The Temptations Common to Man Matthew 4:1-11
The Temptations Common to Man • Sermon • Submitted
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· 557 viewsJesus victoriously undergoes a series of three carefully crafted temptations in order to demonstrate for us his victory over evil and his perfect ministry for us as a high priest. Secondarily, Jesus shows us the way to deal with Satan, sin and our temptation, deffending ourselves with the Word of God and not our own strength or reason.
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Introduction
Introduction
Brief Introductory Anecdote
There are a number of reasons for this sermon:
We are coming to a point in 1 Corinthians where Paul begins to warn the Church at Corinth about the temptation to become like the wilderness generation: the generation who mainly died as they were overcome by various kinds of sin (Exodus-Numbers)
While Paul warns the Corinthians about this temptation by the example of failed Israel, we wanted to look in depth at temptation as it is successfully dealt with by Jesus Christ, who is not only our example, but also our high priest.
Jesus undergoes temptation for us (“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.” ).
We want to be equipped by Jesus’ example and be clothed with his righteousness as we approach our day to day lives which are filled with these kinds of temptations.
Jesus Led into the Wilderness:
Jesus Led into the Wilderness:
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Context: All throughout the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is showing himself to be the Messianic King by reenacting Israel’s failed history with unequivocal success. At every point that Israel fails, Jesus succeeds. After being baptized by John in the Jordan River, Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness. In the wilderness, Jesus fasts for 40 days and 40 nights and is tempted by the devil in a series of three carefully crafted tests. In these three tests, we see what Paul calls temptation common to man (). That is to say, these temptations have within them the seed of every other kind of temptation that exists for mankind. All of these temptations have one common theme woven throughout: they are threats to the fatherhood of God.[1]
Sidebar: Crisis of Christology-Jesus can’t be tempted! We can easily discount this narrative by saying, “Well, Jesus had a divine nature so these temptations were easy for him.”
a. [Jesus]“…though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”
The word translated here μορφῇ “form” means form, pattern.
So, the text argues the following contrasting point: though Jesus was God, he emptied himself of those advantages, and lived in the likeness of men. This means that his temptation was every bit as difficult as ours is. God “spared no expense,” you might say. Jesus did not live off of his own divine power, but instead he relied on the Holy Spirit, the Spirit that God the Father provided for him.
The thought that “Jesus can’t be tempted because he is God, and God can’t be tempted ()” undermines the clear reading of the text. Clearly, he was tempted. But the way we experience temptation is distinct from what Jesus experienced in this sense:
James “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire” (). Our temptation comes from our sin nature, from the world, and from Satan.
Jesus, on the other hand, was tempted in every way, yet without sin (). Meaning, Jesus was not experiencing temptation from the inside out (deriving from his sinful human nature), but rather from the outside in (from Satan). This does not mean the power necessary to resist was any less than what would be required in our case. Nonetheless, this is an important distinction that must be kept in mind!
Jesus’ Led into the Wilderness:
A Word about “Temptation”: πειρασθῆναι “to be tested; tempted.” there is no distinction in the Greek language between testings and temptation. The same word is used.
Temptation to Abandon God as Father
Temptation to Abandon God as Father
All of the temptations, the temptations that are common to man, can be boiled down in their essence to the temptation to abandon the fatherhood of God. In the ancient world and in many ways today, a father would secure three things for his son:
a. Provision: food, clothing, etc.
b. Protection: shelter, protection from enemies, etc.
c. Inheritance: the Father’s hard work would in some way carry weight into the son’s life.
Setting: “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.” ().
Prior Context: Immediately prior to this story, Jesus was baptized. Listen to the description of Jesus’ baptism:
“And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’”
1. Comparative Setting: Here we ought to hear echoes of Moses’ stay on Mount Sinai “So he [Moses] was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments” (Exodus 34:28)
2. Future Context: Notice that after this Jesus calls his first disciples and then gives his Sermon on the Mount (New Covenant “Law”). Matthew is trying to show us that Jesus is reconstituting the people of God under the authority of God. A sermon for another Sunday...
Remember Israel: God declares them to be his people through their salvation from slavery in Egypt and their “baptism” in the Red Sea. Then, they too were led into the wilderness to be tested. Notice what Moses says is the purpose for their time in the wilderness:
“2 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, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 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” ().
b. Summary: The wilderness is for testing the contents of the human heart and the strength of the will to obey, for humbling and ultimately for the revelation of who God is. One word to summarize what the wilderness is for: discipline.
c.
c. Application: During this sermon, I want us to reflect on ways in which we too may be “in the wilderness,” and the ways in which we are currently being tested.
There are two ways to be led into the wilderness:
Unintentionally: God is disciplining you for sin (like Israel in Exile, or wandering after Egypt).
Intentionally: You are led by the Spirit into a season of wilderness not for the purpose of sin but in order that God might reveal more of himself to you (like Jesus in our text here).
With these thoughts in mind, let’s begin studying our text. I will start with my main point and then move to explain each facet of it.
Main Point: Feasting, Focusing, and Glorifying
Main Point: Feasting, Focusing, and Glorifying
Jesus triumphs over temptation for us by feasting on God’s provision, focusing on God’s protection, and glorifying God alone (FFG). (Repeat)
Jesus triumphs over temptation for us by feasting on God’s provision, focusing on God’s protection, and glorifying God alone (FFG). (Repeat)
Transition: We will take each of these temptations and see how they are a threat to God’s fatherhood, how they are common to mankind, and how Jesus successfully navigates them.
Setting: “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.” ()
Comparative Setting: Here we ought to hear echoes of Moses “So he [Moses] was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments” ()
Context: Notice that after this Jesus calls his first disciples and then gives his Sermon on the Mount (New Covenant “Law”). Matthew is trying to show us that Jesus is reconstituting the people of God under the authority of God.
Jesus Triumphs over Temptation for Us by Feasting on God’s Provision ()
Jesus Triumphs over Temptation for Us by Feasting on God’s Provision ()
Read
And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 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.’”
Satan, first, challenges Jesus’ trust in God’s fatherly provision of food.
In some senses, nothing is more basic than our need for food.
What is the essence of Satan’s temptation?
Is it prompting Jesus to eat because he was hungry? ()
Was it to make unnecessary use of his divine power?
Or was it something else?
The essence of the temptation resides in the phrase “If you are the Son of God...”
Jesus’ deepest temptations comes as a challenge to his identity in relationship to God.
Eating in and of itself is not wrong.
Remember Israel: God declares them to be his people through their salvation from slavery in Egypt and their “baptism” in the Red Sea. Then, they too were led into the wilderness to be tested. Notice what Moses says is the purpose for their time in the wilderness:
Jesus was accused of being a glutton “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds’” (Matthew 11:19).
Commanding stones to become bread is not wrong and it is within the realm of Jesus’ divine power.
Moses even could speak to a rock and water would come out ()
c. Summary: The wilderness is for testing the contents of the human heart and the strength of the will to obey, for humbling and ultimately for the revelation of who God is.
Rather, Satan tempts Jesus to take him on as his father. He says,
“In your father’s kingdom, your basic needs do not get met. You don’t get your daily bread. In my kingdom, I will let you make use of your divine right and you can eat all you want!”
Puritan Pastor Thomas Brooks in his book Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices argues that this is first among many of Satan’s schemes: “To present the bait and hide the hook” (Brooks, 1).
Jesus exposes the hook in his response:
d. Application:
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
But he answered, “It is written,
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
i. Notice that there is a connection between what goes into our mouth and what comes out of “God’s mouth.”
ii. Satan is attempting to command Jesus to put something into his mouth as he is listening to what is coming out of Satan’s mouth. Satan is the hook, in himself.
iii. The verb “Command” εἰπὲ is, is in fact, a command.
iv. Satan is commanding Jesus to do his word. Notice how subtle that is!
a. “Do for yourself what God says that he will do for you!” Satan says, “Obey me and eat!”
We’ve seen this before, the same temptation in the Garden of Eden:
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil”
()
4. In the Garden Satan says, “If you eat, you will not die” in the wilderness he says, “If you don’t eat, you will die!”
5. Application: Satan tempts Jesus to the core to be defined by his hunger, to abandon his Father, and join Satan’s family.
a. Rather than succumb to this, Jesus exposes the hook in this test by:
i. Responding with Scripture’s authority (not his own).
i. Responding with Scripture’s authority (not his own).
It is written...
ii. Discerning the difference between Satan’s voice and his heavenly Father’s voice.
1. Satan says “If you are the Son of God...” the Father says, “This is my Son...”
iii. Correctly applying Scripture to his unique situation.
Jesus says, I’ve been living for the past 40 days on nothing but God’s word. The Spirit led me here. I will live by God’s Word and not by my appetite.
6. Application:
The power of Scripture memorization for spiritual warfare (taste true bread, not substitutes)
The need to discern God’s voice during times of discipline (be defined by your hunger for God)
The need to trust God’s voice, especially during wilderness seasons (God has not abandoned you, Christian, no matter what you are going through, feast on his promises).
Context: Notice that after this Jesus calls his first disciples and then gives his Sermon on the Mount (New Covenant “Law”). Matthew is trying to show us that Jesus is reconstituting the people of God under the authority of God
If Satan cannot get us to doubt God’s provision as our heavenly Father, he will move to attacking God as our protector. This leads us to our second point.
Jesus Triumphs Temptation for Us by Focusing on God’s Protection ()
Jesus Triumphs Temptation for Us by Focusing on God’s Protection ()
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, 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.’”
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Here, we see Satan’s second device as it is described by Thomas Brooks again as “Painting Sin with Virtues Colors” (Brooks, 4).
Listen to Brooks, “Pride, he presents to the soul under the name and notion of neatness and cleanliness; and covetousness (which the apostle condemns for idolatry) to be but good business; and drunkenness to be good fellowship, and riotousness under the name and notion of liberality, and wantoness as a trick of youth” (Brooks, 4). Can you tell that he is a Puritan?
Books is saying here that if Satan can’t get you to fall for the bait and switch, he’ll get you to sin through your commitment to virtue. This one might hit more close to home here.
First, we need to unpack what Satan is commanding Jesus to do:
Location: Satan takes Jesus to the Pinnacle of the temple. He understands the power of changing scenery.
Notice as well that Satan is taking Jesus through a progression of Salvation history: from the wilderness, to the temple, to all the kingdoms of the world.
Statement: This time, Satan quotes Scripture to Jesus with a crucial omission of the text.
He says, “He will command his angels concerning you,” and
“On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.”
Satan is saying, “Since you trust the promises of God concerning God’s provision, let me see you trust God’s promise concerning your protection. In fact, let’s allow God the opportunity to demonstrate his protection (Sin painted with virtue’s colors).
Satan’s temptation is further amplified by the public nature of this scenario: the temple was a crowded place! And so was Jerusalem.
So, what is the crucial omission of the text here? First, we need to see the omission and then look at the wider context of the quoted text.
For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
“To guard you in all your ways...” Why would Satan leave this out?
Satan is attempting to proof-text the passage and interpret it incorrectly.
The sweeping context of the passage is this:
As a person abides in God, he is given protection. This protection however, is not seen as unconditional safety:
Evangelical Commentary on the Bible Psalm 91
Complete immunity from harm is not the experience of the godly; but ultimate protection, answered prayer, and divine protection, and that satisfies the man of faith.
2. Satan says, “Prove it!”
Let’s see next how Jesus responds to this command:
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Jesus quotes from “You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.”
Remember: almost immediately after being freed from Egypt, Israel quarrels with Moses about providing water for them.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
They tested the Lord specifically by asking the question: “Is the Lord among us or not?” ()
Now, this sounds like a virtuous, honest question doesn’t it? But if you put it in context and see that Israel has just come out of Egypt by a massive display of signs and wonders, you see the sin of unbelief exposed here.
Clearly, if God provided them salvation from Egypt, surely he will not let them die in the wilderness. But, oh how Israel fails to know the character of God!
Satan, again, is commanding Jesus to doubt God’s protection by testing God’s protection.
Application:
Jesus Triumps Temptations for Us by Glorifying God Alone ()
Jesus Triumps Temptations for Us by Glorifying God Alone ()
References/Works Cited
References/Works Cited
In this sermon, I borrow ideas extensively from Russell Moore, Tempted and Tried: Temptation and Triumph of Christ (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2011).