Passage to Study Luke 4:1-13 ; Matt. 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13.
Passage to read in class: Luke 4:1-13.
Memorization Text: Heb. 4:12.
OBJECTIVES:
1. To show that under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was led into the desert to be
tempted.
2. To mention that the devil is at present “god of this world” and has much
power.
3. To indicate that Jesus showed His moral perfection when He resisted the temptation.
4. To show how the Word of God is the weapon that must be used when one is tempted.
5. To teach the students what sin is.
Cmt. It is surprising to discover that students have no clear idea of what sin really is.
Illustrations should be given.
SCENE No. 1. The desert.
FIGURES: These could include some wild animals and a symbolic serpent in the vicinity of
the Lord. Satan is not mentioned as coming as a serpent but his temptation of the
Lord is similar to what he did with Adam and Eve.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE LESSON:
- Having been proclaimed by God at His baptism as “My beloved Son in whom I am
well pleased”, Jesus is led by the Spirit into the desert.
- Only the gospel according to Mark mentions that He was with there with the wild beasts,
though they did Him no harm.
- His control over the beasts was one of the evidences that He was truly God.
- Throughout the forty days, Jesus was tempted by Satan.
- The three main temptations are recounted.
Sug. As “god of this world”, it appears that Satan felt challenged by the coming
of Christ into the world.
- The temptation was permitted, not to see IF Jesus would fall, but to prove that IT WAS
IMPOSSIBLE for Him to do so.
Ex. An engineering project, such as a bridge, might be tested to show that it does
indeed bear the weight of anything that passes over it. The test is to prove the
bridge’s strength, not to doom it to failure.
In the temptation, the truth of the words of the Lord Jesus were demonstrated when He said
in John 14:30 that “the prince of this world cometh and he hath nothing in me”.
- In the desert, Jesus was completely alone, without the company of another to encourage
Him. His help came from divine power through the Word of God.
Cmt. Make clear that in everyone’s life, there are temptations.
Cns. Through the new birth, we receive a new nature with which we can overcome
temptations, as we are guided and controlled by the Word of God.
SCENE No. 2. The desert.
FIGURES: Visuals could include the stones and a loaf of bread, the kingdoms of the world,
and a view of a pinnacle of the temple, perhaps the high corner of the temple mount today
considered to be that spot.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE LESSON:
- The power of the Word is seen in the use Jesus makes of it.
- During these forty days, He was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during this
time, after which He was hungry.
- Jesus was hungry, showing He was truly man, but to go along with a suggestion made by
Satan would mean refusing to be controlled by the Word and will of God.
- If Satan could tempt Jesus to act independently of God’s will in a small
matter, he could hope to succeed later in bigger matters.
- Satan offers Him control of the kingdoms of the world, something that is his up to the
present.
- See Luke 4:8. Satan had acquired the control from Adam when he made him to fall.
- The kingdoms will belong to Christ in the future, and even now are His by right,
since He conquered Satan when He rose from the dead.
- Satan hints that the kingdom can be obtained without suffering, without being
“despised and rejected of men”. See Isaiah 53:3.
- The road that Jesus chose to obtain supremacy and the kingdoms would cost Him His life,
but it also included redemption for fallen man.
- To fall down and worship the devil would mean rendering homage to a created being.
Those who obey Satan commit this sin.
Cns. Satan tempts man through the pleasures of the world, through religious idolatry,
through the weakness of the flesh, and thus obtains the homage of humans.
Apl. When one is saved, he not only accepts Christ as Saviour but also as Lord.
- To cast Himself down to prove that angels would do their work, is meant to cast doubt on
the faithfulness of God.
Cmt. Doing anything to put God to the test shows lack of faith in His Word.
- The temptation to “parachute” into the Temple compound surrounded by angels
would have been an impressive act and would have secured Him an immediate following, for
the Jews expected a Messiah that would come in glory and majesty.
- The presentation of the Lord Jesus to the masses was through the Word of Truth and the
Working of Miracles.
- Satan’s suggestion to cast Himself down is contrary to the pathway of humility our
Lord constantly trod.
- These three temptations appealed to the body (with bread), the soul (in seeking power)
and the spirit (where divine promises are received).
SCENE No. 3. Roadways leading to
towns.
FIGURES: The could represent the Lord Jesus walking toward the city of Jerusalem, the
Cross, and Heaven, with two footprints cut out, one containing the word TRUST, and the
other, OBEY.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE LESSON:
- Make application of the lesson as to how the believer in Christ can have victory.
- To TRUST in the reliability of the Word of God and OBEY it in all its parts is the way
to overcome.
- The Lord Jesus was rejected by the Jews, especially those living in and around the city
of Jerusalem.
- The pathway of rejection led Him on to the cross, fulfilling the will of God.
- Jesus Christ was always motivated by the will of God. See John 8:29. “He that sent
me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that
please him.”
Apl. Mention some examples of Christ acting according to the will of God and not
according to the suggestions of others.
Ex. On the way to Jarius’ house, he stopped to attend to a woman with a
hemorrhage.
Ex. He waited two days after being notified that Lazarus was sick and only responded to
the call once he was already dead.
Ex. Peter suggested that Jesus not go to Jerusalem, etc. Jesus ordered him to “get
thee behind me”, identifying Peter’s idea as of diabolic origin.
- Victory over temptation comes from keeping to the divine principles of the Word of God,
trusting and obeying what God requires.
SCENE No. 4. Application.
FIGURES: Visuals could show children and young people yielding to the temptation to steal,
cheat, fight or do other things children do. A picture of the Bible could represent
God’s word on the matter.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE LESSON:
Sug. Ask the children for other examples of sins are committed by children today.
Cns. Things that tempt offer some supposed advantage for the body, the soul or the spirit.
Cns. The purported gain offered in the temptation means moral loss before God.
Cmt. The Lord Jesus Christ showed His total dependence on the Word of God and His total
obedience to it. |
