038. Chapter 17 - The Temptation of Jesus

Chapter 17 - The Temptation of Jesus Matthew 4:1-11;Mark 1:12,Mark 1:13;Luke 4:1-13 Historical Setting The temptation occurred at the very opening of Jesus’ ministry. The Messiah must be thoroughly tempted and tested before He enters upon His mission to save a world which has succumbed to such temptations. In the lonely desert all the temptations, vexing problems and alluring offers which His public ministry is to afford are concentrated in one furious attack which Satan hurls against Him. The temptation followed immediately the baptism. In the Jordan He received the Spirit and into the wilderness He was immediately led by the Spirit. The first decisive leading of the Spirit was to bring Him face to face with the devil. Having received the Spirit, He immediately faced the temptation to use His miraculous powers in ways not pleasing to God. Through the long years of His youth and early manhood there had been the growing consciousness of His great mission in the world. Calm and determined He came to the waters of baptism. Here He received recognition from heaven of His Messiahship. How shall He fulfill the great task? Shall He allow Himself to be lured away from the deep-set plans of His soul? “Thou art my beloved Son” said God at the baptism. “If thou art the Son of God” mockingly repeats the devil in the wilderness. Will Jesus measure up to the title conferred? From the waters of baptism straight into the wilderness He goes for this test. Pere Didon, a French commentator, points out in a striking paragraph the inseparable connection between the baptism and the temptation and how they stand in vigorous contrast and form the real prelude to the life of Christ. The one is the manifestation of the Spirit of God; the other, that of the spirit of evil. The one shows us the divine sonship of Jesus; the other, His human nature rising up to face struggle and temptation. The one reveals the infinite force by which He conquered; the other, the obstacles which He overcame on all sides.

Geographical Location Where did the temptations occur? Tradition points out the wild and barren region near Jericho. This is the section where John was probably carrying on his work. Plummer thinks the scene of the temptations lay somewhere to the north in the wilderness beyond the Jordan. Gould says: “Inasmuch as it was from the wilderness into the wilderness and as Mark adds He was with the wild beasts, it must mean that He penetrated still further into its solitudes.” Luke says He was “led in the wilderness” and this suggests that He spent the forty days in wandering about from place to place. Since He had nothing to eat and no place to rest at night, His anguish of soul would most likely express itself in restless wandering. Some scholars object strenuously to the thought of Jesus’ being actually led to the summit of a “high mountain.” But why should Jesus have remained in one place during the forty days? As to whether He left the wilderness and stood on the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem and then returned to the wilderness, it would be hard to improve on McGarvey and Pendleton’s brief note: “Whether naturally or supernaturally, ‘Whether in the body or out of the body’ (2 Corinthians 12:2-4) we cannot tell.” There is nothing so startling or impossible about being on the wing of the temple or the summit of a mountain. On the other hand, the temptations might have been just as graphic and powerful if symbolic and presented from the depths of the wilderness.

Danger or Loneliness

Mark’s assertion that “He was with the wild beasts” raises the question as to whether he means to suggest danger or loneliness. McGarvey (Lands of the Bible, pp. 72-73) mentions the jackal and gazelle as common in sections where the population is not dense. “The lion was once known in the country, but has long since disappeared. A few bears yet remain, and the author saw a large one on top of Mt. Hermon. Hyenas are not unknown. The wild goat is sometimes seen, as also the wild boar. Porcupines and hares are not uncommon, and mice are abundant.” Gould says: “The desert of Judea is in parts wild and untamed, and abounds in beasts of the same description such as the leopard, the bear, the wild boar, and the jackal” (Commentary on Mark, p. 13). Thompson, in a very beautiful passage, insists that not danger but loneliness is meant and he pictures the bleak, blistering desert with the lizards and vipers creeping over the stones and a jackal skulking in the distance. There is no doubt that the loneliness of Jesus is emphasized by the words of Mark. No human being could enter into and share His experience. “He was with the wild beasts.” And the fact that Mark immediately adds “and the angels ministered unto him” rather sets the wild beasts in contrast with angels and suggests that the wild beasts were dangerous but God’s protecting care through it all is seen by the hovering angels. The Time of the Temptations Did these three temptations occur at the close of the forty days or was Jesus tempted through out this period? Matthew does not assert that these temptations occurred only at the end of this period, but this might be inferred from his record. Mark and Luke affirm, however, that He was tempted during the period of forty days so that these temptations were either extended over a long period or else they are typical of temptations which ran the whole gamut of possible allurements to Jesus. Luke says, “And having finished every kind of temptation, the devil left him.” This suggests continual testing throughout the whole period. The three temptations that are described evidently are representative or sum up in a dramatic climax the peculiar power of them all. Both Matthew and Luke state that It was toward the close of the period of forty days that the pangs of hunger began to be pressing. This suggests complete absorption; the torture of soul was so terrific that He did not notice the passing of time or the lack of food until He approached the point of complete physical exhaustion.

Order of the Temptations Did the temptation on the pinnacle of the temple precede in time the one on the mountain or vice-versa? Matthew gives the order (1) stones into bread; (2) pinnacle of the temple; (3) on the mountain. Luke records them: (1) stones into bread, (2) on the mountain, (3) pinnacle of the temple. Since neither lays claim to a chronological arrangement, there is no contradiction. Luke probably presents a geographical arrangement — giving the two temptations in the desert and then the one on the temple. Matthew probably presents the temptations as they occurred in time for they represent a natural climax and he, alone, gives the decisive “Get thee hence, Satan,” which closes the period of temptations and sets the seal of finality upon the temptation on the mountain top. The Significance of the Temptations. Physical or Symbolical? The records of the temptations of Jesus possess a profound simplicity. The most uneducated person finds himself fascinated by the luminous gleams of the graphic recital. And where is the scholar who has fathomed the complete meaning of these temptations? At first sight, the first temptation appears to be physical in character and the second temptation has something of the same appearance, but the third temptation is evidently symbolical and this causes us to retrace our steps to discover if they all are not symbolical. Jesus was on the verge of collapse, the stress of suffering from hunger was acute, the stones lying about in the desert closely resembled loaves of bread and the suggestion of Satan would appeal strongly to the physical appetite. But the suggestion to fall down and worship Satan has nothing of the physical; it is purely symbolic. If the last is symbolic, this increases the possibility that the other two are of the same kind. But it is hard to see the grounds for the insistence of so many commentators that the temptations are all either the one or the other. Why should this be affirmed of any of the temptations? Does human experience set the temptations of life off into air-tight compartments of the physical and the spiritual? Could not the first temptation of Jesus have been both? Did not Eve see that the fruit was good to eat as well as have the spiritual temptation of gaining divine knowledge? Is it not true of our daily temptations that they are many-sided and often attack body and soul at once? One can hardly avoid quoting “the world, the flesh and the devil” as somewhat parallel to the three temptations (on the pinnacle of the temple, stones into bread and on the mountain). In the final analysis, the temptations would seem to be many-sided and to include the physical; but the most subtle power comes from the spiritual side. The interpretation should stress the symbolic significance. If symbolic, they were evidently Messianic.

Stones into Bread The records combine to emphasize the physical side of the first temptation: the long period of fasting, the express statement of Jesus’ hunger, the nature of the devil’s suggestion and of Jesus’ reply. How many crimes have been committed in human history because men were driven by hunger! But it is hard to believe this sounds the depths of this temptation. The devil said: “If thou art the Son of God”; at the root of this temptation lies the question of the very life of Jesus. Should He perish here in the desert? Why suffer such torture if He was the Son of God? Did He not have the right to live — to create food for the continuation of His life? How should He use this miraculous power? Should it all be reserved for others or should it be used to smooth His own pathway? The Temptation to Doubt

Plummer, in a vigorous paragraph, argues that the first temptation was neither physical nor symbolic, but that it was a temptation to doubt God. “If thou art the Son of God” is usually taken to mean that the devil tried to create doubt in the mind of Jesus of His own Son-ship and to tantalize Him by that little word “if” to give proof by turning stones into bread. Plummer, however, argues that the following is the meaning: If Jesus is the Son of God (as both admit), then He has a right to live. Why should He perish here in the desert? God has deserted Him. Death is at hand. Why not take matters into His own hands and create food to save His life? This would make this parallel to that on the cross — “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Jesus does not respond to this by affirming that He is the Son of God and that God will take care of Him. He ignores the reference of Satan and reveals an even wider trust in God. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” “Man” — all men and not merely the Son of God — should trust in God and live according to the Word and will of God rather than their own physical appetites. His trust is unshaken. God has led Him into the wilderness. God will end His fast at the proper time. At all events, God will care for Him. He will not doubt God and rebel against Him in breaking His fast by a miracle. He will await God’s pleasure. The Temptation Many-Sided This is a very attractive interpretation. But what conceivable conflict between this interpretation and the realization that there must have been the tug and pull of physical hunger combined with this temptation to doubt? And why assert that both of these ideas exhaust the force of the temptation? It is hard to believe that the temptation is not also symbolic — typifying the temptation current throughout His ministry to use His miraculous power to relieve His own distress. Plummer, in his anxiety to make out his case for a new interpretation, holds that Jesus did use His miraculous power thus during His ministry. But he oversteps himself in this and fails to make out his case. He asserts that Jesus used His miraculous power for His own safety when He escaped out of the hands of His enemies during His ministry, and for His own comfort when He walked on the water instead of walking around the lake or securing a boat. This latter idea misses entirely the point of the desperate need of the disciples as He came to them walking on the water. The escapes from His enemies seem miraculous only in the sense of the inevitable and overpowering impression made by a divine personality. His purpose was the fulfillment of His mission rather than His own safety, for He did not evade death in the end. This first temptation has, at least in its background, the question: What sort of Messiah? Shall He use His miraculous powers as an Aladdin’s Lamp to procure purple and fine linen and sumptuous fare for Himself, or shall He go out seeking the lost in the dark corners of the land and give Himself without reserve for mankind? On the Pinnacle of the Temple Does the second temptation contain any of the physical element? Does the dizzy height of the pinnacle with the yawning abyss below suggest aught of human weakness to lose one’s poise and good judgment and cast oneself off regardless of the consequences? This is uncertain. The element of doubt is present here as in the first, but not so strong. The devil imitates Jesus’ first reply by quoting Scripture in his second assault. Even the devil can quote Scripture. He quotes correctly but misapplies it. And he omits part of the quotation, “He shall guard thee (in all thy ways) lest.” Is this purposed? Some suggest that casting Himself from the pinnacle would not have been “in his ways” but out of them. “The disobedient prophet was slain by the lion, the obedient Daniel was preserved in the lion’s den.” He is urged to hazard His life deliberately and thereby prove His confidence in His Sonship and His complete trust in God. But it would have been doubting God to have cast Himself down. God had not required it. It would have been a presumptuous trial of God. The symbolic element is plain in this temptation. If there had only been the suggestion to throw Himself from some lofty height, any precipice in the desert would have been a fitting situation. But it is on a pinnacle of the temple; below are the crowded courts and streets. It is the problem: how shall He convince this people of His Messiahship? They are expecting a military Messiah to lead against Rome. They are longing for just such a “sign from heaven” as Satan suggests on the pinnacle of the temple. Shall He attempt the short cut to success and overwhelm the wills of the people by leaping, as it were, from the midst of heaven into the courts of the temple unharmed? Or shall He take the slow, irksome, and thorny way of healing, teaching, preaching, and the daily fellowship? The problem of His mission to the world is evidently uppermost here. On the Summit of the Mountain The last temptation is plainly Messianic. “In a moment of time” the kingdoms of the earth are shown from the lofty mountain peak. The Greek reads “in the twinkling of an eye” — the Greek root means to “pick or sting.” Supernatural vision is evidently presumed. Here is the object of His earthly life plainly in view. How shall He establish His kingdom? Of what kind shall it be? Shall it be spiritual — according to God’s desires? Or shall it be a mixture of the heavenly and the worldly? Pere Didon says of the traditional scene of His temptation that before His eyes lay the road from Jericho to Jerusalem which He must travel one day with His disciples, going to His death. This is the heart of this temptation: to avoid the agony of the cross. The deadly element in this last temptation is the subtle offer of Satan to compromise. Satan says, in substance, “Why struggle any longer? We have both contended for forty days with no avail. It is unpleasant for us. The world is big enough for us both. Our plans are not so different. I will not abdicate but I will share the rule with you. We will compromise matters. The world has been delivered over to me but I will give it to you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Did the devil really have control of the world? Over the evil portion by God’s permission to tempt men and by men’s failure to resist, his power was and is tremendous. But the world was not all his. There are always more than 7,000 faithful. The fact that he so persistently seeks to tempt and mislead men shows he does not yet possess them. The Power of the Last Temptation The answers of Jesus to the first two assaults are calm and unruffled. But the text suggests that the devil has gone too far this time. He has become intolerable in his insulting affronts. “Get thee hence” ends the temptations. The suggestion to compromise was the most deadly of all. It has always been the chief weakness of the church. Stalker notes that Mohammed made this compromise in attempting to extend his religion by force and the Jesuits followed suit in baptizing the heathen first and instructing them later. If Jesus had combined His high religious idealism with the material ideas of the Messianic kingdom which prevailed among the religious leaders of Israel, how easy the path would have seemed! What kind of a kingdom? Compromise? A mixture of heaven and hell? Never! There was no middle ground. He could not make friends and cooperate with Satan. Bitter and relentless warfare was the only possibility. How slow the church has been to learn this! The devil failed in the wilderness, but how soon he vanquished the church by the way of compromise with heathenism and brought forth Roman Catholicism. No greater weakness is evident in the modern church than the tendency to walk “in the middle of the road.” Emblazon on her banner: “No compromise with Satan!” Let infidelity and sin everywhere and always meet unyielding opposition!