曠野裡的試探 Temptation in the Wilderness

文 / Cathy Chen

你若是神的兒子，可以吩咐這些石頭變成食物 （馬太福音 4:3）

今天聽見一段母子的對話

孩子：「今天英文課很無聊，講希伯來舊約聖經的約伯記，幹嘛說這個呢？」

媽媽：「《約伯記》很精彩呀！約伯遭遇極大的苦難，朋友陪了他七天，卻開始檢討他到底哪裡做錯了。」

孩子：「可是上帝跟魔鬼以人為賭欸！上帝似乎為了證明約伯信靠祂，就故意讓約伯受苦。」

媽媽：「哪一句話你有這感受？你也太會挑，挑了篇難懂的篇章。」

兒子：The Lord said to Satan, “Very well then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger”.  Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.  （Job 1:12)

凡他所有的都在你手中；只是不可伸手加害於他。於是撒但從耶和華面前退去（伯1:12）

於是媽媽講了一則故事：  媽媽、小魚、蚯蚯 

蚯蚯：「我今天要把妳養的那條小魚撈出水缸。他根本不在乎是妳一直照顧保護牠，他以為是自己乖所以有飯吃。等我把他撈出來，弄痛他，丟他在髒水桶裡，他還喜歡妳嗎？他會氣到咬妳！」

媽媽：「你做你要做的，但別傷了祂的命。」

蚯蚯：蚯蚯做了！

小魚：小魚生病了，氣噗噗的哭「媽媽害得我變這樣！我明明很乖又没做錯。她不愛我！！」

蚯蚯：哈哈哈，你看吧！

後來，媽媽親自醫好小魚的病，幫他換到兩倍大的淨水缸，還給他更新鮮的海草和更好的飼料。媽媽始終是媽媽，不需要向誰證明什麼。

小魚卻不知道背後有一個離間者；以為只要他好好吃，乖乖和其他小貝小蝦和諧相處，生活就該優哉順利，媽媽會保障風調雨順。這顯出小魚不夠認識自己，且對媽媽的認識太淺薄。小魚能因此重新認識自己，也更認識媽媽，並且學習面對困難的反應。

至於蚯蚯，他興風作浪，離間媽媽和小魚，以為自己比媽媽更強。他搞錯了，因為等時間到了，媽媽自會出手處置一切。

耶穌被魔鬼試探

蚯蚯有另外幾個名字，魔鬼（太4:1）、試探者（太4:3）、撒但（太4:10）。數千年後，他知道「耶穌」與天父極為親密，且有重大使命，便故技重施，這次他不是在水缸，而是在曠野（太4:1）、聖殿頂（太4:5）、極高的山（太4:8） 。

第一次試探：以神蹟證明自己的身分

魔鬼說「你若是神的兒子，把石頭變成食物吧。」（太4：3）他要耶穌用「神蹟」自證，又要祂用能力滿足肉體需要。但耶穌知道天父已經宣告祂的身分 「這是我的愛子，我所喜悅的。」（太 3:17）。

耶穌不行神蹟證明自己，祂知道自己是誰。他單單用神的話回擊：

「人活著，不是單靠食物，乃是靠神口裡所出的一切話。」（申8：3）。

第二次試探：濫用神的應許，試探神是否出手

魔鬼看耶穌引用經文，便也引用經文（詩 91:11–12），但刻意斷章取義。他要耶穌從殿頂跳下，以「冒險」來迫使天父保護祂。耶穌不用「求險」試探神的愛。他再用經文回擊：

「不可試探主你的神。」（申 6:16）

第三次試探：用世上榮華代替十字架的榮耀

魔鬼帶祂到高山，指給祂看萬國榮華，說：「你若拜我，我就給你。」

魔鬼誘使祂選擇不受苦就得著萬國榮華。耶穌逕直點名「撒但」並斥責他：

「撒但，退去吧！因為經上記著說：當拜主你的神，單要事奉祂。」（申命記 6:13 ）

魔鬼便離開，天使來伺候祂（太 4:11）。

耶穌的得勝

1. 若要勝過試探，必須熟悉並正確使用神的話。

2. 我們不需要向魔鬼證明自己是誰。神已經說了我們是祂的孩子。

3. 真正的榮耀不在世界，而在十字架的使命道路中。

若下一次魔鬼不再水缸裡，也不在曠野裡，而是出現在我們周遭的：

• 家庭談話裡
• 工作和金融決定中
• 學校與媒體
• 各種群組裡
• 甚至是教會和團契裡

我們知道該怎麼回應嗎？還是如蚯蚯所希望的，懷疑、生氣、然後中了計，一步一步離神而去？

祈禱

主耶穌，我感謝祢，把魔鬼的詭計向我們顯明，也把得勝的方法賜給我們—就是祢的話語。

求祢赦免我常常忽略祢的話，以致信主許久也不能融會貫通，以致被各樣思想牽動搖擺。祢曾說：「真理必叫你們得以自由。」（約 8:32）主啊，求祢使我敬畏祢的話，不加添、不減少。在各樣的環境中，學會精準運用祢的話。

謝謝祢讓我知道，我不必急著證明自己的身分；我本是祢所愛的孩子。謝謝祢為我受試探，且完全得勝，撒但再也不能控告我。

主啊，我願意選擇事奉祢，過一個有使命的人生，不走魔鬼提供的道路。以馬內利的主，求祢天天與我同在，引我得勝。奉主耶穌基督的名，阿們。

於 11/13/2025

By Cathy Chen

“If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” (Matthew 4:3)

Today I overheard a conversation between a mother and her son.

Child: “English class was boring today. We talked about the Book of Job from the Hebrew Old Testament. Why did we even learn that?”

Mother: “Job is fascinating! He went through immense suffering. His friends stayed with him for seven days, but then they started analyzing what he must have done wrong.”

Child: “But God and Satan were basically betting using a person’s life! It feels like God allowed Job to suffer just to prove Job trusted Him.”

Mother: “Which verse gave you that impression? You sure picked a tough passage.”

Son: “The Lord said to Satan, ‘Very well then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.’ Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.” (Job 1:12)

The mother then told a story: Mommy, Little Fish, and Wormie

Wormie: “Today I’m going to scoop that little fish you raise out of the tank. He doesn’t care that you’ve been taking care of him. He thinks he gets to eat because he’s just being good. When I take him out, hurt him a little, and throw him into a dirty bucket, do you think he’ll still like you? He’ll be so mad he’ll bite you!”

Mommy: “Do what you must, but do not take his life.”

Wormie: Wormie did it!

Little Fish: The little fish got sick and cried angrily, “Mommy made this happen to me! I was always good and didn’t do anything wrong. She doesn’t love me!!”

Wormie: “Ha! See?”

Later, Mommy personally healed the little fish, moved him into a tank twice as big with clean water, and gave him fresher seaweed and better food. Mommy remained Mommy—she did not need to prove anything to anyone.

But the little fish had no idea there was a deceiver behind the scenes. He thought that as long as he ate well and behaved, living peacefully with the little shells and shrimp, life ought to be smooth and easy, and Mommy would guarantee perfect safety. This only revealed that he did not know himself well, nor did he truly know his mother. Through the hardship, the little fish learned to rediscover himself, to know Mommy better, and to grow in how he responded to difficulties.

As for Wormie—he stirred up trouble, trying to drive a wedge between Mommy and Little Fish, thinking he was stronger than she. But he was wrong, because when the time came, Mommy would handle everything.

Jesus Tempted by the Devil

Wormie goes by other names: the devil (Matt. 4:1), the tempter (Matt. 4:3), Satan (Matt. 4:10). Thousands of years later, knowing that “Jesus” was deeply loved by the Father and carried a great mission, he used the same tactic again—this time not in a fish tank, but in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1), on the pinnacle of the temple (Matt. 4:5), and on a very high mountain (Matt. 4:8).

First Temptation: Using miracles to prove His identity

The devil said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” (Matt. 4:3)

He wanted Jesus to prove Himself through miracles and to use His power to satisfy His physical needs. But Jesus already knew the Father had declared His identity:
“This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matt. 3:17)

Jesus did not need miracles to prove who He was. He answered simply with God’s Word:

“Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Deut. 8:3)

Second Temptation: Misusing God’s promises to test God

Seeing Jesus quote Scripture, the devil quoted Scripture too (Psalm 91:11–12), but twisted it out of context.
He wanted Jesus to jump off the temple to force the Father to intervene.

Jesus would not “seek danger” to test God’s love. He countered again with Scripture:

“Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” (Deut. 6:16)

Third Temptation: Trading the cross for earthly glory

The devil took Him to a high mountain, showed Him the splendor of all the kingdoms, and said:
“If you bow down and worship me, I will give you all this.”

Satan tempted Him to choose glory without suffering. Jesus directly called him out:

“Away from me, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.” (Deut. 6:13)

Then the devil left Him, and angels came to attend Him. (Matt. 4:11)

The Victory of Jesus

1. To overcome temptation, we must know—and rightly use—God’s Word.

2. We do not need to prove who we are to the devil. God has already said we are His children.

3. True glory is not found in the world but on the path of the cross—the mission God gives us.

If next time the devil appears not in the fish tank, not in the wilderness, but:

• in our family conversations,

• in work or financial decisions,

• in school or media,

• in group chats,

• or even inside church and fellowship—

Will we know how to respond?
Or will we, just as Wormie hopes, begin doubting, getting angry, and step by step drift away from God?

Prayer

Lord Jesus, thank You for exposing the devil’s schemes and giving us the way to victory—Your Word.

Forgive me for often neglecting Your Word, so that even after believing for many years I still fail to grasp it fully, easily shaken by all kinds of ideas. You said, “The truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)
Lord, help me revere Your Word—adding nothing, taking nothing away—and learn to use it accurately in all circumstances.

Thank You for reminding me that I do not need to rush to prove my identity; I am already Your beloved child. Thank You for being tempted for my sake and for overcoming completely, so Satan can no longer accuse me.

Lord, I choose to serve You, to live a life with mission, and not to take the path the devil offers. Emmanuel, be with me each day and lead me in victory.
In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.