Whitney Hopler - The Assessment of Jesus Christ : Commentary on Matthew 4

Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness

Whitney Hopler : Crosswalk.com Contributing Writer https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible-study/important-things-we-can-learn-from-the-temptation-of-jesus.html

1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted[a] by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.

4 Jesus answered, It is written: Man shall not live on bread alone, but onevery word that comes from the mouth of God.

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 If you are the Son of God, he said, throw yourself down. For it is written:

He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

7 Jesus answered him, It is also written: Do not put the Lord your Godto the test.

8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 All this I will give you, he said, if you will bow down and worship me.

10 Jesus said to him, Away from me, Satan! For it is written: Worship theLord your God, and serve him only.

11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Commentary by Whitney Hopler

During that time, he fasted from food. Jesus was hungry when Satan showed up and challenged Jesus to prove that he is the Son of God by telling stones to become bread he could eat. Rather than giving in, Jesus resisted evil despite his hunger and told Satan: It is written: Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4). Jesus was referring to scripture by saying It is written. He was referencing Deuteronomy 8:3, which recalls how God provided a miraculous type of food called manna to the Israelites when they were in the wilderness, in order to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

Do Not Forget the Lord

8 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. 2 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.

3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.

6 Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good landa land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills;

Satan also took Jesus to the highest point of the temple in Jerusalem and tempted Jesus to throw himself down, twisting the context of Psalm 91:11-12

to make it seem as if God would send angels to the rescue no matter what.

Matthew 4:6 records Satans statement: If you are the Son of God, he said,

throw yourself down. For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. Matthew 4:7 records Jesus reply, which refers to Deuteronomy 6:16: Jesus answered him, It is also written: Do not put the Lord your God to the test.

For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;

they will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

In yet another temptation, Satan showed Jesus all the worlds kingdoms, and reminded Jesus that in this fallen world those kingdoms are under Satans control. Matthew 4:9 and Luke 4:6-7 describe Satan offering to give Jesus control of it all if Jesus agrees to worship Satan rather than God. Jesus responds forcefully: Away from me, Satan! For it is written: Worship the

Lord your God, and serve him only. (Matthew 4:10). In his response, Jesus references another scripture: Deuteronomy 6:13.

Finally, after Jesus successfully overcomes all the temptations, Satan leaves him and holy angels arrive to attend to Jesus.

Deuteronomy 6

New International Version

Love the Lord Your God

6 These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. 3 Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.

4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a] 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

10 When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fa-thers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give youa land with large, flourish-ing cities you did not build, 11 houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plantthen when you eat and are satisfied, 12 be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

13 Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name.

14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; 15 for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land. 16 Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah. 17 Be sure to keep the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you. 18 Do what is right and good in the Lords sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors, 19 thrusting out all your enemies before you, as the Lord said.

20 In the future, when your son asks you, What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord our God has commanded you? 21 tell him: We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 Before our eyes the Lord sent signs and wondersgreat and terribleon Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. 23

But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land he promised on oath to our ancestors. 24 The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. 25 And if we are careful to obey all this law before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.