Luke 4:1-12 (for kids)

I prepared this lesson for our children's Sunday school class and it went exceptionally well. The 8 kids (ranging in ages between 6-10) had lots of questions and made some very profound comments as well. Anyone who does not think young children have the intellectual capacity to take in Biblical lessons without having to draw a picture or watch a movie are just plain wrong!

Here is the lesson (presented on 10.11.08)

Jesus in the Wilderness

Prayer

Ÿ Lesson

Read Luke 4:1-4

Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’”

Ask: Who is the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit is one of the Persons who makes up our Triune God

Ask: What does it mean to be “filled with the Holy Spirit”?

To be filled with the Holy Spirit means to be controlled by God

Ask: Who is Satan?

Satan is the Devil. He is the enemy of God and of all of mankind. Satan wants to cause man to sin, using various temptations and lies. He is, indeed, the father of lies.

We see that Jesus is fasting while in the desert, going without food for 40 whole days!

(Could you go this long without eating? What is the longest time you’ve gone without eating? How did you feel?)

Imagine, then, how Jesus must have felt after 40 days…and all this time we are told that there Satan is, tempting Him! At the end of the 40 days, seeing Jesus extremely hungry, Satan asks Jesus to make bread out of stone!

Ask: Could Jesus have done this?

Of course! For Jesus performed greater miracles in order to establish His claims!

Ask: How would turning stone into bread have been a sin?

Jesus’ miracles were performed to attest to His divine nature and the Truth of His claims…to establish the Gospel. He would not be honoring the Father by using His power selfishly.

When Jesus said “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God…” what did He mean?

He meant that the Word of God…the Old Testament at this time…taught that being fed spiritually was more important than being fed physically. Think about it…what happens if you don’t eat? Eventually you will die!!

If being fed spiritually is more important than keeping yourself physically alive, then it is obvious that studying the Word of God is VERY important!

Ask: What can WE do to help fight off temptation?

We can memorize the Word of God so that when we are tempted to sin we will remember it and obey it!

Remember that Satan will always use our weaknesses to tempt us, but God’s Word will always be able to help us if we have it hidden in our hearts.

Read Luke 4:5-8

Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”

Ask: What did Satan want Jesus to do?

Satan wanted Jesus to worship him instead of the Father!

In 2 Corinthians 4:4 we are told that Satan is the god of this world! Therefore he had the power to offer up the kingdoms to Jesus…except that Jesus being the One True and Living God was Master of all things! Even of Satan!

Think about this too: Jesus came to earth as a man in order to establish His kingdom, a spiritual one in the hearts of men. Jesus did not need the physical kingdoms of men when He came to redeem people from every kingdom!

Jesus says to Satan, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”

The Word of God commands us to worship only God and Jesus correctly reminds Satan of this! Basically, He tells Satan to “shut up!”

Read Luke 4:9-12

Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. For it is written: ’He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you,‘ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’”

Ask: If Jesus had listened to Satan, how would He have sinned?

Jesus would have been testing God, and our faith demands that we always trust God, no matter what our circumstances are.

Like Jesus, we must remember to always trust God and remain faithful to Him. We don’t need proof that He loves us for our salvation is all the proof we could ever need!

Did you notice that Satan used Scripture to tempt Jesus? There are many people today who, like Satan, will use the Bible incorrectly in order to mislead you. The only way we can defend ourselves is to know the Bible even better than they do!

James 4:7 tells us that if we resist the devil, he will flee from us!

Isn’t that a wonderful promise? No matter how powerful Satan is, we as Christians have the power to make him run away from us!

Are there any questions or comments?

Let us pray