Matthew 4:1-11
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
2 After he fasted forty days and forty nights he was famished.
3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread.”
4 But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the highest point 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 ‘with their hands they will lift you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ ”
7 Jesus said to him, “Once again it is written: ‘You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their grandeur.
9 And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you throw yourself to the ground and worship me.”
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: ‘You are to worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’ ”
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and began ministering to his needs.
Luke 4:1-13
4:1 Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,
2 where for forty days he endured temptations from the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were completed, he was famished.
3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man does not live by bread alone.’ ”
5 Then the devil led him up to a high place and showed him in a flash all the kingdoms of the world.
6 And he said to him, “To you I will grant this whole realm—and the glory that goes along with it, for it has been relinquished to me, and I can give it to anyone I wish.
7 So then, if you will worship me, all this will be yours.”
8 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You are to worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’ ”
9 Then the devil brought him to Jerusalem, had him stand on the highest point of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here,
10 for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’
11 and ‘with their hands they will lift you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ ”
12 Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
13 So when the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from him until a more opportune time.
Summary
Jesus was tempted three times by the devil and each time He responded with Scripture – the sword of God! (Eph 6:17)
Ecc 2:1 says we should prepare ourselves for testing
Three temptations:
1) stones to bread: Jesus was hungry from fasting (Mat 4:2) so turning the stones to bread would be tempting. Jesus had the heavens opened to Him declaring Him to be the Son of God so there would be a temptation to use His divine authority to cater to his fleshly needs. That was not God’s will though. God’s will was that He would fast for 40 days to commune with Him hence Jesus response “man cannot live by bread alone”.
2) throw yourself down: If Jesus had any doubts about His position as Son of God then this would be a dramatic confirmation. God’s word is sufficient though and nothing needs to be added to it (God spoke from the heavens). Jesus response was that he was not to put God to the test.
3) kingdoms of the world: The devil offered all the kingdoms of the world to Jesus. In the Luke account, the devil exaggerated his dominion over them by saying they were for his glory (Luke 4:6). Jesus response is to command Satan to depart and say you are to worship God alone.
Verse by Verse
Mat 4:1:
Jesus was lead by the Spirit to be tempted by the Devil. The Spirit made him meek yet bold. Others are tempted by their own lust (James 1:14) but not Jesus.
Jesus suffered when He was tempted so He is able to help those who are tempted (Heb 2:18, Heb 4:15)
Through Jesus we are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37)
Mat 4:2:
Jesus fasted for 40 days as Elijah and Moses had
Mat 4:3:
the “stones to bread” temptation tempted Jesus to despair of God’s goodness and to distrust his Father’s care concerning him.
Should people steal bread to live? Matthew Henry says: “It is better to starve to death than to live and thrive by sin”.
“Satan aims to overthrow our relation to God as Father and to cut off our dependence on him, our duty to him, and our communion with him. Outward afflictions, wants and burdens, are the great arguments Satan uses to make the people of God question their sonship as if afflictions could not consist with, when really they proceed from, God’s fatherly love.” - Matthew Henry
Job says: Job 13:15; we are to trust God and love Him as a friend even when he seems to come forth against us as an Enemy. Job 19:21-29 shows Job’s regard for God. Job doesn’t know why he is receiving all these torments but he trusts God nonetheless, has faith in God’s redeemer even though he doesn’t know about Christ (he trusts in God’s goodness and justice), and warns his friends of God’s judgment. Hebrews 11 talks about other godly people who have this sort of faith and trust in God’s character.
The devil tempted Adam and Eve “did God really say…” (Gen 3:1) and likewise tempts Christ with “If you are the Son of God…”. The devil aims to shake our faith in the Word of God. The devil convinced Adam and Eve that God forbade them the tree of knowledge because he grudged them the benefit of it and so here he insinuates to JEsus that his Father had cast him off and left him to fend for himself.
John the Baptist said that God can raise up children to Abraham from stones (Mat 3:9) so obviously Jesus could turn stones into bread.
Notice the Devil does not say “pray to your Father” that the stones would become bread but “command” it to be done. In other words, do it apart from God. Matthew Henry says: “The Devil is for nothing that is humbling, but everything that is assuming and gains his point, if he can but bring men off from their dependence on God and possess them with an opinion of their self-sufficiency”.
Christ overcame the temptation. He would do nothing that:
1) looked like questioning the truth of the voice he heard from heaven or putting that upon a new trial which was already settled
2) looked like distrusting his Father’s care of him or limiting him to one particular way of providing for him
3) that looked like setting up for himself and being his own carver
4) that looked like gratifying Satan by doing a thing at his motion. Listening to the Devil would have been listening to a fortune cookie for advice (even if it is sensible advice) instead of asking God. Matthew Henry says enquiring of the god Ekron when there is a God in Israel.
Mat 4:4:
Christ replies “it is written”. He is himself the eternal Word and could have produced the mind of God without having recourse to the writings of Moses but he put honor upon the scripture and, to set us an example, he appealed to what was written in the law. It’s interesting that Christ seems to take it for granted that the Devil knows what is written in the Bible. James 2:19.
Christ quotes Deut 8:3 where the reason given why God fed the Israelites with manna is because he would teach them that man shall not live by bread alone. Likewise, Christ shares similarities with Israel and the manna:
1) Israel was God’s son whom He called out of egypt (Hos 11:1) and so was Christ (Mat 2:15).
2) Israel and Christ were both in the wilderness perhaps even the same wilderness
The Devil’s temptation reminds us of Psalm 78:18-21.
We must learn to depend on God who will provide for our needs Phil 4:19
Lessons
We should always look to Scripture as our sword (Eph 6:17)
Communion with God is more important than food (no Bible then no food say some)
Worship God alone and serve only Him
