Bible Question: Jesus' 40 days and nights with Satan. Give me a commentary. |
Bible Answer: Part 2 - Matthew 4:4-6 Matthew 4:4 Jesus responds with Scripture. Why? Being God, the author of all Scripture, Jesus certainly had it within himself to answer the devil without quoting from the Scriptures. He did this as an example to us, who are not God, for how to deal with Satan's temptations. Jesus reponds from (Deuteronomy 8:3) and following. He likens his plight in the desert to that of Israel in the wilderness - 40 days vs. 40 years - coincidence? Israel was an example of a rebellious son, Jesus is the perfect Son. Jesus had just gone 40 days without hunger. Clearly the Father had supplied His need for that time. why should he begin to distrust now that He is hungry. Here is a another lesson for us - we must remember what God has done for us in the past, sometimes the very recent past, and not let Satan make us forget or doubt God's continued care for us. It is far better to live on meager amounts provided by god than to live on plenty supplied through our own sinful pursuits. Matthew 4:5 Satan's 2nd temptation teaches us some more about him and his ways. Note that he moves from the realm of personal need to popular power. Where the 1st temptation was alone in the wilderness, the 2nd is in the greatest city of the land, in the most prominent place. The first temptation appealed to the necessities of life, the 2nd to the desires for fame. There is no place where we can consider ourselves safe from Satan's reach. Adam was tempted in a Holy Garden, Jesus in a Holy City. What holy place do we consider off limits to Satan? Places of prominence are places of greater danger as they carry greater responsibility and often greater pride in our own abilities. While it is good for us to desire to do lofty work, we must let God be the one who leads us to do it, provides the way, and gets the credit. Otherwise we prepare ourselves for a fall. Note also that the higher we are, the more costly can be that fall. Matthew 4:6 Satan is still attempting to question the goodness and the truthfulness of God. He still says "If You are the Son of God", yet Satan does make some changes in his second attack. Satan begins to use the scriptures. Since Jesus responded with Scripture to his 1st attempt, he now uses scripture to tempt him a second time. However, he purposely did not quote (Psalm 91:11-12) accurately. He left out an important phrase, "in all Your ways." According to the psalmist, a person is protected only when he is following the Lord's will. For Jesus to cast Himself down from the pinnacle of the temple in some dramatic display to accommodate Himself to the people's thinking would not have been God's will, and hence the promise would be null and void. Satan will twist the truth, or leave out important points in order to trap us. He is crafty. We must be wary. We must know the Scriptures, be willing to search them for truth, and follow them once we have found it. We cannot be too quick to follow. Belive in no man, but believe in what the Spirit of God reveals to you. Once He has done so, do NOT neglect to follow it. Satan also utilizes historical prophecy in tempting Jesus that "thou art that Messenger, that Angel of the covenant, that should suddenly come to the temple" (Mal. 3:1). While Jesus following Satan's temptation would have been valid fulfillment of prophecy, it was not the way in which God intended it to happen. (Matthew 21:12). Satan could not cast Jesus down. Satan's power is limited. He cannot make us sin. All he can do is entice us, tempt us. The sinning is up to us (James 1:14-15). For believers, temptation can be resisted (1 Corinthians 10:13). We must remember, however that just because the Holy Spirit gives us the power to resist temptation and flee sin, that we need to not be presumptuous. As Matthew Henry puts it: Nor are any extremes more dangerous than those of despair and presumption, especially in the affairs of our souls. Some who have obtained a persuasion that Christ is able and willing to save them from their sins, are then tempted to presume that he will save them in their sins. Thus when people begin to be zealous in religion, Satan hurries them into bigotry and intemperate heats. Henry, Matthew, Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Bible, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers) 1991. |