Matthew 4:1-11
This passage tells us about three different temptations Jesus goes through during His time in the wilderness. These three temptations come from the devil.
We all need to know this morning that we are right now, at this very moment, in the midst of a spiritual war. Yes, spiritual warfare is very real. And we have a very real enemy. His name is Satan. And Peter tells us to “be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8, ESV). Ephesians 6:12 tells us “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
But we are not alone in this spiritual battle! You have never been alone. I repeat, you are not alone. Behold the beauty of the gospel as seen in Hebrews 4:15-16:
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
The gospel implication from our passage this morning is this:
Jesus overcame every temptation. Therefore, let us boldly draw near to God through His grace.
So, this morning we are going to examine the three temptations of Christ in Matthew 4, and we will answer two questions concerning each temptation:
What is Satan’s tactic?
How does Jesus respond?
Please stand for the reading of God’s Word.
Matthew 4:1-11 (ESV)
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,
“‘Man shall 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 and set him on the pinnacle 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
“‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not 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 glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”
11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
Context
Christ’s temptations in the wilderness come immediately after Christ’s baptism. In Matthew 3, Jesus comes to John the Baptist and insists that John baptize Him “to fulfill all righteousness.” In Matthew 5:17, Jesus declares He came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it. And Christ’s baptism is part of His fulfilling all righteousness. And we see that as Jesus comes out of the water the Holy Spirit descends as a dove and rests on Him. And then a voice out of the heavens declares, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased” (Matthew 3:17). Remember this divine fatherly affirmation. Because it comes up very soon.
Now let’s jump into our text today:
Matthew 4:1
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
Jesus fulfilled all righteousness in His baptism. And now Jesus will continue to fulfill all righteousness by being led by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil.
2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
Here we see the humanity of Christ. Remember, Jesus is fully God and fully man. He fasted for 40 days and 40 nights for the purpose of drawing near to His Father and to be spiritually prepared for public ministry. And we see at the end of His fasting that Christ was hungry. Jesus went through the full range of human experience. Jesus knows what it means to be weak, tired, and hungry. He experienced all this for us. On our behalf. Because of His great love for us! We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses! Have you ever fasted for 40 days straight!?
Now this weakened, fasted, and hungry state sets Jesus up for the first temptation Satan hurls at Him. Look at v3.
3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
What is the tactic of Satan here?
Satan’s tactic is two-fold here:
1. He questions God’s word about Jesus’s identity.
2. The devil tempts Jesus with the lust of the flesh.
Firstly, Satan immediately calls into question what God the Father has just spoken over Christ just 3 verses earlier (in Matthew 3:17). Remember, God said at Christ’s baptism, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
Satan’s tactic here in v3 is to question the word of God, and specifically, in this instance, to question the identity of Christ. He wants to lure Jesus into proving Himself as the Son of God by commanding stones to become bread.
Have you ever been tempted to doubt your identity in Christ?
The second tactic Satan employs here is to tempt Jesus by the lust of the flesh.
1 John 2:15-17
15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. (NASB)
The lust of the flesh is any temptation that offers a satisfaction of our physical, bodily, or fleshly desires outside of God’s will as God permits in Scripture. The lust of the flesh would include temptation to gluttony, temptation to have sex outside of marriage between one man & one woman, pornography, lustful thoughts, excessive alcohol consumption, drugs, fits of anger, jealousy, or any other temptation we experience by our five senses.
The lust of the flesh is not a new tactic of Satan by the way.
Look at Genesis 3:6
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,[b] she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
Did you catch what happened to Eve right before she took the fruit? She “saw that the tree was good for food” (that’s the lust of the flesh), she saw that “it was a delight to the eyes” (that’s the lust of the eyes), and lastly, she saw “that the tree was to be desired to make one wise” (that’s the boastful pride of life).
But how does Jesus respond to Satan’s tactics of questioning His identity and offering Him the lust of the flesh? Look at v4.
4 But he answered, “It is written,
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
The first words out of Christ’s mouth to combat temptation are: “It is written”
Jesus skillfully uses the truth of Scripture to combat the deception of Satan. He wields Scripture like a sword. Ephesians 6:17: The sword of the Spirit is the word of God.
I want to emphasize this morning how important reading, knowing, and applying the Bible is. That’s what Jesus does here in Matthew 4. For every lie & deception of Satan, Jesus has an “it is written” He gives in response. He quotes Scripture to combat the lies of the enemy.
Application: do you have an “it is written” on your heart for every temptation you face?
Have you studied and soaked in the word sufficiently to where you can reflexively respond with scripture when presented with temptation or deception?
The Holy Spirit will bring to mind what you have studied and He will apply it to the specific situation at the right time (see John 14:26)
Jesus shows us in Matthew 4 the critical importance of Scripture in the life of the believer. Here’s what the Bible says about itself:
Hebrews 4:12
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart (ESV).
2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (ESV).
The word of God equips us for every good work. The word of God arms us to combat every temptation.
So, what verse does Jesus use here to combat the lust of the flesh?
He quotes Deuteronomy 8.
Here’s the original passage Jesus quotes from:
Deuteronomy 8:2-3
2 And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
Oh, the beauty of how the Holy Spirit has masterfully woven together the Old & New Testaments! And Jesus is the fulfillment of all Scripture. Check this out:
So, in the context of Deuteronomy 8, Moses reviews the wilderness wanderings of the Israelite people. He reviews how God led His people in the wilderness. Similarly, we see in our text today that it was the Holy Spirit who led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted (Matthew 4:1).
The Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Similarly, Jesus fasted and prayed in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights.
And remember in Exodus, the Israelites had to pass through the waters of the Red Sea prior to going into the wilderness. Similarly, in Matthew 3, Jesus had to pass through the waters of baptism prior to being led into the wilderness.
God led His people in the wilderness to test them to know what was in their heart, to see whether they would keep God’s commandments or not.
They did not keep His commandments. They disobeyed. They grumbled against God. Just like we do so often.
What the Israelites failed to do, Jesus did. Jesus is the True and Better Israelite. The Israelites failed the test in the wilderness, but Jesus overcame every temptation and test in the wilderness.
The Israelites | Jesus |
Passed through the waters of the Red Sea by God’s miraculous power | Passed through the waters of baptism with miraculous attestation from the God the Father & the Holy Spirit |
Led by God in the wilderness | Led by the Spirit into the wilderness |
Wandered in the wilderness for 40 years | Fasted & prayed in the wilderness for 40 days & 40 nights |
Experienced hunger | Experienced hunger |
Tempted/Tested in the wilderness | Tempted/Tested in the wilderness |
Disobeyed God & grumbled against God | Obeyed God the Father perfectly & never once grumbled or complained |
Failed the test in the wilderness | Passed the test & powerfully overcame every temptation in the wilderness |
Flawed & sinful Israelite people | True and Better Israelite, sinless, & True Son of God |
So how does Jesus respond to Satan? He responds with Deuteronomy 8:3, “man shall not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
Application: do you view Scripture that way? Do you see the word of God as vital sustenance to your soul? Do you live by every word of Scripture? When you wake up, do you read and meditate on Scripture? Do you keep your Bible open throughout the day and go back to it again and again and again to remind yourself of God’s truth? Do you make God’s word your meditation throughout your day? In Matthew 4, we see Jesus giving us a vivid example of what it means to live by every word that comes from the mouth of God. For my own life, I struggle with condemning thoughts, and as a result I have to recall Scripture again and again throughout the day to combat the lies. I have to meditate on my morning Bible reading again and again and again to renew my mind.
Now not only does Jesus overcome the temptation of the lust of the flesh, but He also overcomes the temptation of the pride of life. Let’s look at the 2nd temptation now.
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle 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
“‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
What is the tactic of Satan here?
He employs three tactics here:
Again, he calls into question Jesus’s identity as the Son of God
He twists & maligns Scripture
He tempts Jesus with the pride of life
Again, Satan calls into question Jesus’s identity as the Son of God.
Satan is relentless in questioning our identity in Christ.
Application: read Scripture daily and remind yourself who you are in Christ. If you are in Christ, you are chosen by God, beloved by God, called by God, reconciled to God, adopted by God, forgiven of all your sins, redeemed, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, a new creation in Christ, and so much more! Paul has a pattern of beginning his letters with the believer’s identity in Christ and then he moves into application (Ephesians 1-3 & 4-6 or Romans 1-11 & 12-16).
Secondly, we also see in v6 that Satan’s tactic is to twist and malign the very words of Scripture.
He takes God’s word out of context & then he twists it. He twists Psalm 91:11-12.
“If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
And “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
Psalm 91 is a beautiful psalm about trusting in the Lord’s sovereign protection, deliverance, and victory.
But here in this 2nd temptation, Satan twists Psalm 91 to be a means of putting God to the test in order to abuse God’s grace. In effect Satan is saying, “Go ahead and prove your power as the Son of God and Messiah. God will miraculously take care of you—God will send His angels so you don’t get hurt.” (Essentially people would have seen Jesus levitating off the ground after jumping off the pinnacle of the temple)
Satan’s tactic of twisting the word of God is by no means a new tactic by the way. Look at the first words out of Satan’s mouth when he tempts Eve in the Garden of Eden:
Genesis 3:1
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
What is Satan doing in the garden in Genesis 3? He’s questioning God’s word by saying “Did God actually say” and then he totally twists the one command God gave to Adam and Eve. Satan makes God look like a killjoy and totally restrictive when he states that God will not let them eat from any tree in the garden. But remember they had the whole garden to enjoy. God is good.
Not only does Satan call into question Jesus’s identity and twist Scripture, but he also tempts Jesus with the boastful pride of life.
Now what is the boastful pride of life?
“The pride of life can be defined as anything that is “of the world,” meaning anything that leads to arrogance, ostentation, pride in self, presumption, and boasting. [Satan] tempted Jesus with…the pride of life [by] daring Him to cast Himself from the roof of the Temple in order to prove that He was the Messiah by an ostentatious display of power that was not in the will of God or His plan for the redemption of mankind (vv. 5-6).
Here is the essence of the pride of life—anything that exalts us above our station and offers the illusion of God-like qualities, wherein we boast in arrogance and worldly wisdom.
[Satan’s] most evil temptation is the pride of life, the very sin that resulted in Satan’s expulsion from heaven. He desired to be God, not to be a servant of God (Isaiah 14:12-15). The arrogant boasting which constitutes the pride of life motivates the other two lusts as it seeks to elevate itself above all others and fulfill all personal desires…The pride of life stands in our way if we truly seek to be servants of God. It is the arrogance that separates us from others and limits our effectiveness in the kingdom.”
-Got Questions
Going back to the garden in Genesis 3, we see the very first example of Satan tempting someone with the pride of life:
Genesis 3:5-6
5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate…
Eve was tempted by the pride of life. She wanted to be like God. This is exactly what got Satan kicked out of heaven.
In what areas of your life are you seeking the pride of life? In other words, in what areas are you seeking to exalt yourself rather than glorify God and submit to Him? For example, are you seeking a certain job or promotion to exalt your status or are you seeking the promotion to be able to win others to Christ? What is the heart behind what you are seeking?
There are so many ways we can be tempted by pride, but what does the Scripture say?
Philippians 2:3-7
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,[b] being born in the likeness of men.
And so what is Jesus’s response to this temptation & Satan’s twisting of Scripture?
Jesus responds with another “it is written” to Satan’s twisting of “it is written.”
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
I love Jesus’s resolve to stay grounded in Scripture in the face of Satan twisting and maligning Scripture.
In response, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:16. Here’s the original text Jesus quotes from:
Deuteronomy 6:16
16 “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested Him at Massah.
Deuteronomy 6:16 references the Israelites testing God at Massah. This is a reference to an event recorded in Exodus 17 where the people of Israel became thirsty in the wilderness. They quarreled and tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” (v7)
By Jesus quoting from this text, He again proves that He is the True and Better Israelite who overcomes the temptation in the wilderness and does not put God to the test.
Now not only does Jesus overcome the lust of the flesh and the boastful pride of life but He also overcomes the lust of the eyes. Look at Matthew 4:8-11.
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”
11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
What is the tactic of Satan here?
Satan uses 2 tactics here:
The lust of the eyes
Idolatry
First, the lust of the eyes: in v8, Satan shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he dangles these before Jesus’s eyes and promises to give them to Jesus under one condition. What’s the condition? Satan wants Jesus to fall down and worship him (idolatry).
Satan’s tactic here is tempting Jesus with the lust of the eyes.
What is the lust of the eyes?
[Satan] tempts us with the lust of the eyes—the endless accumulation of “stuff” with which we fill our homes and garages and the insatiable desire for more, better, and newer possessions, which ensnares us and hardens our hearts to the things of God.
-Got Questions
The lust of the eyes is essentially greed. It’s where you want more and more and more. And you can never have enough. The scary thing about greed is how it hides itself from the one ensnared by it. And greed or the lust of the eyes is fueled by the pride of life (the pride of life fuels the lust of the flesh as well). Both the lust of the eyes and the pride of life are incredibly subtle and hard to detect. The lust of the flesh is more evident and easily spotted.
And so, Satan tempts Jesus with the lust of the eyes and tries to get Jesus to fall down and worship him. This leads us to the second tactic here: temptation to idolatry.
Satan tries to get Jesus to break the 1st commandment: you shall have no other gods before Me (Exodus 20:3). The temptation is to compromise spiritually and bow the knee to Satan.
But how does Jesus respond to this third temptation?
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”
Jesus first says, “Be gone, Satan!”
Christ is living out James’ command to us in James 4:7
James 4:7
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Then Jesus busts out another “it is written”
Again, every time Jesus is assaulted by satanic temptation, He responds with the truth of Scripture
Here Jesus quotes again from Deuteronomy. Here’s the original passage:
Deuteronomy 6:10-13
10 “And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, 12 then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 13 It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.
Jesus highlights the passage where the Israelites would come into the promised land and live lives of comfort and ease. They would be tempted by the lust of the eyes, and this would lead them to forget the Lord who brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of slavery. This forgetting of the Lord is idolatry. The stuff they accumulated and the stuff they desired around them replaced the Lord. They worshipped the creation rather than the Creator.
But here in Matthew 4:10, Jesus shows us once again that He is the True and Better Israelite who overcame every temptation. He never broke the 1st commandment. He never broke any of the commandments. He never gave in to spiritual compromise.
Application: How are you tempted by the lust of the eyes? Are there things in this world you desire that ultimately take your focus away from Christ and seeking His kingdom first? What does your Amazon purchase history look like? What lies have you believed that say Jesus is not enough? Do not let the things of this world distract you from being useful to Jesus and His kingdom purposes in your life.
General application review:
How do we combat temptation and deception? We must be rooted in the truth which is the word of God so that you may be able to discern what is right in God’s eyes.
Romans 12:2
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Counterfeit catcher illustration: experts who catch counterfeit bills don’t spend their time studying counterfeit bills. They study genuine bills until they know what genuine bills looks like down to the finest detail. They are able to easily recognize a counterfeit bill. And so shall it be in how we renew our mind with Scripture. May we know the truth of Scripture so intimately that we will be able to easily spot the counterfeit half-truths.
Always Be Discerning (ABD). Discern everything that comes at you through the truth of Scripture. Remember we have a very real enemy seeking to steal, kill, and destroy. Can you spot the subtle temptations and deceptions being communicated to you in your every day life? What about in the shows and movies you watch? Can you spot the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life being offered to you in social media? Or even in your workplace?
Example: The popular TV show Friends, for example, normalizes sex outside of marriage. Watching the show without discernment can make you think extra-marital sex is okay and perfectly normal. This subtle message desensitizes you to what God hates. But what does Scripture say? What does God’s truth say?
Conclusion:
At the end of the day, we will not be able to perfectly combat every temptation thrown our way. But there is One Person who did. His name is Jesus. He overcame every temptation. He overcame all of the deception and all of the lies. He perfectly discerned every situation. Now, what are the gospel implications of Jesus being victorious over every temptation?
The gospel is not only that Christ died for our sins. The gospel also includes the fact that Jesus lived a sinless life. He perfectly obeyed God the Father in every respect. And He obeyed perfectly on our behalf! Jesus is our righteousness. When we trust in Jesus for salvation, His perfect righteous record is credited to our account before God. And when God sees us, He sees us clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ, His own Son. Isn’t that good news!?
At the end of the day, we can stand firm against the schemes of Satan because Jesus overcame every temptation. Therefore, let us boldly draw near to God through His grace.
Draw near to Him when you’re weak. Draw near to Him when you’re tired. Draw near to Him when you’re tempted. And draw near to Him when you’ve already stumbled into sin.
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:15-16).
Kommentare