Matthew 4:1-5

 

Mat 4:1 (KJB)

Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

 

Immediately after His baptism, the Lord Jesus Christ was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit. The fact that Jesus was led of the Spirit revealed two major tenets of this event. First of all, it was God’s desire that Jesus would undergo these coming temptations. It was a test which was designed to show all of us that Christians will undergo all kinds of testing in this life. Secondly, Jesus would confront Satan, the chief tempter and be victorious over him. (John 14:30 KJV) Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. This showed that Satan did not have any authority over Jesus plus these smaller tests and victories would be the prelude to the greatest triumph over the devil and that would be Jesus going to the cross and ultimately defeating him.

 

Mat 4:2 (KJB)

And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered.

 

The temptations did not start immediately but first Jesus underwent a period of forty days and nights of fasting. No doubt this was also a time of prayer as He prepared Himself for the ministry. (Luke 4:2 KJV) Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. It seems that during the forty days, Satan had come tempting Him. When Jesus reached His goal of forty days and nights of fasting, then He had become hungry. I am sure during that fast, Satan had tried to get Him to break the fast with all kinds of temptations of food. According to Luke 4:2 above, Jesus did not eat anything during His forty day fast.

 

Mat 4:3 (KJB)

And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

 

Satan had now come to Jesus knowing that He was hungry, tried to force Him to perform a miracle by turning the stones of the wilderness into bread. Satan uses the conjunction “if” and it is being used with the words “thou be” which is in the Indicative Mood in the Greek which means that Satan is basically saying to Jesus, “If you are who you claim to be…” Satan wanted Jesus to prove by works what He said in words. Jesus had just identified with the human race by means of being baptized by John and now Satan wanted Jesus to break that relationship by satisfying his hunger in a way that man could not, by means of a miracle. If Jesus would have done what Satan told Him to do, it would have set a precedent and Jesus would not have gone to the cross plus He would have frustrated the Father’s plan.

 

Mat 4:4 (KJB)

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.

 

Jesus would not entertain the idea of obeying Satan because Jesus was obedient to His Father. (John 8:28 KJV) Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. The total obedience of Jesus to His Father gave Him total victory over Satan. Jesus did not stand there and argue with Satan concerning turning the stones into bread, instead He quotes from Scripture. (Deu 8:3 KJV) 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. It was not just a question of the stones being turned to bread, it was the fact that we are to live by the words of God. The word of God not only speaks to our physical needs but it also speaks to our spiritual needs, that is, of a Savior because we are lost. (Rom 14:17 KJV) For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Then we are told that God will be our guide even unto death and His guidebook is the Scriptures. (Psa 48:14 KJV) For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.

 

Mat 4:5 (KJB)

Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,

 

Jesus must have come out of the wilderness by this time so this means that these temptations were not in a very tight time period. The second temptation that Jesus faced was going to the city of Jerusalem. It was called the “holy city” because of where the temple was located. (Isa 48:2 KJV) For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is his name. This temptation came to Jesus in the temple where Satan took him to the pinnacle. The exact location in the temple is unknown but it is believed to be the southeastern corner where there was a very high point that overlooked the Kidron Valley that would have been a very elevated area.

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