THE LUST OF THE EYES & PRIDE OF LIFE
Dress Temptation
Struggling to make ends meet on a limited
salary, a Christian husband was furious when he confronted his wife with the
receipt for a $250 dress she had bought. "How could you do this?!"
"I was outside the store looking at the dress in the window, and then I
found myself trying it on," she explained. "It was like Satan was
whispering in my ear, 'You look fabulous in that dress. Buy it!'"
"Well," the husband replied, "You know how I deal with that kind
of temptation. I say, 'Get behind me, Satan!'" "I did," replied
his wife, "but then he said, 'It looks fabulous from back here,
too!'" We all need to learn how to resist the subtle temptations that come
our way.
We began exploring the three BIG temptations
that Jesus overcame before He began His public ministry, as recorded in Matthew
4:1-11. We learned how Satan tempts us through legitimate needs. Today, we will
examine "The Lust of the Eyes and Pride of Life, as the apostle John
called them in 1 John 2:15-17. What do Jesus' temptations mean? The three
temptations by Satan were not the only ones. We see in Luke 4:2 that the Devil
tempted Him for forty days.
I. Jesus Made Fully Human
Some Bible scholars suggest that the
temptations Jesus faced fall into three main categories of human temptation. Not
much is written about Him from the age of 12 until He began His ministry. As a
young Jewish boy, he may have helped in Joseph's carpentry workshop.
He might have graduated from a local
rabbinical college, earning him the title of a Rabbi.
Like many young people, He may have struggled
with youthful temptations. Paul, writing to the Hebrews, highlights Jesus'
humanity. Hebrews 2:17-18, "For this reason he had to be made like them, fully
human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high
priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the
people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help
those who are being tempted." Let's see how Jesus overcame the two most
common temptations we face.
II. Pride of Life: Wanting to Appear
Important (Matthew 4:5-7)
Matthew 4:5-7, "Then the Devil
took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.
"If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For
it is written: "He will command his angels concerning you, and they will
lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a
stone." Jesus answered him, "It is also written:
'Do not put the Lord your God to the test."
The scene has changed from the wilderness to the holy City of Jerusalem. The Devil
took him to the highest point of the Pinnacle of the temple and said, "If
you are the Son of God, throw yourself down." Why did the Devil take Jesus
to the Pinnacle of the temple and suggest that he throw himself down? I suggest
a couple of reasons.
Firstly, the temple's prime location. The Pinnacle
of the temple was probably a roof with a portico at the southeast corner of the
temple complex, where a massive retaining wall reached a level well above the
temple mount deep into the Kidron valley. The Jewish historian Josephus notes
it was a drop of 450 feet. Satan quoted Psalm 91:11-12, tempting Jesus, "For
he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they
will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against
a stone." This was God's promise of angelic protection against the evil
one. It is not about testing God's faithfulness.
Secondly, to abort Jesus' Messianic Mission even
before it began. One of the last Messianic prophecies was found in Malachi 3:1,
“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly
the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the
covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the Lord Almighty.
Fast forward 400 years, and the Jewish people
were awaiting God's messenger to suddenly appear in the temple. Imagine this
scenario: Jesus jumped off the Pinnacle, which is 450 feet high.
As he fell rapidly, God's angels carried him
on their wings, and the crowds watched in shock and might have said, "Here
is the Messiah we had been waiting for." Wouldn't that have been a
historic moment? If Jesus had given in to his human ego and jumped off the
Pinnacle instead of becoming the Messiah, he would have been instantly killed.
Jesus fully understood who He was and how He
would fulfill His mission. He didn't need to prove anything to anyone,
especially to the Devil, so He resisted that temptation by quoting another OT
scripture from Deut 6:16, "It is also written, 'Do not put the Lord your
God to the test." What can we learn from Satan's subtle temptation that
appeals to our ego and pride?
Let us humbly accept that, by nature, we are
proud people. We want to appear prominent and live in the limelight of success
and pompous circumstances. Seizing that inner desire, Satan tempts by appealing
to our pride. An arrogant or self-important
attitude often precedes a catastrophic mistake, failure, or loss of status.
Many have fallen prey to the temptation of pride, ruining their lives. Regrettably,
I know several Christians, including successful Christian leaders, who have
given in to the temptation of pride and done foolish things; as a result, they
have lost their marriages, families, ministries, and credibility. Remember,
pride goes before a fall!
III. The Lust of the Eyes: (Wanting all
things for yourself)
Matthew 4:8-9, "Again
the Devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of
the World and their splendor. 9 "All
this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."
By now, the Devil has realized he couldn't tempt Jesus in the area of his
identity, so he chose to tempt him in the area of his mission or work.
His mission was to save
the World, and the Devil offered a shortcut by showing him all the kingdoms and
their splendor in an instant. All Jesus needed to do was bow down and worship
him. Gaining the World by just bowing his knee may have seemed appealing to
Jesus.
Who wouldn't want an easy
way to gain the World without hardship, in this case, avoiding the Cross? Jesus
didn't fall for the trap. Once again, for the third time, Jesus drew the sword
of the Spirit to resist the Devil, Matt 4:10, "Jesus said to him, 'Away
from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him
only.' Then the Devil left him, and the angels attended him." I like to
imagine the angels might have brought Jesus some roasted beef and bread baked
on hot stones!
The lust of the eyes is
the sinful desire to possess what we see or to have those things that have
visual appeal. The Devil tempts us using this avenue. He offers the World to us
with a promise of happiness and fulfillment. Soon, we find ourselves running
after material wealth at the cost of losing our faith. A media-saturated world
advertises heavily to catch our eyes.
A child of God must
realize that "All that glitters is not gold, and use discernment not to
fall into the temptation of the lust of the eyes. Paul warns young Timothy to
be careful of this enemy's trap in I Timothy 6:9-10, "Those who want to
get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful
desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is
a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from
the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."
If we believe the lies of
the enemy instead of worshipping and serving God only, we mindlessly do the
Devil's bidding for what He offers us in the World. We need to choose whom we
shall serve: God or the Devil? You can't serve both. In all three core
temptations of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life, Jesus successfully defeated the Devil's schemes as He employed God's Word
as a weapon. By doing so, Jesus showed us how we, too, become overcomers. The Devil
is a defeated enemy! In Christ, we are More than Conquers! By using His Word,
the Sword of the Spirit, we can successfully overcome temptations. Amen
