31- The Temptation of Jesus

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, One God, Amen

Lesson No. (31)

References
Matthew 4:1-11, Luke 4:1-15.
The interpretation of the Gospel of St. Matthew & St. Luke translated by Fr. Marcos Daoud.

Notes for Servants
-He took what belongs to us and gave us what belongs to Him. He fasted to teach us that we are
not contending against flesh and blood, against the powers, against the spiritual hosts of
wickedness, and that this kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting.
-As He won victory in His fight against the devil, He will give us the life of victory if we commit our
way to Him. Let us arm ourselves with all the spiritual arms and pray to the Lord with David the
prophet saying, "Be pleased, O God to deliver me, O Lord make haste to help me.

Objectives
General: Satan can tempt anyone.
Specific:
The children will be able to ...
A. Understand the meaning of fasting and temptations.
B. Give examples for the temptations they might face in their lives.
C. Learn how can they fight those temptations.

Bible Verse

“Thou shall not tempt the Lord Thy God.”
(Matthew 4:7)

Teaching Aids
A picture about the subject matter of the lesson.

Instruction
(1) Review last week's lesson.
(2) Who remembers the verse?
(3) Remind the children about the church occasions for the coming week.
(4) Servant may ask the following:
1. What is victory? Why do we study verses from the Bible?
2. What makes the devil run away from us?
(5) Teacher should prepare the appropriate questions to emphasize the objectives during the
lesson.

Story Time
God the Father sent Jesus into the wilderness. He Went alone into a desert far from the river
Jordan where everything was dry and nothing grew. There was silence around him. Elijah had once come
here, and had wandered for 40 days and 40 nights over the stones and sand. Moses, before him, had
counted 40 days go by as he spoke to God onMount Horeb. Now it was Christ who stood in the waste
land, and over whom 40 days and 40 nights were to Pass.
He was hungry. Wherever he looked there was sand and there was stone. Even the wood that
had once grown here had turned to stone. He grew hungrier and he longed for bread. The wind blew
waves of hot sand along the ground and threw it into his face.

"If you are the Son of God," the voice of the Devil said through the wind, "you can do
anything you like. You can begin by turning these stones into bread!" But Jesus replied, "Man
does not live on bread alone; he needs the word of God."
Night fell, and the Devil carried Jesus to the holy city of Jerusalem. Here, from the highest
ledge of the Temple, Jesus could see the domes and spires and the pools of water lying in their
beauty below him.
"If you are the Son of God," the Devil whispered through the night wind, "you can throw
yourself down into the city. The angels of God will hold you and will not let you fall. The time has
come; show the people that you are God. They will believe you and will make you king." "No,"
said Jesus. "It is not for me to test God. He has sent me to share the pain and suffering of men."
The Devil took Jesus still higher. He took him to the highest mountain in the world. From
here Jesus could see everything on earth from the beginning to the end of time. He saw the great
kingdoms, the armies and the weapons of all mankind. The Devil tempted him for the third time.
"I can give you all these things," he said, "I will make you more powerful than any man has ever
been. All you have to do is bow to me and worship me!" Jesus cried out, "Go away, Satan-I
cannot worship you; I cannot worship anything but God. The Commandments tell us, 'Yom shall
worship God, and God alone'!"
Then the Devil went away, and with him went all the evil and darkness that had filled the air. The
angels of God came and brought Jesus food and took care of him.

Discussion
1 - Follow up the story by talking about it with the children.
2 - Continue the discussion while the do the activity.

Learning Activities
Activity Sheet.