Editor's Note: We have the unique joy of presenting this week's devotional which was written by an aspiring preacher, Marcus Cooke. Marcus is 20 years old, and has just completed his second year at Pepperdine University. Here is Marcus' lesson on Temptation.

As we look at the context of these verses, it is clear that this comes shortly after the baptism of Christ. Satan didn't waste any time in getting to Christ.

Jesus was led into the wilderness for the purpose for the purpose of being tested by the devil. This was not God tempting Jesus. God does not tempt us, as illustrated in James 1:13. God allows temptation for a reason. Temptation, in the end, is supposed to strengthen us, not make us weak. Temptation should build us up, not tear us down. God knows what He is doing when he allows temptation and trials to come into our lives, nor will He allow us more than we can handle.

God will never give us more than we can endure. We have to trust in Him to know what He is doing. So many times, we, as Christians, say that "the devil made me do it" or "God knows this is my weakness, why is He doing this to me?" but according to 1 Corinthians 10:13, we see that there is always a way of escape from the temptation. There is always a way to get through the trials that you are going through, no matter what the situation. You may not be able to see how it is possible to get through a certain situation, but this is where faith comes in and your dependence on God is important to be able to get through your trials.

Getting back to our lesson text in Matthew, verse two states that Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights. Many events in the Bible use the phrase, "forty days and forty nights," the most well known being the Flood of Genesis 7:17. Others in the Bible are recorded as being without food or water, as Jesus was, for forty days and forty nights. Moses on Mount Sinai (Deuteronomy 9:9) and Elijah (1 Kings 19:8) both fasted for forty days and forty nights. Interestingly enough, all three men at some point during their period of fasting were taken up on a mountain. Jesus' forty days in the wilderness also remind us of the children of Israel's forty years in the wilderness.

Forty days is a long time to go without food. Some of us can't even sit through services on Sunday morning we haven't eaten breakfast, and are constantly thinking about what we are going to eat when we get home. Jesus was tempted over the full forty day period, but Matthew and Luke only give three of the temptations Jesus faced.

The first temptation is found in verses 3 - 4: Satan says, "if you are the Son of God," but he knows that Jesus is the Son of God. He is essentially saying, "since you are the Son of God, make these stones become bread." Satan knew where to hit Jesus the hardest. He knew that Jesus would be most vulnerable when it comes to food because He had not eaten. Jesus said to Satan, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God'." The phrase, "it is written" lets us know that Jesus is coming from the Bible. Every reply that Jesus gives to Satan in each temptation is a Bible scripture from Deuteronomy.

Jesus' reply to the first temptation is taken from Deuteronomy 8:3. This verse is talking about the children of Israel. God allowed them to experience hunger in the wilderness to test them, as it says in Deuteronomy 8:2. Just like the children of Israel were tested though hunger in the wilderness, so was Jesus. What the children of Israel did not realize is that the depended too much on physical food, and not enough of the spiritual food that God had to offer them. Israel questioned God too much in the wilderness; they lacked faith. The times they should have been depending on God, they weren't. God let them know where all blessings and good things come from, by taking away their physical food and providing them with manna from heaven. But even when they received this manna, they did not follow God's instructions for measuring it out (Exodus 16).

Here Moses told them of God's instructions to measure the manna out in omers, which is 2.087 quarts by today's standard measure. Very straight forward; these were not very hard directions. But the children of Israel did not listen to God, and some of the manna later spoilt because of it. However, God did provide manna for forty years, according to Exodus 16:35. The children of Israel did learn that God is the provider of all things, and that we should put our trust in Him and His word to take care of us. In quoting Deuteronomy 8:3, Jesus is telling Satan that He trusts in God and knows that He will provide for Him when He sees fit.