MATTHEW 4:1-11

Tempted In His Humanity, Yet Without Sin

By Johnny Tatum

 

The purpose of this study is to show the depth to which Jesus of Nazareth — the Son of God — identifies with sinners who identify with Him.

PART 1: AFTER THE DOVE, THE DEVIL

 

Jesus of Nazareth: King!

Matthew presents Jesus of Nazareth as the long awaited King. Actually [after having said that], I believe that as you look through Judaic literature, you will find the nation of Israel was not so much looking for the King as they were looking for the Kingdom the King would bring. So Matthew proves [in many ways] that Jesus is the King, and He is bringing in the Kingdom.

Matthew also presents that King Jesus is a different kind of King than what the world is used to:

Most kings rule by power, but

King Jesus comes to rule by grace.

Most kings rule by force, but

King Jesus comes to rule only those who let Him rule.

Most of the kings of the earth like to lord it over their subjects. (Luke 22:25), but

King Jesus came to identify with His subjects.

King Jesus is a different kind of King, and the Kingdom He is bringing is a different kind of Kingdom.

 

Identifying with Sinners

We know that Jesus is the King; however, we can never forget that Jesus of Nazareth (the human being) was the eternal Word of God incarnate* (in a human body).

*Note: Incarnate, meaning the second Person of the eternal Godhead — the Word of God (God the Son) — altered His form and took on human flesh to become a brand new Person, Jesus of Nazareth.

I stress this because at the beginning [as a human being] Jesus of Nazareth does not start off doing spectacular things. He does not start out doing things that you would expect the King to do. Consider the following:

—

The King is Born in Bethlehem of Judea (see the Matthew 2:12-23 series, What Was Spoken Was Fulfilled): God the Father arranged for Jesus to be born in Bethlehem of Judea. Why? Because Bethlehem was a symbol of obscurity, of insignificance. So are human beings. So the Lord God ordained for Jesus to be born in Bethlehem so He could identify with us.

—

The King Lives in Nazareth (see the Matthew 2:12-23 series, What Was Spoken Was Fulfilled): Jesus did not live in Jerusalem, the place where kings lived; He lived in Nazareth. Why? Because Nazareth was a synonym for despised, for scum of the earth. Jesus of Nazareth let Himself be called the Scum of the earth because He identified Himself with His subjects.

—

The King Is Baptized in the Jordan River (see the Matthew 3:13-17 series, Messiah Arrives): For 30 years Jesus lived in obscurity, then He began His public ministry. After all of these years, what was His first act? It was not some mighty work or some huge display of power. Jesus of Nazareth went to John the Baptizer at the Jordan River to be baptized.

Why were the others at the Jordan River being baptized? They were being baptized as a sign that they had repented (changed their mind). And, even though Jesus of Nazareth did not have to change His mind or have any acknowledgement of person sin, He was baptized. Why? Because the sinners with whom He came to identify were being baptized. By His baptism, Jesus of Nazareth identified Himself with sinners — with me, with you.

 

Why is it important that King Jesus be identified with His subjects? For anybody who identifies with King Jesus:

I will let You identify Yourself with me, I will let You be my Substitute so that Your death on the Cross is my death [that I deserve] on the Cross

there is a double trade (see the Matthew 3:13-17 series, Messiah Arrives):

King Jesus (the Righteous One)

—

Took our sins

We (sinners)

—

Get His righteousness

 

Witnesses to His Baptism

Hundreds, maybe thousands, of people witnessed the baptism of Jesus of Nazareth, including God the Father, God the Holy Spirit (who came down in the form of a dove), and one other witness. Who was that? Satan witnessed the baptism; he watched the whole thing.

Satan saw Jesus of Nazareth come down from Galilee, he saw Him go into the water, he saw Him come back out of the water, and he heard the Voice say This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased. Also, Satan understood this was not some religious act Jesus of Nazareth was doing; that would not have bothered him. Satan knew very well that when Jesus of Nazareth went into that water and came back out that He did it to identify with His subjects.

Satan knows theology (an organized study of the nature of God and man's relationship with God), and he knows that for anybody with whom Messiah Jesus identifies there is an activated double trade. Satan knew that:

—

Sins were coming off of sinners and going onto Jesus of Nazareth, and

—

Righteousness was coming out of Jesus of Nazareth and going onto those (sinners) with whom He identified.

 

The Temptation

Not a Surprise: Just after Jesus of Nazareth is baptized and a voice from heaven says This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased, Satan shows up and proceeds with his assault on Jesus.

A rough outline of this well-known temptation passage follows:

I.

Jesus Is Lead Into the Wilderness.

II.

Satan Tempts Jesus.

III.

Jesus Rejects the Temptation.

IV.

Jesus Is Taken to the Pinnacle of the Temple.

V.

Satan Tempts Jesus.

VI.

Jesus Rejects the Temptation.

VII.

Jesus Is Taken to a Very High Mountain.

VIII.

Satan Tempts Jesus.

IX.

Jesus Rejects the Temptation.

 

We pose questions about the Matthew 4:1-11 passage as follows:

Question One: Why The Temptation?

[If I am irreverent here, it is not on purpose…] What is the point? Does it surprise anybody that King Jesus can beat Satan? Jesus of Nazareth is the incarnation of the Eternal Word, and His consciousness has existed from eternity! What part does the Eternal Word play in the Godhead? Oh, just a minor part — He is the Creator! In fact, the Eternal Word created Satan (the created angel, Lucifer). Therefore, it should not surprise us that God can beat Satan. So why is this here?

Question Two: What Was Satan Trying to Accomplish?

It does not seem that Satan would accomplish anything if Messiah Jesus had submitted to Satan's temptations. For instance, how would it have helped Satan if Messiah had turned that rock into bread?

Question Three: What Is Our Application?

Since Jesus of Nazareth is our Substitute, is He our example here?

 

Matthew 3

To get us into the context, let us pick up the last two verses of Matthew 3…

16 And after being baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon Him,

Questions: Why did Jesus of Nazareth need Holy Spirit? Why did Holy Spirit descend on Jesus here?

To answer these questions, we could state Jesus had a human nature. Yes, He did, but in His human nature Jesus was sinless, AND we must remember that He also had a divine nature. Jesus is the Eternal Word of God, and He is equal with God the Holy Spirit and equal with God the Father.

If we can answer why Jesus needed Holy Spirit, then we have to ask another question: Did Jesus of Nazareth not have Holy Spirit before this time? Had He really lived for 30 years without Holy Spirit?

Holy Spirit comes down upon Him…

17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."

You tell many people today that someone was filled with Holy Spirit, and they would say Well, the next thing he did was to speak in "tongues" or do some mighty miracle. Or, I bet he got a lot of money, because when you are filled with Holy Spirit you can "name it" and "claim it".

Actually, this filling with Holy Spirit produced something that would embarrass a lot of people today. How many people today would say I was filled with Holy Spirit and then Messiah Jesus drove me out into the wilderness? That is exactly what happened to Jesus!

 

Matthew 4

Just after Jesus of Nazareth was filled with Holy Spirit…

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Clearly, this was NO accident. It was not that Jesus of Nazareth was baptized, filled with Holy Spirit, and then all of a sudden [boom-boom-bing] there was the devil. Those events were interrelated. Scripture says that Jesus was driven into the wilderness under the power of Holy Spirit!

Also, it was no accident that Satan just happened to be hanging around (to idle about, to loiter). Do you see what the Scripture says? Holy Spirit led Jesus deliberately into the wilderness to Satan!

2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.

 

Three Scenes

At this point, there are three scenes with Satan and Jesus, and each scene has:
  • A different location, and
  • A specific temptation.

    •  

    Scene One: The Wilderness in Judea

    3 And the tempter came and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.

    Did Satan want Jesus to command the stones to become bread, or not? How would it help Satan if Jesus were to do that? What was Satan trying to accomplish? If Jesus had turned a piece of rock into bread, then how would Satan have gained?

    But Jesus refused…

    4 But He answered and said (He quotes from Deuteronomy), "It is written, 'man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.'"

    Why did Satan offer this temptation: how would it help him if Jesus had accepted the temptation? And the second question: why did Jesus refuse? What would the harm have been if Jesus had said Okay, [poof — a rock is turned into bread] there is a piece of bread from those rocks?

    But Jesus refused…

     

    Scene Two: The Pinnacle of the Temple in Jerusalem

    5 Then the devil takes Him into the holy city; and he has Him stand on the pinnacle of the Temple,

    6 and he says to Him, "If You are the Son of God throw Yourself down;

    Undoubtedly, Satan thinks Okay, if You want to use Scripture, I will too. So Satan quotes Scripture:

    for it is written, 'HE WILL GIVE HIS ANGELS CHARGE CONCERNING YOU' and 'ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, LEST YOU STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.'" (Quoting Psalm 91:11-12.)

    Again, why did Satan tempt Jesus this way? How would it have helped Satan if Jesus had jumped off the pinnacle?

    Jesus refuses, and He quotes Deuteronomy again…

    7 Jesus said to him, "On the other hand, it is written, 'YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.'" (Quoting Deuteronomy 6:16)

    Again, how would it have hurt if Jesus had jumped?

     

    Next:

    Matthew 4:1-11, PART 2: GOING ALONE

     

    To: Matthew 2:12-23, WHAT WAS SPOKEN WAS FULFILLED

    Matthew 3:1-12, HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR MIND?

    Matthew 3:13-17, MESSIAH ARRIVES

     

    Back To: Matthew Series Page

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    We want to express our deepest appreciation to Mitchell and Dawn Kolodin for their excellent work in transcribing and editing this entire Matthew study.

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