Matthew 4:1-25

The Temptation

1-11. The temptation (Mark 1:12; Luke 4:1). The narrative, which can only have come from our Lord's own lips, describes an actual historical fact, the great temptation which He underwent at the very beginning of His ministry. He was tempted at other times (Luke 4:13), perhaps at all times (Hebrews 2:18), during His earthly life, but the two great seasons of trial were now, and immediately before the Passion: Luke 22:42; Matthew 26:39. Our Lord records His experience in symbolical language partly because the inward operations of the mind could hardly be represented to men of that age except as visible transactions, but more particularly because the story of Adam's temptation in Genesis 3:1 is also told symbolically. Jesus here appears as the second Adam, victorious in the conflict in which the first Adam failed. He wins the victory as man, not as God, so that here the human race in the person of its Head begins to retrieve its defeat and to bruise the Serpent's head, receiving thereby an assurance of final victory. The temptation of the first Adam took place in a garden, i.e. in a universe as yet unspoilt by sin. The temptation of the second Adam took place in a wilderness, i.e. in a world rendered desolate by Adam's fall, and the ultimate effect of His victory will be to make it a garden again. In this connexion should be taken St. Mark's statement that 'He was with the wild beasts.' The wild beasts did not hurt Jesus, because He regained for man the empire over the beasts which Adam lost: 'The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid... They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain' (Isaiah 11:6).

The details of three temptations are recorded: (a) The first (Matthew 4:3) was a temptation to abuse His miraculous powers. If, as seems probable, Jesus first received authority to work miracles at His Baptism, the very freshness and greatness of the gift would suggest to the devil the most appropriate form of attack. Jesus was hungry, he also had an unlimited power of working miracles. Why should He remain hungry, when He had the power of making bread? 'Why,' suggested the devil, 'is it right to feed others, and wrong to feed thyself? If thou be the Son of God, conunand that these stones be made bread.' So the tempter suggested, but Jesus replied, 'Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word' (i.e. conunand) 'that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.' These words, taken from Deuteronomy 8:3, refer to Israel in the wilderness. There they, like Jesus, had no bread, yet they were fed by the word of God's mouth, for God commanded manna to fall from heaven. In effect Jesus said to the tempter, 'It is true that I have no bread, but, since I am here by God's command, He will keep me alive without bread. He has but to utter a word, and I shall be providentially fed, as the Israelites were of old.' If it be asked why it was wrong for Jesus to make bread for His own use, the answer is that in God's working in the world there is in general a strict economy of miraculous power. In the life of Jesus there is not a single example of a miracle worked for His own advantage. In every case His miraculous power was used for the good of others, to remove the ravages of disease and sin, and to advance the kingdom of God, and for these purposes alone was it entrusted to Him. The devil's suggestion was, therefore, a temptation to disobedience, like that of our first parents. Satan would have had our Lord act independently, setting up His will against God's, instead of conforming it to His in filial obedience.

(b) The next temptation (Matthew 4:5) was more subtle. The devil took Him in spirit to the lofty platform (not pinnacle) overlooking the courts of the Temple, from which a great multitude could be conveniently addressed. It was from this platform or pulpit that James the Lord's brother delivered the public address which was the immediate occasion of His martyrdom (Euseb. 2. 23). Satan suggested that our Lord should address the assembled multitudes of Israel from this giddy height, and then prove His Messianic claims beyond all question by flying through the air, and descending to the ground unharmed. Stripped of its symbolical form, this was a temptation to take a short and easy road to recognition as the Messiah by giving 'a sign from heaven' which even the most incredulous and unspiritual would be compelled to accept. This short and easy method Jesus decisively rejected. He determined to appeal to the spiritual apprehension of mankind, that they might believe on Him, not because they were astounded by His miracles, and could not resist their evidence, but because they were attracted by the holiness and graciousness of His character, by the loftiness of His teaching, and by the love of God to man which was manifested in all His words and actions. He intended His miracles to be secondary, an aid to the faith of those who on other grounds were inclined to believe, but not portents to extort the adhesion of those who had no sympathy with Himself or His aims.

(c) Then the devil made his last effort (Matthew 4:8). He offered Jesus all that he had, 'all the kingdoms of the earth and the glory of them,' if He would but worship him, i.e. acknowledge his usurped authority, and do evil that good might come. The statement of the devil that all the kingdoms of the earth are at his disposal is a difficult one, but it is in harmony with the NT. view that wealth and power are dangerous snares, which are better avoided, and that religious safety lies in poverty and obscurity. It also harmonises with the familiar experience that the devil often tempts men most severely by making them rich and great. Yet the statement is an exaggeration. The devil's power to dispose of the honour and glory of the world is subject to the permission and overruling providence of God, who continually brings good out of evil. Moreover, since the Ascension of our Blessed Lord, the devil's power over the kingdoms of the earth has, at least in Christian lands, been greatly reduced.