The Temptation of Jesus
While it is certainly imperative to fill children’s lives with Scripture and teach them the words of the Lord (Deuteronomy 6:7), children frequently become too familiar — if such a thing is possible — with stories of the Bible. When children first begin to read the Bible outside of Sunday School, the stories of creation, the flood, the ram in the thicket, Jesus’ birth, the feeding of the five thousand, etc. hold no wonder. The repetition and superficiality with which these stories are taught from infancy have detracted from their value later in life. Kids do not expect to see anything new in these narratives. If they are not careful, they will probably gloss over the passage in future reading, not bothering to ponder and search for lessons in the story. And this is a tragedy because every word of the Bible should be written “on the tablet of your heart” (Proverbs 3:3). Scripture should not be read with an attitude of complacency, without the expectation of learning something new, but must be read as if every word holds an ocean of valuable teaching.
One story that likely suffers at the hands of this over-familiarity is the temptation of Jesus. The account of Jesus’ temptation is a treasure trove of precious teachings, yet countless readers have probably read right over it, assuming there was nothing to glean from “that old story from Bible class.”
But when the Spirit does unlock this treasure chest for the reader, the value of the golden teachings found within can surprise him. The authentication of Christ as high priest, through both the temptations themselves and his endurance of the temptations, is crucial to Christ’s salvific work, and both the offensive strategy of Satan and the defensive strategy of Jesus, which can be learned and applied to the lives of Christians, all shine golden as they are illuminated by the Spirit.
The temptation of Jesus is a major milestone in the timeline leading up to his crucifixion because it validates his role as high priest. The fact that “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1, italics added) reveals that this event was not incidental; it happened for a reason. The author of Hebrews writes,
He [Jesus] had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest. . . because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews 2:17-18).
If Jesus had not been tempted, he would not be like his brothers in every respect. He could not be the substitute for men because he could not sympathize with their temptation. But because Jesus was tempted, he is authenticated as the high priest and perfect lamb, ensuring that his death can serve as the justifying punishment sinners.
While it is, on the one hand, important that Jesus, too, faced temptations, on the other hand, it is equally important that Jesus did not sin during this trying time. Obviously, the importance lies in the sinner’s need for a sinless savior; Christ can not save his people from their sins if he is also a sinner. However, despite the conspicuity of this fact, it is simple to assume that it was easy for Christ to resist the temptations. But that is a false assumption. Consider the mouthwatering, tantalizing thought of bread after a forty day fast. Jesus was human, after all, and needed food and water too. His refusal to turn the stones into bread is an incredible display of obedience, willpower, and ultimately perfect righteousness. Jesus did not face lesser temptations; rather, he is “one who in every respect has been tempted as we are” (Hebrews 4:15).
C.S. Lewis points out a similar faulty assumption that is a prevalent, though probably subconscious, notion in his book, Mere Christianity:
No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness — they have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means — the only complete realist” (Lewis 142).
It is easy to think that the person who never succumbs to temptation must never experience any strong temptations. This thought discounts the impressive endurance shown by Jesus throughout his life and particularly at the time of his temptation in the wilderness.
People do not follow the same reasoning when they consider Adam and the fall. Adam was not more predisposed to sin than Jesus. Yet Adam did succumb to the temptations of Satan, but Jesus did not. Worse, Adam was at his best; he was in a state of bliss and had all his needs met when he chose to sin. Christ, on the other hand, was in the wilderness, hungry, and at his most vulnerable, and still he did not sin. Despite this, people still seem to think Adam’s sin was inevitable but do not think there was even a slight chance Jesus would sin. But Jesus could have sinned and deserves praise because he remained sinless.
Besides validating Christ’s suitability as high priest and displaying his righteousness, Satan’s tempting of Christ arms the believer for fighting temptation, for the human weaknesses Satan targets here are the same vulnerabilities every Christian must guard against.
First, Satan strikes at the identity of Jesus. He begins two of his temptations accusingly with the conditional, “If you are the Son of God. . .” (Matthew 4:3, 6). The Enemy questions his target’s identity to provoke him to sin in order to “prove” his reputation.
Second, Satan manipulates Scripture for his own purposes. When Satan tells Jesus to throw himself off of the temple, he quotes Psalm 91. He quotes the passage correctly, but out of context. Satan says, “He will command his angels concerning you,” and, “On their hand they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone” (both Matthew 4:6 and Psalm 91:11-12 ). However, he conveniently neglects the following verse: “You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot” (Psalm 91:13, italics added). The exclusion of this verse distorts the passage. Satan uses the passage to try to justify turning faith into presumption. But in reality, the passage describes the refuge granted to those “who dwell in the shelter of the Most High” (Psalm 91:1). Hence, the passage in no way supports Satan’s interpretation, but actually commands people to trust in and rely on God to resist these very temptations of the serpent.
Third, the substance of Satan’s three attempts highlight certain weaknesses. The three attempts are to turn stones into bread (Matthew 4:3), to jump off the temple (Matthew 4:6), and to gain “all the kingdoms in the world” (Matthew 4:8). The first aims to abuse hunger and physical need, the second exploits sinful pride and presumption, and the third tempts with the promise of possessions. Therefore, three vulnerabilities Christians should guard against are our fear that God will not provide for all of our needs – the bread, our tendency to turn faith into presumption and entitlement – the temple, and our appetite for earthly possessions and glory – the kingdoms.
In addition to revealing the Enemy’s offensive strategy, the story of Jesus’ temptation teaches Christians how to fight temptation in their own lives. Jesus counters Satan’s tactics with his own. He responds to each of Satan’s attempts with Scripture that reveals the sin inherent in each temptation. When Satan tells Jesus to turn the stones to bread, Jesus’ reply comes from Deuteronomy 8, which is extremely relevant to the situation Jesus faced. The chapter records God’s command to remember the Lord, and how he provided manna for the Israelites in the desert. The portion cited by Jesus (verse 3) reads,
Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Deuteronomy 8:3 and Matthew 4:4).
The application is direct: Jesus is also in a desert, and Satan tempts Jesus to reject the provision of God and declare self-sufficiency by acquiring his own food. Jesus, however, is rooted in Scripture and does not give in.
When Satan tells Jesus to throw himself off of the temple, Jesus again responds with Scripture —this time from Deuteronomy 6:16:
You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah” (Deuteronomy 6:16 and Matthew 4:7).
The verse references Exodus 17, when the Israelites doubt God in the wilderness and God displays his power by providing water from the rock. Again, the verse directly applies: Satan tempts Jesus to test God as Moses did when he struck the rock (Numbers 20), which was a sign of doubt and direct disobedience to God’s commands. Jesus recalls this event (Numbers 20) and refuses to do likewise.
Finally, when Satan tempts Jesus with power, wealth, and glory, Jesus replies with Scripture for the third time. He references Deuteronomy 6:13, which commands the Israelites to worship and serve nothing except the Lord. Satan tempts Jesus with glory at the price of worshipping him, but Jesus responds with a verse that prohibits seeking glory for oneself and worshipping anything other than the Lord.
Thus, from Jesus’ temptation, Christians see that the best method of fighting temptation is to know Scripture well and to place everything under its authority. Ephesians 6 and Hebrews 4 support this: Paul urges Christians to arm themselves with “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17) “to withstand in the evil day and. . . to stand firm” (Ephesians 6:13). The author of Hebrews describes Scripture in chapter 4, verse 12:
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
Therefore, it is clear that Scripture is the greatest weapon Christians have been given to fight evil temptations.
And here lies one instance of the incredible cohesion of the Bible. In this story, Jesus demonstrates the necessity of knowing Scripture well. And, incredibly, two of the passages Jesus quotes are found in the same chapter as God’s command to teach children all the words of God and to fill their lives with it while the third follows just two chapters later. Not only that, this very chapter — Deuteronomy 6 — is the most well-known chapter for all Jews because it contains the Shema (“Hear, O Israel. . .”), the Jewish equivalent of the Shahada (“There is no God but Allah. . .”). This cannot be a coincidence, but is certainly a compelling demonstration of the divine nature of Scripture.
Conclusion
Jesus’ temptation authenticates his identity and role as high priest and worthy sacrifice, displaying and amplifying his purity, shows the universal sinful desires which Christians must deny, and teaches Christians exactly how to fight temptations that exploit these desires. These are lessons that Christians cannot afford to miss. From all this, the tragedy that is glossing over the story of Jesus’ temptation is thoroughly brought to light. If readers are not careful to always assume an eager attitude, to depend on the Spirit to guide them into all truth (John 16:13), and to pray that their eyes would be opened to “behold wondrous things out of [God’s] law” (Psalm 119:18), they will miss out ton the treasure chest. The story contains much that is not readily apparent and requires intentional reading to discover.