Temptation of Jesus (Matthew 4:3-4)

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. (NASB) 1 John 2:16

Satan tests in all of these areas. He appeals to our desire to eat excessively - gluttony. He appeals to our desire to have nice possessions. He appeals to our desire to have status, position, respect, and honor. From what we see in the lives of people in the church, he has been very successful.

Satan also appeals to us as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14). He wants us to believe that we do not need to study the Bible; or if we do study that we do not need to know it very well. Some Christians are satisfied with “warm, soft, application” from scripture. They are not interested in deep things of scripture. So false teachers appear with followers and pastors repeat the same tireless themes Sunday after Sunday. Satan has been very successful.

First Test. Matthew and Luke apparently do not record all of the temptations, but only the final three important ones.

And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” (NASB) Matt. 4:3

Maybe the early tests were minor and less exhausting. We do not know. But after forty days, Satan appealed to Jesus’ need for food and encouraged Him to turn some stones into bread. He waited until Jesus’ need would be the greatest. Jesus responded by quoting Deut. 8:3.

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.’” (NASB) Matt. 4:4

Jesus did not give Satan a psychological reason. Jesus did not talk with a counselor. Jesus quoted scripture. How did Jesus know which scripture to use? He knew the Bible! He identified a scripture passage that would guide Him through the test. Now that is incredible.

Jesus told him that He trusted and depended on God the Father. Satan tried to encourage Jesus to trust Himself and not God the Father. We often respond to a situation by trusting ourselves and not God. God has given us wisdom in scripture. He has given us patterns to follow. When difficult situations come, we end up trusting ourselves and not Him. That is sin. Hebrews 10:38 says that God wants Christians to live by faith - to trust Him. Satan’s first test was an appeal to Jesus’ flesh with the hope that Jesus would trust Himself and not God the Father.

Second Test. Then Satan tries another test. This time he hopes once again that Jesus will not trust God. This time Satan twists the concept of faith and hopes that Jesus will actually show some doubt.