Bible Study series: Matthew 4:1-14. The Spirit led Jesus out into the wilderness to fast and then encounter Satan. Jesus defeated him. On the third temptation, he told Satan to go. He left (for a season).
A warm welcome to this Bible study! I write to learn, so let’s learn together. I also translate to learn. The translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to see many others, please click on this link:
In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Matthew 4:1-11
1 Then Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after he had fasted forty days and forty nights, then he was hungry. 3 And approaching him, the tempter said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread!” 4 But in reply, he said, “It is written:
‘Not by bread alone shall humankind live,
But by every word coming out of the mouth of God.’” [Deut. 8:3]
5 Then the devil took him into the holy temple and stood him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself below! For it is written:
‘He shall command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘in their hands they shall lift you up, and in no way will you strike your foot against the stone!’” [Ps. 91:11-12]
7 Jesus told him, “However, it is written,
‘You shall not test the Lord your God!’” [Deut. 6:16]
8 Again the devil took him on a really high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “I will give you all these things, if you fall down and worship me!” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written:
You shall worship the Lord your God, and him alone shall you serve.’” [Deut. 6:13]
11 Then the devil left. And look! Angels came and were ministering to him.
Comments
This pericope (pronounced puh-RIH-koh-pea) or section or unit of Scripture parallels the children of Israel in the wilderness or desert and Jesus in the wilderness or desert. I like this comment quoted by France: This new “Son of God” will not fail and the new Exodus (to which we have seen a number of allusions in [Matt. 2]) will succeed. ‘Where Israel of old stumbled and fell, Christ the new Israel stood firm’” (p. 128). Jesus is the fulfillment of the OT, whether by quoted verses or by patterns and themes.
And this one by Turner after saying that the verb “testing” can also mean “tempting” is insightful: “Both nuances are pertinent here in that the Father through the Spirit leads Jesus to be tested in order to confirm him in his role as messianic Son and servant, yet the devil tempts Jesus to achieve messianic status by using his prerogatives selfishly in disobedience to the Son-servant paradigm. The Father’s aim is to accredit Jesus, the devil’s to discredit him” (comment on 4:1).
1:
It is the Spirit who led Jesus to be tempted by the devil. Are you ready to trust God when he allows Satan to tempt you? Can you fight back as Jesus did? Or will you become confused and weak and forget the weapons of your warfare? (See my comments on v. 4).
“devil”: it means “slanderer” or “accuser.”
See my posts about Satan in the area of systematic theology:
Bible Basics about Satan and Demons and Victory Over Them
Bible Basics about Deliverance
Magic, Witchcraft, Sorcery, and Fortunetelling
The Spirit led Jesus out into the wilderness. Theologically, the Spirit is more than an “It.” He is a person. Here are some of my posts on a more formal doctrine of the Spirit (systematic theology):
The Spirit’s Deity and Divine Attributes
The Spirit in the Life of Christ
The Spirit in the Church and Believers
No doubt the Spirit was taking orders from the Father, because the Father wanted to test and even allow his Son to be tempted. It also brings up an issue, because God can never be tempted (or even tested in a human sense) (Jas. 1:13). So if Jesus is God in the flesh, how can he be tempted. Yes, he is God in the flesh, but he is also true man. It was his human nature that was tempted. Next, why did God want his Son to be tempted? To relate to our own weakness:
17 For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (Heb. 2:17-18, NIV)
Yet he passed the testing and temptation without sinning.
There was a purpose of being led out into the wilderness-desert: to be tempted by the devil.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. (Heb. 4:15, NIV)
Now let’s explore other purposes.
“tempted”: It comes from the verb peirazō (pronounced pay-rah-zoh), and it can mean both “tempted” and “tested” in the right context. Here are the nuanced meanings and their verses: “try, attempt” (Acts. 9:26; 16:7; 24:6); “try, make trial of, put to the test” (Matt. 16:1; 22:18, 35; Mark 10:2; John 6:6; 1 Cor. 10:13; 2 Cor. 13:5; Heb. 2:18; 11:17; Rev. 2:2; 3:10); make trial of God, which is not a good idea (Acts 5:9; 15:10; 1 Cor. 10:9; Heb. 3:9); “tempt, entice to sin (Matt. 4:1; Mark 1:13; Luke 4:2; Gal. 6:1; 1 Thess. 3:5; Jas. 1:13; Rev. 2:10). The context determines the nuanced meanings.
James 1:13-14 says God does not tempt people because he cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone in that way. But God will allow us to go through testing and even to be tempted by the devil, as God allowed for his Son. Will we pass the test / temptation as Jesus did? James writes: “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial [noun of peirazō] because having stood the test [different word]; that person will receive a crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him” (Jas. 1:12, NIV). Will we receive this crown for standing up during our time of trial? The way to pass the temptation is to love the Lord and know Scripture.
Temptation: To provoke you to do evil, in order to ruin and sideline you.
Testing: To find out what is in your character, in order to improve and grow you up.
When you are tempted and fall, however, God can restore you.
What Is Redemption in the Bible?
2:
After he fasted for forty days, he got hungry. Then the devil tempted him. For some reason I had thought he tempted Jesus throughout the forty days in the desert (the movies). No. The devil tempted him after his forty days of fasting; Luke agrees (4:1-13).
“Forty days”: it corresponds to Moses being forty days and forty nights on top of Mt. Sinai (Exod. 24:18; 34:28; Deut. 9:9). Elijah spent forty days in the wilderness on Mt. Horeb, the mountain of God, in other words, Mt. Sinai (1 Kings 19:8). The number forty can refer to hardship (Gen. 7:4; Ezek. 4:6; Jonh. 3:4; Acts 1:3).
3. Two Natures in One Person: Basic Questions and Answers
4. Two Natures in One Person: Tough Questions
5. Two Natures in One Person: If Jesus Got Hungry, Did God?
And so it is reasonable to conclude that the most effective way to resist satanic temptation is to be full of the Spirit and to do spiritual disciplines. No, not legalism, but spiritual disciplines are an effective way to crucify the sin nature (Gal. 5:24) and beat down the body, as Paul encouraged the Corinthians to do (1 Cor. 9:24-27). One discipline is to read Scripture regularly. Another is to limit worldly input, like turning off the TV once in a while. Two other disciplines: regular private prayer and worship and regular public prayer and worship—fellowship, in other words. A really important way to fight the devil, as seen by Jesus’s struggle and victory over Satan, is to know Scripture. It helps sort out the mental battle. It has been truly said that the mind is the battlefield. And if you don’t have God’s thoughts, then you cannot sort out his thoughts from your own or the devil’s awful ideas.
There are different kinds of fasts, like fasting from social media or TV or from coffee and snacks and rich foods. Or it can be total. I have known people who fasted forty days without food. They came through all right. Let the Spirit lead and monitor your health, strengths and weaknesses. Don’t be foolish.
3:
Satan tempted Jesus by doubting his God-given identity: “If you are the Son of God.” Some scholars say that the phrase could be “Since you are the Son of God ….” That may work grammatically, but Turner is on target. “Satan may not have doubts about Jesus’ sonship in principle, but he denied Jesus’ sonship in practice. So the issue is what kind of son will Jesus be? Will Jesus use his sonship selfishly or will he submit to the Father, who will meet his needs” (comment on 4:3; see Keener, p. 139). The devil was challenging God’s public announcement at Jesus’ baptism and his identity. He was the Son of God and his Father loved and delighted in and accepted him.
Don’t let the devil tempt you away from your God-given identity. If you were born a boy, you are a boy. If you were born a girl, you are a girl. God’s plan is opposite-sex attraction, not same-sex attraction. Now let’s go long-range. He calls you his son and daughter (John 1:12-13). That is now your new identity in Christ.
The devil tempted him at his weakest point after a forty-day fast—hunger. The lesson: the devil will tempt you at your weakest point: chemical dependency, sex, and other personal vices like anger and unforgiveness. Follow those spiritual disciplines, know Scripture, and be full of the Spirit. Crucify the flesh / sin nature.
Satan recognized that Jesus was the Son of God. Let’s look into some systematic theology. Jesus was the Son of the Father eternally, before creation. The Son has no beginning. He and the Father always were, together. The relationship is portrayed in this Father-Son way so we can understand who God is more clearly. Now he relates to us as his sons and daughters. On our repentance and salvation and union with Christ, we are brought into his eternal family.
6. Titles of Jesus: The Son of God
When Did Jesus “Become” the Son of God?
2. Two Natures in One Person: He Was Human and God
4:
Jesus presents a life-lesson for us all. Scripture has power to sustain you. I was severely attacked and tempted back in the old days, especially during my graduate school days and afterwards. After a series of dreams, I learned that Satan was the source of the attacks. Of course I was a (low-level) intellectual, so I did not follow Christ’s simple counterattack. He used Scripture. I didn’t. He hid it in his heart and mind. I forgot what I had memorized. He quoted it. I didn’t back then. Finally, after years went by I relearned Eph. 6:16. Now here’s my daily prayer based on it: “I pray over my mind a shield of faith that quenches the fiery arrows of the enemy.” It works! You don’t have to rebuke Satan himself or a demon every moment of every day, though you may have to do this once in a while if you have identified the evil spirit attacking you. Rather, just focus on Scripture and let it renew your mind. Jesus held these Scriptures deeply in his heart and quoted them. So should you and I.
“There is no part of God’s Word that is not essential for living right before God, and it is incredibly dangerous for churches to neglect the depth of that Word” (Osborne, comment on 4:4). I agree.
Warning to Evolving, Progressive Churches: Authority of Scripture
5:
The Father had willed that his Son undergo temptation, and he told the Spirit to lead him towards that goal. The devil, then, was allowed to “take” Jesus (in the present tense in Greek for more immediate impact on the listeners and readers). I believe this is a visionary experience, not a literally taking him to the pinnacle.
On an historical note, the pinnacle of the temple was about 15 stories or 150 feet (45.72m).
6:
In the ancient world, some believed that magicians could fly. This monstrosity was how Satan tempted Jesus, because in his case, angels would lift him up and let him down gently. “Go for it! God will command his angels about you!” Float down to the ground gently! You can do this! Dream big!” This, again, is probably a visionary experience, not a literal climb up a mountain.
7:
Again Jesus came back at him with Scripture. If your mind does not know Scripture, you will not be able to resist temptation because you can’t sort out your thoughts from the devils implanted thoughts and from God’s thoughts. Scripture has to be the deciding judge. You choose God’s thoughts, over even your own. Deut. 6:16 refers to Israel’s doubting of God’s provision of water in Exod. 17:7. Deut. 6:16 was misapplied. Jesus resists the publicity stunt to show Matthew’s readers that he summarizes an event in Israel’s history but with better results (Turner, comment on 4:7)
8:
The devil led him up to a high mountain. (The Greek tense is again in the present: “The devil leads him,” and “shows him,” which reveals the immediacy of the action.) I believe God allowed Satan to show all of the kingdoms of the inhabited world in some sort of vision or in a panorama outside of his mind. After all, Luke 4:5 says all the kingdoms “in one moment.” However, does this mean Jesus’s mind was polluted, so that he sinned? No. He had no sin nature, due to his heavenly Father through his power and the Spirit conceiving him. Just because thoughts cross one’s mind does not mean one is sinful. Jesus had to go through even death, just to identify with us and win the victory over it (Heb. 2:17). Similarly, this moment was an encounter that Jesus had to go through, so he could be tempted in every way we are, yet without sin (Heb. 2:18). He won. Bottom line: he was tempted in his human nature but not his divine nature (James 1:13).
One hyper-prosperity preacher shouted to the camera and said, “Money, come to me!” (Evidently, he based his shout on Jesus’s prayer for dead Lazarus in John 11:43: “Lazarus, come out!”). And now the hyper-prosperity preacher is richer than his wildest dreams. However, who guarantees that God provided the money for him, particularly when the preacher shouted out of his greed—clearly out of his greed. Who’s to say that Satan didn’t provide him with his riches?
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Tim. 6:6-10, NIV)
Verse 9 is important. Those who desire to get rich fall into temptation that may lead to ruin and destruction. In v. 10, “craving” could be translated as “greed.” Satan works through our vices. Greed is a vice. Therefore Satan can work through that vice. Satan may have made this hyper-prosperity preacher fabulously wealthy.
9:
Back to the commentary. This passage teaches that Satan rules over the kingdoms of the world, yet God’s kingdom is far above Satan’s worldly kingdoms, in authority and power. We do know that the whole world is under the sway of the devil (1 John 5:19), and he is the god of this age (2 Cor. 4:4). The tension between God’s right to rule and Satan’s right to rule with a limited scale and scope and humankind’s right to rule with a limited scale and scope by using his free will can never be fully resolved until Jesus returns and sweeps aside all earthly kingdoms and eventually throws Satan in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10).
“worship”: it literally means “kiss toward.” Further, it can mean, depending on the context, “(fall down and) worship, do obeisance to, prostrate oneself before, do reverence to, welcome respectfully.” The Bible shows that people do those things to humans (Matt. 18:26; Acts 10:25; Rev. 3:9); to God (Matt. 4:10; John 4:20, 23; 12:20; Acts 24:11; 1 Cor. 14:25; Heb. 11:21; Rev. 4:10; 14:7; 19:4); to idols (Acts. 7:43); to the devil and Satanic beings (Matt. 4:9; Luke 4:7; Rev. 9:20; 13:4; 14:9, 11); to Christ (Matt. 2:2, 8, 11; 8:2; 9:18: 14:33; 20:20; 15:25; 28:9, 17; Mark 5:6; 15:19; Luke 24:52). Welcoming people respectfully is appropriate. However, the only appropriate beings to whom worships belongs and is due are God and Christ, not humans or devils or idols. Here it means “bow down,” but I chose “worship.”
Bible Basics about Praise and Worship
Don’t do foolish things by honoring Satan; you do this by getting involved in magical, demonic practices. See my post on the topic:
Magic, Witchcraft, Sorcery and Fortunetelling
The temptation asks Jesus to break the first commandment. It is a reminder that Israel devolved into idolatry, even while the law was delivered (Exod. 32). What will Jesus do? The next verse explains.
10:
Jesus replied to Satan’s temptation by quoting Scripture. Are you seeing a pattern?
Jesus also commanded Satan to “Go!” or “depart!” I believe the Father through the Spirit communicated to the Son that the devil’s temptation was up; it was over. Time to move forward. Your trial / temptation has a time limit on it. Tell Satan to leave!
Jesus says one must worship God exclusively. No idolatry that Israel got into! “If he is to rule the world, it will be by the path of obedience to the Father. Later in Matthew, it becomes clear that this path leads to the cross, a fact that is difficult even for Peter to grasp (Matt. 16:21-26)” (Turner, comment on 4:10).
11:
“Look!” This replaces the outdated “Behold!” (though I admit I like “Behold!” It introduces a new event in the pericope. Pay attention! Something significant is happening. Yes, Matthew is borrowing from the OT’s “behold,” but it is clear that he intends his Gospel to read out loud, as he moved his storyline along.
So Satan did what Jesus commanded. And then angels ministered to him. Jesus mentions angelic ministries in 13:39, 41, 39; 16:27; 18:10; 22:30; 24:31; 25:31, 41.
Renewalists believe that God still speaks in dreams. He even sends angels to appear in them, as we saw in Joseph’s life back in Matt. 2.
For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways; (Ps. 91:11, NIV)
So God sent his angels in the right context and at the right time. Satan had said God would send angels to catch Jesus if he would jump. Wrong. But God did send angels after his Son overcame Satan.
Here is a multi-part study of angels in the area of systematic theology, but first a list of the basics.
Angels:
(a) Are messengers (in Hebrew mal’ak and in Greek angelos);
(b) Are created spirit beings;
(c) Have a beginning at their creation (not eternal);
(d) Have a beginning, but they are immortal (deathless).
(e) Have moral judgment;
(f) Have a certain measure of free will;
(g) Have high intelligence;
(h) Do not have physical bodies;
(i) But can manifest with immortal bodies before humans;
(j) Can show the emotion of joy.
See my posts about angels in the area of systematic theology:
Angels: Their Duties and Missions
Angels: Their Names and Ranks and Heavenly Existence
Angels: Their Origins, Abilities, and Nature
In Joel Green’s commentary on the Gospel of Luke (The Gospel of Luke. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. [Eerdman’s, 1997], he sees these parallels between Israel’s desert wandering and Jesus’s temptation scene (I change the references from Luke to Matthew).
- Israel was divinely led in the wilderness (Deut. 8:2); Jesus was led by the Spirit (Matt. 4:1);
- forty years (Exod. 16:35; Num. 14:34; Deut. 8:2); forty days (Matt. 4:2);
- Israel as God’s son (Exod. 4:22-23); Jesus as God’s Son (Matt. 4:3, 6);
- Testing of Jesus is like the testing of Israel; note that the texts Jesus quotes refers to Israel’s testing (Deut. 6-8);
- Israel rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit and disobeyed God (Is. 63:10); Jesus was full of the Spirit (Luke 4:1) or led by the Spirit (Matt. 4:1) and obeyed his Father (Matt. 4:1-11).
Blomberg:
Jesus’ temptations therefore illustrate the precious truth that he was indeed tempted in every way common to human experience (Heb 2:17–18; 4:15). This does not mean that he underwent every conceivable temptation but that he experienced every major kind. Someone who appreciates the insidious lure of one addictive drug, for example, need not be tempted by every other drug in order to empathize with those temptations. But the three temptations Matt 4:1–11 presents encompass a remarkable amount of human experience. (comment on 4:11)
Yes, this successful resistance to Satan’s temptation launches Jesus’s ministry. But Jesus is also binding the strong man or Satan (Matt. 12:29-32). A “new sheriff” is in town.
GrowApp for Matt. 4:1-11
1.. Please read Ephesians 6:16 (and even vv. 10-15). How can you pray for God to raise up a shield of faith over your mind? How did Jesus defeat Satan?
2. Read James 4:7. Jesus fasted for forty days. How would the spiritual disciplines like praying and worshipping in private and at church help you submit to God? What about living without some luxuries once in a while, or turning off the TV and social media for a period of time?
RELATED
9. Authoritative Testimony in Matthew’s Gospel
1. Church Fathers and Matthew’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
Why Did Luke Switch the Sequence in the Temptation Passages?
SOURCES
To see the bibliography, please click on this link and scroll down to the bottom.
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