The Testing of the King – part 2 (Matthew 4:1-11)
The Testing of the King – Part 2
Matthew 4:1-11
Last time we met, we started on this very important section of Scripture.
• Jesus had just stepped out of the baptistery waters…
• He had just been declared totally pleasing by His Father…
• He had just demonstrated terrific obedience…
And now it is time for His testing.
Last week we saw Jesus enroll in “Wilderness University”
In the wilderness He was DISCIPLINED
(Not punished for sin, nor made more righteous)
But this aspect of suffering was necessary to prepare Him
To be the type of priest that He desired to be.
Hebrews 5:8-9 “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation,”
Jesus also entered the wilderness for His TESTING
(Again, not God’s test, God had already declared Him pleasing)
This was so that Satan could test Him.
This was so the Jews could see a demonstration of His righteousness.
This was that you and I could be certain that He was sinless.
And as we saw last week, Jesus is literally in a fierce battle.
He has entered the wilderness and the temptation has begun.
It is important that we make a distinction in regard to temptation.
James 1:13-15 “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”
You and I know that temptation is a very real part of our lives.
(That is why Christ had to face it)
But it is also important that you and I understand
Its purpose and its author.
Testing and Temptation are not the same thing.
God tests our faith.
Satan tempts us with sin.
Any time in life that you feel the urge to do something sinful;
You can know that urge did not come from the Father.
God hates sin.
In fact James says “God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.”
In other words, God hates sin so much
That He would never consider tempting someone to commit it.
Now God does test our faith.
Genesis 22:1-2 “Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”
We don’t have time to dig into the life of Abraham,
But just know that by this point God had repeatedly told Abraham
That Isaac was the franchise.
And now that Abraham seems to consent that he agrees,
God finds out if he really believes it or not.
God tests our faith, but He never tempts us to sin.
That is further explained in the fact that we are told to:
“Consider it pure joy” when we experience the testing of our faith.
Yet Jesus told us to pray that we not be led into temptation.
And so God tests our faith, but He does not tempt us to sin.
Any time you feel tempted to sin,
Rest assured that it did not come from God.
WHO DID IT COME FROM?
Some instantly say “The Devil”.
James said, “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.”
That means that temptation comes from you.
It is your fallen sinful flesh that tempts you to sin.
And in order to overcome that temptation,
You literally have to fight back those fleshly desires.
AND THAT IS A FIERCE FIGHT
Romans 7:14-20 “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.”
Temptation comes from within.
SO DOES THAT LEAVE THE DEVIL WITHOUT BLAME?
Hardly.
Satan is like the great advertiser.
He is always looking for things to toss in front of your path
To see if they will enflame those temptations within you.
And that is precisely what Satan is doing to Jesus.
• Satan is on the hunt.
• He is searching high and low for that one offer to good to refuse.
• He tempting to see if he can find a sin that Jesus wants to commit.
Already we have seen Jesus withstand one temptation.
After He had gone 40 days and 40 nights without food
(Because of His intense focus on God and spiritual things – a.k.a. “fasting”)
Because of that 40 day fast, Satan (always the perceptive one)
Realized that hunger was a temptation Jesus might succumb to.
(3) “And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
As we said last time, Satan Hit Jesus with a legitimate physical need,
But he desired for Jesus to fulfill that need in an illegitimate way.
Jesus was tempted to focus on Himself instead of on God
And if He had turned those stones into bread
Redemption would have been impossible.
But instead of succumbing to that temptation, Jesus reassured Himself of what to do by quoting a Scripture to Himself (4) “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.’”
Pulling from that tremendous passage in Deuteronomy 8
Jesus remembered that God can rain bread out of heaven if need be.
In short: God will take care of the bread, you seek the kingdom.
And by obeying that passage of Scripture,
Jesus was able to overcome that temptation.
And we talked about His tremendous focus.
Regardless of His hunger…
Regardless of His need…
Regardless of His power to produce it Himself…
Jesus chose to remain focused on what God told Him to be focused on.
He could not be distracted…
He would not take a detour…
And of course we are told to imitate His focus.
Hebrews 12:1-3 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
Jesus had tunnel vision.
He came to this earth and set His eyes on the cross
And nothing could get Him to lose focus.
Now let’s move on to the next temptation,
And subsequently what it reveals about the character of Jesus.
His Focus
#2 HIS FAITH
Matthew 4:5-7
Scripture says, “Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU’; and ‘ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.’”
Obviously there are some unknowns about this story.
We are not told how Jesus came to be on top of the temple
Except that “the devil took Him” there.
(Some have suggested it occurred in a vision, but the text gives no support to that)
But the scene does pose a question to some as to
Why Jesus would follow Satan to go anywhere he wanted.
I don’t pretend to be able to give certainty where the Bible remains vague,
Except to again point out the sneakiness of temptation.
It does help to understand some of the Jewish expectations of the day.
From reading the gospels, it is clear to us that the Jews expected
The Messiah to arrive on the scene with a bang.
Everywhere we look, they want to see miracles from Him.
(And commonly more miracles, and even greater ones)
And by Jesus day, one such miracle was a miraculous arrival to the temple.
Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the LORD of hosts.”
Some Jews thought this even meant that the Messiah
Might descend from heaven to the temple.
In fact, tradition even states that Simon the Magician later tried to claim himself as the Messiah, and that he tried to prove it by throwing himself from the temple in such a fashion.
I tell you that because I want you to know that
As far as identifying the Messiah,
It was clear that the Jews wanted something extraordinary to occur.
And so it could be that the thought even occurred to Jesus
That such a display was necessary to reveal Himself to the Jews.
But at that point, many would say,
“No way Jesus would ever think that way.”
Where would Jesus get a thought like that?
Where would Jesus get a thought that He could throw himself off the temple and thus prove His Messiahship?
The answer: God’s Word.
Jesus overcame the first temptation
By appealing to the word of God as His guide.
So the devil delivers the next temptation directly from the word of God.
(6) “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU’; and ‘ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.’”
Satan quotes Psalms 91:11-12
And again, let me remind you of the nature of temptation.
Satan did not walk up to Jesus with a nametag on and say:
“Hey Jesus, come with me to the temple, so I can show you something.”
(To which we imagine Jesus reluctantly agrees)
And then Satan says, “The Bible says You can throw Yourself off of here”.
And then Jesus responds, “Never! I knew you bringing me here was a waste of time. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!)
This was Temptation, this was Stealthy, this was Sneaky, this was Confusing
Satan covertly quoted a passage of Scripture to Jesus,
And Jesus was tempted to do it.
Psalms 91:11-12 “For He will give His angels charge concerning you, To guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, That you do not strike your foot against a stone.”
He took a passage that promises the protection of God,
And presented that passage to Jesus as if to say,
“Do you believe God will do this?”
His aim was to pin Jesus in to a corner with the Scriptures.
John MacArthur writes:
“With that subtle and clever twist, the tempter thought He had backed Jesus into a corner. If Jesus lived only by the Word of God, then He would be confronted by something from the Word of God. “You claim to be God’s Son and You claim to trust His Word,” Satan was saying. “If so, why don’t you demonstrate your sonship and prove the truth of God’s Word by putting Him to a test – a scriptural test? If you won’t use your own divine power to help yourself, let your Father use His divine power to help you. If you won’t act independently of the Father, let the Father act. Give your Father a chance to fulfill the Scripture I just quoted to you.”
How many today have been suckered in by that same temptation.
Go out and prove you believe God.
Go out and make God prove He can deliver.
In an extreme sense this is what
The SERPENT HANDLERS and the STRYCHNINE DRINKERS do.
In a less extreme sense this is what anyone does when they
Ignore the obvious and hold out only for the supernatural.
Satan quoted a certified promise from God
And told Jesus to make His God prove it.
It was a temptation to make God honor His word.
And Jesus was tempted to do it.
• After all, it would have been a guaranteed proof of His Messiahship
(and He had performed none up to this point)
• And the Bible does say God will protect…
SO WHY NOT?
Because that would be putting your own logic
Ahead of God’s plan, and that too is sin.
God doesn’t ask for your input in regard to the mission,
God only asks for your obedience.
Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.”
Had Jesus jumped, He would have been usurping God’s authority And that one sin, would have rendered Him unable to save.
But just before He jumped, another thought entered His mind.
(7) “Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.’”
And I have to tell you this is tremendous insight on the part of Jesus.
Notice first of all what He says: “On the other hand, it is written,”
Jesus did not deny the Scripture Satan quoted…
Jesus did not ignore the Scripture Satan quoted…
Jesus did not reject the Scripture Satan quoted…
Jesus simply revealed that the way Satan would have Him obey it
Was inconsistent with the message of Scripture as a whole.
Jesus knew that Scripture never contradicts itself.
And if obedience to one command forces me to break another one,
Then it is obvious my interpretation of the passage is wrong.
He was not denying God’s power to deliver.
He was not denying God’s promise to deliver.
But Jesus was not going to force God to do it on the spot,
For that would have been a sin.
Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:16
Deuteronomy 6:16-17 “You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested Him at Massah. “You should diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and His testimonies and His statutes which He has commanded you.”
And just to make sure we understand the context and what God is saying.
WHAT HAPPENED AT MASSAH?
Exodus 17:1-7 “Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed by stages from the wilderness of Sin, according to the command of the LORD, and camped at Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water that we may drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?” But the people thirsted there for water; and they grumbled against Moses and said, “Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, “What shall I do to this people? A little more and they will stone me.” Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. “Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. He named the place Massah and Meribah because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel, and because they tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us, or not?”
And there it becomes a little more clear.
They were thirsty, but had no water.
Now did God promise to provide? – Yes
Was God capable of providing? – Yes
So what was wrong with the people demanding water?
Because they wanted it to appear at their demand,
They had decided to force God to honor His word right then.
In short, they were putting God to a test
To see if He really would do what He said,
And if not, they were heading back to Egypt.
In Deuteronomy God commanded them to never do that again.
“Don’t force Me to jump through your hoops” (so to speak)
Let us remember something valuable here.
• God tests us, we don’t test God.
• We are the ones on trial, not God.
• God has nothing to prove to us, we have everything to prove to Him.
And so if there is a test to be given, it won’t be by us.
That also helps us understand the purpose of Scripture.
HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHY GOD REVEALED HIS WORD TO YOU?
God revealed His word to you so that you would trust Him.
He gives you His promises so you will trust Him.
Not so that you will test Him.
God is not some performing monkey
Whom you can demand to show up
Whenever you desire to put Him on display.
God works how He wants, when He wants.
His Scripture is given not so that you can use it against Him.
His Scripture is given so that you will know His will and His nature
And that you will trust Him.
That is certainly what Moses commanded in
Deuteronomy 6:16 “You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested Him at Massah.”
And Jesus applied that Scripture to His situation and realized
That Whenever God wanted to reveal Him as Messiah, He would
And However God wanted to reveal Him as Messiah, He would
In fact, it is obvious that Jesus fully understood this
In regard to all the miracles He worked.
John 5:36 “But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish — the very works that I do — testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.”
WHAT WORKS DID JESUS DO?
“the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish”
Jesus came to trust the Father, not to test Him.
And so Jesus didn’t jump.
WHAT DO WE LEARN ABOUT JESUS HERE?
We learn about His faith.
There are many today who succumb to this temptation
That Satan offered Jesus.
They step out and do something utterly foolish,
For no other reason than to make God prove Himself.
BUT SUCH AN ACTION IS NOT TRULY FAITH
(That action is really all about sight)
They are trying to get God to do something they can see,
So that they won’t have to trust without seeing.
Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
1 Peter 1:8-9 “and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.”
True faith is to trust what you can’t see,
Not to force God to do something you can see.
And I don’t mind telling you that I get a little passionate at this point.
Because I get sick and tired of the so-called “Word of Faith” movement or the “Charismatic” movement or whatever you want to call it.
And how they love to criticize those
Who are not into signs and wonders and miraculous healings
As people who just don’t have faith.
“If you just had faith, you would be healed!”
“All Carrie needs is some flax seed and faith”
I am tired of people attacking Christians in sickness or hardship
As being those who just don’t have any faith.
You answer me.
Which takes more faith?
To be quickly healed after a moment of difficulty or to endure that difficulty with perseverance for an extended period of time?
Let us not forget that patience and perseverance are part of faith as well.
Jesus was a walking demonstration of faith.
But it wasn’t the type of faith that forced God to show up
And prove Himself at every beckoning.
The type of faith Jesus had was the type that trusted God’s plan,
Even though it may have differed from His own.
It is the faith expressed in Isaiah 40
Isaiah 40:31 “Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.”
It is the faith of Psalms 46
Psalms 46:10 “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
This is the patient, trusting type of faith that Jesus had, and it carried Him.
(Not only through the temptation, but also through His ministry,
And ultimately through His crucifixion)
Remember the garden?
Matthew 26:39 “And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”
Jesus trusted God.
• He trusted God would not fail to give Him bread to eat.
• He trusted God would reveal Him as the Messiah at the proper time and in the proper way.
• He trusted that God would protect Him just as His word said.
Jesus trusted God, but He did not test God.
And not only did Jesus demonstrate this kind of faith,
But He also demanded it.
Matthew 12:38-42 “Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But He answered and said to them, ” An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. “The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. “The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.”
Jesus praised the people who trusted what God said,
But He condemned those who wanted to see God prove it.
This morning I want to encourage you to do the same.
Just as we talked about the wilderness last week,
Here again we know that there are some who are so far in the wilderness,
That they feel like they will never get out.
Last week we asked you to focus on God, not your difficulty.
God will take care of the bread, you seek the kingdom.
This morning we ask you to patiently trust God.
Don’t try to force Him to instantly appear and pull a rabbit out of a hat for you.
Instead trust that He has a plan (as He said He does – “I know the plans…”)
Trust that He is able to complete it (“God causes all things”)
Trust that when the time is right God will show up in the way He chooses.
And if you need an example, simply look to Jesus.
Hebrews 12:1-3 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
