Commentary on the Gospels

The Temptation of Christ

Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13

Apologetics

The temptation of Christ is a study that will take us to great depths. Satan’s strategy for achieving victory over Him was complex, and Christ’s words of response were subtle and multilayered in meaning. But a careful and thoughtful reader will find this lesson to be very worthwhile for several reasons. 1) It will warn him not to take Satan lightly, 2) it will show him from Jesus' example how he can defeat Satan, and 3) its realism will build his confidence that the Bible is true.

When new converts are exposed to Biblical teaching, they hear much that contradicts what they have learned before from sources like the public schools and the media. They then must decide which version of truth to believe—the one already familiar or the new one? Sad to say, some cling to the one already familiar and turn away from the church. To prevent such defections, the church should give new converts a good grounding in so-called apologetics (the methodical survey of the abundant evidence that the Bible is true). One special value of this lesson on the temptation of Christ is that it strongly supports the credibility of the Bible.

Attack by Satan

Christ’s temptation immediately followed His baptism, the event marking the inception of His prophetic ministry to the Jewish nation. His mission as a prophet "like unto" Moses (Deut. 18:18) was to challenge the nation’s self-righteousness, which was no better than hypocrisy, and to show the way to true righteousness through repentance and faith. But for the nation as a whole, it was a mission destined to fail. Many Jews would reject Him and applaud His crucifixion.

After His baptism, Jesus went into the wilderness and fasted. He was led there by the Spirit so that He might have an experience that would serve as valuable preparation for His earthly ministry.

Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

- Matthew 4:1 -

Jesus’ purpose in coming to this world was to take upon Himself the divine wrath that all men deserve because all men are sinners. Yet He did not qualify as a substitute for sinners unless He Himself was sinless. Therefore, to establish His worthiness as a perfect sacrifice, it was necessary that He refuse all sin even while undergoing the full experience of a man living in a fallen world. One benefit for us when He walked our path of life is eloquently stated in the Book of Hebrews.

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin

- Hebrews 4:15 -

Going through temptation Himself taught Jesus to sympathize with us as we cope with a world full of temptation. One result is that He can represent and defend us more effectively before the Father.

Liberal critics pass off the account of Jesus' temptation as a preacher's story. But an unbiased reader—especially if he or she has been trained in literary criticism, psychology (like me), or any other field requiring analysis of complex narratives—can see in this account a depth and subtlety certifying that it tells of a real battle between great minds. It is obviously not just a piece of religious fantasy.

In school we learn about the Civil War, World War II, and other great wars in human history. But these were all trivial events in comparison with the battle that took place at the temptation of Christ. Of all battles in the history of the universe, His temptation had a significance second only to the cross. The future of mankind, the future of the universe itself, and indeed the integrity of the Godhead were at stake.

The Gospel writers relate that for forty days Jesus ate nothing.

And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.

- Matthew 4:2 -

It was not His intent to harm Himself, nor was that the effect. Men can live without food somewhat longer than forty days. Hunger strikers have been known to survive sixty or seventy days. The number forty symbolizes a purging or refining, as when the waters of the great Flood fell forty days and nights upon the earth, and also as when Israel wandered forty years in the wilderness. The purpose of Jesus' fasting was not to gain merit through self-denial, but to withdraw from mundane things so that He might have closer fellowship with the Father. This fellowship served to strengthen and prepare Him for the temptation that He would soon face.

First Temptation

After forty days of fasting, Jesus was racked with hunger. Then Satan came to Jesus and made an appealing suggestion.

And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

- Matthew 4:3 (see also Luke 4:3) -

Satan assumed that Jesus saw Himself as capable of performing this miracle now that the Holy Spirit empowered Him. Satan also assumed that from Jesus’ perspective, making food to relieve serious hunger was surely not a sin. Yet we will show several reasons why Jesus would indeed have fallen into sin if He yielded to Satan’s urging.

Satan's strategy

Satan calculated that he might find three weaknesses in Jesus.

1. Jesus had become as hungry as a man can be, and a stronger fleshly desire than He had ever known before was urging Him to eat. Satan reckoned that He might yield to this desire, even at the expense of doing wrong.
2. The Father had just told Jesus that He was the Son. But what an incredible proposition to believe! How could Jesus believe that He, a mere man born of a woman, was really the eternal God? This revelation told Him nothing that He did not already know. From early life He knew His identity. Yet His identity had always been a learned fact requiring faith. Satan reckoned that Jesus' faith might be imperfect. He hoped to discover softness in Jesus' confidence that the Father had told Him the truth.
3. Satan's own fault in the beginning had been pride. It was therefore only natural for Satan to assume that if Jesus had any fault, it was pride also, especially after He had been told by direct revelation that He was somebody special—indeed, the most special person who exists, namely God.

After analyzing possible ways of tempting Jesus, Satan concluded that his best chance of success lay in urging the divine man to do something seemingly innocuous although truly wrong. For arguments to disguise wrongdoing as doing right, he would capitalize on Jesus’ hunger as well as on possible defects in His faith and humility. He decided to propose that Jesus turn stone into bread.

The course that Satan adopted is reminiscent of his approach to Eve. Then also he had offered food as bait.

1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

- Genesis 3:1-5 -

His opening gambit on that occasion had been the question, "Hath God said?" (Gen. 3:1-5). Likewise, he began his temptation of Jesus by sowing doubt, saying, "If thou be the Son of God" (Luke 4:3)—implying that even though Jesus might choose to give Himself this exalted title, Satan was not convinced that it told the truth. Satan's intent in expressing skepticism was to wound Jesus' pride, if He had any, as well as to make Him uncertain and anxious as to whether He really was the Son of God. Satan was hoping to put Him on the defensive, so that He might feel constrained to prove Himself through a display of supernatural power—specifically, through an improper display that He might not recognize as wrong.

Why would it have been wrong for Jesus to follow Satan's suggestion? How was turning stone into bread different from turning water into wine, as He did a few weeks later with the Father's approval (John 2:1-11)? It was different for three reasons, leaving no doubt that to make bread for Himself on this occasion was improper.

1. Relieving His hunger or any other fleshly desire by means of a miracle was contrary to the Father's will. Jesus had been granted the ability to do miracles for the limited purpose of furthering His prophetic ministry. They had the double benefit of meeting human needs and showing people who He was. But He was never authorized to make food for Himself. Throughout His ministry, as an example for us, He trusted the Father to supply Him with the essentials for life. Even when He multiplied a small amount of food to feed five thousand on one occasion and four thousand on another, it is likely that instead of consuming the food He created, He was content with eating the few loaves and fishes donated by people in the crowd.
2. His motive would have been to reassure Himself and to show Satan that He was the Son of God—a fact He was expected to believe by faith.
3. This motive would have been rooted in pride, and making the bread would have been an act of pride.

In summary, to comply with Satan's suggestion would have been a threefold misuse of the power He had just received. The miracle would have proceeded not from submission to the Father but from submission to the flesh, not from faith but from lack of faith, and not from humility but from pride.

Jesus' defense

To fend off the temptation, Jesus quoted from the Book of Deuteronomy.

But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

- Matthew 4:4 (see also Luke 4:4) -

. . . man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

- Deuteronomy 8:3 -

On the surface, His answer was a simple refusal to do Satan's bidding. He rejected the temptation to turn aside from the Father’s words in order to make a meal. But at the same time, His answer was a subtle rebuke of all the accusations implicit in Satan's attack.

1. By setting the Father's words far above bread in value, He was denying that hunger or any other fleshly desire could induce Him to violate His Father's will.
2. In two ways He cleared Himself of the suspicion that He was weak in faith. First, He expressed utmost confidence in "every word" of the Father. Second, He boldly repudiated any doubt as to His identity. To deflect the "if" in Satan’s thrust, "if thou be the Son of God" (Luke 4:3), Jesus alluded to His own place in the Trinity. "Every word" is a self-reference.

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

....

14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

- John 1:1, 14 -

The Word that issues from the Father is the Son. Jesus is the Father’s Word personified.

3. Jesus adroitly proved Himself free of pride by reminding Satan that He, Jesus the Word, would be man's source of true life; that is, life forever. He would be able to provide this wonderful gift only because He would suffer the penalty for all the sins of mankind. To accomplish man’s redemption required great humility. He had to leave heaven’s glory, join the lowly human race as a poor carpenter, and die a gruesome death on a cross. Jesus here was drawing a vivid contrast between the proud angel who rebelled and the humble Son who obeyed.

Second Temptation

The Gospels of Matthew and Luke disagree on the order of the last two temptations. But because Matthew's organization is sometimes topical rather than chronological, whereas Luke's seems invariably chronological, we will follow the order in Luke.

5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.

- Luke 4:5–7 (see also Matthew 4:8-9) -

Satan's strategy

In the first temptation, Satan probed for weaknesses in Jesus and found none. Therefore, he shifted ground. Instead of continuing to look for chinks in Jesus' armor, he sought rather to turn one of Jesus' strengths against Him—in particular, the strength that, with telling results, He had just used to defend Himself. That strength was His confidence in the Father.

Accordingly, the next ploy Satan attempted was to represent wrongdoing as the Father's will. The proposition he offered Jesus is exactly the sort of maneuver we would expect from him. It contains both truth and falsehood, and the two are hard to separate.

The true part is that he is indeed prince of this world, a title Jesus Himself recognized.

Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

- John 12:31 (see also John 14:30; 16:11) -

To make his claim of supremacy more credible, Satan performed an amazing feat. He whisked Jesus to a high mountain and gave Him, within a mere moment of time, an aerial survey of all the world’s kingdoms.

The false part was to state that power was "delivered unto me," presumably by the Father. He was implying that the Father, in an act of divine favor and blessing, appointed him to his position of princely authority over the earth. In reality, Satan obtained his power by seizing it while in rebellion against the Father. The one who originally possessed dominion over the earth was Adam, but Satan wrested dominion from Adam by drawing him into sin. The first Adam sadly yielded to the same tempter who was attacking Christ, identified in Scripture as the second Adam.

45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

- 1 Cor. 15:45–47 -

By consenting to eat the fruit, the first Adam bowed down to Satan and gave Satan preeminence over man and over all creation under man’s authority.

What was the purpose of Satan's lie to Jesus? He was trying to make his proposal seem legitimate. If he could persuade Jesus that Satan's regime had the backing of the Father, then Jesus might believe that Satan had the Father's approval to claim the homage of all human beings including Jesus and to dispose of the world's kingdoms as he sees fit, even to offer Jesus all the world's kingdoms in return for worship and service.

The temptation assumed that Jesus was interested in becoming world ruler. Satan knew that Jesus regarded Himself as the Christ, the man prophecy identified as future king over the earth. Therefore, Satan calculated that Jesus might accept a quick and painless road to what He regarded as His certain destiny. How much easier to fawn on Satan than to endure the cross!

But yielding to the temptation would have put Jesus in the position of committing two grievous sins: (1) accepting the archrebel Satan as His leader, and (2) avoiding the cross, which the Father had appointed Him to endure.

And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

- Philippians 2:8 -

Jesus' defense

Jesus was not fooled. He knew that Satan was a rebel. Jesus’ first reply was,

And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: . . . .

- Luke 4:8a -

The twofold message was, "You are out of line," and, "The proper leader here is me." In reply to Satan’s presumption in setting himself above Christ, Christ was asserting His superiority to Satan. To reinforce His words of rebuke, Jesus quoted again from Deuteronomy.

. . . for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve

- Luke 4:8b (see also Matt. 4:10; Deut. 6:13) -

The intended meaning was not simply that worship belongs to God alone. The "thou" was a pointed reference to Satan. Also, Jesus’ previous words, commanding Satan to follow Jesus, left no doubt that He, Jesus, was "the Lord thy God" whom Satan was obliged to serve. Whereas Satan wanted Jesus to worship him, Satan should have worshiped Jesus.

Third Temptation

Satan had one more ploy.

9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:

10 For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:

11 And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

- Luke 4:9–11 (see also Matt. 4:5-6) -

Satan's strategy

Since in the previous temptation Jesus had pointed to His own exalted identity, Satan evidently decided that Jesus was not above pride after all, and he designed the next temptation to provoke a prideful act—a foolish act of self-vindication. In an attempt to hurt Jesus’ ego, he again started by saying, "If thou be the Son of God," the "if" expressing doubt. Next, he again adopted a tactic that he hoped would exploit one of Jesus' strengths. Twice before in defending Himself, Jesus had quoted Scripture. Therefore, Satan brought Scripture into his argument that Jesus should cast Himself into the Temple courtyard. Satan referred to two different texts, and, as we would expect, he distorted both.

In urging Jesus to start His ministry by making a dramatic descent from the sky into the courtyard of the Temple, he was assuming that Jesus was familiar with Malachi's prophecy.

1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:

3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.

- Malachi 3:1-3 -

Yet this prophecy concerns the second coming of Christ, not His first coming. It will be His second that precedes His judgment of the nations (v. 2) and His purification of the sons of Israel (v. 3).

But many Jews in Jesus’ day did not understand Malachi’s prophecy. They thought it meant that the Messiah would not be seen by the nation before He suddenly manifested Himself in the Temple.

Howbeit we know this man [Jesus] whence he is: but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is.

- John 7:27 -

If Jesus had in fact floated down to the Temple courtyard from one of the pinnacles, the crowds below would surely have hailed Him as the Christ. It would have been another easy road to popularity and power.

Satan tried to persuade Jesus that if He refused to cast Himself down, He would be guilty of a cowardly lack of faith in God's promises—particularly, in the psalmist's promise that the angels of God would allow no harm to befall God's favorite.

11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

- Psalm 91:11–13 -

Satan quoted verses 11 and 12 correctly, but lifted them out of context, omitting verse 13, which is a promise that God's favorite will triumph over the adder (a serpent) and the dragon. The reference here is to none other than Satan.

And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

- Revelation 20:2 -

Ironically, in seeking to defeat Jesus, Satan called Jesus' attention to a passage that encouraged Him to resist. Yet to suppose that Satan overlooked the relevance of verse 13 seriously underestimates him. He must have known perfectly well that Jesus would remember the next verse in the psalm. Why then did Satan quote the previous two verses?

Perhaps, in seeking to enhance his credibility, he was still posing as the legitimate prince of this world with no evil agenda. By quoting Psalm 91, he was implying that he was not any sort of evil tempter like the serpent who tempted Eve. He hoped Jesus would assume that Satan would not refer to this psalm if he regarded himself as the serpent and dragon.

Whom then did Satan want Jesus to identify as the original tempter? He must have hoped that Jesus would be willing to blame another being in the universe for man’s fatal step into sin—perhaps some evil spirit like the demons who, in Jesus' day, harassed the people of Israel. As conceived in the popular mind, they were ugly beings, nothing like Satan, who came to Jesus doubtless as a glorious angel

And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

- 2 Corinthians 11:14 -

Satan would never have gambled on escaping blame for man’s fall except that the Old Testament never actually names him as the original tempter of man. It shows him as an accuser in the heavenly courtroom (Job 1:6–11; 2:1–5; Ps. 109:4–8; Zech. 3:1–4) and as an instrument to generate trouble authorized by God for some good purpose (Job 1:12–22; 2:6–7; also, compare 2 Sam. 24:1 with 1 Chron. 21:1). But nowhere under the name "Satan" does he appear as an inventor of evil or as a rebel against God. Moreover, there is no character in the Old Testament who is called the devil. As a result, the Jews in Jesus’ day were uncertain about Satan’s true standing. The Pharisees identified the prince of the devils as another figure, Beelzebub. After Jesus healed a man who was blind and dumb as a result of demon possession, the Pharisees claimed that it was by the power of Beelzebub that He performed this miracle.

But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.

- Matthew 12:24 -

Beelzebub was a god worshiped by the Philistines (2 Kings 1:1–16).

1 Then Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab.

2 And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, enquire of Beelzebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease.

3 But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to enquire of Beelzebub the god of Ekron?

4 Now therefore thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed.

- 2 Kings 1:1–4 -

Ekron was a city of the Philistines about ten miles east of the Mediterranean Sea. In Jesus' day, the Pharisees viewed this prominent deity in a neighboring country as a leader in the demonic world.

Jesus' defense

For the third time, Jesus answered from the Book of Deuteronomy.

And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

- Luke 4:12 (see also Matthew 4:7; Deut. 6:16) -

His defense had meaning on three levels.

1. Jesus said "thou." In other words, "You are indeed a tempter, the same tempter who snared Adam and Eve." Again, Jesus was rejecting Satan's claim to be not a usurper, but a rightful prince.

2. Who on this occasion was he tempting? It was Jesus. Therefore, Jesus was unmistakably identifying Himself as God. In the first two temptations, His claim of deity had been somewhat muted. But this time He left no doubt. The devil had said, "If thou be the Son of God." Jesus retorted, in essence, that He was not only the Son in relation to the Father, but also the Lord in relation to Satan.

3. Jesus was informing Satan that he would not be allowed to go further in tempting Jesus. No more temptations would be tolerated. The third was the last.

Then Satan brought this round of temptations to a close.

And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.

- Luke 4:13 -

He would later try other devices to defeat Jesus, but he realized that he had now lost the first battle.