Summary of the Temptation of Christ

After Jesus’ temptation, Matthew 4:11 says, Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus. Moses taught three tests of our love of God, “love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:5)? John mentioned life’s great temptations, “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16). False preachers tempt us with misusing miracles, foolish risks and materialism. It’s easy to do the right thing when people are watching. The Temptation of Christ was a victory in the wilderness far away from the watching crowd.

Jesus’ Third Test Response

Matthew 4:10 states the principle behind Deuteronomy 6:13, “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’” Notice that Jesus substitutes the word fear from Deuteronomy with the word worship. The fear of God means worship. Jesus also calls Satan by name. Satan means the adversary. In passionately telling the devil to get behind him, Jesus reveals his total aversion to gaining worldly power through compromise with any evil. He will eventually have that power and far more from God and not the devil, for good and only good, without any hint of evil.

Who Rules the World?

Who rules the world? Satan is the ruler (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11), the god of this world/age (2 Corinthians 4:4). We are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, and against evil spirits (Ephesians 6:11-12). The world around us is under the control of the evil one (1 John 5:19). The devil is the one deceiving the whole world (Revelation 12:9-17). Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. (Matthew 28:18). Christians are rescued from the kingdom of darkness and transferred into the Kingdom of God’s dear Son (Colossians 1:13).

Jesus’ Third Test

In Matthew 4:8-9 is the last of Jesus’ three temptations. Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.” This is not as subtle as Jesus’ first two tests. Would he be tempted by the lust of the eyes for worldly power? Satan rules this world (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 6:11-12; 1 John 5:19; Revelation 12:9-17). How many people have received great power from the devil?

Jesus’ Second Test Response

When tempted by the devil to take a foolish leap from a Temple wing, Matthew 4:7 says, Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’” He wasn’t fooled by someone twisting Scripture. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:16 where Moses and Aaron had tried to take glory to themselves for a miracle involving water, instead of giving God the glory (Numbers 20:7-12). This cuts to the heart of the test. Instead of bringing glory to himself with a big display, did Jesus only want to bring glory to the Father? Do we trust God at His word or provoke Him with our presumptuous self-will?

Jesus’ Second Test

In Matthew 4:5-6 we read, Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’” Would Jesus be tempted by the pride of life and take a foolish leap from a Temple wing perhaps 50 meters above ground? How often do we take foolish chances without prayer? How often do we confuse a foolish jump with a Spirit-led leap of faith?

Jesus’ First Test Response

In Matthew 4:4 we read of Jesus’ response to the 1st of 3 tests as the tempter tried to trick him into turning stones to bread. But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” This is a quote from Deuteronomy 8:3, which tells us the context. God fed ancient Israel manna, so they would learn to be fed by Him and not their own efforts. Even though he had the power to make bread from stones, Jesus had the answer in Scripture and waited for His Father’s timing to be revealed.

Jesus’ First Test

Matthew 4:3 reveals the 1st of 3 tests on Jesus. We read, “During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” In this verse the tempter is introduced. His form is not given. He tries to incite Jesus to do his bidding. If he really is the son of God, he should not need to put up with lack of food. His appetite is tested. Would he use his heavenly powers to satisfy the lusts of the flesh? Would he pass the test? Do we follow the tempter’s untrustworthy words or God the Father’s?

Led by the Spirit

We read in Matthew 4:1-2, Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry. In these verses, Jesus was tried. Did he love God1 with all his heart, soul, and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5)? Jesus’ responses2 come from a section of the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 6-8) that begins with the well-known saying, the Shema Yisrael (Deuteronomy 6:4-9) commanding our love for God. The Greek word for tempted also means being tested. Jesus’ love for God was being tested after a preparatory time of fasting. Would he pass the test?

1Brown, Fitzmyer & Murphy. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Prentice Hall. 1990. 638.

2R. T. France. The New International Commentary of the New Testament. The Gospel of Matthew. Wm. B. Eerdmans. 2007. 124-136.

3 great temptations to ruin it all

In Matthew 4:1-11 the devil tempted Jesus with 3 basic temptations that we all will face in different forms. Unlike Jesus, humanity has given in and it has ruined our lives. Only in Jesus do we have hope of rescue from the evil. The first temptation was to be motivated by satisfying physical needs ahead of satisfying spiritual need guided by the word of God. The second was to misuse the Word of God to manipulate God rather than living by his Word. The third was selling out to the devil in exchange for power and prestige. How many Christians neglect the word of God for physical things? How many read the word of God but twist it to make it say what they want? How many are tempted to do wrong for the sake of money and power?

Hollow promises

Are we suspicious when a preacher shouts exciting promises and a kind of hysteria takes over? We should be. Mass hypnosis also occurred at Hitler’s rallies and that certainly was not “anointed preaching.” Satan also made great swelling promises in the Temptation of Christ (Matthew 4:1-11). The hollow promises offered to Jesus included a miracle, a foolish risk and wealth. Sound familiar? Similar promises often come from deceptive sources disguised as good. If the source is not God, the promise is without guarantee. If someone tells us to act presumptuously without examining biblical principles, be very suspicious. We live by every word of God. If someone promises God’s protection in a risky, foolish act, be leery. We ought not tempt God. If someone promises great things for worshiping in strange ways, be cautious. We worship and serve only God.

Mass-hysteria miracles & money

A popular kind of preaching has crowd appeal, but very little of Jesus in it. The teachings of Jesus are overlooked in favor of the mass appeal of miracles, stunts and materialism. The hysteria witnessed is unlike any that Jesus encouraged. When Jesus taught, he challenged people to think. Instead these preachers encourage people to stop thinking, leaving their brains at the door. In reality, thinking people see right through the mass-deception. There is no teaching of what Jesus taught, but selected preaching of only those verses which in isolation seem to support popular preconceived notions. Satan also tried to deceive Jesus into a miracle turning stones into bread, to make foolish decisions disguised as religion and be materialistic. Trite miracles, folly and wealth did not tempt Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11). His miracles, thoughtful wisdom and voluntary poverty were real.

Antidotes to deception

The temptation of Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11) included antidotes to similar religious deception today. What is an antitoxin to deception involving miracles? Rather than performing a presumptuous miracle, Jesus was concerned about feeding on the word of God. Beware of those who place miracles ahead of teaching from the Bible. Beware of those who claim to have a word from God, but do not get it from the Bible. What is an antidote to those misquoting the Bible and tempting us into foolish leaps of faith? An antidote is to know our Bibles well enough to see through such things as cheap stunts disguised as faith but are in reality tempting God. What is an antivenin to deception involving promises of wealth and power? Jesus said to worship God and serve only him not the deception of wealth and power.

Life’s greatest victories

We are all familiar with scenes of great victory where a hero, with tears streaming down the face, is cheered on by a large crowd. Yet many of life’s greatest victories are won far away from the applauding multitude, in the privacy of our own solitude. The Temptation of Christ (Matthew 4:1-11) was such a victory. He was all alone in the wilderness without supporters to cheer him on to victory. It is easy to do the right thing when others are watching, but the real test is when nobody is around. The real victory may not occur when we are at a church service, but during the week when we are all alone. But we are not alone. Just as Jesus overcame temptation, so too by faith in him do we overcome the world (1 John 5:4-5).

The path to change

Repentance is the primary message of Jesus’ preaching (Matthew 4:17; Luke 24:47) but how does this occur? It begins like the Greek word suggests, as a change of heart. That change is a gift from heaven. In the beginning God said, let there be light, and in the beginning of a new creation in us he must shed divine light on our hearts. At first we find the light fascinating and eventually are ashamed of the darkness in us and the world. In humiliation, we will experience a change of heart, a change from arrogance and self-reliance to humility and reliance on God. Shame grows into a hatred of sin and begins to transform our actions. We fall short of perfection but love the light so much more than the darkness, and we love more deeply God’s forgiveness.

What Jesus wants preached

There are a lot of topics that preachers speak about many of which are helpful, but there is always a central theme which Jesus demands. Repentance and the kingdom of heaven are themes with which Jesus began his ministry (Matthew 4:17) and repentance and forgiveness are themes with which he concluded it (Luke 24:47), saying that this would continue to be preached into all the world. Repentance refers to a continual life-changing experience which begins with an initial change of heart and progresses towards an ever growing life of becoming more like God in every way. When we submit to God, we are forgiven all our past wrongdoings and come under the protection of his spiritual kingdom. We grow less interested in the useless pursuits of this world and more interested in living the way of real joy.

Capernaum

Jesus spent most of his ministry in and around Capernaum (Matthew 4:12-23). Pronounced in Greek kap-er-na-’OOM, it was a Hebrew hamlet, Kafer Nahum (ka-’FER na-’HOOM), meaning Nahumville and it sat on the north shore of Lake Galilee. At the time of Jesus’ ministry the only public building was the synagogue, reputedly built by the Roman centurion who’s servant Jesus healed There were no paved streets, public restrooms or even a town hall. It was a small fishing village on a main road. Capernaum was also the place where Peter and his wife owned a house. The architecture was stone homes with thatched roofs, lending itself to the later healing of a paralyzed man who was lowered through a roof. Perhaps Jesus chose this border town as a center of his early ministry because his first disciples came from there.

The yoke of sin

We all carry burdens and don’t even know it. There are burdens of guilt, consequences of life’s bad decisions that we or others have made, and the oppressive nature of a world of greed. Some face burdens of child-support or alimony from a failed marriage, children they cannot see because of court orders, infertility, disease, loneliness, household responsibilities, taxes, mountains of red tape, inequity in the work place and crime and so on. A prophecy in Isaiah 9:1-4 spoke of one who would shatter the yoke that burdens. If our western democracies are really free then we don’t need Jesus. But the truth is, only Jesus can remove the burden of sin. That Old Testament prophecy began to be fulfilled exactly where it was predicted to be, in Capernum along the border of Zebulun and Naphtali (Matthew 4:12-23).

Light in our darkness

Isaiah prophesied of a light that would begin to dawn in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali. In a world of fear and darkness where is there light? Statesmen travel back and forwards to make peace but there is none. Legislators wrestle with laws to save their people but they are not saved. Lawyers fight to relieve their clients’ burdens, but burdens remain. Armies fight against oppression, but oppression has not ceased. We spend a lifetime building strongholds to protect ourselves but there is no bulletproof protection. Composer of many songs, the ancient Jewish King David sang, the Lord is my light and my salvation. Matthew quoted Isaiah with the words, where death casts its shadow, a light shines. Death is the theme of the nightly news. Jesus is the answer that some few speak about but even fewer seek.

Christianity’s "foolish" message

Beginning at Capernaum on Lake Galilee a light began to shine into this dark world (Matthew 4:12-23). Jesus began to publicly announce the kingdom of heaven. The village of Capernaum did not at first receive that message, and so Jesus denounced it. Modern Capernaum stands as a monument to church division with half owned by Franciscans and the other half owned by Greek Orthodox Christians. In our silly squabbles down through Christian history we have often forgotten the power of that light. That unifying message of the cross is considered to be foolishness outside of Christianity (1 Corinthians 1:10-18). Human politics has no power to unite Christians, yet that message does. It is the power of the cross, the power of God. It is a power that we ignore when we squabble over the things that divide us.