In the context of direction for the next several weeks, we want to recognize where this pertains to Jesus and his life as depicted in the Gospels. Sometimes it's his words. Other times just where he is standing. A familiarity not only with having read that part of the gospel, but with the setting itself, can come over you.
Sometimes Jesus sounds a lot like Moses.
Sometimes like Israel herself.
Sometimes like people or circumstances in your own life.
This week, wrestle with the wrestling Jesus did in the desert. These first two of the three temptations were not just for Christ to pass a test, but to further show his solidarity with his own familial history and with all those that would come after him.
Thaw
- Where you are from, what is fall like?
- What most stuck with you from Sunday morning and why did it seem important to you?
Read
- Matt 4:1-4
- Thoughts?
- What key words are your eyes drawn to?
Read
- Deut 8:2-3
- Thoughts?
Discuss
- Taking the imagery further, how does this temptation speak to our lives now in the modern west?
Read
- Matthew4:5-7
- Thoughts?
Read
- Psalm 91:9-13
- Thoughts?
Leader note; You may want to point out that the tempter leaves out in his quote of Psalm 91 the line where the Cobra (a serpent) and the Lion (one of the euphemisms for sin) are crushed under the heel of the One spoken of. This also pertains visually to the promise in Genesis 3 where the seed of Eve will, eventually, crush the serpents head, even though being injured in the process. Obviously this part was not beneficial to the tempter, so it was omitted.
Read
- Deut. 6:16
- Thoughts
Leader note: Make sure and guide the conversation to an understanding that it doesn't anger God when we test him. We all do it. More than God's irritability is at stake. We who are constantly testing and making contingencies on God's performance are establishing a relationship based on what God does. This puts us in control as well as makes the miracles, the answers and the sense of safety that come with our assurances our master. Not God himself.
Discuss
- What does this second temptation have to do with us?
- Why has God always been using a chosen few, Israel or Christ himself to show what trust (regardless of external circumstances) looks like?
- How does it help or hurt to consider that Christ is showcasing God's goodness and trustworthiness, while aware that his ministry and life would be cut short by a brutal crucifixion?
- Why is it difficult to see God as worthy of trust when things can go so badly with or without that trust in him?
Apply
- How can this group, or even just a few members of it, help you be a person of trust and peace no matter what temptations to the contrary come around?
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