WWUTT 1916 The Temptation of Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11)

The Wilderness Temptation and Christ’s Victory Over Satan

Jesus is taken into the wilderness to be tempted, and with the three temptations that Satan gives him, Jesus responds with the Word of God. And my friends, we too need to trust in God's Word when we understand the text.

Many of the Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text is committed to teaching sound doctrine and rebuking those who contradict it. Visit our website at www .utt .com.

Here once again is Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky. We're back to our study in the Gospel of Matthew, and this week we're up to Chapter 4. I'm going to begin by reading the first 11 verses out of the Legacy Standard Bible. Hear the Word of the Lord.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, 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 on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Then the devil took him into the holy city and had him stand 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 will command his angels concerning you, and on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him, Again it is written, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.

Again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, All these I will give you, if you fall down and worship me. Then Jesus said to him, Go, Satan!

For it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve him only. Then the devil left him. And behold, angels came and began to minister to him. Sometimes as I've been going through these lessons in the Gospel of Matthew, I'll go to the other Gospels to see how the same event will get framed there.

And in the Gospel of Luke, the way that he sets up the temptation of Jesus is a little bit different than what we're reading here in Matthew. Now just like in Matthew, the event immediately follows the baptism of Jesus.

So Jesus is baptized, he goes into the wilderness to be tempted, but Luke inserts something in between. Not changing the narrative, but in between the baptism and Jesus being tempted, he puts Jesus' genealogy.

In Matthew, we read the genealogy of Christ at the very beginning, and it started with Abraham and went all the way down to the birth of Christ. In Luke, it starts with Jesus and traces his line all the way back to Adam, and then goes right from there, the mention of Adam, into the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness.

What Luke is attempting to demonstrate is that Jesus is the second Adam, and that Jesus succeeds everywhere that Adam failed. Now that's not really where Matthew is going when he goes into the temptation of Jesus here in chapter 4.

What Matthew's been doing at the beginning of his Gospel is showing how Jesus is the greater Israel, how he succeeds where Israel failed. We started this genealogy not with Adam, but with Abraham, because all of the children of Israel are descended from Abraham.

We also had various Old Testament references in those first few chapters, some of those references pertaining to Israel, but we see ultimately pertains to Christ. For example, the reference in Matthew 2 .15, out of Egypt I called my son, which harkens back to Hosea 11 .1, that's about Israel, but we see according to the way that Matthew references it, it was ultimately about Christ.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, fled to Egypt and then came back into the promised land out of Egypt, and so out of Egypt I called my son. Jesus comes up out of Egypt, just like Israel did, but Jesus is going to succeed where Israel.

Failed.

When Israel was in the wilderness, after coming up out of Egypt and they were in the wilderness,.

They failed.

They fell in the wilderness, is the way that the Scriptures put it. They did not listen to the word of the Lord. And notice that when Jesus responds to Satan, how does he reply? With the word of the Lord.

Jesus did listen to God's word, when Israel did not. And you also see the parallels in the sense of Jesus being in the wilderness for 40 days. How long was Israel in the wilderness? For 40 years. And incidentally, they're being cursed to wander in the wilderness for 40 years.

It was one year for every day that the spies were in the promised land, spying it out, and then they came back and gave a report. And Israel, they were crazy over this report that they got, because we're like grasshoppers in the land compared to these people.

We'll never be able to take this land. God pulled us out of Egypt just for us to perish in the wilderness. Joshua and Caleb tried to convince the people, no, we can take them. We have God on our side.

We can do this. But they would not listen to Joshua and Caleb. They listened to the other 10 spies, and the people grumbled against God. So God cursed them to wander for 40 years. One year for every day that the spies were in the land of Canaan.

And so that's where that number came from. Jesus is in the wilderness for 40 days. But he succeeds where Israel failed, showing himself to be the true son, the true Israel. Let's pick it up in chapter 4, verse 1.

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. So this is right after the baptism and immediately after coming up out of the Jordan. That's where Jesus goes next, into the wilderness.

And this wilderness was really like a desert. There's nothing there but scorpions and snakes and a few birds. It is a desolate area. I've talked to people who had gone and toured the Holy Land, and they've talked about riding a bus through that particular area, and somebody saying, this was the land or somewhere in this vicinity where Jesus would have gone to be tempted by Satan.

And indeed, it is a very desolate place. Now, the curious thing about this statement here at the start of chapter 4 is it being said that the Spirit is the one who led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted.

Well, it's in the very next chapter. No, I guess it's two chapters from now. So we're in Matthew 4. Later on in Matthew 6, when Jesus teaches his disciples to pray, one of the petitions in the Lord's prayer is, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

So we're asking God not to lead us into temptation, and yet, what do we read right here? God, indeed, by his Spirit, led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted. Now, some will say, well, this is a unique circumstance, or this is just Jesus.

This is for his perfection. So the Spirit is leading Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted, but he would never do anything like that to us. Well, we know from the book of Job that God will test whomever he means to test with whatever means he will use to test them.

God tested Abraham. Did he not? He even tested Elijah in the wilderness. The apostle Paul talked about being tested, but he mentions in 2 Corinthians 1 .9, these things happen to us so that we would learn not to rely on ourselves, but on God who raises.

The dead.

Even at the end of that very letter, Paul talks about being tested by a tormentor of Satan, the thorn in his side that he mentions in 2 Corinthians 12. He says, three times I pleaded with the Lord that it should leave me.

But Jesus responded to Paul and said, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness. And Paul responds to that by saying, therefore, I'm going to boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, of hardships, of persecutions, because where I am weak, there he is strong.

And it was this testing that led the apostle Paul to cling all the more to Christ and see all the more clearly that God's grace was sufficient for him. The Lord will allow us to be tested. This is not the same thing, though, as God tempting us.

He will test us, but not tempt. As James 1 .13 says, let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself does not tempt anyone. But the Lord may allow the tempter, he may allow Satan to be the one to tempt in a time of testing.

Did God not allow Satan into the Garden of Eden to test Adam and Eve? And of course, they failed that test. Now, like I said, in the Gospel of Luke, he ties Jesus' time in the wilderness to succeeding where Adam failed.

But here in the Gospel of Matthew, we're seeing where Jesus succeeds in the place of Israel who had failed. So Jesus is led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, he then became hungry.

Well, of course, that should be obvious. After fasting 40 days and 40 nights, why would a person not become hungry? It's necessary for Matthew to show us this here so that we know Jesus' humanity. Yes, he is God, but he is also man.

What did he experience in his humanness? The same things that we experience. So that when a person doesn't eat for 40 days, they become hungry. Now, Jesus was surely hungry before this. It doesn't take very long to go without food before you get hungry.

But this is to say that he was at a very low point of weakness. After these 40 days, he is at his most vulnerable, not having anything to eat. So the tempter comes to him in this state of vulnerability.

And in verse 3, Satan says to him, if you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. And Jesus' response to him is from the Scriptures. We see three temptations here. Three times Jesus responds with the word of God.

He answered and said, it is written, man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Now, the interesting thing here, you might wonder, what would be the big deal, though?

Why not just turn the stones into bread? Would Jesus really be sinning if he were to do that? So why is this really all that deep a temptation? Well, it's because of the way that the devil starts it. He says, if you are the Son of God, what did Jesus just hear his father say at the end of Matthew chapter 3?

Jesus is baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. The heavens open up and the Spirit of God descends like a dove and comes upon Jesus. And in Matthew 3, 17, the very last verse at the conclusion of the chapter, behold, there was a voice from the heavens saying, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well.

Pleased.

This is the Father from heaven confirming that this is the Son of God. And what is Satan's first word to Jesus when he comes to tempt him? If you are the Son of God, prove it. So what Satan is testing Jesus to do is by his own power and his own authority, prove that he is the Son of God.

Don't listen to what your father said. You prove it to yourself. So is Jesus going to listen to the word of his father, or is he going to listen to the temptation of Satan? And Jesus responds with the word of God, specifically out of Deuteronomy chapter 8.

Let me begin reading here in verse 1, the entire commandment that I am giving you today, you shall be careful to do that you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land which Yahweh swore to give to your fathers.

And you shall remember all the way which Yahweh, your God, has led you in the wilderness these 40 years, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.

And he humbled you and let you be hungry and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh.

Is that not awesome? That Jesus responds with that very passage and the context of that passage being so much deeper than just simply responding with, man shall not live on bread alone. Jesus trusted in the Lord in his time in the wilderness.

He knew God's word. He listened to it and was obeying it, though Israel did not. Jesus submitted to it. In verse 5, the devil took him into the holy city and had him stand 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 will command his angels concerning you and on their hands, they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.

This is like Satan is responding. Okay, fine. You want to match wits with the word of God? I know it too. And he challenges Jesus to a sword drill. You know what a sword drill is? Did you ever have to do this when you were a kid?

When I was younger in children's church, I guess it was, we would do sword drills. The Bible is your sword and somebody would call out a reference and whoever could flip to it the fastest and then stand up and read it, you got a point.

That was a sword drill. So here's Satan challenging Jesus with the word of God himself. And he makes a reference to Psalm 91. Now, one of the things we recognize here is that Satan knows God's word too, but whenever Satan references it, he twists it.

And so he's using Psalm 91 to try to tempt Jesus to do something. Now, what is he tempting Jesus with exactly? In one of the study Bibles that I have, it says this about this particular temptation that Satan is giving to Jesus.

Here's the note that's in the study Bible I'm looking at. Such a spectacular display as jumping from this great height on the temple unharmed might have gained Jesus an enthusiastic following, but it would not have followed God's plan for Jesus' work as Messiah.

You know, I disagree with that. I don't think that was the point at all. Throw yourself down from the temple. The angels of God will rescue you and everybody will go, ooh, ah, and follow you because of this amazing display.

I don't think that's what was going on here because once again, Satan says to Jesus, if you are the son of God, that's the way he started his very first temptation. If you are the son of God, command these stones to become bread.

So saying again, if you are the son of God, throw yourself down for it is written he will command his angels concerning you. Show that you are the son of God by commanding God's angels. Then you will know that you are God's son.

And once again, is Jesus going to listen to Satan's temptation? Is he going to listen to the voice of Satan or is he going to trust the word of his father? That was spoken to him at his baptism. This is my beloved son.

If he already heard his father and he trusts his father, he has no need to command the angels of God to prove to himself or to anyone else that he is indeed the son of God. So Jesus said to him in verse seven, again, it is written, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test.

And this is once again, another reference from Deuteronomy, that one being from Deuteronomy 6 .16. You shall not put Yahweh your God to the test as you tested him at Massa. You should diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your God and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you.

And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of Yahweh, that it may be well with you and that you may go in and possess the good land, which Yahweh swore to give your fathers by driving out all your enemies from before you as Yahweh has spoken.

Again, the context shows us all the more deeply the brilliance of this response that Jesus gives to Satan. You should diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh and his testimonies and his statutes. It was the father who testified, this is my beloved son.

That's what Jesus is trusting in. He has no need to prove to Satan or to himself or to anyone else that he is the son of God commanding his angels. You know, the interesting thing a little bit later on in the Gospel of Matthew is that when Jesus is being arrested in the garden and Peter draws a sword and is trying to defend Jesus, Jesus responds, don't you know that I can command legions of angels to come and intervene in this particular situation?

So Jesus knows that he can command the angels. He doesn't have to do it to prove it to himself or to anyone else. He is submitting to the will of his father. Even here in Matthew 4 and again when he gets arrested to be crucified.

So then we have in verse 8, again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their glory. Now this could be a spiritual place, really. It may not be a place on earth that the devil takes him.

It could just be a reference to, you know, some high place where you're able to look out over these cities. Or it could be a geographical location, who knows. But it is a particular place where cities of the earth are laid before Jesus' eyes.

And Satan says to him, all these things I will give you if you will fall down and worship me. And then Jesus said to him, go Satan, for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only.

Which is another reference from Deuteronomy 6, 13. Yahweh your God you shall fear and him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. And of course, because the son was obedient to the father in everything, the father gave him all things.

And we'll see at the end of the gospel of Matthew, the very last words that Jesus says in this gospel, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. What the father gives to the son is far greater than anything that Satan had promised to give to Jesus.

So these are the temptations that Jesus was given in the wilderness and at every point he succeeded, trusting in the word of his father. And my friends, same with us. Every temptation that you will face today, that you'll face this week or this year, trust in the word of God.

Heavenly father, we thank you for what we've read here today. The example that's given to us in Christ, he himself who was tempted and resisted those temptations by trusting in the word of God. So may we be able to do the same with the same righteousness of Christ that is imputed to us.

We resist the temptations of our flesh, the temptations of the devil, the temptations of this world. And we believe in and trust the word of our God. Today lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one through God's word, which we have believed and follow.

It's in Jesus name that we pray. Amen.

Thank you for listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. If you'd like to support this ministry, visit our website, www .wutt .com and click on the give tab in the top right corner of the page.

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