Bible Story Lessons

When Jesus returned from being baptised in the River Jordan, He was led by the Holy Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.   While He was there, Jesus prayed and ate no food for forty days.  Afterwards He was hungry and weak, and that's when the devil came and tempted Him.

Do you know what it means to be tempted?  (Let the children respond).  It means to want to do something you know is wrong, or when somebody asks you to do something you know is wrong.

How was Jesus tempted?  The devil came to Him and said, "If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."  What was wrong with that?  (Let the children respond).

It was wrong because the devil tried to tempt Jesus to do things Himself, rather than trust in His Father, God.  But, Jesus answered, "It is written, 'Man does not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God'."

Then the devil took Him to Jerusalem to 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 to guard and care for you, so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone'."

Would any of you dared to jump of a very high temple wall?  (Let the children respond).  If Jesus had done so, would God have sent angels to catch Him?  (Let the children respond).  I don't think so!  But, what did Jesus do?  He answered the devil and said, "It is also written: 'Do not test the Lord your God'."

Lastly, the devil took Him up into a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their riches.  "All this I will give to you," he said, "If you will bow down and worship me."

Who must we worship?  (Let the children respond).  We must only worship God. Who is our Heavenly Father.  And what did Jesus answer?  He said, "Get away from Me, Satan!  For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only'."  And then the devil left Him, and angels came and strengthened Him.

Jesus knew that it was wrong for Him to use the power of God to make bread out of stones in order to satisfy His hunger.  Why did Jesus know that this was wrong?  (Let the children respond).   Well, God's Holy Spirit was in Jesus to give Him power, so He could do wonderful things for other people.

But it would have been wrong for Him to use that power for Himself.   No, Jesus was determined to do His Father's will, and so He refused everything that the devil tempted Him to do!

This is a very important lesson which all boys and girls need to learn - that we must always obey God!  Jesus did, and He never sinned or did anything wrong, not even when the devil tempted Him.  He always obeyed and pleased God in all He did and said!

We want to be like Jesus, don't we?  (Let the children respond)  Yes we do, and to do that we have to say, "No!" when we want to do wrong and disobey God.  That's why we need to learn Bible verses, so that we can know how to act when we are tempted to do wrong things and sin.

God bless!