Satan - Part 1



Matthew 4:1-4
1Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil [Slanderer].
2And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
3And the tempter [Tempter] came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
4But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
5Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple
6and 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.’ ”
7Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
9And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”
10Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan [“Adversary”]! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ”
11Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Some days, while writing this blog, it is so difficult to stay on the path and not chase theological rabbits into their holes. Today’s reading is just such a case. I thought it would be an easy day. This is a familiar passage and I wasn’t expecting new ideas to emerge. That was arrogant. So, I have put up the entire passage that deals with the temptation of Christ, but we are only going to focus upon the first 4 verses for today. There’s just too much information to share and I don’t want to cheat the passage by skimming over the top. Thanks has to go to The Concordia Commentary Series: Matthew 1:1-11:1 by Dr. Jeffrey Gibbs (©2006 CPH) for the amazing insight that this passage holds. I will be summarizing some of his thoughts on this passage.

Just a note of interest – In these 11 verses, the devil receives three different names. First he is called “Slanderer”. He speaks against us at every turn. In verse 3 his is called “Tempter”. He knows exactly what to put in front of us that will have the greatest chance for causing us to stumble. And finally, in verse 10, he is called “Adversary”. He is our enemy in every single way, waiting to accuse us of our sin for he knows that we are indeed guilty.

The break between chapters 3 and 4 is unfortunate because the events are completely connected as is evidenced by “Then . . .” in verse 1. Jesus is declared by the Father in heaven to be His beloved Son. “Then” immediately Jesus heads out into the desert for a time of spiritual testing and demonic temptation. He fasts for 40 days so physically He is weakened and hungry. The desert and the 40 days both harken back to the Children of Israel as they escape slavery in Egypt only to spend 40 years wandering in the desert. This too is a time of spiritual testing and temptation. Where the Children of Israel fail miserably in their efforts to live as God demands, Jesus succeeds.

The first temptation is for Jesus to deal with the hunger that would be raging after 40 days without food. Satan challenges Him to turn the stones into bread. Even in making this challenge Satan acknowledges that Jesus has the power to turn stones into bread. Satan knows who this is and the power that He has. Jesus answers with the truth. The Word of God is the only thing that can truly deal with our hunger, for it is spiritual. Physical hunger is nothing when compared with spiritual starvation.

Jesus passes this first test and proves that He is worthy to bear our sin for He alone is sinless. With His victory over the devil comes our own. Tomorrow, we will deal with the second temptation and on Friday, the third.

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