Friday, February 15, 2013

Questions based on Lent 1: Temptation of Jesus


Read the sermon
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry….. What is fasting? Should it be a regular spiritual discipline? Is it a commonly practised spiritual discipline? Why do you think this is so?

 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”….. What is the significance of “If”? What is this temptation really tempting Jesus to do in His ministry?

 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’[Deut. 8:3]”…..According to Deut 8:3, what is the spiritual effect of hunger?

 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.”…… What is this temptation really tempting Jesus to do in His ministry?

 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’[Deut. 6:13]”

 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here.  For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you carefully;
 they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’[Psalm 91:11,12]”……. What is this temptation really tempting Jesus to do in His ministry?

 Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’[Deut. 6:16]”

 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time….When do you think the next “opportune time” was?

What 3 things do the temptations teach us about Jesus?
What 3 things do the temptations teach us about ourselves?