“LED UP BY THE SPIRIT!”

Matthew 4:1-11                                                   (ESV)

“1 Then JESUS was “LED UP BY THE SPIRIT” into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, HE was hungry.

3 And the tempter came and said to HIM, "If you are the SON of GOD, command these stones to become loaves of bread."

4 But HE answered, "It is written, "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every WORD that comes from the mouth of GOD.'" 

5 Then the devil took HIM to the holy city and set HIM on the pinnacle of the temple

6 and said to HIM, "If YOU are the SON of GOD, throw YOURSELF down, for it is written, "'HE will command HIS angels concerning YOU,' and "'On their hands they will bear YOU up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'" 

7 JESUS said to him, "Again it is written, 'You shall not put the LORD your GOD to the test.'"

8 Again, the devil took HIM to a very high mountain and showed HIM all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

9 And he said to HIM, "All these I will give YOU, if YOU will fall down and worship me."

10 Then JESUS said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "'You shall worship the LORD your GOD and HIM only shall you serve.'" 

11 Then the devil left HIM, and behold, angels came and were ministering to HIM.”

Being “LED UP BY THE SPIRIT” as JESUS was in Matthew 4:1 has to be uniquely extravagant!  To have the same SPIRIT leading HIM that hovered over the face of the waters IN THE BEGINNING (Genesis 1:2) had to be something beyond comprehension.  Yet “the enemy”, Satan, tried to convince JESUS, the ONE WHO CREATED everything (Colossians 1:16), that he would “give HIM” all HE had created IF JESUS would bow down to him?!?  Did Satan have a lapse in judgement, or maybe a misconception of reality?  JESUS had created everything that was created, and now Satan was trying to give it back to HIM!  

JESUS was fully GOD, yet fully human, and maybe Satan thought HIS humanity would be as frail as mine?  My “nature” is to yield to my carnality and ignore the SPIRIT that was provided by the sacrifice of JESUS.   Doing what is “natural” is precisely what we should not be inclined to do.  We should be “LED UP BY THE SPIRIT” to perform the tasks that ALMIGHTY GOD has laid out for our lives, not to build bigger churches and collect bigger offerings.  JESUS came to earth explicitly to SACRIFICE HIS LIFE because I had NO POSSIBLE WAY of achieving righteousness outside of HIS provision.  

Satan did everything he could to convince JESUS that his offerings were more beneficial than the PLAN OF GOD for HIS LIFE.  However, JESUS never once was fooled by the “great deceiver”.  How do I perform under pressures from the enemy?  Can I be bought by his false claims of grandeur, riches and fame?  Or maybe by a long life and great health?  I need to remember what the response JESUS gave to “the enemy”, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "'You shall worship the LORD your GOD and HIM only shall you serve”!  JESUS created everything so why would I yield to a forgery when I can be “LED UP BY THE SPIRIT”???