How did Jesus stand up to temptation?

With Scripture. In Matthew 4:1-11, the Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness, where the devil tempts Him three times. In this study, Dr. Toby Holt shows how Jesus, the second Adam, stood where the first Adam fell.

After forty days without food, Jesus faced three temptations: to satisfy His hunger, to prove Himself by a spectacular leap, and to seize the world’s kingdoms by worshiping Satan. Each time, Jesus answered with the Word of God: “It is written.” Dr. Holt explains that where Adam fell in a lush garden, Jesus stood firm in a harsh desert, succeeding exactly where the first man failed. The devil even twisted Scripture to tempt Him, but Jesus used it rightly.

Questions this study answers:

1. What was each temptation aimed at? The first appealed to bodily appetite, the second to pride, and the third to the desire for power. Together they targeted the whole range of human weakness.

2. Why did Jesus answer with Scripture every time? Because God’s Word is the believer’s true weapon against temptation. Jesus modeled how to resist the devil by standing on what is written.

3. How does this connect to Adam in Genesis 3? Adam fell to temptation in a perfect garden, but Jesus, the second Adam, overcame it in a barren wilderness. He succeeded where the first man failed, for our sake.

“Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” — Matthew 4:10 (NKJV)

Speaker: Dr. Toby Holt is the President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, a Reformed seminary in Colorado Springs. He is known for clear, down-to-earth Bible teaching, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio.

Listen and go deeper: This sermon is part of the Matthew Explained study from New Geneva Theological Seminary. Find more verse-by-verse teaching across the Bible at newgeneva.org. To support this teaching ministry, visit newgeneva.org/give.