Satan, for it is written in God’s Word, ‘Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve.’” So Jesus won His third victory over Satan. Then Satan left Jesus and God sent His angels to take care of Him.
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