“So what’s the point?”
Many a student have thought that question when not quite understanding their teacher explain math to them. And many a spouse have thought this question when in the middle of a conversation they are not understanding each other, unless of course you’ve been married so long that you can finish each other’s sentence.
But this is a great question to ask when it comes to studying the Bible?
A couple of weeks ago during family worship we were reading the account of the temptation of Jesus recorded in Matthew 4:1-10. I now have our two daughters read to our son from the Children’s Story Bible. This way it’s a good opportunity for them to now teach their younger brother and also for him to begin to grasp biblical truth.
So at the end of the story in the Children’s Story Bible we read, “We must stand up to the devil as Jesus did.” That was the concluding statement. That was the take-away from the lesson of Jesus’ temptation. So I jumped in and told the children that we should resist the devil and his temptations, but that is not the point of this particular story. So then one of the girls asked, “So what’s the point?” Now there is a good Bible student asking the right question.
So to answer her I turned to Hebrews 4:15.
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
Hebrews 4:15(emphasis added)
The point of the story of Jesus being tempted by the devil was that though He was tempted, He did not sin. That shows us that He is God and therefore the only Savior who can offer salvation from sin. He had to cloak Himself with humanity as the federal head and representative for believers.
Even the beginning of Matt
