Matthew 4:1-11 - The Father Alone

Here in this third temptation, the tension is palpable. If you notice, each temptation has taken place at a higher level than the one before. The first temptation was in the wilderness, the second was at the pinnacle of the temple, and here the third takes place on an exceedingly high mountain. Let's remember that as this experience has progressed, Jesus has undoubtedly become more and more hungry and exhausted. In each of the previous two temptations, Satan has offered Jesus the easy way out of His suffering. Here on the high mountain comes the most difficult temptation of all.

It may seem counter-intuitive that this temptation would be a temptation at all. Worship the devil? But the temptation is never in the price, but in the perceived reward. As Satan shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the earth and their glory, he is showing Jesus what has been promised to Jesus from ages past (Ps 2:7-8). If we look forward in the book of Matthew, we see that the theme of authority looms large over the narrative. Jesus proves that He has authority to forgive sins in ch.9. He gives His disciples authority to minister the same way He does in ch.10. But most importantly, what does Jesus say after the resurrection in ch.28 before giving the great commission. "All authority in heaven and on earth have been given to Me." Ephesians 1:22 tells us that when Jesus was raised God put all things in subjection under His feet. Jesus knew that everything He could see from that mountaintop was rightfully His, but He also knew that it was the Father's will for Him to go through the cross to get it.

And yet, here it is right at His fingertips. He has the opportunity not just to end His current suffering, but to avoid the cross. Here is a way to circumvent the agony and go straight to the reward. This third temptation is different from the others in that it does not contain a command, but a promise. "I will give to you..." Jesus is not being tempted to put on any display of power as in the first two temptations, but rather to simply receive something. The verb used for "worship" by Satan is in the aorist tense, which is the most nondescript tense. The idea is that this act of worship would be just a simple act. In and out, no problem. Just this one bending of the knee and all the earth would be His.

Of course, Jesus responds again with Scripture, "Go away, Satan. For it has been written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and Him alone shall you serve." And again, His quotation, Deut 6:13, hearkens back to the Israelites’ failure in the wilderness. Exodus 32 records the fashioning of the golden calf and the blasphemous words, "This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt." The Israelites got tired of waiting for God to go ahead of them, so they made a god for themselves.

Jesus was tired, too. He may have felt alone. He may have wondered when the misery would end. But if He did, the Holy Spirit was not concerned that we know about it. All that is recorded is the rock solid faith in and devotion to His Father with which He repelled every temptation and passed every test. He fulfilled all righteousness and obeyed where Israel failed. For Jesus there was only one God, the Father, worthy of service and worship.

When the devil goes away, the angels come and minister to Jesus. The Greek word translated ministered means 'to meet the immediate needs of.' It carries the idea of all manners of sustenance, physical, emotional, and spiritual. These angels are almost certainly literally feeding Jesus, as well as comforting Him after His long ordeal. So what Satan offered Jesus in the first temptation, He is now receiving in the Lord's time and in the Lord's way. And what Satan proposed to Jesus in the second temptation, the company of angels, He is now receiving in the Lord's time and in the Lord's way.

What Satan offered Jesus in the third temptation, He will receive - but not until the cross. In a beautiful irony, Jesus' suffering in the wilderness has qualified Him for far greater suffering on Golgotha.

I may have said this before, but it bears repeating: everything was riding on this. When the writer of Hebrews writes that Jesus was tempted in every way as we are, yet, without sin, he was pointing back to the wilderness. Of course, there were other times of temptation in Jesus' life, but this account is the one the Holy Spirit has chosen to frame for us. All salvation history hinged on this battle. One falter and all would be lost. One failure and the book of Hebrews would never be written, nor would the rest of the NT Scriptures. All the saints who had gone before were undoubtedly anticipating with baited breath this milestone on the road to Calvary.

Everything was riding on this for Satan, too. Since Eden, the words of God had surely been buzzing in his ears, "He shall bruise you on the head..." As he plagued Israel throughout her history, I'm confident he looked forward with great anticipation to the opportunity to prove God wrong and to derail His plan to undo what had been done back in the Garden. How invigorated and surprised he must have been to see the Holy Spirit delivering up the Son in a weakened state into the devil's backyard. It was his shining opportunity. Everything was riding on this.

And as all watched - the saints of old, the heavenly host, the devil and his minions, and the First and Third Persons of the Trinity --

the Holy One of God fulfilled all righteousness.

When tempted to prematurely end His temptation and trial in the wilderness, He humbly trusted, obeyed, and worshiped the Father alone. This passage is not simply a how-to on using Scripture as spiritual mace for the devil. It shows us how Christ fulfilled all righteousness. We, too, when faced with trial and temptation must cling to the claim placed on our lives in the Scriptures, trusting God alone, submitting to God alone, and worshiping God alone, with Christ our Brother and Great High Priest sympathizing with us and offering mercy and help in our time of need. What a magnificent portion of Scripture this passage is. May the Lord be so gracious as to work it deeply into our hearts.

Next time, Matthew 5:38-42.