Three temptations

The Three Temptations of Jesus 

are recorded in Matthew 4:1-11 and are well known. However they warrant a closer look because of the subtlety of the temptations and the details hidden in the narrative.



The Setting:

In Matthew 3:13-17 the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist and the events that followed are described. As Jesus arose from the water the heavens were opened and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. Following this a voice spoke from heaven declaring "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased". (Matthew 3:13-17,Mark 1:11-13). 

What is surprising is that after this wonderful moment the Holy Spirit immediately sends Jesus out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1). In obedience Jesus fasts for 40 days and nights and at the end of the fast, as Matthew records in superb understatement, "He was hungry". It is at this time that Satan appears to take advantage of Jesus' weakened state.

The First Temptation: 

Satan starts his first temptation with a challenge: "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." (Matthew 4:3).

Initially Satan was trying to tempt Jesus to focus on His hunger after a long fast and think about His bodily needs first. However, Jesus was also aware that behind this "simple" temptation, there was a greater temptation that questioned what the Father had said about Him already in Matthew 3:17. Satan implied that there was some doubt that He was the Son of God but Jesus knew what the Father had said earlier: "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased". Jesus knew He didn't have to prove anything and that God was pleased with Him. In response to this temptation Jesus simply stated that "Man shall live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." (Deuteronomy 8:3). This verse describes how God had allowed the children of Israel to be humbled and hunger in order for them to learn to trust Him first and and not live a life that was only focused on temporal wants. They regularly demanded that God immediately supply their wants even before considering what God wanted from them. By quoting this verse Jesus was making it clear to Satan that He had truly learned what fed His soul and that He trusted the Father. He knew that His Father would care for Him and sustain Him without bread if the situation required it. 

The Second Temptation: 

Satan then challenged Jesus' sonship by trying to use fear when he took Him and set Him upon the pinnacle of the Temple. Satan further smothered the challenge with apparent validity by quoting the Word of God at Him! Satan declared "If You are the Son of God , throw yourself down. For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge concerning you', and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.'" (Matthew 4:5-7). Jesus was perched high above the ground with no way to get down. By quoting God's Word Satan was trying to force Him to to take matters into His own hand. If Jesus was to jump off it would be a conscious act to force God to protect Him and in turn would contradict all that had led to this encounter with Satan because:

  • The Spirit had led Jesus to this time,
  • Jesus had obeyed God and travelled to the wilderness and fasted for 40 days,
  • God had allowed Satan to take Jesus to the top of the pinnacle,
  • God had allowed Satan to tempt Jesus, and
  • God's written word promised that the Father would deliver Him (Psalm 91:14).
As recorded in Matthew 4:5-7 Jesus disables the temptation by quoting from Deuteronomy 6:16: "You shall not tempt the Lord your God as you tempted Him at Massah". In the Massah incident (described in Exodus 17:1-7) the children of Israel thirsted for water and and murmured against the Lord, openly questioning "Is the Lord was amongst us or not?" (Exodus 17:7, Psalm 78:18, 41-42). They were in a difficult situation but had forgotten all that God had done for them in the past few months when they were miraculously delivered from Egypt. They wanted an IMMEDIATE response from God; now! Graciously God did provide water from the rock but they had tested God and the people of Israel had missed an opportunity to grow their trust in Him. 

Jesus, on the other hand, did trust His Father and wasn't tempted to prove He was the Son of God by demanding God's intervention. If He fell accidentally it would be different, but He did not need to force God's hand to save Him as He knew that Satan was misusing the Word of God. He knew that Psalm 91 was a prophetic psalm that promised the Father's ongoing care and that it finishes with: "I will be with Him in trouble; I will deliver Him, and honour Him, with length of days I will satisfy Him and show Him my salvation." (Psalm 91:15-16). Further both Jesus and Satan knew that this psalm also stated that: "You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra; the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot." (Psalm 91:13)! They both knew that this verse described the victory of the Messiah over Satan who is often identified in the Bible as a lion, or a serpent (see lion, serpent). 

The Third Temptation:

The final temptation almost seems an act of desperation in that Satan changes tact and gives up trying to attack Jesus' confidence in the Father and His own position as the Son of God. He instead offers Jesus the kingship of all the kingdoms of the earth and their glory if Jesus will fall down and worship him (Matthew 4:9).

What is very obvious is that the most important thing that Satan wanted was worship. He had been a glorious created being who stood before God's presence but was cast down from Heaven when "iniquity was found in you" (Ezekiel 28:13-16, Isaiah 14:12-15). He craved equality with God, He lived for adoration and would destroy anything or anybody to have it. 

The crazy thing is that Jesus knew that His Father's plan was that He would gain kingship of the earth after the Resurrection. It seems odd that Satan would make such an offer in the light of the Cross but it would seem that Satan did not know of the gospel of grace that God had planned for the world when He sent His Son to save mankind. (Ephesians 3:3-5).

As it was, Jesus denied Satan's offer by quoting Deuteronomy 6:16 which says that "You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve". Jesus had brought things around to the most important requirements of creation:

  • worshiping God only, and 
  • serving God only.
Jesus was here to worship and serve the Father - no more - no less. 

Final Comments:

What is interesting about all three temptations is that Jesus defeats each attempt by Satan to tempt Him by quoting from the Torah. In the end Satan leaves because each quoted response would have reminded Satan of everything what he was not doing!

  • He wasn't living by the words that proceed from God's mouth,
  • He was continuing to test and tempt God,
  • He wasn't worshipping and serving God alone. 
No wonder he left; he had been reminded of the judgement that what was to come in his future (Revelation 20:10). 

What is also interesting is that Jesus confirmed the veracity of the Torah as being God's spoken word. There has been some "redefining" of the first five books of the Bible in recent times and I find it thrilling to realise that Jesus confirmed their veracity constantly throughout His ministry on earth.

Painting: 

"Jesus Carried up to a Pinnacle of the Temple" painted by James Tissot between 1886 and 1894.

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