Up until this point in time, Jesus’ life has been private. I am sure that He has been busy studying and praying in the synagogue and ministering to His family’s and neighbors’ needs while working with His father as a carpenter. He would have been leading a quiet, normal Jewish life in Nazareth of Galilee. I am sure He would have had many friends and acquaintances among His neighbors there. It is now time for Him to enter public ministry.
Read Matthew 4:1-11. Jesus had just been baptized by John in the Jordan River, and the Holy Spirit had descended upon Him. The Bible tells us that He then went into the wilderness and was there praying and fasting for 40 days and nights. How soon after His baptism did the Holy Spirit lead Him into the wilderness (Mark 1:12)? Forty days is a long time to be enduring Satan’s temptations and I’m sure that is why Jesus was facing it with prayer and fasting, calling upon His Father for strength and help.
Today’s story happens at the end of those forty days. Jesus has been fasting for quite a while and the Bible tells us that He was hungry. I can imagine He would have been after fasting for forty days. It is at this time of weakness that Satan comes to Him for some special testing. In the story you have just read, Satan did not tempt Jesus in the manner that he tempts us. These are special temptations for the Messiah, the Son of God, who is beginning His ministry. They were meant to stop that ministry from occurring, if Satan had his way.
Satan tells Jesus, if you’re the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread. Now there’s no question in his or Jesus’ mind whether Jesus is the Son of God. This is not meant to make Jesus question who He is. But what is the temptation here? Jesus is perfectly capable of turning the stones into bread. He is God.
We have to ask ourselves here… what is God’s will for Jesus when He is here on earth? What was He sent here to do? God intended Jesus to live as we do, feeling our hurts and our frustrations, and having to work and strive for things as we do. He is to know our struggles. It was never God’s plan for Jesus to magically produce food for Himself without having to work for it, cook or prepare it, etc. He was to live as a man… in a life of faith with dependence on God for His needs. If Satan could get Jesus to step outside of God’s plan right up front, what a victory that would be for him. So, Satan waited for Jesus’ weakest, hungriest point, and tried to get the Messiah to shortcut the plan.
How did Jesus respond? He quoted Scripture (Deut 8:3). Jesus had spent His life studying the Scriptures and had probably memorized large quantities of them as part of His synagogue training as a boy. He dealt with temptation by calling on His knowledge of the Scriptures. If we are ever tempted to do something that is in conflict with the teaching of the Scriptures, we know it is against God and we should not do it. That is what we should learn from Jesus here.
Next, Satan took Him and had Him stand on the highest point of the Temple. Satan then told Him, if you’re the Son of God, you can throw yourself down and the angels will catch you and not let you strike your foot on a stone. Now, Satan was quoting Scripture back to Jesus (Psalm 91:11-12). There were two catches to this one. First, this was putting God to the test. Does your Father love you enough to send angels to catch you? Put Yourself intentionally in harm’s way and test Your Father’s love.
But there was more to this temptation than just that. If Jesus was to go to a place as busy as the Temple and throw Himself off, that would create quite a spectacle. This would not be something any man could survive and would elevate Jesus to His Kingly status ahead of schedule. Instead of going to the cross to pay for our sins and coming back later as King, He would go straight to Kingly status and never get to the cross. Satan does not want Jesus to make it to the cross.
He is trying, here, to circumvent the plan of salvation. In this instance, also, Jesus answers Him with Scripture (Deut 6:16). Jesus is showing us, once again, to always fight temptation with the Word of God.
Finally, in the third temptation, Satan takes Jesus to a high mountain and shows Him all the world’s kingdoms and their splendor. Satan was promising to give Jesus power over the world’s kingdoms and all Jesus had to do was worship him. This blows my mind to think that Jesus might actually consider worshipping Satan but apparently Satan thought it was a possibility. In the end times, Jesus will come into His Kingdom and rule the earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords (I Tim 6:15, Rev 11:15) but for now, Satan is the ruler of this world and has power on this earth (I John 5:19). He recognizes that it must be difficult for Jesus to see him ruling in his time and power and is tempting Jesus with the chance to take the earth from Satan and to come into His Kingdom early, before God’s timing. Let’s see how the Bible refers to Satan:
- John 12:31
- 2 Cor 4:4
We are given a little more insight into what Satan actually said to Jesus in Luke 4:6-7. Satan is willing to give his current reign in the world over to Jesus to stop Jesus’ ministry in its tracks. He does not want God’s plan of Salvation to move forward. If only He can get Jesus to go His own way rather than wait on God’s timing he will have the victory.
Once again, Jesus confronts this temptation with words from the Scriptures (Deut 6:13). God’s Word is always our defense against the enemy. I believe that Jesus was tempted in every way such as we are daily yet He did not sin (Heb 2:17-18, 4:15). But, in addition, He was tempted in a way unique to the Messiah. It was necessary that He be tempted as such, and God’s Holy Spirit ensured this necessary evil was taken care of right up front and gotten out of the way. We serve a victorious Savior.
Finally, the Bible tells us that angels came and ministered to Jesus after His temptation. It was a tough and enduring one. Satan does not give up easily and we should be prepared to do battle with much prayer and Bible study. He will not give up after just one or two tries. Remember, it is not a sin to be tempted if we do not succumb. Even our Lord was tempted. And when we are going through temptations, it is not a sign that we are not in God’s favor, it is more a sign that Satan is feeling threatened.
Compare these two Scriptures: Psalm 40:7-8, John 4:34
Responding to God: Praise God for Jesus and His power over Satan. Worship Him for His victory over temptation. Exalt His name. Praise God for ministering angels. Ask for His strength and courage when facing temptations and for a responsive heart when He calls. Ask Him for wisdom and victory concerning your greatest temptations. Arm yourself daily with prayer and Bible study.
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