Matthew 4:1-11 - Getting Started

I've been looking forward to this particular post since we started this thing. The big picture element is breathtaking to me and I'm eager to get started.

We've all heard sermons on this passage. I've heard many - some very good, some not so good. But one thing that each sermon has had in common is the main emphasis of the passage: Jesus has shown us in the wilderness how to deal with temptation using Scripture. That is a fine thing. That truth is definitely present. But there is something much bigger here than Jesus showing the importance of knowing Scripture.

Before we launch into this, I want to say something about "new" interpretations. The big picture interpretation I'm going to propose may be something you've never heard before. Whenever I hear someone teaching on a familiar passage and they give an interpretation that I've never heard before, red flags start going off all over the place for me. I ask myself, what are the odds that in the 2,000 year history of the church this person is the first one to get the right interpretation of this passage? I then do my own study to determine if that person was being faithful to the text.

If my interpretation of this passage strikes you that way, please do your homework. Get into the habit of not being spoon fed. Those who swallow whatever they are given are far more likely to be poisoned!

I will just let you know that I have checked a number of commentaries and I am not the first person in the history of the church to have seen this interpretation. However, don't let that prevent you from doing your own investigation. I think the reason I have never heard this interpretation preached is because of how shallow our study and preaching has become. May the Lord lead us to turn that tide.

Last time, I asked you to look at the last part of chapter 3 for the reason that Jesus gives to John for His being baptized. He tells John, "It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." So, Jesus is concerned about fulfilling all righteousness. We will have a better idea of what that means as we progress in chapter 4. We just want to keep it in mind as we go.

Alright, let's talk big picture. If we take a bird's eye view of the first four chapters of Matthew, we will see in Jesus' life allusions to events in the OT, especially those surrounding the Exodus. In the book of Exodus, Israel went from the promise land into Egypt where they had to stay for a period of time. Then they left Egypt and went through a body of water (Red Sea) and went into the wilderness for testing for 40 years. In Matthew 2, we see Jesus going from the promise land into Egypt where he had to stay for a period of time, then coming out of Egypt back into the promise land. In Matthew 3, we see Jesus going through a body of water. In Matthew 4, he goes into the wilderness for testing for 40 days.

So, as we look at the temptations in the wilderness, we should keep in mind this parallel with Israel's history as well as the concept of fulfilling all righteousness.

So, let's go. First, verse 1 indicates the divine purpose behind this event. "Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil." We know from James 1:13 that God tempts no one. We also know from Job 1 that no temptation happens outside of the sovereign will of God. Jesus himself indicates in the Lord's prayer that God is sovereign over what temptations are allowed to come our way. So, He tempts no one but no temptation occurs without being ordained by God. And everything He does has purpose. So Jesus' time in the wilderness has massive big picture significance.

Next, Matthew tells us that Jesus fasted 40 days and nights and he was hungry. I believe that this information in v.2 and what we read in v.11 serve to make sure we understand that this experience was a serious trial for Jesus. He was hungry (v.2) and he was ministered to by angels (v.11). These verses indicate that this wasn't a game of charades where Jesus acted like he was being tempted and tried. He wasn't just pretending.

There is a move in many circles of the church to lean toward the idea that Jesus didn't experience real temptation. Some are afraid that if we say that Jesus was genuinely tempted, then He must have been capable of sinning, which is out of the question. They think that you can't have both a truly tempted Jesus and an unable-to-sin Jesus. This is a false dichotomy, however.

First of all, it is important to realize what is at stake here. If we say that Jesus was not truly tempted, we make a liar out of the writer of Hebrews:

Hebrews 2:18 - For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.

Hebrews 4:15 15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

Hebrews teaches us that Jesus' ability to serve as our high priest hinges on the fact that he was tempted as we are.

If Jesus was not tempted, then He did not truly assume a human nature. And if that is true, we are dead in our sin. The atonement is predicated on the full humanity of Christ. If He was not fully human, He was not our true representative, the second Adam, and we still owe a debt we can never pay.

So, our whole faith rests on this.

What then do we say to the charge that we can't have a Jesus unable to sin and a Jesus who was really tempted? I'll share an illustration from one of my professors.

There was a long distance swimmer who decided to swim the English channel. As he was swimming, his coach was following in a boat a short distance behind him just in case he had a muscle cramp or became exhausted. The boat was there so that he could not drown. At the end of the successful swim, someone asked the swimmer why he didn't drown. What do you think his answer was? He said, "Because I swam." Imagine how upset the swimmer would have been if someone had said, "The only reason you didn't drown was because you had a rescue boat behind you." The fact that the swimmer could not drown did not mean that he didn't pump his arms and kick his feet and propel himself from shore to shore. He swam the English channel just as he would have if he had been alone.

Jesus couldn't sin. But that doesn't mean that He didn't feel the full weight of temptation. He did. He bore it all. He fulfilled all righteousness.

So as we look forward to this first temptation, let's resist our temptation to minimize what Jesus was experiencing. He was hungry. He was weak. He was exhausted. He needed. And it was into this situation that the Holy Spirit led Him in order to be tempted.

For next time, concentrate on the first temptation. If you have time find out what Scripture Jesus is quoting. Look at the context and see if you can find a connection between the OT situation from which the quotation came and Jesus' situation in the wilderness. Remember that Jesus is concerned with fulfilling all righteousness.

Let's also thank Him for His perseverance under temptation so that He could be our great high priest, perfectly able to sympathize with us in our weakness.