Matthew 4:1-11 - The Testing of Jesus
The Book of Matthew • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Welcome/FCG
Good morning brothers and sisters - I want to give another recommendation for Faith Community Groups. I would really, strongly encourage you to make this a priority.
· Even if you feel like you aren’t going to be able to make every meeting - go ahead and sign up. Don’t miss the opportunity.
· Good for you - good for your connection with other believers - it is good for your discipleship.
· Good for this Body - they will encourage unity, care, equipping - many benefits to this.
· But it requires investment, a commitment - Relationships/community takes time. You don’t go to the gym 1 time and hope to have 6-pack abs. You will not show up to one meeting and hope to have a deep new community.
o Try it - commit to it for the next year - and see what God might do through these groups.
· I am going to be at the “Get Connected” station out in the foyer after service and I would personally love to answer any questions you may have and help you get signed up.
Pray
Text - Let’s jump right in this morning…
Testing vs. Temptation (v.1)
· Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. We see a couple of things here…
1) The Spirit leads - 3rdperson of the Godhead - leads Jesus into the wilderness for this purpose.
2) The Devil (διαβόλου) tempts (accuser/slanderer)
a. This is an important distinction that we must make right out of the gate - Temptation vs. Testing.
§ We looked at this in our study through James earlier this year - I want to remind you 1:13 - Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. This is a challenging concept. But we have to recognize this distinction. Within this, we must begin with a couple of underlying truths that help us orient our perspective.
o Satan/Devil is powerful - Limited power of Satan, but power nonetheless
§ Job 1
§ 2 Corinthians 4:4 - god of this world blinded the minds of unbelievers
§ Ephesians 2:2 - prince of the power of the air
§ John 12:31 - Jesus calls him the “ruler of this world”
§ (Screen) 1 John 5:19 - the whole world lies in the power of the evil one Satan is powerful - He exhibits rule/force, he is an adversary of God, His ways, and His people.
o LIMITED power - The Cross Disarms / Triumphs over Satan
§ Colossians 2 - And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us (Satan loves to use and accuse with) with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him (Christ).
§ Satan and his demonic gang, with their guerilla warfare tactics - the Cross disarms them - weapons are debilitated. Evil is on the run, but still existent. Like a burner on a hot stove - it is still hot even though it has been shut off. Satan’s power is limited…
o Reality of the spiritual realm. In our Western culture - even within Western Christianity.
§ C.S. Lewis - “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. (Practically, that’s the majority in our culture) The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.”
§ TEMPTATION SUMMARY - Satan is real and powerful. He will use every last drop of his limited, temporal power to oppose the Sovereign God plans and people. It is Satan who tempts. That’s who he is.
· From the beginning… Genesis 3 - Do you remember Satan’s tactics in the Garden with Adam/Eve?
o Questions our hearing/interpretation - “Did God really say…?”
o Brings into question God’s motives/character /care - “You will not surely die. God knows when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good from evil.”
o The temptations we face to sin ultimately point back to the character of God - Does God know best, or me? Does God have my best in mind? Is He withholding from his creatures?
o Satan tempts. But God tests.
o God TESTS - We might think this to be cruel - it comes down to perspective. Testing is a gracious opportunity of God to prove - to demonstrate - what reality is.My children can say that they trust me to catch when I say I will (pool) - but until they choose to jump, the question remains. God’s testing is meant for your good and His glory.
o God’s testing is demonstrated in many ways throughout Scripture (Abraham, Joseph, Job) but is perhaps most evident in the story of Israel as a nation (who, collectively is called “God’s son”).
§ Recall their history - Slavery in Egypt for 400 years - and God raises up Moses to deliver them - leads them out of Egypt, across the Red Sea, toward the land God promised to give them… But they face trials - They were in the wilderness 3 days and found no water (Exodus 15:22). They grumble (did you bring us out of slavery for us to die of thirst), God provides. It says God “tested them” (Exodus 15:25-26). Exodus 16 - The people grumble again, they say “You brought us out here to die of starvation.” - God provides - He makes it rain bread/manna from heaven.
· Exodus 17:2 - Moses to the people - “Why do you test the Lord?” (in their quarrelling with Moses. Lack of trust in God’s provision for them) - “Is the Lord among us or not?”
§ Wilderness story - Test - Will you trust Me? Rely upon Him, opportunity to trust Him, for daily provision. Deuteronomy 8:1-2 - “The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers. And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you (We want humility - God opposes the proud, gives grace to the humble - He wants their good), testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. Will you keep His commands? Will you trust your Father?
§ Israel’s attitude - arrogant, entitled - “Is this the way God’s son, His chosen people, are to be treated? To suffer?” God is withholding from us. Just like Satan’s temptation in the Garden.
§ I want you to keep this story of the Exodus fresh on your mind - we talked about it a few weeks back - this idea of TYPOLOGY - Old Testament figures/events are foreshadowing a greater reality as God’s plan unfolds.
· You may recall a few weeks ago - “out of Egypt I have called my son.”
§ I say all that because our text today - The exodus story, the wilderness wanderings of the nation of Israel foreshadow the testing/temptation of Jesus - Israel failed the test in the wilderness. 40 years of wandering proved/demonstrated their lack of trust in God’s timing/plan/provision. This event in the life of Jesus is boiling over with the most anticipated question of “will He succeed”? Where Adam/Eve failed in the garden, where Israel failed in the wilderness, and where we/humanity continue to fail in thought/word/deed BIG QUESTION - Will Jesus pass the test?
· The Spirit has led Jesus into the wilderness.
· v.2 we see context - And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. (One of the biggest understatements of the Bible - some of us are already thinking about lunch)
Let’s explore the Devil’s temptations. We find three of them in succession. 1st temptation is this:
v.3 - And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
· Satan begins with an attack on his identity, that if you recall, God the Father has just affirmed from heaven - “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Echoes of the garden temptation - “Did God really say that?”
· If you are the Son of God - God doesn’t deprive His children when they’re hungry. The Son of God in such an exalted position shouldn’t have to endure hunger. Jesus, you have the power to turn these stones to bread - You don’t need the Father. You can make your own way.
· Now there is no doubt that Jesus is hungry. His temporary deprivation of food is an obedient, submissive act to the will of God. Desire for food, desire to satisfy hunger is not a bad thing. We are creatures with desires, longings of many kinds - hunger(food), thirst(water), tired(rest), sexual intimacy, safety, truth, loyalty, justice, relationships. These wants, desires are not bad. They are, however, meant to be satisfied in God’s way, in God’s timing, wholly submissive to Him.
o Take any desire - Hunger/Food (Chipotle burrito) It’s a good desire. It’s a desire that leads us to remember our Creator, trust His provision. We get the joy of His meeting that desire - the joy of experiencing fresh chicken/rice/beans/and all the things. Praise Him as the provider. Giver of good gifts.
§ Intimacy - I have this desire. It’s a good desire. God has a design for it. In the context of marriage. 1 man/1 woman.
§ You can do this with any desire. Any of the longings we have creatures. Reflect on them in the context of our Creator - who desires our good. He satisfies every longing.
· Psalm 107 - Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
For he satisfies the longing soul,
and the hungry soul he fills with good things.
o What happens when we are deprived of those desires?
§ Will I trust God? His ways? His timing? To satisfy those cravings.
§ OR will I use my abilities, my resources, my environment to take matters into my own hands? We have our own sinfulness/flesh that is poking at us - We have a spiritual war machine working in the shadows around us - that is poking and whispering - “God is withholding from you… Look at the image on the screen… One more glance isn’t going to hurt anybody… Entertain that thought, no one knows… keep that scandalous conversation going… you deserve to indulge that. It can be anything - eat a few more cookies, there is no need to be disciplined. Sleep in - there is nothing to do, no good to do today anyway. Don’t bother trying to quit smoking, your longings are too far gone. We could do this with any desire… Every desire is an opportunity to satisfy it God’s way or in your own.
§ God is not withholding any good thing from you, in the big picture, in the long run. The Christian life is a marathon, not a sprint.
· Look at what God says to Israel - why these things happened to them (hungry/thirsty) - Deuteronomy 8:16… leading up to this, God says I am the one who led you through the wilderness. There was no water and no food out there, yet I provided for you… And I did it with a purpose… that he might humble youand test you, to do you good in the end.This is His Fatherly heart.
§ This deprivation is not a bad thing. Proverbs 3 - The Lord disciples those He loves, just like a loving father does for his son. He has the big picture in view.
Jesus responds in triumph over Satan - v.4 But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
· Jesus responds to Satan’s temptation by quoting Deuteronomy 8:3 - Look at what it says…
o 3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you.
· God humbled Israel in their hunger - He is teaching them. He desires their good, their trust in Him - He is the source of everything.
Temptation #2 - v.5 Then the devil took him (transport - I believe this is more of a “visionary” journey (think Ebenezer Scrooge) more than a physical one (to use Commentator RT France’s language) - Scriptural support / no time - Ezekiel 8:1-3) to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple (idea high place) 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God (the Chosen One), throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
· The Devil is sly - he quotes Scripture too. Straight from Psalm 91. The Father won’t let anything happen to you. It’s decreed. Jump and the Father will catch you - only problem, although that may be true, that’s is not the heart of Satan’s temptation - The temptation here is to try and force the Father’s hand.To test God. If you jump, God has no choice, He’s obligated to save you. I think Craig Keener gets to the heart of this… He says It would be “to act as if God is there to serve His Son, rather than the reverse.”
· This is a heart attitude like Romans 6 - God is so gracious. That means I can continue in my sin that grace may abound. God is obligated to serve me because He’s gracious. Wrong attitude.
v.7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Jesus rejects Satan’s use of Scripture - there is a wrong way to use the Bible, deceitful way - Straight from Deuteronomy 6:16. Satan tempts Jesus to test God. Same way Israel failed - they tested God in the wilderness with their grumbling/question of God’s motives. But once again, Jesus triumphs.
Last temptation - v.8-9 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you (Remember, Satan has rule/reign albeit limited), if you will fall down and worship me.”
· Notice the devil doesn’t say “if you are the Son of God” in this one… The Messiah is going to have universal dominion at some point - the question is do you want it now? That’s the devil’s temptation - “I will give it to you now.” No suffering. No cross. No grave. Just a change of teams. A switch of allegiance.
· Can you imagine? Everything you could ever desire - what’s the deepest desire of your heart? || at no cost to you. The chiseled body without the gym. The sharpest mind without reading a book. All authority with no obedience to the Father.
v.10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”
· Quoted from Deuteronomy 6:13 - One more time, Jesus triumphing. Israel time and time again ran after the gods of foreign nations, bowing the knee to idols. Jesus is victorious.
v.11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
· The angels who are at His disposal at any moment, now come in the right time - to minister to Him.
Jesus has succeeded where Israel failed. The new Adam has come and will crush the head of the serpent. Our new representative. The head of the body, the Church.
A few misconceptions/clarifications/theological implications:
1) Person of Christ - Mysterious/complex - Jesus did not have an inner desire toward sin - Jesus was fully God and fully man. Yet - He did not have a fallen nature like you and I. His temptation to sin came from outside Himself. Unlike us, who, are also tempted from without, are tempted from within. Paradoxical / Tension - we have to be okay with knowing we don’t know everything and the deep intricacies of the incarnation.
a. Fully GOD and fully man.
b. He is the 2nd Adam - not of the first. Even though He had a nature like ours, it was not corrupted by the Fall. No inherited/inherent sin nature. Jesus came to restore what has been corrupted.
c. Cyril (400’s) - “Though he clothed himself, as they say, in Adam, he was not as Adam was, of the earth earthy, but was celestial and so incomparably superior to what was earthy.”
d. Augustine - “For there was born not a nature corrupted by the contagion of transgression, but the one only remedy of all such corruptions.”
2) Prompt the question - Is it even possible for Jesus to sin? Yes (in his full human nature) but also, No (God cannot be tempted by evil). These things are too great for us. I would recommend a book to you to explore this more deeply.
a. Macleod - “He stood only by the power of the Holy Spirit: not by some effortless, Samson-like omnipotence, but by the power of a relationship with God which was moral and personal and which meant that he was invincible in faith, hope, and love. But in one crucial respect Christ was not like us. He was not tempted by anything within himself. He was not dragged away by his own evil desire and enticed (Jas. 1:14). There was no law of sin in his members (Rom 7:23). There was no predisposition to sin. The ‘prince of this world’ had no foothold on him (Jn. 14:30). What then did the devil work on? Part of the answer is that although Jesus had no vices he did have sinless human weaknesses. He could be tempted (and clearly was) through hunger, through the fear of pain and through love for a friend. It is not a mark of fallenness to feel any of these, (desires are not bad in an of themselves) and yet each of them could generate strong pressure to deviate from the path prescribed for him.”
Donald Macleod - To the angels on the balcony (as to theologians in their armchairs) it may have been perfectly clear that Jesus could never sin. To himself, engaging the devil on the road (in the wilderness), the outcome may have been far from clear. Never once, as we observe him struggle with temptation, do we see him deriving comfort from the fact of his own impeccability (perfection). All that we see is his having recourse to the very same weapons as are available to ourselves: the company of his fellow believers (Mk. 14:33), the word of God (Mt. 4:4), and prayer (Mk. 14:35).
3) Temptations were “focused on his Messianic task” - “Opportunities to turn from the path of suffering and death.”
a. Two-fold testing - 1) identity as the Son of God (messianic work) & 2) common human temptations to doubt God’s goodness and idolatry. HEBREWS 4:15 - For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Jesus will continue enduring these temptationson the path of suffering, on the way to the cross to redeem us. Later in Matthew… think about this…
· 16:13-23 - Upon Peter’s great confession of Jesus as the Christ (You are the Son of the living God) - Then Jesus tells his disciples that he will be killed and on the 3rd day resurrected - remember what Peter says?
o “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” You don’t need to go and die.
o But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hinderance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
· Or think about this - His betrayal and arrest - in that scene Peter is ready to fight, cuts off somebody’s ear with a sword. What does Jesus say?
o Put your swords down - “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” Peter, they are my beck and call.
· Or as Jesus was being crucified and spread out on the cross - He was mocked (Mt. 27:40) - do you remember their taunts? they said, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, (just like the Devil said) come down from the cross.”
o The temptation to stop the agony, to reveal Himself in majesty and power - but He continues in obedience to the point of death. He yields up his spirit.
Jesus has completed the test. Jesus is triumphed over sin and Satan and death. And has risen victorious - unable to be held by the grave.
· Hebrews 2:10 - For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
· 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
How does this connect to our life today?
1) Belief/Reality - We have a faithful high priest. Our Savior did not succumb to temptation. The main point of the text this morning is to show that Jesus was perfectly obedient to the will of the Father- He is the true Son of God. Jesus’ Messianic mission was completed with flying colors. Rest in the finished work of Jesus. Our hope is not in ourselves, but in Him. We who have failed the test look to Jesus who has suffered on our behalf.
2) This text is not primarily about how we as believers are to fight temptation. It is not a prescription - quote more Scripture. However it is not less…
a. Word - You have God’s revealed word to us in the Scriptures. You have the sword of the Spirit of God. What does it look like for you to store up God’s word in your heart in 2025?
b. Community - Just as the angels came to Jesus after these temptations to minister to him - God has graciously given us one another to know Jesus more deeply. How are you connecting within this body? Intentionally pursuing relationship? FCGs can be a great way to do that. Make that a priority to sign up and invest.
c. Spirit/Prayer - He is able to help you in temptation. He has given His Holy Spirit to those who believe in Jesus. He tells us to come before Him in prayer - casting ourselves upon Him in all circumstances.
Christian, God is not withholding anything from you.
Romans 8
32 He who did not spare (withhold) his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.[j] 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.