MATTHEW 4:1-11
I USED TO CHEAT IN ALGEBRA. Math has always been difficult for me. So when I was assigned to the honors algebra class, which was very much over my head, I adjusted this discrepancy by “borrowing” some answers from the best mathematician in the school and a fellow starter on the varsity basketball team.
I wasn’t a Christian at the time, but I had a strong conscience, which initially burned within me each time I broke the school’s law, God’s law, and my own moral law. But after a while, as the teacher himself turned a blind eye to what was going on, and as my heart hardened toward this sin, the fire of conscience cooled. The guilt subsided. The teacher didn’t care. My friend didn’t care. I didn’t care. I passed the class.
When I became a Christian a year after graduating from high school everything changed on the inside, and eventually on the outside. So when I transferred to Wheaton College to major in Bible theology, I vowed never again to cheat.
This vow, however, was quickly tested. In my second semester of New Testament Greek (which I’m convinced uses the same mental muscles as math) I missed the midterm exam due to the flu. My professor graciously allowed me to take the test on my own time. He told me he would leave a copy of it in his mailbox outside of his office. I could pick it up and take it whenever I felt better.
A few days later, in good health, I stood before his mailbox. I saw the test and grabbed it. Yet, as I looked down in the mailbox again, I noticed another exam, completed by one of the class’s best students. I looked around. The hallway was empty. I cautiously lifted the other exam. It felt heavy as if a thousand fat devils were dancing oil it. Yet as heavy as it felt, it was as if a calm, reasonable voice whispered from it, “Take and copy. Take and copy.” I heeded that advice. I placed both exams in my backpack and hurried across the street to the library. I opened the backpack, placed the blank test on the right, and then slowly lifted the other exam.
Then... I stopped. I didn't place it down on the left. Instead, convicted by the God who sees all, that cheating is a sin, and that such a sin would be offensive to God, my teacher, and my classmate, I placed the completed exam in my backpack again. I walked back across the street and placed it back in the professor’s mailbox. I returned to the library and took the test on my own. I passed the test—both the Greek test and the temptation test! What a victory for me, one among many, for by God’s grace I never cheated in college, graduate school, or seminary. But I certainly was, from time to time, tempted to do so.
We all struggle with various temptations. Maybe you’re tempted to cheat, lie, steal, or lust. Maybe you’re tempted to look the other way when wrongdoing is done around you. Maybe you’re tempted to indulge in sexual sin—when you’re on a business trip, when you’re all alone and no one’s looking. Maybe you’re tempted to indulge sinful anger, and that tongue of yours is like a wildfire that once one spark hits the surface, you let rage consume you and anyone in your way. Maybe you’re tempted to engage in pride—to think you’re better than everyone else, especially the weak-willed and ill-willed, those who cheat, lie, steal, lust, and rage.
In 4:1-11 we come again to our Lord Jesus Christ. We come to look at his victory over temptation. And as we do so, we’ll see how his victory reinforces his identity—“Truly this is the Son of God”—and how it gives us an example, the ultimate example, of resisting evil. Jesus was tempted in order to show us that we have a Savior who “is able to help” us when we “are being tempted” (Hebrews 2:18), a Savior who is able to “sympathize with our weaknesses,” because, as Hebrews 4:15 says, he was tempted in every respect as we are, “yet without sin.”
A Common but False Objection
A common objection to Hebrews 2:18 and 4:15 sounds something like this: “How can Jesus, if he was without sin—if he never thought, said, or did anything wrong—sympathize with me?” It’s like looking at whoever you might think is the most morally pure person in your Ecclesia and saying, “How could he or she possibly sympathize with my struggles? They’ve never done what I’ve done.”
This common objection is, however, ungrounded. Sure, when you share with fellow sinners, perhaps as I just did with you—that I cheated on a few math exams in high school—some who have never been tempted to do the same thing might react, “What kind of man is this?” They might think they are morally superior. But that is never how Jesus reacts. He never reacts with self-righteousness, for Jesus understands the weight of every particular temptation, even that particular temptation that so easily entangles you, because he was tempted to cheat God, to follow his own agenda, to take the detour to glory. Furthermore, just because Jesus never gave in to a particular temptation that you or I always seem to give in to does not mean he has never felt the tug of such a temptation.
For example, picture a tug-of-war. What usually happens? At first both teams try their darnedest. But soon the weaker team discovers who they are, and instead of pulling harder to try to overcome the stronger team, they usually give in, fall backward or forward, and collapse. Now, let me ask you. who felt the tug more—the winners or the losers? The winners did.
Or think of two weightlifters. Let’s say both athletes are trying to lift 500 pounds over their head. The first pulls the bar off the ground, then quickly up to his knees, but then he drops it after a two-second struggle. The second lifter also pulls the bar off the ground, up to his knees, but then he lifts it up to his waist and finally, with two great thrusts, up and over his head. Who knows better the heaviness of those weights? The point is this: those who resist temptation are those who feel the weight of it most.
Jesus was (and is!) a real human being who knew the weight of sin and the heaviness of temptation. He was not shadowboxing with evil. He was vulnerable. Like Adam (perfect in nature), he could have been hit. He could have fallen. But he didn't. He is the undefeated champion of the world. He won! As such, he shows us what to expect in the ring and how to jab and how to land the winning right hook.
In this chapter we will look at Jesus’ identity and example, and we will briefly examine five characteristics of his temptation. We do so not merely to admire the great fighter but to become great fighters ourselves, to learn the nature of temptation so that we might win the victory.
God-Ordained but Not God-Inflicted
The first characteristic is that Jesus’ temptation was God-ordained but not God-inflicted. In verse 1 we read of this subtle but important distinction: “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” Notice the “by” and “by.” The first “by”—“by the Spirit”—tells us this temptation was God-ordained (cp. Deuteronomy 8:2). Then once Jesus is in the desert or wilderness, an adversary slithers upon the scene. Here is our second “by.” God ordained the temptation, but the tempting comes not from God (cp. James 1:13) but from the accuser. Jesus was tempted “by the devil.” So, quite similar to the story of Job, an adversary is allowed to have his way with God’s man. A Temple priest is allowed to put God’s righteous “servant” (cp. Job 1:8) to the test. And it is a test here. Perhaps “test” is a better word than “temptation.” Both terms / translations are fitting. Jesus is certainly tested: Is he the true Son of God? Will he hold fast to God’s plan of salvation? But he is also tempted. He is tempted to exalt himself, to avoid the pain of the cross, and to bow down to evil rule.
Now, what is the lesson of this “by” and “by” for us? The lesson is this: if you want to follow Jesus, know that the road to the Kingdom is not paved with gold and lined with daisies. Jesus, who is loved by God, was sent into the wilderness to be tested. If you are his follower, you can expect the same. Baptism into Christ does not mean health and wealth and a shallow happiness. Baptism into Christ means self-denial, suffering, trials, and temptations. This is not because God doesn’t like us or love us. Rather, it is because he does. Gold is refined through fire, not by being thrown into a pile of marshmallows. We move, like our Lord did, from our baptisms into a battle that will prove and refine our character.
We must be willing to “fight manfully”—do battle against sin, the world, and our sin, for our flesh, this world, and evil will fight against us. We can run and hide. We can lie down and give in. Or we can fight, and in doing so. use our trials and temptations for the purposes for which God has ordained them—to make us stronger and purer.
When His Flesh Was Most Weak
Thus, the first characteristic of Jesus’ temptation was that it was God-ordained but not God-inflicted. The second characteristic is that Jesus was tempted when his flesh was most weak. “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil”—that’s verse 1. Look at verse 2 and the beginning of verse 3: “And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And [then!] the tempter came...”
In Pablo Neruda’s poem “Solitude,” the great Chilean poet speaks of solilude as a beautiful word and ideal but a terrible reality. Among other things, he compares solitude to fool’s gold, a counterfeit coin, and a desert.
The desert is the earth's solitude, and mankind's solitude is sterile.
As I currently have a house full of children I cannot readily resonate with Neruda’s realism. “Oh, give me such solitude!” I often cry out. Yet, when it comes to temptation solitude can be my greatest enemy. Along with the saying, “Idleness is the workshop of the devil,” I would add, so too is solitude. In addition to solitude, if my body is weak (especially due to hunger), I find that it is then that the evil so often comes.
Jesus was tempted in the wilderness. Jesus was tempted after eating nothing for forty days, not even locusts and wild honey. Nothing! He was alone. He was hungry. He was physically weak. He was the perfect victim for a roaring, roaming, hungry lion. And yet how strong he was!
Think of Peter, the leader of the apostles. When Peter’s flesh was weak, what did he do? He gave in to temptation. He slept when his Lord most needed him to pray (26:40, 43, 45), and he lied when his Lord most needed his support (26:69-75). Or think about Israel in the wilderness. If they missed a meal, boy, would they grumble. You would think they grew up in some posh neighborhood. If they got a little thirsty, they would try to blackmail God—“If you don’t do something, we’re getting rid of Moses and you, and we’re going back to Egypt!” Or think about Adam and Eve. Read what James Montgomery Boice says about them in contrast to Jesus:
Adam and Eve were in paradise; Jesus was in the vast, desolate wilderness of Judah. Adam and Eve were physically content and satisfied. They were free to eat from any of the trees of the garden, save the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; Jesus was hungry, having fasted for forty days and forty nights. Adam and Eve were together. They had each other for company and mutual support; Jesus was alone. Yet Adam and Eve rapidly succumbed to evil, carrying the entire human race into sin. misery, destruction, and both physical and spiritual death, while Jesus stood firm as the Savior who was to bring life and salvation to the race.
What Adam didn’t do, Jesus did. What Israel couldn’t accomplish, Jesus accomplished. And in doing so, he left us an example of sober-mindedness, watchfulness, and firmness of faith (I Peter 5:8, 9), as well as an example of preparedness. We should be prepared to fight when we are most weak.
If you journeyed today to the Castle of Wartburg in Germany, the place where Martin Luther hid for a time from those who were seeking his life, you would see on the wall of the room in which he stayed a dark ink stain. It is from his temptations. In Luther’s solitude, loneliness, and spiritual hunger, when evil would tempt him, Luther would resist by throwing his inkpot at his archenemy. Now, I’m not suggesting that we throw our inkpots or our computers against the wall (although I’m not completely opposed to it), but I do suggest that we take evil seriously and that we face our foe as a reality. When we are weak, we do not feign. Rather, we trust in the Lord and the strength of his might (Ephesians 6:10).
Unique Yet Universal
The first characteristic of Jesus’ temptation was that it was God-ordained but not God-inflicted. The second was that these temptations occurred when our Lord’s flesh was most weak. The third characteristic is that Jesus’ temptation was unique yet universal.
His temptation was unique. This is obvious. Most people aren’t tempted where he was (in the wilderness), when he was (after forty days of fasting), or by whom he was tempted (probably the High priest, Caiaphas). So where, when, and by whom Jesus was tempted are unique, as well as how or with what he was tempted.
I have been tempted in a great many ways, but I have never been tempted to turn stones into bread. Neither have I been whisked away to the top of the temple (or any significant structure for that matter) to be tempted to throw myself off, testing to see if God really loves me and would save me. And I most certainly have not been tempted by evil to rule the world in exchange for my soul. I have not even been asked to sell my soul in order to be a rock star. I trust my experience is similar to yours.
Jesus’ temptations were unique because he is unique. The divine comment in 3:17 is an apt summary of his uniqueness: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Jesus is the beloved Son of God, and he is the Suffering Servant of God. In the last chapter I explained how this verse is a mix of two important Old Testament themes—about the Son (Psalm 2) and the Servant (Isaiah 42). Jesus is the Son of God, the promised King, who has come to be the Servant, to suffer and die so as to make atonement for our sins (1:21).
The temptations here, unique to Jesus, were all temptations to rely on his divine sonship to the neglect of his servanthood (the suffering he was called to take upon himself). This is why the adversary twice says, “If you are the Son of God… (vv. 3, 6)."' All the temptations were to grab the crown without first enduring the cross. The Father promised that Jesus will be King, and we see this clearly in Psalm 2 (“I will make the nations your heritage,” v. 8) as well at the end of Matthew (“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me,” 28:18), but only if he follows the road to Calvary. The tempter tempts him to take the shortcut to glory by bypassing Gethsemane and Golgotha. That’s what all these temptations are about.
Just look at the least obvious—verses 3, 4. Here it’s as if the adversary says, Look, Jesus, you’re hungry. The whole world is hungry. If you can turn these stones into bread, which I know you can—because you’re God’s Son!—then feed yourself, and feed the world. Use your power for what people most need and want—their bellies to be filled—and then watch the whole world “run after you like sheep, grateful and obedient.” You will have the world literally eating from your hand. Give people what they really want—not the Word of God but food from God.
Now, Jesus is not opposed to feeding the hungry. We shall see him twice in Mathew feed the multitudes (14:13-21; 15:32-39). Nor is he opposed to food. Jesus feasted on earth—at a wedding, with friends, in sinners’ houses— and because of this he was even called (falsely) a glutton and a winebibber (11:19). Moreover, at the end of all history, the messianic banquet will be the feast of all feasts. It will make the Presidential inaugural ball look like toddlers’ birthday parties at Chuck-E-Cheese’s.
Jesus is not opposed to food or providing food. What Jesus is opposed to is bribing someone into the kingdom with his miraculous powers—turning stones into bread. If someone wants to come to him and into his kingdom, they must come spiritually hungry—“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness” (5:6a).
Jesus doesn’t want to bribe anyone into the kingdom. Nor does he want to “remove the symptoms without dealing with the disease.” This is why Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 8:3, where it is written, “Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” There is more to life than what is “visible and edible, tangible and collectible, bankable and investable.” To die hungry with the gospel in your heart is to die with the hope of everlasting life. But to die with your mouth stuffed, your belly filled, but your heart cold to the gospel is to die everlastingly. Better to die with an empty belly and a full soul than with an empty soul but a full belly. Do you remember the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man?
Jesus makes this very point. Lazarus dies hungry but goes to Heaven; the rich man dies full but goes to Hell.
So Jesus’ temptations are unique. But they are also universal. What I mean is this: aren’t we all tempted to grab the crown without the cross? Aren’t we all tempted to think that the physical is more important than the spiritual? Aren’t we all tempted to sell out the gospel through gimmicks, entertainment, and worldly means—our own version of turning stones into bread? Aren’t we tempted, as Jesus was (and as Adam and Eve were), with “the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life” (1 John 2:16)? Aren’t we all tempted to move away from “holy reliance upon the Father to an unholy independence”? Jesus’ temptations were unique but also universal. We are all tempted in similar ways. That’s the third characteristic.
The Shield of the Spirit Shields the Savior
The fourth characteristic is that Jesus resisted these temptations with the Word of God. On this point the early church father Jerome says of Jesus, “He breaks the false arrows of the devil drawn from the Scriptures upon the true shields of the Scriptures.”
I like this shield analogy. At first I thought I’d go, quite naturally, with Paul’s sword analogy from Ephesians 6, that great passage on the armor of God, where the apostle writes of taking up “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (6:17). Yet here Jesus is more on the defensive than on the offensive, and I think it is his trust in his heavenly Father, which includes believing in the promises of his Word, that Jesus best demonstrates. So he holds up “the shield of faith,” as Ephesians 6:16 says, with which he extinguishes “the flaming darts [or arrows] of the evil one.”
The adversary tempts our Lord with what must have been most tempting to him. That’s why he toys with and twists the promises of God in each and every temptation. That’s why he tempts Jesus, not with “obvious evils”— steal this, lie about that, lust after her—but with what is normally good. He tempts Jesus with God’s good creation—bread. He takes Jesus to the temple pinnacle (God’s holy place), he quotes the Bible (God’s Holy Word), and he says, “Beloved Son, does God really love you?” (God's holy provision). Yet with each “false arrow” the Son of God puts up his shield of faith. “It is written... it is written... it is written” (vv. 4, 7, 10).
Paul writes in Romans 10:17, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of God” (cp. Galatians 3:2,5). Do you know the Word—its content? Do you know how to interpret it correctly? And do you trust what God has written? After forty days of hunger—or whatever the equivalent would be for you—do you still believe that we do not live on bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God?
Tough but Temporary
I have one final word on this Word. The fifth and final characteristic of Jesus’ temptations is this: The temptations were certainly tough but also temporary. This is taught in verses 10, 11. After the final temptation to worship the adversary, Jesus says to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve’” (v. 10; cp. Deuteronomy 6:13). Then what happened? “Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him” (v. 11 ).
Jesus says, “Be gone,” and the adversary leaves him. Temptations are always temporary. This is a grace of God. If you can “resist the devil... he will flee from you” (see James 4:7). Our God only allows adversaries to tempt us for our good, to try and test and refine our faith. And as I Corinthians 10:13 makes clear, there is no temptation (1) that is not common to everyone—don't think your particular temptation is so tough that no one else struggles with it, (2) that is not beyond your ability to resist with our Lord’s help—Jesus is “able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews 2:18), and (3) from which God does not provide a way of escape—if you say, “No,” the evil will go.
Temptations are tough, but they are temporary. Remember that. Say to yourself, “If I can just get through this, if I can just say ‘be gone’ like Jesus did, or run out of the room as Joseph did with Potiphar’s wife, then evil will gain no foothold.” But if you give an inch, stay in the room longer than you should, or toy with the temptation, then watch out.
Temptations are tough but always temporary. Resist evil, and he will flee from you.
Closing Thought
Our Lord Jesus was tempted in every respect as we are, yet was without sin. He never sinned. We sinners must learn from our Lord and cling to him, that we might by faith win the victory for his glory and our good.
(R. Kent Hughes. and Douglas Sean O'Donnell., 2013; edited Carl Hinton., 2020)