Matthew has described Jesus’ introduction to Israel at His
baptism by John. He is momentarily
placed in the spotlight as the Messiah of Israel so all can see Him. Jesus’ only recorded words are given to John
to baptize Him to “fulfill all righteousness” which we explained referred to
the righteousness that God required for entry into the kingdom of heaven and
that Jesus had come to provide. Jesus
was identifying with John’s message that entry into the kingdom was within
reach but it required righteousness. So
now in chapter 4, Matthew presents another obstacle to the plan of God—the
devil. The devil has a plan--but so does the Father.
But even as the Spirit of God hovered over the waters of the
deep to oversee the plan of God in creation, He also hovers over Jesus from His
baptism on—to oversee the plan of God in restoration. Matthew causes us to gasp in shock to see the
Spirit of God leading Jesus into the wilderness “to be tempted by the
devil.” The description of the setting in
the wilderness and the forty days and nights without food and resulting hunger
serve to remind us of Israel’s 40 years in the wilderness always complaining
about a lack of food even in the presence of God hovering above them in the
pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. Why would God put Jesus through that? In fact, we will later look at the “Lord’s
prayer” which includes the request: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver
us from evil.” What is God doing?
How is this even compatible—being led by the Spirit and
being tempted by the devil? It is
crucial that we understand that Jesus is demonstrating that overcoming
temptation is possible—not just because He is God. Jesus meets the devil as a Man Who is hungry,
Who is on a mission to restore fallen humanity, and Who longs to return to His
glory with the Father and the devil knows this.
He presents Jesus with illegitimate, evil “shortcuts” to relieve his
hunger, to force God to mount a rescue mission, and to receive the worship of
the world. But Jesus successfully
counters these three temptations with His ironclad trust in the Word of God.
The question is often posed, ‘If Jesus was truly tempted “in
all points” like us (Heb. 4:15) wouldn’t that mean it was possible for Jesus to
fail this test and sin?’ But understand
that God cannot do something outside His character. God has limits on His own power—and that is
His self-imposed glory and character.
So, no, Jesus could not have sinned.
But that is not the purpose of a test from God. God’s purpose is not to get us to fail; it is
to prove what and who we are. The
devil’s purpose may have been to get Jesus to fail, but not the Spirit’s. So how does that encourage us who can— and do—fail
all the time? Because in this test,
Jesus had some self-imposed limitations and He still overcame. 1) He was hungry to demonstrate that physical
pressure does not have to overpower spiritual requirements. 2) He
did not want to die for the sins of the world (we will examine His prayer in
the garden later) but that did not prevent Him from submitting to the will of
His Father. 3) He wanted to restore all mankind to the
worship of God but that could not be done by submitting to the devil.
Notice also that it is only in trials that our true
character is brought out. Jesus
character did not need refining but it did need to be demonstrated. So, Jesus is “fulfilling” another Old
Testament theme which Jesus explains more fully in the next chapter. He came to “fulfill” the Law that Israel
failed to follow. In this temptation, he
demonstrated that fulfillment.
We notice one more principle regarding temptation. Jesus was never faced with choosing the
“lesser of two evils.” Jesus always
turns the question to “What does God want me to do.” God never wants us to do evil.
Although the temptation began in the wilderness where Jesus
had fasted, notice that it also took place partly in public— “on the pinnacle
of the temple.” Jesus character was
noticed. While Jesus did many miracles, there were times he pointed out that
“this was not His time.” He only said
and did what His Father asked Him to do.
So, here He did not jump.
By the way, when does temptation become sinful lust? When we begin to fantasize about the sin and
return to the pleasure of the thought even though we never commit the act
physically. It is not evil to be
tempted, but lust, even in the mind, is still sin. More on this in our next section.
Jesus successfully overcame the temptation of the devil who then
left Him and Matthew tells us that the angels who were supposed to rescue Him
now do so. They came to minister to His needs.
God is always on time with what we truly need.
© Eric Thimell 2018
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