The King's Inaugural Contest Text: Matthew 4:1-11
Introduction: The Appointed Arena
We live in a soft and sentimental age, one that views temptation as a private psychological struggle, a matter of bad habits or unfortunate inclinations. We have reduced spiritual warfare to a therapeutic session with ourselves. But the Bible presents a far more robust, and frankly, a far more terrifying reality. We are at war. And immediately after our Lord's baptism, where the Father declared His identity and the Spirit descended upon Him, He is not led to a quiet place for theological reflection. He is led by that same Spirit into the wilderness for one purpose: to be tempted by the devil.
This is not an accident. This is not a detour. This is the inauguration of His public ministry. The Spirit of God leads the Son of God into the arena to face the prince of this world. This is a title fight, divinely orchestrated. The first Adam was tested in a perfect garden, surrounded by every provision, and he fell. The nation of Israel was tested in the wilderness for forty years, and they grumbled, rebelled, and fell. Now the second Adam, the true Israel, is brought into the wilderness, weakened by a forty-day fast, to face the same enemy and win the decisive victory. This is not just an example for us, though it is that. This is a substitutionary victory. He fought this dragon so that we, in Him, might be dragon slayers. He won this contest as our federal head, and His victory is credited to our account.
The three temptations that follow are not random. They are the archetypal temptations that have plagued mankind since the garden. They are the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. And in each instance, our Lord's defense is not some secret mystical power, but rather the sword He has placed into our hands: the written Word of God. If we want to understand how to stand in our own day, we must pay close attention to how our King stood in His.
The Text
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." 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.' " 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, LEST YOU STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.' " Jesus said to him, "Again, it is written, 'YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.' " Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, "All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me." Then Jesus said to him, "Go, Satan! For it is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.' " Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.
(Matthew 4:1-11 LSB)
Round One: The Question of Sustenance (vv. 1-4)
The contest begins with the setting and the first attack.
"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, 'If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.' 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.' " (Matthew 4:1-4)
Notice the divine initiative. The Spirit leads Him to this testing ground. God is sovereign over this entire encounter. Jesus is at His weakest physically, having fasted for forty days, mirroring the forty years of Israel's wandering and the forty days of Moses on Sinai. It is at this point of extreme hunger that the tempter comes. The devil always attacks at our perceived point of weakness.
The temptation begins with a jab at Jesus's identity: "If You are the Son of God..." This is a direct challenge to the Father's declaration at the baptism. The devil is saying, "Are you really who the voice from heaven said you are? Prove it. Use your divine power for your own benefit." The temptation is to act as an independent Son, to meet a legitimate need through an illegitimate, self-serving method. It is the temptation to prioritize the belly over the Father's will. This is the original sin in miniature. Adam was told not to eat, and the devil whispered that God was holding out on him. Here, the devil tempts the second Adam to eat outside the bounds of the Father's provision.
Jesus's response is immediate and definitive. He does not argue philosophy. He does not appeal to His inner feelings. He unsheathes the sword: "It is written." He quotes Deuteronomy 8:3. The context is crucial. Moses is reminding Israel that God let them hunger in the wilderness and fed them with manna to teach them this very lesson: that life consists of more than physical sustenance. Life is dependence on God's every word. Jesus, as the true Israel, lives out this truth perfectly. He subordinates His physical hunger to the spiritual reality of dependence on His Father. He will wait for the Father's timing and the Father's provision. He will not make stones into bread; He will wait for the bread of angels.
Round Two: The Question of Presumption (vv. 5-7)
Having failed to make Jesus doubt God's provision, the devil shifts his attack to God's protection.
"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...'" (Matthew 4:5-6 LSB)
The devil is a theologian, but he is a malicious one. He can quote Scripture. He takes Jesus to the highest point of the temple, the center of Jewish worship, and again challenges His identity: "If You are the Son of God..." This time, the temptation is to presumption. He quotes Psalm 91, a promise of God's protection, and twists it into a dare. "Prove God's love for you. Force His hand. Create a public spectacle and make Him save you."
This is the temptation of emotionalism and spiritual exhibitionism. It is the desire to manipulate God, to put His promises to the test on our own terms. It is the difference between faith, which trusts God's character in the midst of trial, and presumption, which manufactures a trial to test God's character. Many seek this kind of spectacular sign today. They want God to perform for them, to prove Himself in a way that bypasses the quiet path of obedient trust.
"Jesus said to him, 'Again, it is written, YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.' " (Matthew 4:7 LSB)
Jesus's defense is to interpret Scripture with Scripture. He quotes Deuteronomy 6:16, which refers to the incident at Massah where Israel grumbled and tested the Lord. Jesus refuses to play the devil's game. He will not demand a sign. He will not force the Father's hand. He trusts the Father's word and character without needing a circus act to validate it. True faith obeys; it does not dictate terms to God.
Round Three: The Question of Worship (vv. 8-10)
The final temptation is the most audacious. It is a direct assault on the throne of God.
"Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, 'All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.' " (Matthew 4:8-9 LSB)
Here is the ultimate shortcut. The devil, the temporary "ruler of this world," offers Jesus the very thing He came to win: dominion over all the kingdoms of the world. The promise of Psalm 2 is that the Father will give the Son the nations as His inheritance. The devil offers to hand them over right now, no cross required, no suffering, no death. All it will cost is one small compromise, one little bow, one act of worship directed to the wrong entity.
This is the temptation of pragmatism, of compromise for the sake of power and influence. It is the offer to achieve God's ends through the devil's means. Every church that waters down the gospel to fill the pews, every politician who abandons principle for votes, every Christian who compromises his integrity for a promotion has bowed to this temptation. The devil is always offering us a shortcut to glory that bypasses the cross.
"Then Jesus said to him, 'Go, Satan! For it is written, YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.' " (Matthew 4:10 LSB)
Jesus's response is a sharp command of dismissal, followed by the foundational principle of all reality. "Go, Satan!" The debate is over. He then quotes Deuteronomy 6:13. The central issue of the universe is worship. Who gets the glory? To whom is allegiance due? Jesus makes it clear: God and God alone. He will receive the kingdoms of the world, but He will receive them from His Father's hand, at the appointed time, and through the appointed means of His substitutionary death and victorious resurrection. There are no shortcuts to glory.
The Victor's Reward (v. 11)
With the third temptation rebuffed, the contest is over.
"Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him." (Matthew 4:11 LSB)
The devil must flee when confronted with the authoritative Word of God wielded by a heart of perfect faith. He is a defeated foe. And notice what happens immediately after. The provision that Jesus refused to seize for Himself is now given to Him by the Father. Angels came and ministered to Him. The bread He would not make from stones is now served to Him. Sustenance and comfort are the rewards of obedience, not the prerequisites for it. God provides for His Son, but He does so after the test is passed.
Our Fight in His Victory
This scene is the blueprint for our own spiritual warfare. Jesus fought as our champion, and His victory is the ground of our own. We do not fight for victory, but from the victory He has already secured. But we do still fight. And our temptations will be variations on these same themes. We will be tempted to satisfy our fleshly desires outside of God's will. We will be tempted to test God with prideful demands. And we will be tempted to compromise our worship in exchange for worldly success.
In all these things, our weapon is the same as our Lord's. It is not our cleverness, not our strength, not our feelings. It is the objective, authoritative, and powerful Word of God. "It is written." This must be our constant refrain. To wield this sword effectively, we must know it. We must read it, study it, memorize it, and saturate our minds with it. For the Word of God is the word of victory, and in the hands of those who belong to the victorious King, it is the power to make Satan flee.