Week 33: Matt. 4-Jesus’ Baptism and Temptation

Jesus’ Baptism and Temptation

As a family, read Matthew 3-4 together. Afterwards, share the following discussion.

What happened?

Jesus started his public ministry around the time He was thirty, and He did so in a truly awesome way.  In Matthew 3, Jesus came down to the Jordan River, where John the Baptist was baptizing people and telling them about how the Messiah was going to come.  Jesus asked John to baptize Him, and after some hesitation, John agreed. As soon as Jesus was baptized, the heavens opened, and God spoke from Heaven and said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).  Jesus’ ministry on earth had begun!

Jesus then went into the desert to fast and pray. After forty days, the devil showed up and tempted Jesus three times with three different things.  It’s interesting that the devil didn’t try to tempt Jesus until He was weak from being so hungry and tired.  First, he told Jesus to make himself some bread out of rocks. Then he tried to convince Jesus to jump off a cliff and have the angels save him. Finally, the devil told Jesus that he would grant him all the kingdoms in the world if He would just worship him.

Each time, he offered Jesus something that would make Him feel better or show His awesome power to prove how great He is.  But every time, Jesus refused to fall into the devil’s traps.  Instead, He used Scripture to fight every temptation and to send the devil away.

Why is this important to us today?

Can you imagine going 40 days without food? Jesus must have been really tired and really, really hungry. The devil showed up at the worst time ever.  It would have been so easy for Jesus to throw in the towel and give in. But with every temptation, Jesus responded with Scripture. He knew that Scripture was more powerful than anything the devil was throwing at Him. How did Jesus know what to say? Do you remember what we read last week? Jesus had studied God’s word and memorized it as a young boy. He was able to use it to help fight off temptation from the devil when He needed it most!

By memorizing even the smallest parts of Scripture, God will allow those words to come to our minds when we need them most.  When we are tempted or when we are facing a difficult time, those Scriptures that we’ve memorized will come to our minds first.  Those Scriptures will help us just as they helped Jesus in the desert.

Spend a few minutes talking about what you just read by answering these questions together:

1. Why do you think Scripture had power over the devil?

2. When do you feel tired and weak? What temptations do you feel during those moments?

3. What verses of Scripture could be helpful for each situation mentioned?

How can we better follow God this week?

As you go through your week, try to think of some of the Scripture verses that you have memorized before.  You may not remember the reference or the entire verse word for word, and that’s okay! Just think through the verses you know already.  Maybe as a family, commit to memorizing one new verse a week for the next few weeks and see how you do.

Pray that God will help you as you fight temptation and hard times.  Ask Him to help you as you study His Word and as you try to commit some verses to heart.  Pray that He will bring those verses to your mind this week so that you can stand strong and resist whatever may come your way.