マタイによる福音書4:1-11
We live every day with many things on our minds. What shall I do? What shall I say? We think and act in many ways. But sometimes we regret, don’t we? “Why did I do such a terrible thing?” “Why did we say such terrible words?” In fact, we humans sometimes think and do bad things, as if the devil has entered our minds. The devil is invisible to the eyes, but he is constantly trying to lure us into doing things that are contrary to God’s teachings. Therefore, we must always be prepared to avoid giving the devil a chance.
After Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist, he went to a lonely place in the wilderness and fasted for a long time without eating. He probably did this to concentrate his mind and pray to God. When we don’t eat, we naturally get hungry. Jesus got hungry, too. Then the devil came and tempted Jesus. He said, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” As the Bible says, Jesus was given the power by God the Father to perform various miracles. But Jesus’ power to perform miracles was given to him to save people. It was not to save himself. So Jesus said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” These words are found in the Old Testament in Deuteronomy 8:3, which describes how God sustained the Israelites during their 40-year wilderness journey with the word of promise.
Next, the devil made Jesus see a vision and in the vision took him to the city of Jerusalem. He then made Jesus stand on the edge of the roof of the temple in Jerusalem and said, “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, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” These are the words of Psalm 91 of the Old Testament. What a surprise, the devil also cited words from the Bible to tempt Jesus. What did Jesus say? He dismissed the devil’s temptation by saying, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” These are the words in Deuteronomy 6:16. It means that you must not test God just because the Bible says ‘the angels will bear you up.’
When the devil saw that Jesus was not tempted, he now took him in a vision to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. He then said, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” In other words, the devil said, “If you worship me, I will make you rulers of the world.” It is a great temptation to be the ruler of the world. But to worship the devil in order to be the ruler of the world is outrageous. Jesus cite Deuteronomy 6:13 and said, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve,’” and he dismissed the temptation of the devil.
Jesus overcame the temptation of the devil with three teachings: trust in God’s words, do not test God, and worship the Lord God alone. When we too are tempted by the devil, we should remember the teachings of the Bible, reject the temptation and live following God.