The temptation of Christ (Matthew chapter 4) corresponds with the wilderness experience of the Jews. We can understand this because of the scriptures quoted by Jesus to Satan.
The Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur (Tishri 10) is considered the holiest day of the Jewish year. Yom Kippur is the only fast day mentioned in the Scriptures for the purpose of repentance.
Our Lord was very familiar with their wilderness experience because he was with the children of Israel providing the bread of life. Therefore, we look at the first temptation of Christ in the wilderness. “Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
Christ is not unfamiliar with the word because he is the word (John chapter one verse 14). “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
And so, we find the “Word” in Deuteronomy chapter 8: “All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers. And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.”
Have you had a wilderness experience in your life and turned to God in repentance? Again, we read the first verse of Matthew chapter 4: “Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.” Each of us will find the temptation in the wilderness and the concern for “bread” as one of the most powerful of temptations in life. What will we do in order to keep our job? Will we lie, cheat, and steal?
Deuteronomy 8, at verse 5, gives the promise: “Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee. Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him. For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey; A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass. When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.”
Those thoughts lead us into the next temptation of Christ in Matthew 4 at verse 5: “Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”
Obviously, Satan probably understands scripture better than we do. After all, he is one of the more powerful beings in this Universe. Satan quotes Psalm 91:11-12: “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.”
The second temptation of Christ is a question about the love of God and the same question asked today: “Will God let us perish if we provoke him and if we’ve been saved are we always saved by God?” If we are God’s sons and daughters will he bear us up or bear with us? Christ didn’t say to Satan that God would not bear him up if he provoked God by his foolish actions. Why? Because Satan would have had significant argument from scriptures just as people do today. In Psalm 91 verses 2 through 4 we read: “I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.”
The same argument is used today. “No matter what” the hen will protect her chicks. In the “woe unto the Scribes and Pharisees chapter” (Matthew 23) where, I guess you could say, our Lord lost his cool in a big way we read this beginning at verse 33: “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!”
There is a real problem here that they didn’t get. I’m sending you prophets, giving you every chance in the world to avoid destruction, and ye would not. Christ started this chapter with these words: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.” It is the same concept we find in John 4:23, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.”
They could understand truth, like Satan could understand truth and quote it, but their spirit was wrong. They were what I would call hollow Christians. In fact, we could call many of the Jewish leaders psychopaths. (A person with an antisocial personality disorder, manifested in aggressive, perverted, criminal, or amoral behavior without empathy or remorse.) We find the same concept in 2nd Timothy chapter 3: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Psalm 78, at verse 16, we read about God’s people in the wilderness: “He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers. And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness. And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust. Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?” They could be forced to worship God in truth but not in spirit.
Finally, we come to the third temptation of Christ in Matthew 4 at verse 8: “Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”
One thing I learned quickly in the corporate world was about the skeletons in the closet. When people invite you for an interview they put on their best face. The job they are offering looks wonderful and grand (a place to grow and thrive). However, that is often not the case. They have invited you for the interview because they have problems they need you to solve and often the problems are great. If everything was going smooth why would they need you?
I would compare this temptation to the person that drives a Mercedes when they could drive a Ford. Does the Mercedes have anything to do with good transportation from point A to B? I’m not condemning by that statement but only making a comparison. In fact, the bigger problem is comparing this world to heaven no matter what it may offer us. As the old preacher said, “If you miss heaven you’ve missed it all!”
“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” (Matthew 16:26-27)
For me, that’s the scariest two verses in scripture. Being rewarded for my works. However, when I turn to the judgement scene in Matthew 25 I get a little hope. We don’t see people there that have memorized the bible from cover-to-cover. We read with the focus on the good “spirit” (not the mean spirit) even though we read truth at verse 34, “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
Let’s stop right here so we don’t get confused because we don’t need to read the negative of this chapter to get the picture. We turn to another passage that should concern us (the second greatest commandment of the law). We read beginning at Luke 10:26, “He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? [We need to consider how we read and interpret scripture too.] And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.”
If we want to go to heaven we might want to pay attention to this story. God is the creator of the Universe and every thing in it (everyone in it). People may not want to help others because of their race or position in life. After all, what will I get out of it? That is a very shortsighted question isn’t it? Perhaps it will be eternal life.
Do we treat the old, the sick, and the downtrodden with kindness and respect? Perhaps we just run over them with the “Word.”
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