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Text: Matthew 4:1-11. As we read in Hebrews 4:14-16, we have a
great high priest who was tempted in every kind of way that we
are, yet unlike us He escaped without sin.
Because of His sinlessness in the face of trial, we can
boldly draw near to the throne of grace for help in time of need. Jesus was tempted at times other than what we
read as "The Temptation of Jesus," but the Spirit
records these for our benefit.
Many of you have read the accounts in Matthew, Mark and
Luke many times, others perhaps not.
Maybe we've glossed over this and other events in the
gospels because we think they are so familiar to us.
Let's try to understand this passage this morning as if we
have never seen it and then see some truths that will help us walk
closer with our Lord. We'll be in Matthew 4 for this study,
though we will note a few details that Mark and Luke give us along
the way. Read Matthew
4:1-11. BACKGROUND This event is parallel to Israel's time in the
wilderness, a place of trial and difficulty.
In fact, Jesus quotes exclusively from Deuteronomy in His
responses to the devil. At
that time, the Israelites had wandered in the wilderness for 40
years and are preparing (again) to enter the promised land, but
because of unfaithfulness the first time around, this time it is
the next generation that is going in. Moses is recounting the law and God's will for the people
before entering the promised land. This is parallel in the wilderness setting, but
Jesus' response to the events is in sharp contrast with Israel's.
Where Israel failed, Jesus perfectly obeys.
The temptation account is one of many events showing that
Jesus perfectly obeys where man has failed. THE SPIRIT DRIVES JESUS INTO THE WILDERNESS TO BE
TEMPTED [4:1]
"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to
be tempted by the devil." It says "Then" Jesus was led up.
What had just happened?
Jesus had been baptized with John's baptism, but Mark is
more specific. He
notes that immediately after the voice from the heavens says
"You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.",
"the Spirit impelled Him to go out into the wilderness."
(Mark 1:11-12). The
Spirit descends upon Jesus as a dove, confirming for John that
this is the Son of God. Then
that Spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness. Mark is unique in observing that the Sprit drove
Jesus there. The Spirit didn't nudge Jesus and whisper that it
might be a good idea to go into the wilderness.
He drives Jesus there.
God has driven Jesus into the desolation of the wilderness
to endure trial at the hand of the devil.
It is not unusual for us either to encounter trial and
testing after a spiritual high point. The wilderness represents evil, difficulty and
trial. Israel
wandered for 40 years as a consequence of their faithlessness
leaving Egypt. Jesus comes into the wilderness and prevails where man
has failed. [4:2]
"And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then
became hungry." Why was the Lord fasting? As a child reading this story I thought that
Jesus fasted to weaken Himself to show that even when weak, He
would still defeat Satan. That
is not why anyone fasted in scripture.
Throughout time, God's people have fasted to 1) mourn, 2)
humble themselves in devotion to God and 3) seek His care during
times of trial and hardship. Jesus is fasting to draw on God’s strength
because He is enduring the most difficult period of testing any
man has endured, and He will do it as a man.
In every way that man has failed, Jesus will prevail. That is what gives such great meaning to passages like Hebrews
4. He didn't work
a miracle and make His problems go away.
He went head to head with the devil as a man. We would do well to follow Jesus' example in
fasting. The duration
is dependent on the need and purpose of the fast, but Jesus
assumes that His disciples would fast and in fact places it in the
list of three things He teaches about in Matthew 6
("when you give... when you pray... when you fast...").
If He expects that we will give and pray regularly, why
would we not fast regularly? There is no command that Christians fast, but
fasting is a tool to draw closer to God.
If Jesus assumes that His disciples would fast and if the
early church fasted, but we don't fast, why?
Is it possible that we are like the Laodiceans who felt
they were rich and needed nothing?
Is it because we don't feel a deep dependence on God?
It's something to consider. Note: Jesus was tempted during the period of
fasting, not after, as is more easily seen in the other accounts.
These temptations occurred during the 40 days of fasting. Why do both Matthew and Luke tell us that Jesus
became hungry? It seems obvious that someone who does not eat
would become hungry. But
why would Jesus become hungry after 40 days of fasting? It is helpful to understand what happens to the body during a
fast. There are several kinds of fasts in scripture,
all of which involve abstaining from food.
There are absolute fasts, where one abstains from both food
and drink. None of
those went beyond 3 days, except Moses' miraculous 40 day absolute
fast on Mt. Sinai. Daniel's
fast involved eating no delicacies or meat and drinking no wine
for 21 days. There
are also regular fasts, where only water is consumed for a period
of time. Jesus
underwent a water fast. In the first 2-3 days of a water fast, you feel
the traditional hunger pangs from the emotional and physical
desires for food as your body uses up the available glucose
stores. After approximately 3 days your body enters ketosis where it
switches to your fat stores as its fuel source. Your body is remarkably adept at minimizing impact to muscle
tissue and avoiding vital tissue.
At about the 3 day mark, the hunger pangs disappear when
your body switches fuel sources to the fat stores.
An adult male with an average amount of body fat can go
around 40-50 days without food. Your body also will unmistakably let you know
when your fast is over. If
you fast long enough, your body will enter "true
hunger." When
that occurs your body demands fuel.
You suddenly feel it everywhere, and your desire for food
is extreme. If you
ignore it, you have transitioned from fasting to starvation and
will die in a short time. When Jesus had fasted 40 days and nights, He
became hungry. He
entered true hunger and was literally starving. TEMPTATION 1: COMMAND STONES TO BECOME BREAD [4:3-4]
"And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son
of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4 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.’”" The devil says "If You are the Son of
God." Don't
think that the devil is seeking confirmation because he doesn’t
know who Jesus is. His
own demons cannot help but cry out that Jesus is the Son of God
when they see Him. Of
course the devil knows who He is.
The word "if" indicates a presupposition of the
condition, like the word "forasmuch."
These temptations are challenges to Jesus. The devil tempts Jesus, who has not eaten, to
turn stones to bread. Jesus
refuses. Why? Was Jesus not capable? We should all understand the answer is no. Was it wrong to work a miracle to meet a physical
need? No, Jesus
miraculously fed thousands on multiple occasions. Did God want Jesus to die in the wilderness?
No, Jesus had not yet completed his mission. So what was the problem with Satan's suggestion? If we were presented with the same situation, we
probably would find perfectly reasonable ways to explain why there
would be nothing wrong with creating food. After
all, the Son of God cannot honor His Father and go about teaching
and saving the world from sin if He's dead, can He?
He needs to meet His own needs first so he can then glorify
God, right? Surely
God will understand! The devil tries to convince Jesus that God was
depriving Him of good things, and he encourages Jesus to meet His
needs independently of the Father.
The Deuteronomy passage from which Jesus quotes reveals
that God allowed Israel to become hungry to test them, so they
would learn to seek God and allow the physical needs to follow.
Read Deuteronomy 8:1-3. The problem with Jesus turning stones to bread is
that He would no longer be trusting in the God who drove Him into
the wilderness. That
God who planned for Christ to redeem man from sin would sustain
Him until He would accomplish that mission. A key lesson for us is to trust God even it seems
impossible to trust God. God
might just be testing you as He did Israel in the wilderness. TEMPTATION 2: CAST YOURSELF DOWN FROM THE TEMPLE [4:5-7]
" Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him
stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 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, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT
AGAINST A STONE.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “On the other hand,
it is written, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE
TEST.’ ” " The devil sees that Jesus responds with the tools
available to mere men - God's word.
The devil then quotes from Psalm 91:11-12 to
challenge Jesus to prove that God keeps His promises. The psalm is one of comfort for those who trust
in the Lord. Those
who put the Lord to the test are no longer trusting His will. God never sanctions presumption from His people.
He promises to provide and protect those who trust in Him.
When we challenge His authority or test Him to see if He
will fulfill his promises, we no longer trust Him.
When you trust Him, you will see His promises fulfilled.
God is not strong armed by man's faithlessness. TEMPTATION 3: WORSHIP SATAN AND RECEIVE ALL THE
WORLD AND ITS GLORY [4:8-10]
"Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed
Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; 9 and he said
to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and
worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is
written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM
ONLY.’ ”" The devil offers all the kingdoms of the world
and all their glory. Remember
that Satan is a liar, so don't assume that he actually could or
would give Jesus that kind of power. Christ was actually going to receive authority
over all the kingdoms of the world from the Father. What the devil offers is a shortcut. Why go through the pain and trouble of being nailed to a
cross by people who hate you?
You can have it now! Satan offers us shortcuts today.
Why wait for God to accomplish His purpose?
You can have what you want now! The devil promises the things that appeal to us.
Even if he does deliver short term enjoyment, he does not
provide the fulfilling joy that the Lord does.
All he offers are shortcuts and substitutes.
If we take those things instead of the good blessings the
Lord gives, our enjoyment will be very short lived. More importantly, God is our creator, not Satan.
That alone entitles God our exclusive devotion.
Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only. THE DEVIL DEPARTS [4:11]
"Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began
to minister to Him." The devil departed from tempting Jesus, though
until an opportune time, Luke tells us.
Jesus would be tempted again, but for now it was over. This statement is reminiscent of James 4:7:
"Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee
from you." God allowed Israel to go without in order to test
them, and they failed. When
confronted with similar situations, Jesus remained faithful to
God. What will you do
when it feels like God has abandoned you to let Satan have free
reign? We have the promise that God will not allow the
devil to tempt us beyond what we are able to bear, but will make a
way of escape so that we too may endure (1 Corinthians 10:13). God will not abandon you in temptation. Cling to Him! Draw near to Him. Seek Him.
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
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