Sermon Tone Analysis

Chapter 1 - 4 Review

Chapter 1

Jesus’s kingship is shown by his birth - his descent from the royal line of David and his miraculous conception

Jesus’ kingship is shown by the circumstances surrounding his birth - by the homage of the magi, the hatred of Herod and God’s miraculous protection of the young child

Chapter 3

The greatest man who ever lived heralds the Messiah, the One who was greater still.

The herald’s job was to prepare the way and proclaim the arrival of the king

Chapter 4

Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan declared his royalty.

His testing in the wilderness demonstrated it

Chapter 4

The following material is adopted from John MacArthur’s commentary on Matthew and his Study guide.

Additional material taken from sources listed at the end

Read and summarize

The Crisis of Temptation ( 4:1-11 )

— It was the kingship of Christ that was emphasized in 1:1-3:12

— At 3:13, there is a shift: the king becomes the sin-bearer

— By means of His baptism He reaffirms His resolution to offer Himself as a ransom for many

— This King is also a priest

— “Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

( Heb 6:20; Ps 110:4 )

— Offering Himself implies suffering — He suffers vicariously

— One of the forms of suffering is temptation ( 4:1-11 )

— “He suffered being tempted” ( Heb 2:18 )

— He is not only the priest who “suffers being tempted” but as the king who gives battle to His chief opponent and overcomes him

The Preparation ( 4:1-2 )

( 4:1-2 ) Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.

— Mark adds that Jesus immediately went to the wilderness after his baptism ( Mk 1:12 )

— A great truth of life is that after victory often comes temptation

— God’s Word warns: “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”

( 1 Cor 10:12 )

— Satan met Adam in the perfect environment of the garden; Adam lost his battle while in paradise

— Satan met Christ in the forbidding desolate wilderness where “He was with wild beasts” ( Mk 1:13) without food for forty days ( Lk 4:2); Yet Christ won His battle

— What better proof can there be that spiritual and moral failure are not caused by circumstances but rather by our character and response when tempted?

— What did Christ do for forty days while fasting?

— No doubt spent time in prayer with the Father

— Even in His perfect humanity Jesus needed time in for this thoughts and prayers like we all do

( 4:1 ) tempted by the devil

— The Greek word for tempt is πειράζω (peirazō ), tempt.

The word is neutral

— Whether the test is good or bad depends on the test

— God often uses Satan’s tempting to evil as His own means of testing for good.

What Satan intended the Son into sin, the Father used to demonstrate the Son’s holiness and worthiness

Calvin

“There were two reasons why Christ withdrew into the wilderness.

First, that, after a fast of forty days he might come forth as a new man, or rather a heavenly man, to the discharge of his office.

Secondly, that he might be tried by temptation and undergo an apprenticeship before he undertook an office so arduous and so exalted”

— One is reminded of Moses at the burning bush ( Ex 3:1-4:17 )

— And of Paul’s retreat to Arabia

The Temptation ( 4:3-10 )

Q: In what ways did Satan seek to tempt Christ, and how did Jesus respond ( 4:3-10 )?

( 4:3-10 ) Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” 5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, 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 shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’

” 7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ” 8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan!

For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’

”

— Three temptations and each worse than the last

— The first was to distrust the Father

— The second was to presume upon the Father by putting Him to the test

— The third was to renounce the Father and to worship Satan instead

Q: Perhaps you’ve heard these questions or asked these questions yourself.

Was it possible for the Savior to succumb to temptation?

— Definitely not!

— He was without sin ( Is 53:9; John 8:46; 2 Cor 5:21 )

— He was overflowing with

— holiness

— pardoning love

— a yearning to heal

— impart the true knowledge of God (Is 53:5; Matt 5:43-48; 14:14; 15:2, 3; Luke 23:34; Acts 10:38 )

Q: If He was unable to sin, was His temptation real?

— Yes, “He was tempted in all points ( or in every respect ) as we are, yet without sin; that is, without falling into sin ( Heb 4:15 )

— He experienced the various temptations to which men in general, including believers, experience

— In all these things, He was urged by Satan to believe that He could receive a good thing by committing a bad act

Going Deeper

“If You are the Son of God

— Satan was not questioning Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God or God in human flesh

— The conditional “if” carries the idea of since in this context

— Satan’s plan was for Christ to use His divine power that he has set aside in His humanity ( Phil 2: )

Serving Self ( 4:3-4 )

( 4:3-4 ) Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

—The first temptation was much more than satisfying His hunger

— It was going against God’s will

— He was hungry and thirsty and He had the right to have something to eat and drink

— But Satan appealed to Jesus’ supposed rights as the son of God; how could He feed the children of Israel and allow His son to starve

The idea is that it was not wrong for Jesus to turn stones into bread

— It was the word “if.”

Doubt God

— It was a temptation to doubt God’s veracity, his truthfulness, hidden in what appears to be concern about Jesus’s physical hunger

— It was a test to induce Jesus to use His divine powers to serve His own self-interests and thereby rebel against God’s will

Hendricksen

— It is clear that temptation came from the outside: the tempter came to Him

— Only in this way are are we permitted to think of Christ as being tempted

— Satan is the tempter ( 1 Thess 3:5; Matt 4:1; Mark 1:13; Luke 4:2; 1 Cor 7:5 )

— His meanness consists especially in this, that he first tempts man to sin

— Then, when the tempted one follows his advice, the tempter becomes the accuser!

— Moreover, he will even continue to accuse the fallen one after our sin has been forgiven ( Zech 3:1-5; Rev 12:10 )

Jesus Answered

Jesus answered by quoting scripture