Jesus Tempted by Satan
TRANSLATION
(1) Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. (2) And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was quite hungry. (3) And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to turn into bread.” (4) But he responded, “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 to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple (6) and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down, for it is written, ‘He shall give his angels charge of you and on their hands they will bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” (7) Jesus responded, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
(8) Once more the devil took him to a very 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 simply bow down and worship me.” (10) Then Jesus said to him, “Be off with you, Satan, for it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him alone shall you serve.’”
(11) Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.
OBSERVATIONS
Several repetitions enable us to grasp the significance of this passage. Three names for God’s archenemy were used here: “the devil” (vss. 1, 5, 8, & 11), “tempter” (vs. 3), and “Satan” (vs. 10). The related verb, “tempted,” was also employed (vs. 1). The phrases, “if you are the Son of God” (vss. 3 & 6) and “it is written” (vss. 4, 6, 7, & 10) were also emphasized by repetition.
OUTLINE
I. Before: Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness and had fasted for forty days. (1 & 2)
II. During: Jesus overcame each of Satan’s temptations by quoting Scripture. (3-10)
III. After: the devil departed in defeat, and angels came to minister to him. (11)
IDEA STATEMENT
Led by the Holy Spirit, Jesus encountered Satan in the wilderness and overcame each temptation by quoting a passage of Scripture.
APPLICATION
Several of the names that identified the one who met Jesus in the wilderness to persuade him to abandon his messianic mission are found in this passage: “the devil” which means “slanderer” (vss. 1, 5, 8, & 11), “the tempter” (vs. 3), and “Satan” (vs. 10) which means “adversary.” From other passages we can piece together a fairly complete picture of the one who tempted Jesus. Many Bible students claim that both Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 contain veiled references to this figure’s character and career. Although not named in Scripture, tradition holds that he was originally called “Lucifer” or “light-bearer” and that he had been created by God to serve along with Michael and Gabriel as one of three archangels, the highest order of angelic beings. At some point in the distant past, “sin was found in him” (Ez. 28:15), and he arrogantly rebelled against his creator, persuading one third of the angelic hosts to rebel with him and attempt to overthrow God’s rule. He is the one who successfully tempted Eve and then Adam to disobey God in the Garden of Eden thereby blighting the entire creation with sin. Ever since that moment he has done everything in his power to oppose God and spoil God’s creation.
In Genesis 3:15 God promised Eve that one of her offspring would destroy the tempter. Believers have long viewed the phrase, “he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel,” as a summary of what took place on the cross where Christ’s heel was bruised in suffering and death and where Satan’s head was crushed, a far greater wound and eternal defeat accomplished by Christ’s resurrection from the dead. The three temptations described in this chapter constituted the devil’s initial attempt to derail Jesus’ earthly ministry. Jesus overcame each temptation by quoting from Deuteronomy, the fifth book of the Pentateuch. By following Christ’s example of relying on the truth of God’s Word, Jesus’ followers, enabled by the Holy Spirit, can overcome the temptations of the evil one.