STORIES OF JESUS - JESUS IS PUT TO THE TEST
Season 1: Stories of Jesus
Episode 7: “Jesus Is Put To the Test”
Today’s Bible Bite: Luke 4:1-13
Video Story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch… (Saddleback Kids - What happened when Jesus went to the Wilderness)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGm3D1htVKs (Lifekids - Why did Jesus go to the Wilderness?)
“Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil for forty days” (Luke 4:1-2a).
Jesus had just been baptized and God had spoken out loud to Him, “You are my son. I love you and I am very pleased with you.” Jesus felt the Holy Spirit leading Him to a remote place where Jesus could spend more time alone with God, so that Jesus could pray and really know how God wanted Him to begin His work as the Messiah. But Jesus wasn’t alone. Satan came to cause problems for Jesus.
Satan, who used to be one of God’s angels, is now God’s enemy. He likes nothing better than to mess with God’s plans. So when he saw that Jesus had gone to the wilderness to spend time with God, he decided to tempt Jesus to do things his way, not God’s way. Three times Satan tried to get Jesus to act on His own authority–make bread from rocks, prove He was really the Messiah or take the easy route rather than God’s way–but each time Jesus said, “No!” Eventually, He even told Satan to leave and Satan had to go. In the wilderness, Jesus had spent time with God and passed the test when Satan tried to get Him to choose His own way over God’s way. He was ready to begin His work as the Messiah!
Think about it...
The Holy Spirit directed Jesus to go to the wilderness. Why?
Jesus spent forty days talking to God, but not eating. How long do you talk to God?
Jesus was very hungry. Why would it have been a problem for Him to turn rocks to bread?
Satan wanted Jesus to ignore God’s plan and choose to do things His own way. Are you ever tempted to do things your own way, even though your mom or dad have given you directions?
Jesus told Satan, “No way!” How can you choose to do what is right?
Prayer: Thank you, God, that Jesus showed us how important it was to pray. He needed your advice and a relationship with you, just like us. Help us to be able to tell Satan, “No” just like Jesus did when he tries to get us to do wrong things.
Fun Activity:
