Matthew 4:1-11
The Testing of Jesus

1. The Setup
   1. The Spirit Declares Jesus God's Son
      1. Jesus accepted John's baptism for the repentance of sins
         1. Not because he needed to repent
         2. But because you did
      2. And the Spirit descended on him
         1. And God said, This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased
         2. Again, not for him, but for you
   2. The Spirit Leads Him Out to Test Him
      1. Now that same Spirit leads him out into the wilderness for something less pleasant.
      2. He must now be tested to see whether he really is the Son of God
      3. Again, why? What does he need to prove
         1. It is for you, that he might undergo temptation for your sake
         2. That he might triumph over it and be proved to be the Son of God so that you in him might be sons of God
         3. And that he might know how to sympathize with your weaknesses
   3. Jesus, the New Moses and the New Israel
      1. He fasts for 40 days and 40 nights
         1. Just as Moses did - "So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments." (Ex 34.28)
         2. Just as Elijah did - So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God. (1 Kings 19:8)
         3. And just as Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.
      2. He is the new Moses and the new Elijah
         1. Just as God had promised: "I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him." (Deut 18.18)
         2. So God raised up Elijah as a prophet like Moses, but Elijah and the prophets who followed brought the condemnation of the Mosaic law against the people.
         3. Now, a better prophet has arrived, and he begins his ministry by fasting 40 days and 40 nights to show that he too is in submission to the Lord his God and speaks from him.
         4. Thus Jesus is the new Moses - the giver of a new law which speaks better things that the law of Moses
         5. And Jesus is a new Elijah - not with a ministry of condemnation, but one of justification.
      3. He is the new Israel
         1. Why did God lead Israel into the wilderness: "And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart"
         2. Israel wandered in the wilderness 40 years and was tempted as Jesus is about to be tempted.
         3. Indeed, Jesus is about to quote Scripture at the devil, and all of his quotations will come from the time of the Exodus when the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness and rebelled against God.
         4. The Spirit led them out there, but they did not know how to trust God even so.
         5. Now the Spirit leads a new Israel out into the wilderness
            1. Will this one question the Lord?
            2. Will he complain?
            3. Will he yield to temptation?
      4. And he is a new Adam
         1. A new man, sinless like Adam, with whom God is well pleased, is about to be tested.
         2. Will Satan tempt him into sin, as he did with Adam?
         3. Or will this man stand fast?
         4. The first Adam clearly had the advantage, tempted as he was in a garden full of God's provision of food and water and every good thing.
         5. How then can this new Adam, weak from hunger, deprived of water, hope to survive the temptations of the devil?
      5. Remember, though the temptation comes from the lips of the devil, the testing is from God who is in control of this situation.
2. The Temptations
   1. Trust Yourself Rather than God
      1. "Since you are the Son of God…"
         1. Not "if." The devil knows about
         2. This is what it's all about
         3. Satan is trying to get Jesus to abuse his privilege of Sonship to do that which God does not allow.
      2. Turn these stones into bread.
      3. Oh how tempting to a famished man! How he longs for the taste.
      4. And why not? What's wrong with using his power to provide food.
      5. Well, it is God's Spirit who led him out here and has not yet told him to go back to the city in search of food.
      6. But how could he even get back to the city, weak from hunger as he is?
      7. He is like Israel in the wilderness
         1. And what did they do? They complained.
         2. They said, why doesn't God feed us? Is he trying to kill us? Is that why he brought us out here?
         3. And their physical well-being became more important to them even than the fact that God had chosen them and called Israel his son.
      8. Jesus does not sin in this way. He knows what's important
         1. He quotes from Deuteronomy 8, "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."
         2. To a man in his position, it might seem that if he doesn't get something to eat soon, he will die.
         3. But Jesus knows that there is something more important: If his Father does not sustain him by his word, THEN he will die.
         4. But if the Father sustains him, that is sufficient even if he has no bread.
         5. He will not trust in bread, but in the power of God
      9. He passes the first test.
      10. The second is, in a way, its opposite
   2. Prove Your Trust in God
      1. "Since you are the Son of God…" again
      2. He takes him to the top of temple - whether in a vision or by some other means we don't know - and says "throw yourself down."
         1. All right, says the devil, since you obviously trust your Father enough that you won't make bread for yourself, why don't you prove that he will save your life when it is in danger?
         2. After all, doesn't the Scripture say that he will give his angels charge over you and you won't hurt yourself?
      3. You see how this test is the opposite?
         1. Test 1: Don't wait for God to provide. Provide for yourself, trust in your own ability.
         2. Test 2: Force God's hand by not taking ordinary precautions against danger.
      4. You begin to see how he was tempted in all points just as we are. More on this later.
      5. So Jesus quotes from Deut. 6.16 - "you shall not tempt the Lord your God."
         1. This is what Israel did in the wilderness at Massah
         2. They mutinied. They were ready to kill Moses because they had no food, so Moses in desperation went to God for help.
         3. In essence, they forced God's hand.
         4. Do you love us, God? They cried. Then feed us!
         5. Do you love Moses? Then save him from our anger.
      6. But this new Israel is of a better spirit. He will not force God's hand.
      7. He does not doubt that God loves him as his own Son; and he does not need to prove that to Satan or himself in order to be sure of it.
   3. Avoid the Cross
      1. Satan takes him up on a high mountain - again we don't know if this is a vision or how he does it - and shows him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
      2. This is what Jesus has come to reign over, isn't it?
         1. He has come as the king of the whole earth.
         2. And at the end of Matthew he will say, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me
      3. So Satan offers this to him. But what is he offering?
         1. Authority on earth only, not in heaven (he cannot offer that)
         2. Authority over a world of sin and death, rather than over sin and death.
         3. He's offering him the world, but it's not really a world worth having.
      4. So what's the temptation?
         1. Avoid the cross.
         2. Don't come into this authority through suffering and death.
         3. Does your Father require this of you? I have an easier way.
         4. I'll give it all to you without your needing to suffer the cross.
         5. Just bow down and worship me.
      5. So Jesus says, "Away with you Satan!"
         1. Just as later he will say, "Get behind me, Satan!" to Peter
         2. And why? Because Peter doesn't want him to go to the cross.
         3. And Jesus says he is therefore not mindful of the things of God but of men.
         4. Jesus is not here to earn the earth from himself and set up an earthly kingdom.
         5. He is here to redeem the earth for his Father and bring the kingdom into heaven.
         6. And he must suffer and die to do this.
      6. "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve."
3. The Result
   1. God Cares for His Son
      1. Angels come and minister to him.
      2. Just as Scripture promised.
      3. Not because he forced God's hand, but because he trusted God's word.
   2. Jesus Suffered These Temptations for You
      1. You and I could not have withstood it, but he has done so on our behalf
         1. We can say, "Away with you Satan!" not in our own authority, but in the authority of Christ.
         2. When he comes to tempt us, we say, you have nothing to offer me.
         3. Christ has not bowed down to you to receive what you offer.
         4. Instead he has taken from you all that you thought you could offer.
         5. Away, Satan! You have nothing to give me.
      2. He was tempted in all points just as we are
         1. The temptation to love this world
            1. Bread rather than the word of God
            2. We worry about losing possessions or money or jobs or status.
            3. Why does the Lord bring us into such wildernesses?
            4. And Jesus says, "I know exactly how that feels."
            5. And he sympathizes, and he intercedes for us before God.
         2. The temptation to test God
            1. Throw yourself off the temple and force God's hand.
            2. If God really loves me, he'll care for me even if I

[Matthew Sermons] [Sermons and Studies] [Main Menu]