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
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.
Mat 4:5:
“This was probably a roof with a portico at the SE corner of the temple complex, where a massive retaining wall reached from a level well above the temple mount, deep into the Kidron Valley. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, this was a drop of nearly 450 ft.” - John Macarthur
Mat 4:6:
quoting psalm 91:11. Knowing Scripture is not the same as knowing God. The Devil obviously knows Scripture and can quote it but he is God’s enemy (James 2:19).
Mat 4:7:
The Devil twists Scripture. Consider the verse about handling snakes (Mark 16:17-18). Aside from the fact that this verse is not in the earliest manuscripts and therefore may not be original, Paul gets bitten by a poisonous snake and isn’t harmed (Acts 28:3–5). Some “primitive baptist” churches handle poisonous snakes and then say if you are bitten it’s because you don’t have enough faith. What’s the difference between this and what happened with Paul? Paul was met with a circumstance that fulfilled the verses in Mark while the primitive baptists were putting God to the test. It is the same thing with the Devil talking about psalm 91:11. The Devil takes the verse out of context to tempt Jesus to put God to the test.
Notice Jesus’s response. How is the Scripture Jesus picked different from the Scripture the Devil picked? The Devil picked a fact and then misapplied it in order to tempt Jesus to break a direct command from God to man. Jesus picked the direct command from God to man that would have been broken had Jesus listened. People will often emphasize random verses in the Bible at the expense of direct commands. One example is the Mormons who have taken 2 Sam 12:8 and used it to justify polygomy – ignoring God’s command in Deut 17:17 not to have multiple wives. What are some other examples?
There is alot to learn in the Bible but don’t lose sight of the “spiritual milk” lessons (Heb 5:11-14, 1 Peter 2:2-3). Make sure you obey God’s commands and that you write them on your heart (Proverbs 7:3).
Quote God's Word as if it were a law book. My public school text book mocked the Puritans by saying they used the Bible as a law book but that's exactly what we should do (not like the Devil did but like Christ did with wisdom and not legalism).
