Jesus In The Wilderness
4:1-2
Having been baptized and anointed by the Holy Spirit, Jesus is now led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted. Since Jesus was led by the Spirit, we can assume it was the Father’s will for Jesus to be tempted and tested, and to suffer.
There are a couple of things going on here that are not on the surface.
First, there is a connection Jesus’ baptism and temptation. The baptism account ends with the Father acknowledging Jesus as his Son. The temptations involve Satan attempting to divert Jesus from his mission as God’s Son.
Second, there is the theme that Jesus is the true Israel. Each temptation alludes to an Old Testament event involving Israel. Each defense raised by Jesus is from Deuteronomy 6 through 8, which is Moses’ teaching God’s commands to Israel in the wilderness before they entered the promised land. (Deuteronomy 1:1)
Jesus fasted for 40 days. That is about the limit for a human being to go without food and live. At the end of 40 days he would have been hungry, exhausted, and physically weak. He was at his most vulnerable. That is when Satan came to him.
The 1st Temptation
4:3-4
Satan went straight to Jesus’ physical weakness for the first temptation. He is called “the tempter” in these verses. He challenged Jesus, saying “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread”. Loaves of bread would be wonderful for a starving man.
And Jesus had the ability, as God, to do this. He turned water to wine. He multiplied a sack lunch into food for thousands of people. He could use his status and abilities as God’s Son to benefit himself.
However, it was to his mission to use his divine abilities and prerogatives to accomplish God’s will. Paul explained this. He said Jesus did not grasp his equality with God. Rather, he acted as a servant and was obedient to the suffering prescribed for him, even to death. (Philippians 2:5-8)
That is why he responds as he does, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by God’s word. (4) His devotion to God’s will (obedience) was greater than his desire for physical comfort and having his physical needs met.
This same taunt is thrown at Jesus while he was on the cross. The people said “if you are the Son of God, come down from the cross”. (Matthew 27:40) Jesus had the power to do that. He could have called twelve legions of angels to help him. But that was not God’s mission for him. He chose obedience to God’s word over relief from suffering. He fulfilled the scripture’s prediction of his suffering. (Matthew 26:53)
The 40 days and nights alludes to the 40 years Israel wandered in the desert. Israel was led by God in the wilderness to be humbled and tested to see if the people would keep God’s commandments. (Deuteronomy 8:2) Specifically, he wanted Israel to know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD”. (Deuteronomy 8:3)
Israel failed the test. They complained about food & water on more than one occasion. They did not believe and trust God’s provision for them. They did not believe God would keep his promise to them and give them the land of Canaan. And so, all of that generation had to die before God would let Israel into the promised land. (Deuteronomy 1)
In contrast, Jesus did not fail. He did not complain, he did not succumb to Satan’s temptation, and he did not use his power to satisfy his physical need. He trusted God to provide for him. In other words, he lived by the word of the Lord.
Both of God’s sons, Israel and Jesus, were tested. One son, Jesus, did not fail and, thus, shows himself to be God’s true son.
The Second Temptation
3:5-7
The second temptation took place in Jerusalem (the holy city). The devil set Jesus on the pinnacle (the highest point) of the temple and said if you are the Son of God, throw yourself down and force God to send angels to catch you.
The devil quoted Psalm 91:11-12 (from the LXX) to justify the challenge. He left out the words “to guard you in all your ways”. This passage was saying that one who trusts God will be protected from stumbling as one would hold up a small child learning to walk.
Satan misapplied it to make it a test of sonship. That is, if God protects those who trust him, how much more will he protect his Son. So, prove that by jumping so God will send his angels to catch you. Test God to prove he will do what he says.
Jesus countered Satan by quoting Deuteronomy 6:16, which forbids putting God to the test. The full verse includes “as you tested him at Massah”. This refers to the Israelites rising up against Moses when water was running out. God told Moses to tell the rock to bring water out, but Moses struck the rock and was punished for it. (Numbers 20:1-13)
It is wrong for God’s people to demand miracles as a proof that God cares for us. Instead, we are to trust him and obey his word. As the old hymn says: “trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey”.
The Third Temptation
4:8-10
In his third, and final, temptation, the devil offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world in return for Jesus worshipping him. In Isaiah 14:12-15, the devil is portrayed as wanting to be like God, exalted above all.
Satan offered Jesus a shortcut, obtaining a kingdom without going to the cross. But Jesus rebuked him with Deuteronomy 6:13 which says we may only worship the LORD our God. This is also the first commandment: “You shall have no other gods before me”. (Exodus 20:3)
Later, Peter would offer the same thing to Jesus, that he could avoid suffering and death. And Jesus reacted the same way, rebuking Satan working in Peter. (Matthew 16:21-23)
The Israelites failed in this temptation also. Even while Moses was receiving the law from God, they built an idol to worship. They continually adopted the false gods of surrounding nations, worshipping their idols. Jesus, however, stayed true to the worship of the only God and showed he is the true son, the true Israel.
Jesus banished Satan from his presence at that point. He had defeated the tempter. He had authority over him, as he would repeatedly demonstrate by casting out demons.
And Jesus’ trust in God was validated, as angels came and ministered to him. (11)
The primary point here is Jesus, but we do see how temptation may be defeated by God’s word. When we are tempted, we should think “what does the Bible say about that?”. And whatever the Bible forbids, we avoid. We do not rationalize and give ourselves permission to disobey God. Like Jesus, we are to be obedient, even to death.
