Bible Studies: Worldnet Grace Ministries

Matthew 4:1-11

Tempted In His Humanity, Yet Without Sin

By Johnny Tatum

PART 2: GOING ALONE

Scene Three: A Very High Mountain

8 Again, the devil takes Him to a very high mountain, and he shows Him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory;

9 and he said to Him, "All these things will I give You,

By the way, could Satan have given all of these things to Jesus?

if You fall down and worship me."

Jesus came to be the King, so is this not the opportunity that He wanted? Why would Satan offer Jesus the very person (the king) that Jesus came to be?

But Jesus refused…

10 Then Jesus said to him, "Begone, Satan!"

That means Out of here, Satan!

"For it is written,'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'" (Quoting Deuteronomy 6:13.)

11 Then the devil leaves Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.

Father, thank you for Your Word and for this passage about the temptations of Jesus of Nazareth. We know that there is a picture here for us; all ready we have seen an obvious one — when the tempter comes to us, we are to use Your Word to fight temptation because Your Word is our sword. Would You help us by showing us how that works?

As we study the verses about these temptations, would You give us application for our lives? And we pray the eyes of our hearts would be enlightened and that You would fill us with Your wisdom, revelation, and the knowledge of Jesus, our Messiah.

We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Question: Why did Satan tempt Jesus?

Was it for the nation of Israel to see? Was it for God the Father to test out His Son? Was there any possibility that Jesus of Nazareth would sin — that He could have sinned, that He struggled with the temptations, and that He did not sin? No, no, no! There is no question that Jesus of Nazareth could not possibly have sinned, and the nation of Israel did not see the temptation. So why did Satan tempt Him?

Before we answer that question, we must review the previous Matthew passage where Jesus of Nazareth received Holy Spirit, and ask:

Question: Why did Jesus need Holy Spirit here?

Matthew 3

Clearly, Jesus of Nazareth needed Holy Spirit.

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,

3:17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."

If we understand why Jesus of Nazareth needed Holy Spirit, we will understand what is going on at the temptation. Again, Jesus was divine, He was the incarnation of the eternal Word, and He was equal with Holy Spirit and equal with God the Father. So why did Jesus need this filling with Holy Spirit?

Remember that Jesus had just been baptized. Why? He was baptized to identify Himself with us — with sinners. And I believe that is the point of this passage, showing:

The depth (degree) to which Messiah Jesus identified with sinners.

Voluntarily Taking On Limitations

Human beings have the limitations of having a human body and living in a fallen world. When Jesus identified with us — and I stress — HE VOLUNTARILY (He did not have to) TOOK ON THOSE LIMITATIONS.

For Example: Jesus is the Eternal Word incarnate, which means He is omniscient (He is all-knowing). However, Jesus chose to identify with human beings who do not know everything. Amazingly enough, though Jesus had omniscience during His ministry, He did not use it because He identified Himself with human beings who are not omniscient!

That is why when someone in the crowds [pressing in on Him] touched Him, Jesus of Nazareth asked Who touched Me? He did not know who touched Him:

As Jesus was on His way, the crowds almost crushed Him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind Him and touched the edge of His cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. "Who touched Me?" Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the people are crowding and pressing against You." But Jesus said, "Someone touched Me; I know that power has gone out from Me." Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at His feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched Him and how she had been instantly healed. Then He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace." (Luke 8:43-48)

Another Example: When Jesus referred to His Second Coming, He said:

No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. (Matthew 24:36)

Why did Jesus of Nazareth not know the day or the hour of His Second Coming? Because the children of God do not know (they are not omniscient), and since the Son is identified with them, then He did not know.

The Eternal Word is also omnipresent (He is everywhere at the same time) and omnipotent (He is all-powerful); however, human beings are not. Since the eternal Word identified with us, He chose not to be omnipresent or omnipotent during His ministry on earth. Jesus of Nazareth took those limitations on Himself to identify with individuals who identify with Him; therefore:

Jesus of Nazareth needed Holy Spirit because of His own self-imposed, voluntary limitations.

Jesus knew He could not live His life with those limitations without Holy Spirit and His ensuing power. Does that not show how His identification with us was real? The reason that He rejected the temptations is:

From His heart, Jesus identifies with sinners who identify with Him.

It Is Intriguing to Me: The temptation in the wilderness was in a location where no other human being would see what was to occur. Jesus could have gone out into the wilderness and responded any way He wanted; there was nobody, including the nation of Israel, to see what He did. Therefore, Jesus could have turned that rock into bread, eaten the bread [to satisfy His hunger], and gone back to Jerusalem without being found out. Who would have known? But Jesus did NOT cheat!

Theological Terminology:

"No Cheating!"

Many of the great creeds (authoritative statements of certain articles of faith that are considered essential) of the church talk about the human nature and the divine nature of Jesus. One of the articles is worded something like Messiah Jesus has a human nature and a divine nature, but they do not commingle. That means that His divine nature did not affect His human nature, and His human nature did not affect His divine nature.

We Might Think of It as: A two-cell battery where there is no bleed over.

To Put It in Theological Terms: Jesus of Nazareth did not cheat!

Energized By Holy Spirit

Though He was the eternal Word in His life on earth as Jesus of Nazareth, He so identified with sinners and with our limitations, that He had to have Holy Spirit in His life. Jesus said:

Without Me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)

Application: When we access Jesus, we access Him through Holy Spirit; without Holy Spirit you can do nothing. By the way, the word nothing is a technical term, meaning nothing. Jesus says that we can do nothing, but I am wondering how often we try to do everything without Him? However, Scripture says you cannot do anything.

Let us thing back to Jesus. He had to have Holy Spirit, and He was sinless. [What about us?] Jesus of Nazareth could not live His life without Holy Spirit.

Question: Did Jesus of Nazareth have Holy Spirit for His first thirty years?

Certainly, Jesus of Nazareth had Holy Spirit before His baptism. Just as John the Baptizer was filled with Holy Spirit from His mother's womb ([John] will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb. -Luke 1:15), so Jesus of Nazareth was filled with Holy Spirit from His mother's womb:

The angel answered and said to [Mary], "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God." (Luke 1:35)

After the time of their purification, and in accordance with the Law of Moses (see Exodus 13:2, 12; Numbers 3:13) that was conducted forty days after birth, it is recorded The Child grew and became strong; He was filled with wisdom, and grace of God was upon Him. (Luke 2:40)

And when He became twelve …they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers …And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. (Luke 2:42-52)

There is no question that Jesus of Nazareth had lived His previous thirty years under the influence of Holy Spirit.

So why does Holy Spirit baptize Jesus of Nazareth upon His coming up out of the Jordan waters?

In keeping with identification, Jesus of Nazareth receives a baptism with Holy Spirit just as the redeemed are to be baptized Holy Spirit (He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. -Matthew 3:11)

As authentication of the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy, Jesus of Nazareth is visibly baptized by Holy Spirit (The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him. -Isaiah 11:2a)

Jesus of Nazareth is about to go alone into public ministry for three and one half years with:

Satan assaulting Him at every step,
The religious attacking Him all the way,
His own struggles, and
His voluntary limitations (He waived the use of His divine omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence)

With these difficulties, the human being Jesus of Nazareth needed a fresh infusion of Holy Spirit (to be especially energized by Holy Spirit) to accomplish His ministry on earth.

Matthew 4:1-11

Jesus is under the influence of Holy Spirit, even when Holy Spirit leads Him to do things Jesus does not want to do.

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

Mark gives an interesting take on this, and he says:

Immediately the Holy Spirit threw Jesus out into the wilderness. (Mark 1:12)

Threw is the literal word Mark used, which I translate as forced or compelled him.

Holy Spirit compelled Jesus into the wilderness.

Question: Why would Holy Spirit have to compel Jesus to go out into the wilderness?

It is pretty simple; Jesus did not want to go. Does that sound strange? It should not, because why would Jesus want to go out into the wilderness, which is a barren and desolate place? Consider the wilderness situation into which Jesus of Nazareth was compelled:

It was dangerous; He was with wild animals. (Mark 1:13)

There was no food.

There was no water.

It was arid, hot, and miserable.

It was a lonely place.

Of course, Jesus of Nazareth did not want to go, which proves:

He had a human nature.

He is identified with those sinners who identify with Him.

If Jesus of Nazareth had said Oh great! I would love to go out there! We would question Is He really identified with me? And by the way, it was NOT an act; He was not saying Oh, I do not want to go, but I will be forced. He REALLY did not want to go, but He was perfectly willing.

Even this is different from us. When we do not want to do something and we do it anyway, we do it grudgingly. We all whine the song [through our noses]; you know the melody: Well, I do not want to, but I will… Jesus was sinless; He did not want to do things, but:

Jesus of Nazareth did so willingly, joyfully!

So Jesus of Nazareth did not want to go out into the wilderness, but He willingly let Holy Spirit take Him there. Why? It seems to me that Jesus had to be prepared for His ministry in the following two ways:

Jesus of Nazareth needed time with His Father (God the Father), and

[The big reason] Jesus of Nazareth needed to learn some things.

Does that — Jesus needed to learn some things — not sound strange? Jesus is the eternal Word who knows all things, but in His human nature, the human being Jesus of Nazareth (see the Matthew 1:18-25 series: Whose Son Is He? What Is His Name?), He had to learn things. And Jesus had to be specifically tempted by Satan to prepare for His earthly ministry.

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

Does something in that sentence seem strange (odd) to you? AFTER forty days and forty nights He became hungry? I would think so! I believe I would have gotten some hunger pains around day twenty-one or before. Actually, I would have been suffering around hour twenty-one!

A Picture Of:

What the Fast Was Originally Intended to Be

The fast was never intended to be a religious observance. In the Bible, we see biblical patterns of individuals saying I am going to fast for a designated time, and that is fine. However, I believe the principal fast is when an individual is so enjoying fellowship with the Lord God that he does not think about eating. I believe that is the case here:

Jesus of Nazareth was so into fellowship with His Father that He was not hungry.

It was a time for Jesus of Nazareth to prepare Himself for His ministry. Why did Jesus need that time when He is the omnipotent (all-powerful), eternal Word who can do everything? Again, we know the answer: Jesus waived the use of His divine nature — we are not omnipotent and He is identifying with us, so Jesus chose not to use His omnipotence.

Next:

Matthew 4:1-11, PART 3: ENCOUNTERING THE SNAKE

To: Matthew 1:18-25, WHOSE SON IS HE? WHAT IS HIS NAME?

Back To: Matthew Series Page

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