In Luke 4:1-13, we are told the story of the 40 days that Jesus spent in the wilderness in the preparation time before his death. During this time, the Devil tempted him a total of three times. Jesus was aware that he was going to be tempted by the Devil during this period where he would be the most vulnerable.
Jesus was hungry and the Devil took this as an opportunity to tempt him. The Devil wanted Jesus to use his powers to satisfy his needs as a human rather than trusting that God would provide for him during the hard times. Jesus on the other hand did not allow this to weaken his faith and trust in his father. In his second temptation, the Devil offered Jesus to follow him and that he would shortcut his way into power and glory in the world. Jesus once again denies what the Devil offers and reminds him that he only follows his father’s teachings and only serves him. The last temptation occurs when the Devil questions that God is really with Jesus, he says to Jesus “‘If you are the Son of God,’ he said, ‘throw yourself down from here” (Luke 4:9). Jesus denies the temptation one last time and the Devil gives up.
We as humans are constantly being tempted to fall into sin and not follow God’s teachings. Falling into temptation does not benefit us as Christians and allows us to hurt our relationship with Christ. It is important to take away from this story that the Devil will use many ways to make us fall into temptation and sin. He tempted Jesus (the son of God) a total of three times before he gave up. This just proves how hard it is for us as humans to live a life without sin.
We have to be able to deny these temptations just like Jesus did during a time when he was extremely vulnerable. It is our duty as Christians to not fall into these temptations regardless of how appealing they are. Falling into temptations could potentially ruin our chances of getting into heaven and being able to live in the paradise that is heaven with God. We have to trust in God’s power and go to Him during the hard times so we are less likely to sin.
