THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST

(Part 3)

Matt. 4:1-11

Morning Meditation 9/16/16

Verses 1-4 say, “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.”

The words “And when the tempter came to him” identifies the time of the temptation. Satan is a master of temptation. He knows when to attack. He knows when man is most vulnerable. I am sure that Satan had been watching Jesus the whole time He was in the wilderness. There were probably times when Satan knew it would do no good to tempt Jesus. But the time had now arrived. If Satan is going to make his move it must be now. He is called the “tempter.” This word is a present active participle. The present tense means that Satan’s activity as a tempter is a continuous thing. He hasn’t changed jobs. He is still the “tempter.” It is active voice which means that he is doing this of his own will. He continually acts out of his evil nature to trap and destroy. He is aiming at Jesus in this temptation and is attempting to disqualify Him in His redemptive purpose. Don’t give Satan any credit for ignorance. He knows full well what he is doing and doing it of his own volition. The word “came” translates “proserchomai” and means “to approach, to draw near.” It is aorist tense and means that this was done at that particular point of time. The environment for this temptation is carefully chosen. Jesus has a legitimate need. Hunger is a natural result of being without food. Satan will now open his mouth to speak.

Have you ever tried to help someone with advice who was headed into an environment that made them vulnerable to Satan’s temptation? You knew because you had been there. And possibly you had suffered a fall as a result of Satan’s strength and wisdom to outsmart you. You knew that Satan would not miss the opportunity. He is who he is and will not pass up an opportunity to hurt and destroy. So you tried to help. But your advice went unheeded. What you though would happen did happen. Now all you can do is weep and hurt with them and deal with them as Paul says, “In meekness instructing those what oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will” (2 Tim. 2:25-26).

Matthew says, “ . . . he said, If thou be the Son of God . . .” The words “he said” translate “epo” and it means “to speak.” It is an aorist active indicative verb. The aorist tense means that he spoke this at a point of time. He was not repeating it over and over again. He made a statement. The “If” is a first class condition that assumes it to be true. The Father had just said, “. . . This is my beloved Son . .. .” The demons recognized Jesus: Matthew 8:29 says, “And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?” Satan knows exactly who Jesus is. This could be stated “Since thou be the Son of God.” The words “thou be” is the second person singular of the to be verb “eimi.” It is present tense which means that He continues to be the Son of God. Jesus did not become the Son of God at His baptism or at any other time. He is the eternal Son, coexistent and coeternal with the Father. At Bethlehem He became the Son of man for redemptive purposes but not the Son of God. As God He can do what is described in Philippians 2:7-8: “But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” But God cannot become less than He is in essence. God is and as God He cannot become unGod. Satan knows this and recognized this in the present tense of this verb. Satan is neither an atheist nor an agnostic.

Next Satan says, “ . . . command that these stones be made bread.” The word “command” translates “epo” and means “to speak.” Satan is definitely a believer in the Son’s creative powers. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:1-3). The verb “command” is an aorist active imperative. The aorist tense means to speak the word. Jesus is the creative Word. God spoke and worlds appeared. Satan knows that lifeless stones would turn into a fresh loaf of bread if Jesus gave the order. Satan believes God is even though he has sold a multitude of people on the lie that there is no God. One of Satan’s traps that he has set for humanity is to deceive people into denying the existence of God. Satan’s laughs at people for believing this lie. And there are a multitude of intellectuals who have bought into this lie. This is about as stupid as me sitting here in a nice warm room before my computer and denying the existence of my house and computer. Is that smart or what? And yet these guys are in government, heading up our educational systems and writing the material our children are required to study to graduate from high school and college. Satan is not as dumb as that. He laughs at those who have believed his lie and are rushing to judgment without the God who is and without hope. This word “command” is also in the imperative mood. The imperative mood is a command and expresses urgency. First of all, Satan has no authority to command the Son of God. He does have the authority to command the sons of men. We succumbed to his authority in the Garden of Eden. Jesus came to where we are that He might redeem us and raise us to where He is. But in coming to where we are, He did not come under the authority of Satan. That would be to do the same thing that the first Adam did. Jesus did not recognize Satan’s right to “command” Him. The next thing about the imperative mood is urgency. It was urgent that one have food after being without food or drink for forty days and forty nights. Jesus did not have an old sin nature to which Satan could appeal. But He did have natural hunger. He had every thing that man has as God created him, the old sin nature excepted. In this respect, He was as much man as if He were not God. He was not God acting like man. He was truly man. Jesus’ body needs were crying out. He got tired and needed rest. He got sleepy and needed sleep. He got hungry and needed food. That was the condition Jesus was in when Satan came and gave this order.

Jesus is hungry. Fairbairn says, “The temptation was . . . reasonable, too. Israel had been divinely fed while divinely led. What had been right to the people, need not be wrong to the Son of God.”

It is never right to obey Satan to do a right thing. It was not God’s will for Him to turn the stones to bread though He had power to do it. It is not right for me and you to do all that is in our power to do. Jesus said, “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me” (John 5:30). It would have been sin for Jesus to have eaten in response to Satan’s command even though there was no sin in the hunger or eating to satisfy that hunger. Satan’s motives are NEVER to glorify God or to help us glorify God. Jesus said, “ . . . for without me ye can do nothing.” We are never to act independently of the Son. This is the ONLY way to avoid the deception of Satan.

Let me illustrate. Paul attempted to go into Asia with his missionary party and was forbidden of the Holy Ghost (Acts 16:6). He was going there “. . . preach the word in Asia.” Didn’t Jesus tell us in the Great Commission to go into all the world? And wasn’t Asia a part of that world? And wasn’t Paul’s purpose right from a Scriptural standpoint? Yet Paul was about to make a mistake and do something that wasn’t wrong that would have been wrong! Jesus has not only instructed us generally, He is there to illuminate and guide us particularly. Jesus needed food and for Him to eat was not wrong. He refused Satan with the words, “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.”

There are many things that are not wrong in themselves that the Lord will forbid us to do. You say, “How will I know what is right when the situation arises?” Paul says, “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful” (Col. 3:15). So one of the ways the Lord leads is to remove peace about doing it. Then again Paul says, “That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ” (Phil. 1:10). We should not do things that we have liberty to do when it causes offence. I know this turns over a can of worms but this truth won’t be burdensome if your love-life with Christ is right (1 John 5:3).

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White