12月11日
标 题：三个试探
经 节：那试探人的进前来，对祂说：“祢若是神的儿子，可以吩咐这些石头变成食物。”（马太福音四章3节）
耶稣曾凡事受试，就和我们一样，只是祂没有犯罪（希伯来书四章：15）。耶稣由受洗的那一刻起，展开祂的公众事工当耶稣受了洗，从水里出来，耶稣听到天父的赞许，说：“这是我的爱子，我所喜悦的！”之后，耶稣很快地被引到旷野，禁食四十昼夜。在那里，魔鬼以三个引诱试探祂。
首先，撒但引诱耶稣使用祂的神能，把石头变成面包。这似乎是一件合乎逻辑的事，耶稣当时饿了。然而，祂更需要跟随神的引领。天父带领祂禁食；撒但要说服祂开口吃东西。
接下来，撒但要说服耶稣使用撒但的方法，来完成天父的目标。“你若是神的儿子，可以跳下去。”（马太福音四：6）耶稣了解，这是放肆地自以为是，不是真正的信心。这是以世界的方法试探主。世人寻求神迹奇事：神使用圣洁的生命。
撒但对耶稣的最后试探，是要耶稣敬拜撒但，来完成天父的旨意（马太福音四：8-9）。撒但答应，世上万国与万国的荣华都给祂，如果耶稣妥协，祂可以得到一个有权势的同盟，并且不需忍受十字架的苦痛，就可以完成任务。但耶稣知道，只有神是唯一敬拜的对象。敬拜撒但不会带来撒但所承诺的快速成功，敬拜撒但只会带来彻底的失败。
当你决意跟随神，试探是必然的。就在你刚经历一场属灵胜利之后，试探有时就立即临到。耶稣依靠神的话语，带领祂经过会摧毁祂，且阻挠神计划的试探。祂是我们面对试探的榜样。
Three
Temptations
Now
when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command
that these stones become bread.” (Matthew 4:3)
Jesus
was tempted in every way that we are, yet He never sinned (Heb. 4:15). Jesus
began His public ministry with His baptism. As John the Baptist raised Him from
the water, Jesus heard His Father’s affirmation, “Well done!” Immediately
afterward, Jesus spent forty days fasting in the wilderness. There, Satan met
Him and presented three temptations.
First,
Satan enticed Jesus to use His divine power to transform stones into bread. It
seemed like a logical thing to do. Jesus was hungry, but He had a much greater
need to follow His Father’s leading. The Father had led Him to fast; Satan
sought to persuade Him to eat.
Next,
Satan tried to convince Jesus to use Satan’s means to accomplish the Father’s
ends. “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down” (Matt. 4:6). Jesus
understood that this would be presumption, not faith. It would be attempting
God’s work in the world’s way. The world looks for spectacular displays; God
uses a holy life.
The
final temptation Satan proposed for Jesus to achieve God’s will was by
worshiping Satan (Matt. 4:8–9). In return, Satan offered to give Him all the
kingdoms of the world. By compromising, Jesus could gain a powerful ally, and
achieve His mission without suffering the cross. Jesus knew that only God was
to be worshiped and to do this would not bring instant success, as Satan
promised, but devastating failure.
As
you seek to follow God, temptations will inevitably come. Sometimes they will
come to you immediately after a spiritual victory. Jesus relied on God’s Word to
see Him through the temptations that could have destroyed Him and thwarted
God’s plan. He has modeled the way for you to meet every temptation.
