THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS
Matthew 4
This message in scripture I find both necessary and equally confusing. I am puzzled by the use of the word “temptation” in the context of Jesus
The word of God says that man must not test, a form of temptation, God or put Him to the test (Deuteronomy 6: 16).
If this is the case, then the tempter, who has a lower office than man, likewise cannot test, or tempt, the living God. This applies also to created beings (man) on the earth, when we consider the dialogue between God and “satan” in the story of Job (Chapter 1)!
If man, created in God’s image and called His friends, His sons and daughters, is not permitted to test God, how much less the Devil.
Maybe he sees this as his right or responsibility, but it is clear that he does not have the authority
This lack of authority is what provides protection for the saints (born again believers)
There are of course certain conditions that man must comply with in relationship to God, before he/one is afforded this protection. It was not restricted to Job alone, but the premise (spiritual principle) is established in this dialogue which would apply to all future compliant ministers of the gospel of God and Jesus, so it did not need to be repeated again and again. This principle is accepted as a theme throughout the Word of God
Jesus came to the earth to basically complete two functions;
1) To take back His rightful position as Creator God and saviour over mankind
2) To live a sinless life on earth as the example for all of mankind
As it turned out, He had to complete a third function as the redeemer of mankind, through His death on the cross and subsequent resurrection, thus completing His victory over the false “messiah” forever
In Isaiah 9:6 - 7 we read about the stated purpose and authority of Emmanuel’s calling into service
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
It does not refer at this juncture to the definitive role that this Emmanuel would play in the lives of mankind as a “scapegoat” redeemer. This word speaks of power, peace, governance, leadership, a position of absolute authority established forever
This additional function only becomes clear later on in Isaiah 53, when Isaiah is instructed to tell God’s elect, that Emmanuel would in fact be rejected by them and that He would become a sacrificial lamb in their place and for their redemption.
It is therefore not by coincidence that that the Jews absolutely ignore this scripture and in fact do not even quote it in their biblical observances!
So let us have a look at Matthew 4 to establish what in fact took place in the desert
I must point out here that the choice of words the tempter is charging Jesus with is perplexing. “If you are the son of God”!
This begs the question
a) Did he really not know for sure who this man was and wanted clarity? Or
b) Was it a challenge to Jesus to test His own understanding of who He was?
Remember there was no audience to this dialogue between Jesus and the devil. It was not a forum to influence the minds and hearts of fickle men. It was a war of minds between two men!
Whatever the reason, he is placed in the path of Jesus in order to deal with His (Jesus) authority and status. Jesus is being authenticated by His greatest adversary on earth
From numerous accounts in the New Testament, we see Jesus identifying Himself either directly or indirectly. He talks about Himself in the “first person” (i.e. I) at times and then at other times He refers to Himself in the “Third Person” (i.e. We, or the saviour, the son etc).
Coincidentally, it is this dialogue between the tempter and Jesus which ignites the ministry calling over Jesus and He immediately springs into action establishing His authenticity and authority over the earth.
In other words, His ministry starts here with the calling of His disciples to go into the world to “call” and equip additional followers to serve!
This is not a post resurrection instruction given after the death of Jesus. They are sent by his instruction, with his words as He expands His vision over the earth
Please furthermore bear in mind that Jesus came to the earth in two capacities;
1) He came to the earth as God and to reveal Himself in the flesh as God. He came as God to establish His kingdom on the earth as it is in heaven (Jesus reveals this in His prayer in Matthew 6: 5 -15 by His will and in John 1: 1)
2) He came also as Son of God to reveal His Himself as submissive redeemer in the flesh to establish His covenant relationship between Himself and all of mankind. His primary purpose here is to do and complete the will of God for mankind (Jesus reveals this in John 1: 1 and 14 as John affirms the synoptic Word of God to man)
In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God (Son) and the Word was God
With this background let us look how the Word authenticates Himself to the tempter
Matthew 4
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.
2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said,
The word Tempter here comes from the Greek word pĕirazō (pi-rad´-zo) meaning to endeavor, scrutinize, entice, discipline, examine, go about to prove, try.
This means that the devil was making a vain attempt to make a discovery, to try to ascertain something of what he was uncertain, to try to gain insight or understanding into the situation
Therefore, the action or process of tempting someone or the fact of being tempted, means the physical act and/or quality (emotional or spiritual) of enticing (luring) something or someone to expose the person or situation in order to cause a severe or painful trial or experience, so as to cause an affliction
1) Charge 1
“If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
The use of the word “if” clearly reveals the limited understanding of the devil. He did not have insight into the deeper things of God
Here the endeavour is to challenge His physical strength – very much like all men who do not take the mark of the beast during the tribulation will have to endure
Furthermore, Jesus had made no pronouncements about Himself up to this point.
Why would the devil challenge Him as the son of God, when Jesus had not said so and if he was unsure, would he not have addresses Jesus as God, which he was and is
In fact, we hardly ever see Jesus acknowledge who He truely is when questioned by man
In the bible we read that God often speaks to the devil, therefore the devil would have known His voice because Jesus Himself said that He and the Father are one!
Adversaries always find as much information about each other before they enter into battle, yet the devil portrays a great lack of insight into this dialogue
A wise saying goes; “never ask a question that you don’t know the answer to”
The devil showed his ignorance here when confronted with “full and abundant life”
We must overcome and then overcome again and then overcome again as infinitum
When you achieve that situation then you are an “overcomer”
Jesus’s response
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.
Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy 8: 3 to address the tempter or accuser once again
3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
Here the lesson for us is:
This word was used before to address sin, it was good enough for Jesus to quote and it is therefore more than good enough for us stand upon today
2) Charge 2
6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
Here the endeavour is to challenge the authority of Jesus
From the pattern of this dialogue, the responses from Jesus could have left no doubt in the mind of the devil as well as for the reader, that this was in fact God Himself
The devil understands that he has no power or authority over the Creator. After all, he was there from before creation and he knew how God operated and he knew that this was no ordinary fickle human being who rolled over at the slightest hint of opposition and testing
We see an insight into his (devil) understanding of scripture through the quoting of it himself (For it is written)
The devil knows the scriptures, so don’t fool yourself when you are required to stand up against him
Jesus dismisses the devils taunt with the words of Psalm 91 versus 11 - 12 with these words;
11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; 12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
Jesus did not need to engage in a lengthy debate here, all He would do was to recite scripture
Why?
Because the Word of God is living and active and sharper than a double edged sword penetrating the facade of men (Hebrews 4 vs 12) and furthermore;
This same Word is God breathed (spoken) and inspired (motivated) sothat by its power, in the right hands, righteous men would be able to rebuke, correct, teach and train for other men to live Godly lives (2 Timothy 3: 16 – 17)
The Jehovah’s Witness adopt a similar approach by quoting scripture incorrectly at the incorrect times.
Their movement has been stolen, killed and destroyed right under their nosed and with their ongoing consent and they cannot see it
Jesus’s response (Deuteronomy 6: 16)
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
The devil was unsure, he challenged and now he is told in no uncertain terms; I am God and do not answer to your vain ego and lust for power
“Are we clear about who “I am” devil! I am God! But does the devil relent! No he charges Jesus again
3) Charge 3
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
Here the devil endevours to challenge His Godhead, His deity
Here there is no quoting from the Word of God! The devil uses his earthly authority to entice Jesus
We see that in an attempt to achieve this, the devil now attempts to quote “his own” theology! He knows who this man before is and he knows he cannot break him like he does with mere man
Jesus’s response (Deuteronomy 6: 13 and 15)
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
Again Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy with the words; “Worship the Lord your God and serve only Him
Hear what Jesus is saying here to the devil: I am your God so you will worship me, not the other way around. The devil knows that tone and that authority and with those words he is beaten and he leaves
So what do we learn from this passage?
A) He overcame the tempter
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Jesus rebuked the tempter and he left His presence, His authenticity was established
We can clearly see here that the tempter was not quite sure how to react to this puzzling situation
1) He could not with any level of confidence, identify the man before him as the saviour of the world. This means that he had failed at Jesus’s birth through Herod attempts to identify Him. Even the tempter’s instrument, the Jewish council (the Pharisees and Sadducees) were not sure who Messiah was (John 1: 19 – 34)
In fact we can see how he failed when we go all the way back to Moses to see the tempter’s plans thwarted through the survival of Moses despite the edict of Pharaoh to have all the son’s of Israel thrown into the Nile river in an attempt to prevent a saviour leading the Hebrews out of Egypt
If Moses had not survived, there would not have been the deliverance of Israel as we read in the bible. No Moses, no deliverance!
We can take this point further when we consider the genealogy from Adam to Jesus (Show on screen)
We see interference (I will call this interference, tempting) at Adam (temptation), at Cain (murder), at Noah (flood), at Abraham (adultery - Hagar), at Jacob (deceit by Laban - Leah over Rachel), at Moses (death of all new born males), at David and Solomon (adultery and murder) and at Joseph (jealousy - sold into slavery)
2) The tempter, even although he had been present from the beginning of time, was not fully aware of the undisclosed mystery of Emmanuel. He knew that there was some plan in place to counter-act his deceptions, but he was not certain of anything. In fact we see repetitive and blanket attacks against God’s chosen race (the Hebrews), in an attempt to discover the identity of the saviour