This is a copy of my talk given at Ayia Kyriaki and Saint Luke’s in the Anglican Church of Paphos on Sunday 22 February 2026 – the First Sunday of Lent, when we look at the familiar story of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness from Matthew 4:1-11 along with Genesis 2:15-17 & 3:1-7.
Prayer
Heavenly Father,
I thank You for Your word.
By the power of Your Holy Spirit,
May You speak to my heart,
And change my life.
In the precious name of Jesus I pray.
Amen
Introduction
To have a greater understanding of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness we need to take a look at the bigger picture and the readings from Geneses 2 and 3 help us to do this. We can compare and contrast the temptation of Adam with the temptation of Jesus who, according to Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15, is to be regarded as the second Adam. We learn that Satan’s tactics have not changed. Just as he distorted the Word of God in the garden, he also distorted the Word of God in the desert. And just as he lied to our original ancestors he also lied to Jesus.
But where Adam failed and brought condemnation to the whole of humanity, Jesus succeeded and brought the possibility of salvation to all those who put their faith in him. Or, to use the words of Romans 5:19: “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.”
And as we consider the familiar story of Jesus’ temptation, I want to consider three temptations that were deliberately designed by Satan (vs3 the tempter) to cause Jesus to doubt God, reject God and to worship him.
- The Temptation To Doubt God Vs 1-4
Firstly, the temptation to doubt God. Satan almost mocks Jesus when he says in vs3: If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread. You say you are the Son of God, what are you doing in the desert without any food? That’s no position for a king. You should be well fed, with banquets and wine. Not out here, all alone – even the Children of Israel were given manna to eat in the desert! I thought God was supposed to be looking after you. I thought you were his beloved Son, in whom he was well pleased.
Perhaps he’s changed his mind. Or maybe he wants to help but he can’t provide for your needs out here in this desolate place. Either way, why not use your great powers to turn these stones into bread? If God can raise children for Abraham out of the stones, then a little bread should not be too difficult for the Son of God to manage?
Do you see the temptation for Jesus? Could he still trust his Father even when times were tough? We find his response in vs4: It is written: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Or in other words, Jesus says to Satan, no matter what I am experiencing I will continue to trust that ultimately my Father in heaven will look after me. I will trust in his reliability.
Which was a vital truth for Jesus to acknowledge when you remember what was coming next. Jesus would never have trusted his Father in Gethsemane if he could not trust him in the desert. If Jesus could not trust his Father’s plan through the pains of hunger, then he would never trust his Father’s plan to take him to the cross.
And Satan knew this. So, from the very beginning of Jesus’ public ministry he tried to sow the seeds of doubt in Jesus’ mind, which he hoped would ultimately prevent Jesus from walking to the cross. But wonderfully for us, Jesus resisted the temptation. Despite his physical suffering he continued to trust that God was looking after him and was not diverted from his mission.
Now, I don’t know what you are going through at the moment or what personal circumstances you may be struggling with. But I do know this. As a Christian, as someone who by faith is called a Son or Daughter of God, the devil wants you to doubt God’s reliability. He wants us to stop trusting that God is looking after us when times are tough. He wants us to doubt that God’s instructions are for the best. So, let me ask you: Do you trust God? And does the evidence of your behaviour support that?
- The Temptation To Reject God Vs 5-7
Secondly, the temptation to reject God’s plan. Have a look at vs5. We’re told that the devil took Jesus to the holy city of Jerusalem and made him stand on the highest point of the temple. Now what a sight that must have been! You’re going about your daily business in the marketplace when suddenly you see a large group of people beginning to gather around the temple. And That’s when you see the figure of a man standing at the very top, looking down. He looks as if he is going to jump. You simply have to wait and watch. All the time you are thinking to yourself: What is going on? What has brought him to this? And why doesn’t he jump?
The answers are in vs 6&7, the devil says to Jesus: If you are the Son of God or better Since you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. What an opportunity Jesus. What a spectacle it would be if you were to throw yourself from the top of the temple. The people wouldn’t forget that in a hurry. In fact, they would be so impressed they would instantly recognize you as the Son of God. Why not throw yourself off and wait for the angels to catch you?
Jesus was tempted to reject the plan of God for him to be the suffering servant. Instead of entering into his glory through the cross. The temptation Jesus faces here is to create such a dramatic miracle that people will be left in no doubt about his true identity. But that wasn’t God’s plan. And so, Jesus had to resist the temptation for short-term popularity at the expense of long-term salvation for those who needed his forgiveness.
Satan loves to distort the word of God in his desire to get human beings to sin. He did it in Genesis 3, he does it in Mathew 4, and he still does it today. Just because someone is quoting the Bible doesn’t make what they say biblical. In fact, quoting from the bible may often be the sheep’s clothing of the false prophet. So, we must be careful who and what we listen to.
Jesus knows that the Bible cannot contradict itself, so he replies to Satan, in vs7: It is also written: Do not put the Lord your God to the test. Jesus is absolutely certain that Satan’s interpretation of Psalm 91 is wrong. He knows that to test his Father would be a sin and he knows that to sin would disqualify him from being the perfect sacrifice. Therefore, let us again be thankful that Jesus resisted the temptation to reject God’s plan and so continued in his mission to be the suffering servant.
- The Temptation To Worship The Tempter Vs 8-11
Thirdly, the temptation to worship the tempter – God’s enemy. Vs8. Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. All this I will give you, he said, if you will bow down and worship me.
Now at first sight this temptation seems rather crude and unsophisticated. Are we really supposed to imagine the Son of God rejecting his Father and worshipping the devil? He’s got some cheek, hasn’t he? He’s like an estate agent who shows a person around a property they have no right to sell. Does he really believe that a blasphemous lie will convince Jesus to abandon his God? Well, let’s not forget that throughout the history of humanity blasphemous lies have been a very successful strategy for the devil.
Think back to the original fall of the human race which was caused with a very unsophisticated lie: You will not die if you eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge. I know That’s what God says but let me tell you something different. He managed to convince the first human beings to worship him instead of serving their creator. And let’s not be naïve, he is still doing this today. People still believe his lies.
And I think we see this most clearly today as we observe the millions of people who devote their lives with fanatical religiosity to the false gods of Satan’s creation. The god of money, the god of sex, the god of career, the god of fitness and even the god of family. When will people learn that security, intimacy, love and acceptance are not to be found by worshipping those false gods but are gifts of the living God.
Maybe the lie of vs9 isn’t such a waste of time after all. Satan thinks his crude lie will prove to be successful. Dazzle Jesus with what he deserves anyway and who knows what this human being will choose to do. Well, thankfully for us Jesus again resisted temptation and so he continued on his path as the suffering servant.
Conclusion
I want to end this morning by quoting from Hebrews 4:14-16:
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
When we are being tempted, it’s good to remember that Jesus knows what it’s like. In fact, he has been tempted beyond what we could ever imagine. So, he can and does sympathise with our weaknesses. Although he was tempted in every way, unlike us: he remained without sin. Our past, present and future will be littered with failures: but Jesus’ life was full of success.
So, when Satan tempts us to despair and tells us of the guilt within, what should we do? We should look up and see him there, the one who made an end of all our sin. And we should remember because the sinless Saviour died our sinful souls are counted free. For God the just is satisfied to look on Him and pardon me … to look on Him and pardon me.
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