Matthew 4:3-11 shows us temptations that presented to Christ after His baptism and the forty days in the wilderness. He was physically tired, hungry and in need of spiritual and physical food. Yet in the first temptation, Jesus shows us how to resist temptation.
Vs. 3 says, “Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.’”
Jesus was divine, but He had to lay down His divinity. In its place, He had to pick up our humanity. In no way could He use His divinity to better Himself or His condition.
In this way the temptation of Christ is similar to our temptations. We are often asked to place self above others. This is what Satan was tempting Christ to do. “You are hungry, then if You are the Son of God, use Your power to better your position and condition. Who cares about others, use Your power to do this.”
We face the same temptation to place ourselves above the needs of others. Christ laid down His divinity took up our humanity, relying upon scripture and the power available to us to resist sin.
God asks us to lay down our humanity, pick up His divinity. By doing so we have the power to resist sin.
Only when we lay down our selfish desires that the power of the Holy Spirit can come into our lives. In this way we pickup the Divinity of Christ, by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus knew the Scriptures and quoted them. He also laid down his divinity, pickup up our humanity showing us how we too can resist sin, by laying down our humanity and pick up His divinity.
The Bible In Your Hand 