The Second Sunday of Lent: Temptation Sunday
Matthew 4: 1 11
St. Maurice and St. Verena Coptic Orthodox Church
Lenten Small Group: Session 2
Victorious in Temptation
Dear Lord,
Help me to trust You at all times, but especially in the desert
experiences of my life.
When I am tempted to live by sight rather than by faith.
When I am tempted to depend on myself rather than You.
When I am tempted to question Your love.
And when I am tempted to defect.
Help me to see that the Father’s Word is not only
more nourishing than food but more necessary.
And that He decrees bread or stones
according to which one at the moment provides the best nourishment
for my soul.
Help me never to doubt Your love for me, Lord.
And keep me from the temptation of ever putting that love to the test.
Keep me from being enticed by whatever trinkets
Satan dangles before me.
And guard me from the temptation of wanting anything
more than I want you.
Give me the thirst to study God's Word as You studied it.
But help me to realize that it was not the knowledge of the Word that
delivered you
but it was Your obedience to the Word
that brought You safely through the temptation.
Thank You that You have been tempted in every way
that I am tempted and are sympathetic to my struggles.
Thank you that I can come boldly to Your throne of grace
and there not only find mercy but understanding.....1
Victorious in Temptation
2. Victorious in Temptation
Connecting Question: When you think of the word “temptation,” what comes to
your mind? *
I want to tell you a story. When I was six or seven, there was a bully on our street. Every time I
went to school, he would bully me and take whatever money or candy that I had. I was
stressed out for a long time but finally I told my dad about this. The next day my dad came
with me and he went straight to the bully and, of course the bully ran away frightened and
crying. Of course the bully was humiliated and he never bothered me anymore. I also lost my
fear of the bully, because my dad had demonstrated to me that the bully was not really strong
and that if one resisted him, he would show his true colours. In a way I gained victory over the
bully through my father. It was really my father who was victorious against the bully but I also
shared in the victory.2
Read Matthew 4:1-11
DID YOU KNOW?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Being Alert to Temptation
1. When did the devil tempt Jesus (Matt 4:2)? What major
event had just occurred? (Matt 3:16 17)
2. From this we can learn that temptation can occur when we
are at our lowest times (tired, alone, etc.) or at some of our
strongest times (new job, spiritual high, etc.). What might be
some of the practical examples of the high and low points in
life when we can be tempted?
Did you know that each Sunday of
Lent, there is a Coptic hymn that is
sung which directly relates to the
gospel reading? These hymns are a
commentary about the Sunday
Gospel and provide us with further
insight about the Church’s teachings.
See the last page for the Communion
hymn for this Sunday’s gospel
reading.
Recognizing Different Types of Temptations
3. The first temptation targeted physical needs (Matt 4:3).
What are other examples of physical temptations we may encounter? **
4. What type of need was the devil targeting in the second temptation? (Matt 4:6). **
What are other ways we may seek to test God?
5. What type of need was the devil targeting in the third temptation? (Matt 4: 9) **
What are the idols in our lives that can cause us to worship something/someone other than God?
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Victorious in Temptation
6. Our Lord modelled three ways we can fight temptation. What are these three strategies and how can
we apply these strategies to our own lives? Why do you think each strategy He used is helpful in being
victorious over temptations or trials? ***
7. Which verse offers you more comfort in your own spiritual struggles and why?
“Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.” (Matt 4:11)
OR
“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in
all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace,
that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:15 16)
8. MEMORY VERSE: One of the ways that Jesus fought the devil was by using the Word of God. As a group,
recite Hebrews 4:14 15 and try to commit it to memory this week. When you feel discouraged or weak,
use this verse to direct you in prayer.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
The wilderness is symbolic of any spiritual struggle we may be in. Often we may feel lonely, scared or confused.
We may also feel like our season of wilderness will never end. In times such as these, it may be encouraging to
know that “whenever we fast, like the Lord fasted, we live again this victory over Satan that we gained through
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The Devil is reminded of his humiliating defeat before Christ and we are
reminded of our victory over him through Christ. Whenever we partake of the Eucharist, we receive the same
Jesus that conquered the Devil. As we receive His body and His blood we receive the same power that
conquered Satan. So, let us fast in purity and righteousness and let us uphold the victory that Christ won for us
when He fasted for us.” 3
TAKING IT HOME
(Optional)
1. Consider using the prayer found on p.1 as a part of your devotional time with Christ in response to
meditation on this passage.
2. In the book of Ephesians, St. Paul outlines the spiritual armour we can wear to resist the devil. Think
about what each piece means and how you can acquire each piece of that armour. You will find this
passage in Ephesians 6:14 17.
3. Think about a specific area in your life that you may be struggling with right now. Into which of the
three areas of temptation mentioned in this passage does it fall?
4. Bible Study Challenge: How do the following verses found in Genesis 3:6 and 1 John 2:15 17 relate to the
three temptations of Christ?
5. Consider doing a character study about someone in the Bible who has a spiritual struggle you can relate
to. Read this person’s story and observe the principles they learned and apply them to your own
situation. For example, if you struggle with fear, consider reading Gideon’s story (Judges 6 8 and
Hebrews 11:32). If you struggle with loneliness, share in Queen Esther’s heroic victory (Esther 1 10).
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6. Pay special attention to the Coptic Lenten hymn that will be sung during Communion this week (See the
end of this chapter). How does the hymn tie into the Sunday Gospel reading? Did you learn any new
spiritual truths from this hymn?
GOING BEYOND (Optional Reading)
The following is an excerpt from an article written by Heg. Fr. Athanasius Iskander and can be found at
Coptichymns.net. 3 Heg. Fr. Athanasius’ meditation is based on Luke 4:1 13.
You see, our great grandparents Adam and Eve lost badly when they were tempted by the evil one. We inherited
this defeat from them, when we inherited our human nature from them. Defeat was built into our nature, and
all the generations that came after Adam and Eve were terrorized by the Devil. No one could stand against him
because of this weak and defeated nature. It is for this reason that Christ decided to take on the bully on our
behalf, so that when He became victorious against him, we too could become victorious. But in order to give
humans victory over the Devil, He had to take our own nature, so that when He defeated the Devil, the human
nature that He took on would be victorious over the Devil.
Jesus took on the Devil only after being baptized and after receiving the Holy Spirit. He teaches us that when we
are baptized, we are born again, and instead of the fallen defeated nature that we inherited from Adam and Eve,
we put on the victorious human nature that has been renewed by Christ.
Was Jesus in need of baptism, or of receiving the Holy Spirit or of fasting? The reading of today says that Jesus
was full of the Holy Spirit. Was Jesus in need of being filled by the Holy Spirit? The answer is no! Because He is
the Giver of the Holy Spirit. He did that so that our human nature which He took from us may be filled by the
Holy Spirit. When the Lord accepted our human nature to save us He was not ashamed of our poverty and our
weakness. Also, having shared our poverty and our weakness He became sanctified for our sake, even though He
is the Sanctifier of all creation. By resembling us in everything except sin, He became sanctified like man even
though He sanctifies like God.
We are also told that He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. What does that mean? It does not mean that
He was taken by the Spirit into the wilderness. It means that He led a spiritual life. Being led by the Spirit means
following the Spirit and leading a life that is spiritual and not carnal. The proof of this is in the next verse which
tells us that in those days He ate nothing, which means He fasted. Fasting for forty days means that He led a
spiritual life or was lead by the Spirit. St. Paul explains this to us when he says in Romans 8:14, “For as many as
are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” To be led by the Spirit of God means to allow the Spirit of
God to lead you into a life of holiness and spiritual strife.
Satan dared Christ to change the stones into bread to determine if He was truly the Son of God. “If thou be the
Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.” (Luke 4:3) But Jesus, knowing his tricks, does neither
the miracle nor admit that He is unable to do it, but rather brushes him aside by saying, “That man shall not live
by bread alone, but by every word of God.” (Luke 4:4) Likewise, Moses and Elijah both fasted for forty days and
forty nights being sustained by the words that God spoke unto them.
Jesus fasted in order to avenge Adam’s defeat when He was tempted. By eating, Adam was conquered and we
were conquered with him for we were in Adam when he fell. However, when Jesus fasted, He conquered and
we conquered with him and through Him. The Liturgy of St. Gregory explains this beautifully when it tells us,
“Thou, the Infinite, being God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but humbled Thyself, and took the
form of a servant; and blessed my nature in Thee; and fulfilled Thy Law, on my behalf.” Christ took our nature,
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the nature of servants, in order to bless our nature in Him. He fulfilled His law, which we could not fulfil, on our
behalf.
Host’s Notes
*Temptation does not necessarily have to refer to sin, but can refer to a spiritual struggle we may have.
Examples of spiritual struggles may be the tendency to worry or doubt or can refer to a broken relationship that
needs healing, amongst many other trials and tribulations we may face.
**The first temptation dealt with physical needs. Other examples of physical temptation may be the tendency to
over eat or be obsessed with one’s looks; smoking; and needs connected to one’s sexuality.
**The second temptation dealt with the heart and the emotional need for security. If the participants have a
hard time thinking of ways they test God, consider asking them to fill in the blank, “If God really loved me, He
would...”
**The third need addressed the mind and the psychological needs for significance, power and achievement.
Other examples of idols in our lives can include but are not limited to: fame, success, the need to consistently be
in control of our circumstances and/or other people.
***One strategy we can learn from Our Lord is fasting and prayer. Second, the Lord fought the devil with
Scripture, which points to the importance of memorizing Scripture so we have it accessible at all times. Lastly, it
wasn’t merely the Lord’s knowledge of Scripture that was His key to success; it was also His determination to be
completely obedient to the Word of God. Although we may be aware of God’s Word, if we are not surrendered
to His Word, then we will not be successful in fighting the enemy.
References:
1. Taken or adapted from: Moments with the Savior by Ken Gire. Copyright 1998 by Ken Gire Jr. Used by
permission of Zondervan. www.zondervan.com.
2. Heg. Fr. Athanasius Iskander. The Temptation of Jesus. Adapted or taken in whole from:
http://www.coptichymns.net/PagEd index topic_id 2 page_id 237.html.
3. As above.
4. As above.
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Lenten Communion Hymn Of
Temptation Sunday
Chorus:
Blessed are those who have mercy
Who give to the poor, fast and pray
The Holy Spirit will fill their hearts
And obtain mercy on judgment day
Jesus fasted in the wilderness
For forty nights and forty days
Teaching us to follow in his path
And walk in the narrow and righteous way
At last Jesus showed great hunger
The tempter came to Him and said
If you are truly the Son of God
Change this stone to a loaf of bread
Jesus said to Satan it is written
By bread alone man shall not live
The word of God will fill his needs
Eternal life the Lord will give
Chorus
The devil took Jesus to the temple
And said as you stand in this holy place
If truly you are the Son of God
Throw yourself from here to the base
For God will send His mighty angels
To watch over those who are His own
To give protection and support
Your feet will not touch a single stone
Jesus said to him it is written
You should not try to tempt the Lord
For He is your Lord and Creator
And you cannot withstand His sword
COPYRIGHT 2013
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