The Spirit of the Lord and Temptation

Temptation and the Spirit

Here we are and I'm a month behind again. That makes this weeks lesson even more apt.

The week of Feb 4-10th  in Come Follow Me is titled "The Spirit of the Lord is With Me"

Matthew 4 and Luke 4 both contain the account of Jesus being tempted in the desert. Luke 5 contains remarkable accounts of faith, healing, doubt and the Pharisees accusing Jesus of breaking Gods law. I highly encourage not setting aside Luke 5 because there are amazing lessons that we can learn. I however am led to the temptation of Jesus in the desert.

We know from the accounts that Jesus went into the desert to fast and pray - he stayed there for 40 days and 40 nights. I am unable to mentally comprehend the reality of 40 days and nights of fasting.

Luke 4:2  Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.

 We, I believe can safely assume that He did drink water during that time, which to this day is a common rule for fasting.  I think also that "he hungered" might be the ultimate understatement. In addition let me point out that many of the stories about this time in Jesus life portray the devil showing up at the end of the fasting. Instead its "Being forty days tempted of the devil" he was being tempted the whole time, we are only told of 3 specific temptations.

1) Luke 4:3-4
And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.

And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

This is the temptation of the body. We see this prevalent through our culture. It is becoming nearly a worship of food. And do not get me wrong, great food is just that - great. When you have a plate of amazing food that has a fantastic presentation should be appreciated. What it should not be is glorified and essentially worshiped.  The old phrase eat to live, not live to eat comes to mind. Be healthy and nourish your body,  plan meals and enjoy the act of creation that cooking brings. Learn new cooking skills,  but don't place food above all else. 

The way that Jesus answered the temptation with the scripture is remarkable. He acknowledges food is necessary, but so are the scriptures. Both the mind, spirit and body must be nourished.

2) Luke 4:5-8
 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.

And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

This is the temptation of power.  In the world we are encourage and even pushed to "try and get to the top". And again moving your career along is not in and of itself evil.  Coveting and worshiping the power and position is the issue. When you worship the power the act and idea of getting to the top over takes every aspect of your life, pushing aside family, charity, and of course God.  Another point is that Satan was offering Jesus that which he already owned. Jesus created the world under the direction of his Father. (Ephesians 3:9)

And again Jesus answered Satan with the scriptures -worship the Lord only and him only shalt thou serve.  If your talents lead you to being in a position of power- fantastic but don't worship the power use it to serve God in all things. Be the light that all around you can see.

3) Luke 4:11-12
 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:

For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:  And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

This is the temptation of pride. Pride in who Jesus is - he is the Son of God, His only begotten. Satan is essentially saying "prove it". It is important to note here that Satan knows the word of God just as well or better than anyone on earth. He twists the words here to tempt Jesus.  

Jesus returns the answer with another scripture -don't tempt the Lord.

The sin of pride - beware of being overly proud, beware of false humility. Be proud of the work and effort as you put forth your best effort. However never forget that even your best effort is due to our Heavenly Father. He gave you the talent, He put the people in your life to help you succeed.  All things work to the Glory of God is the shortened form of Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose

The conclusion...

Luke 4:13 

And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.  And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.

Jesus passed through temptation and the Spirit was with him as he taught.  There are lesson we need to understand. First and foremost in my mind Jesus answered with scripture and did not debate the devil. To answer temptation with scripture we must of course read and study the scripture. In addition songs based on scripture are fantastic ways to remember scriptures.

Secondly, the temptations are common and widespread.  The Catholic church lists "the Seven Deadly Sins" as lust, gluttony,  greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride. Satan tempted Jesus with three of these.

We as children of God will not be perfect, we will succumb to temptation we will falter. What we can do to arm ourselves against temptation is to recognize it, to pray, and to learn our scriptures. Don't debate about it with the tempter, recognize, resist and give it to God.

The Fruits of the Tree

Most of the topics recommended in the Jan 28-Feb 3 Come Follow Me deal with repentance and the baptism of Jesus. Both important topics, but as always I want to talk about what struck me in this chapter as we are instructed to follow the Spirit in our studies. So here we go, please check out these verses. 

Matthew 3: 9-10 and Luke 3: 8-9
And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

Matthew 7:16-19

Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?  Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.   Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

Jacob 5

Grafting and redeeming olive trees- adding new limbs to the old

Mark 1:17 

And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.

Are you seeing a theme? I did, because as soon as I read Matthew 3 I remembered the story in Jacob. When I read Luke 3 it was reinforced, and remembered Matthew 7 (I remembered the story and had to look up the location) When I read Mark 1 I felt a connection made.

Matthew 3 and Luke 3 both talk about how trees that bear bad or poor fruit are cut down and cast into the fire, and both discuss bringing forth the fruit of repentance. Most of the people who came to John confessed their sins and were baptized. The Pharisees did not.  Matthew 7 talks about how "ye shall know them by their fruits", in the end good works (fruit) don't come from evil/bad people. Things might look temporarily good, but in the end a shiny healthy outside won't matter if the inside of the fruit is rotten. 

Does that mean people who do bad things cannot be redeemed -no it does not. Those who came to be baptized confessed their sins and wanted to change. The Pharisees did not. Jacob 5 illustrates that as well when the owner tended the tree to make is whole and well. 

Jacob 5 also talks about another part that ties in to Mark 1 - grafting new branches to make the tree strong and healthy. Jesus called many apostles to him - not one of them was a Rabbi or teacher of the gospel. He called new people to him, people with different backgrounds who were willing to listen and learn. People who didn't pretend to have all the answers and taught them, and they went out an taught others. Jacob 5 address the why of this, the new branches will go on and become new trees so that even if the original tree dies off the branches will continue. Jesus did die and live again, continued his teaching and ascended into heaven. His branches lived on and continued his work. 

Creation and the numbering of verses

John 1

In the Bible, the creation story is told in Genesis, Hebrews, and here in a shorter form in John. In the Book of Mormon we find it in 1 Nephi, Mosiah, Doctrine and Covenants, Moses, and Abraham.
It is important to know that the John speaking in the Book of John is the man who becomes an apostle of Christ, not John the Baptist who most assuredly knew Jesus as they were cousins. This is important because John recognized Jesus as soon as he saw Him as the Light of the World. He testified of who Jesus was.
John went on to write the Gospel of John, three epistles and is the author of the book of Revelation. (www.lds.org).

Most of the time the way they number verses is helpful and makes it easier to find specific scriptures. It is important to remember that this was not always the case and I think these verses in John point it out. Lets take a look at the difference.

John 1:1-14 with numbers

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 The same was in the beginning with God.

3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

6 ¶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to becomethe sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Same verses with out numbers

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness;  and the darkness comprehended it not.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.  That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Obviously, I chose the paragraph markers, but they are breaks that make sense with the content and for me, this format makes the verses clearer and easier to see what John is saying. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh and dwelt among us; in the beginning Jesus dwelt with God, we see repeatedly Jesus referred to as the Light, John states that he is not the light but the witness of the Light, and that the world was made by the Light. Taking this and rereading Genesis we understand that Jesus created the world under the direction of our Heavenly Father "He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not".