The Temptation of Jesus in the Wilderness

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. Turn, if you would, to the gospel of Matthew chapter 4. Matthew chapter 4. We're going to pick up our study from a month or so ago on Wednesday nights.

Matthew’s Gospel as the Messianic King and the Setting of the Temptation

So just to bring everybody up to speed, Matthew's gospel is directed more towards a Jewish audience. There are more references to the Old Testament in Matthew more than any of the other gospels. And we believe that Matthew's main point is to establish that Jesus is the messianic king.

Jesus is Israel's long-awaited savior. It's been generally accepted that Mark presents Jesus as servant. Luke focuses more on Jesus in his humanity. John, his deity. But Matthew focuses on Christ, the king.

Chapters 1 and 2 deal with his birth, his childhood and adolescence. As most of you know, is really just passed over. Luke has one reference to Jesus at age 12. But here in Matthew, he goes from probably up until the age of 2.

And the next thing you know, in chapter 3, he's around the age of 30. In chapter 3, John the Baptist begins his ministry laying the groundwork for Christ. Jesus is still living in obscurity in Nazareth at the time.

Until Jesus shows up at John's baptism. And of course, John preached a baptism of repentance. So why did Jesus need to be baptized? He's identifying with the people that he came to save. So I did a sermon on that, the baptism of Jesus in chapters 1, 2, and 3.

That's all on the church YouTube channel if you want to catch up. But here in Matthew chapter 4, Jesus as a man, he's been baptized. He's obeyed God's command to the Jews in doing this. He identifies with the people, again, that he came to save.

So before Jesus begins his public ministry, there is one more thing left. Jesus needs to be tested. So let's start reading Matthew chapter 4, starting in verse 1. Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

And when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, afterward he was hungry. Now when the tempter came to him, he said, If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Then the devil took him up into the holy city, set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, He shall give his angels charge over you, and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.

And Jesus said to him, It is written, You shall not tempt the Lord your God. And again the devil took him up on an exceedingly high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

And he said to him, All these things I will give you if you will fall down and worship me. Then Jesus said to him, Away with you, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only you shall serve.

Then the devil left him, and behold, the angels came and ministered to him. And may the Lord add a blessing to the reading of his word. We talked about it briefly last week, that the scripture says what?

Submit to God, resist the devil, and he'll do what? He'll flee from you. So Jesus, by not giving into temptation, Satan eventually gives up. But why was Jesus tempted in the first place? Well, it's like his baptism.

Jesus identifying with the people he came to save in his baptism. Now Jesus is identifying with us because we are tempted too. So all the things that we go through, Jesus went through the same things.

Now here's the big difference between Jesus and his people. Jesus never once gave in to the temptation. So Jesus, in 1 Corinthians 15, he is referred to as the second Adam. Actually, it technically refers to him as the last Adam.

So basically, Jesus did what Adam couldn't. I want you to think about the contrast for a moment. Why was Jesus tempted in the wilderness? Well, remember where Adam was tempted. Adam was tempted in the garden.

Adam had all the food that he needed. He lived in comfort, in paradise. Adam had Eve with him. But the last Adam, where was he? He's in the wilderness. He's alone. He's hungry. At this point, he's weak.

So the point is, the contrast shows us this, that where Adam failed, Jesus overcame. There's fallen humanity in Adam, but there is new life. There is a new humanity in Christ. Hebrews 4, verse 15. If you take notes, I would write this one down.

Look at it later on. Hebrews 4, verse 15 says that Jesus was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. And obviously, that's the big difference between Jesus and us. Well, one of many, obviously.

But look at it this way. God gave the commandments to men, and men, we have failed to keep them. But Jesus kept them for us. So if you think about it this way, Jesus did not just die for us. He did not just die for his people.

He also lived for us. He did what we could not do. So because of that, Jesus is our example.

Amen?

And we are Christians, meaning followers of Jesus. Jesus is our example. And this leads to the next question. How did Jesus respond to temptation? If he is our example, we should look to him. So when Jesus was tempted, what did he do?

Well, it's pretty obvious. He fought the good fight of faith. And he did it by taking up, as we would say, the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. So when Satan's attacks came, when the temptations came, Jesus was prepared.

And he was prepared by quoting the word of God. Jesus quoted the word of God, and he upheld the word of God. He did what his father told him to do. You know, Satan tempts all of us. And he tempts people pretty much in the same ways.

And there's general ways that Satan tempts people. And it's the world, the flesh, and the devil, right? There's the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Jesus was tempted in the same way.

Jesus, if you look at it, verses 2 and 3, Jesus is tempted with the lust of the flesh. In verses 8 and 9, Jesus is tempted with the lust of the eyes. And then in verses 5 and 6, Jesus is tempted with the pride of life.

So let's go through this a little more closely. And hopefully there will be some lessons that we can learn, some things that we can take away that will help us when we are tempted. Because, you know, maybe there are people who sit in church, and they have temptations because these thoughts come into your mind, right?

I shouldn't even have thought that in church. But it happens, though. Sometimes you can be tempted and, like, distracted so that you don't really get anything from it. But certainly one thing you know will happen later on today, this afternoon, tonight, tomorrow, all throughout the week, we will experience temptation.

So we want to know how to respond. So we look to Christ. Look at verse 1. Then Jesus was led up by who?

Right.

Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. I like how Mark says it in Mark chapter 1 verse 12. He puts it this way. Immediately the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness.

This isn't something Christ just decided to do. The Spirit led him or drove him into the wilderness. This is God's will at this point in time. The Spirit, we could say, compelled him to do this. So by confronting Satan, one thing that's happening.

By confronting Satan, this was the first step in overthrowing his kingdom, to confront Satan face to face. Satan would tempt Jesus. But the Bible says about God that God, what? God tempts no man. So whatever temptation Jesus goes through, the temptation is all from the devil.

But from God's vantage point, this is a test. And same thing with us. When we're tempted, God never tempts us. That is, God never entices us to sin. But sometimes God will test us. So it's who is it coming from?

From the devil, it's temptation. From God's point of view, oftentimes, it's simply a test. How do I know this is a test? Look at verse 2. And when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, afterward, he was hungry.

Now you might wonder, well, how does that prove that it's a test? Well, if you know anything about numbers in the Bible, there are certain numbers in Scripture that get repeated again and again and again.

You've noticed the number 7. We know what the number 7 means, right? Perfection or completeness. Another number that gets brought up in Scripture again and again is the number 40. And the number 40 has meaning behind it.

What does 40 represent? Well, it's a time of what?

Testing.

Think about it. In the flood, Noah went on the boat and it rained for 40 days and 40 nights. When Moses went up on Mount Sinai and the Israelites stayed down below, they were down there. Moses was up on the mountain.

How long?

40 days.

Because the children of Israel sinned, they were tested in the wilderness for 40 years. So the number 40 represents something like a probationary period where people are being tested. So Jesus, in a weakened state, he is really the complete opposite of Adam in paradise.

Jesus is ready to face the test. He's ready to face the trials before he enters into his public ministry. One application of this, when a pastor, before a pastor is ordained to the gospel ministry, he goes through a time of testing.

Right?

There's an examination. There's certain things you have to go through to make sure you're up to the task. And that's the same with Jesus. He was tested. 40 days and 40 nights, the tempter came. This is before his ministry begins.

So notice the first thing that Satan says to Jesus. He says, if, right, you see the word, if, if you are the son of God, command that these stones become bread. Now, some Bible teachers will disagree on this because it sounds like what Satan is saying on the surface.

It makes it seem like he's questioning whether or not Jesus is truly the son of God. Like, well, okay, if you're really the son of God, prove it. That kind of thing. That's the way it looks. But really, Satan knows Jesus.

Jesus knows he's the son of God. Satan knows he's the son of God. I don't think that's actually what's happening. The other point of view that I hold to is the meaning is, you know, since you're the son of God.

Since you are the son of God, you can just fix this right now. You're hungry, so you can handle this. Make these stones become bread. Whatever is meant, though, one thing we could all agree on, Jesus isn't about to start taking advice from Satan.

Okay, that we agree on.

But the spirit, remember, the spirit wanted him to do this. God wants him to do this. So Jesus is going to be obedient to God. The spirit compelled him to do all of this. So he's not going to listen to the devil.

Here's another thing that I take note of. All of Jesus' responses, because Jesus is quoting scripture. Every one of the responses from Christ comes from the book of Deuteronomy. What does that tell you?

It tells you that Jesus really knew the book of Deuteronomy. Now, if these are examples, should we know the book of Deuteronomy? That's a tall order, but, you know, just something to consider. But Jesus is quoting Deuteronomy in every instance.

He says in verse four, so this is how he responds. The devil says, if you're the son of God, command that these stones become bread. And Jesus says, it is written, this is in scripture. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

A few things about this. One thing I would say is sometimes the Lord allows his people to be in need, so that God can fulfill that need. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church.

If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscornickchurch .com. And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett.

Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.