Sermon Tone Analysis

Lord willing, I hope to continue on today examining the Temptation of Jesus in the wilderness found in the Gospel According to Matthew.

So, if you would please, turn to Matthew chapter 4, verse 1.

Chapter 4, starting in verse 1,

Last week we looked at verses 1 and 2, where willfully following the leading of the Holy Spirit, Jesus went into the wilderness specifically to be tempted.

The reason for this, we read from Hebrews 2:16-18,

Hebrews 4:15 continues,

After 40 days of temptations and fasting-- alone in the wilderness-- Jesus was hungry and feeling the effects.

At his physically weakest point, Satan attacked most aggressively.

Look at Verse 3, “And when the tempter came to him,” Mt 4:3 The devil goes by a number of names, often ones that describe his wicked ways-- such as liar and the father of lies, deceiver, murderer, accuser or false accuser, oppressor, slanderer, adversary, enemy, opponent, and other names which include the dragon and the serpent.

His name, Satan, in The Hebrew means to oppose, obstruct, or accuse.

In the Greek it literally means “adversary.”

In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the name is rendered as diabolos-- or the prince of devils.

Tempting is one of his main works.

He desperately attempts to lure people into sin, especially professing believers whom he wants to separate from God.

Not that he ever could separate us from the love of God, but he will try his best to keep us living in sin and damage our relationship with God-- whom we have been reconciled to by the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ.

Here in the wilderness, the tempter came to Jesus, manifesting himself in a way that we are not given specifics on, but most certainly in an audible voice; possible even in a physical manifestation.

The devil’s tactics have been the same since the first temptations in the Garden of Eden.

He distracts the attention of people away from God.

He tempts them to question or deny the existence of God-- or at least disobey God’s Word and perfect standards.

From the Serpents mouth to Eve, “Did God really say that?”, he wants mankind to doubt and turn their hearts, minds, and wills against God.

Disbelieve and disobey-- that is Satan’s way.

A way that leads to sin-- to ruination, to death, and to judgment-- which, without Jesus Christ’s righteousness will end in eternal condemnation.

Those who believe In Jesus Christ and repent will be saved from sin and the punishment due it.

Continuing on in verse 3, “... he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.”

“… If thou be the Son of God…” Three verses ago (in Matthew 3:17), immediately before Jesus went into the wilderness, we read, “And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

This was preceded by the Holy Spirit’s coming down as a dove upon Jesus, before John the Baptist.

The devil here is saying, if the witnesses are true then prove it.

If John the Baptist’s proclamation is true, if the Holy Spirit’s witness is true, and if God’s claim that you are his son is true-- then certainly you can do this little thing to prove it.

And what is that little thing?

Make yourself some food.

This turning of stones into bread may come from John the Baptist proclaiming that stones could be made into Children of Abraham back in chapter 3, verse 9.

The devil wanted proof of the Divine Son-ship of Jesus Christ and he wanted it by his methods, regardless of what God’s will was.

He wanted Jesus to disregard and distrust God’s providential works in sustaining him in his life and ministry.

40 days of fasting and now the effects of hunger have set in-- and this is what the devil pounces upon.

Physically weakened and afflicted states can open the way for temptations that give it to sin.

Jesus said in Matthew 26:41,

Hungry, weak, and alone, Jesus completely understood the weakness of the flesh-- but he did not, and could not sin.

Benjamin Keach draws out of this temptation that:

“The devil had a double purpose.”

“(1.)

To know whether Jesus was really the Son of God, by this reason, that if by his bare word or command he could turn stone into bread, then of certain he is the Son of God; therefore he says not pray, but command, but if in the extremity of his hunger and necessity, he cannot do this, then he cannot be the Son of God, and therefore Satan would take occasion to despise and mock him, thus, in vain do you trust to that heavenly voice (from Matt.

3:17,) and believe, or hope that others shall believe thee to be the Son of God.”

“(2.)

By that temptation the devil endeavours to entice Christ into some sin, or distrust of the divine oracle, or into a vain ostentation, or empty glory, if by the devil’s suggestion he should work a miracle, &.”

(Benjamin Keach, Tropologia: A Key to Open Scripture Metaphors (London: William Hill Collingridge, 1856), 35.)

The circumstance of this temptation has some similarities to the first temptation in the Garden of Eden, in Genesis chapter 3.

First, there was a temptation that appealed to the lust of the flesh-- a physical temptation to eat.

Adam and Eve were in the lushest and grandest garden creation has ever seen-- a garden specially prepared by God.

They had the finest food before them, and in great abundance.

They could eat anything they desired, except for the fruit of one tree.

In contrast to the Garden of Eden, our Lord Jesus was in a wilderness, most likely one that was barren and had sparse vegetation.

Adam and Eve could have had their fill, but our Lord had gone 40 days without food.

The serpent in his temptation of Eve worked to draw her away from God, to cast doubt upon God’s Words and Commands.

That liar and murderer led Eve to take matters into her own hands and exalt herself as a god.

That same serpent tried to cast doubt on God’s words of verifying that Jesus is the Son of God.

He wanted Jesus to take matters into his own hands and exalt himself in the works of creation- ignoring the will of God the Father.

Eve, in her unwitting battle against the serpent, used the Words of God in her response.

She told the devil that God said they could not eat of that one tree, nor could they even touch it, or else they die.

But she did not fully believe those words of God, and as the serpent distorted and subverted God’s Words-- appealing to her physical desires and pride--Eve gave into the temptation and sinned.

So too did that old serpent try to appeal to our Lord with physical desires and pride by tempting Jesus to perform a miracle to feed himself and satisfy his own hunger.

Verse 4

Jesus uses the most powerful weapon to fight this battle-- the Word of God, which is the Sword of the Spirit.

It is our greatest weapon as well.

He quotes Deuteronomy 8:3,

In that passage, Moses is reminding the children of Israel of God’s grace and care for them during the forty years of wandering in the wilderness.

During that journey God fed the people with manna from heaven.

God alone sustains his people and supplies them with every provision he deems necessary.

Concerning the “word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD”, John Calvin said, “The word does not mean doctrine, but the purpose which God has made known, with regard to preserving the order of nature and the lives of his creatures.

Having created men, he does not cease to care for them: but, as “he breathed into their nostrils the breath of life,” (Gen.

2:7,) so he constantly preserves the life which he has bestowed.

In like manner, the Apostle says, that he “upholdeth all things by his powerful word,” (Heb.

1:3;) that is, the whole world is preserved, and every part of it keeps its place, by the will and decree of Him, whose power, above and below, is everywhere diffused.

Though we live on bread, we must not ascribe the support of life to the power of bread, but to the secret kindness, by which God imparts to bread the quality of nourishing our bodies.”

(John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke, vol. 1 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 215.)

When Eve responded to the serpent with God’s word there was no trust in God or his promises-- his provisions were not satisfactory for her.

When Jesus responded to the tempter with God’s Word, there was trust that God would keep his promises and that he was in control of all things-- God will provide and care for his people as he sees fit.

Quoting from Deuteronomy also points to the fact that God has proven himself in his promises to care for his people-- to sustain them and provide for them as he wills.

The devil, tempting Jesus to prove he is the Son of God, is shown that Jesus is obedient and subservient to God’s will and God’s Word.

Jesus does nothing more to answer the devil in proving who he is.

When Jesus responds to the devil in the next two temptations, he also responds with verses from Deuteronomy.

For our Lord, the Scriptures were the final rule, truth, and authority for all matters of faith, doctrine, and life.

The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy in the second epistle, chapter 3, verses 16 &17,

In Ephesians chapter 6 Paul gives us instructions concerning the armor of God in spiritual warfare-- that we “may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”

Eph 6:11.

One of the key elements in that armor is the Word of God.

It is critical for engaging in spiritual warfare.

The Word is a powerful defensive weapon.

Jesus’ use of the Word in response to the tempter puts an end to the first temptation.

So, the devil changes tactics for a greater attack.

Verse 5, “Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city,” Mt 4:5

Physically, Jesus was taken up to Jerusalem by the devil.

As there was no sin recorded, nor any victory claimed by the tempter, this journey was done with the permission of God and consented to by Jesus Christ.

Details of the way in which this occurred are not given to us.

Continuing on in verse 5, “… and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,”

The devil takes Jesus to the top of the temple, in that holy city Jerusalem.

There, is the center of all that represents God.

The city is the capital where the Throne of David is represented.

The temple was a type and shadow of Jesus Christ himself.

The temple is the religious center for the Jews, the dwelling place of God.

It is where God receives worship.

Verse 6,

Jesus is taken to the very pinnacle of the temple, and the devil wants Christ to prove to all the people of Israel that he is indeed the Son of God.