(10 minutes, easy set-up)
Students will discuss how Jesus handled temptation.
Provide a dry erase board and marker.
Learning Goal: Students will examine how true faith is strengthened and matured through trials and temptations.
Explain that we are not the only people who have to deal with trials and temptations—even Jesus was tempted. Draw a line down the middle of the dry erase board. Along the left side of each half, write the numbers 1, 2, and 3. Then, call on a student to read Matthew 4:1–11.
Ask: What were the three ways in which Jesus was tempted? Invite a student to come to the board to record the answers in the column on the left. (Answers: 1–physical hunger/stones to bread; 2–personal identity/Son of Go;, 3–desire/greed)
Ask: How did Jesus overcome each temptation? Again, enlist a student to come to the board to record the responses in the right column on the board. Emphasize that in each instance Jesus recalled a passage of Scripture to remind Him of what’s most important and to give Him strength to overcome the temptation.
Last, ask: What does Jesus’ example tell us about successfully fighting temptation? (We fight temptation by relying on the truths of Scripture and the Holy Spirit within us.)