When referring to the life of a believer we often talk about valleys and mountain peaks. Romans 5: 3-5 talks about this chain of endurance, character, and hope. Jesus was born perfect. He did not need to go through this chain of suffering that we as mortals face. However, Jesus was God in flesh and a large part of his life was spent is establishing His humanity so that we may have a God who knows hunger, thirst, loss and even temptation. So, Matthew 4 leads us to find a Jesus, roaming in the wilderness, hungry and thirsty, tempted by the devil. Perhaps, God found that this was necessary for Jesus to know the exact strength of His enemy before starting out a full on battle in the form of His three year ministry leading to the redemptive work done on the cross.
The Temptation of Jesus
The temptation of Jesus builds in us a confidence that sin is not inevitable. We learn that temptation and sin are not the same thing. Temptation is external. Sin is internal. Jesus was tempted and He refused to sin. He uses the book of Deuteronomy and the instruction of Moses. This reinforces the fact that Jesus is not here to change the law and the prophets but to fulfil them. He establishes that His order is continuation of the covenant established on Mount Sinai. What is more surprising is that the Devil himself keeps quoting scriptures.
We often have this idea of a red horned devil. We think that evil is so atrocious that it is almost obvious. Truth is quite the opposite. Another name for Satan is deceiver because he deceives. He doesn't necessarily lie but rather twists the truth to suit his lie. When Satan is trying his best to deceive Jesus we may as well expect him to bring out his most potent weapons. Let's discuss each temptation one by one.
Now the gospels somewhat differ in the order in which the temptations appeared before Jesus but that does not really mean that the gospels present different facts. We know Luke is a chronological narrative but none of the other gospels claim to be chronological. Let us follow the order given by Matthew-Providence, Protection and Power.
The Temptation of Providence
The temptation of food is something that the devil often uses to make us sin. The entire cycle of sin and death began with the eating of a forbidden fruit. Also, Jesus had been fasting for forty days. We read about a forty day fast two other times in the Bible, one by Moses when he was delivering the law to the Jews (Exo 34: 28) and the other by Elijah before he presented his testimony for the Lord of Hosts (1 King 19:8). Now the result of a forty day fast in an average human is severe starvation. Death normally occurs at around 45 to 61 days. Assuming the complete humanity of Jesus we can assume that he was in a state of utter starvation. So, the first avenue of Satan's attack is food. Satan tells Jesus to use His authority as the Son of God to turn the rocks into bread. Why is that a temptation? Transmutation of matter is something that Jesus does perform as we see in the gospel according to John where he turns water into wine. (Jn 2:1-11). The fact that he did not do it for himself is something different. But if we focus on the fact that Jesus was not undergoing a water diet but rather that He was fasting, do we realize where the temptation is. The Greek word used here is νηστεύω which talks about a religious fast. The aim of such a fasting is spiritual preparation. What the Satan was tempting Jesus to do was not the misuse of His authority as the Son of God. Satan was tempting Jesus to shift His focus from His focus on God to His focus of His physical needs. That was what he had done in the Garden of Eden. In that context Jesus' reply becomes even more clear. He quotes the law of Moses (Deut 8:3) to establish that the instructions of God should be the focus of every individual. This He later explains in Matthew 6 verse 33. Providence comes from God but the duty of an individual is to keep his focus on the Kingdom of Heaven. Again, this episode is more exemplary than exceptional. Jesus sets a model for us to deal with deterrents in our spiritual endeavours.
The Temptation of Protection
For the next temptation we find the Satan quoting the Psalms. Is it surprising for us that not only does Satan know the Psalms but that he can quote it verbatim? We often underestimate the enemy. The Devil can use God's word by misinterpreting it. These are open traps that he lays for us which we find ourselves prone to fall into, especially when we are dealing with false beliefs. Therefore, Jesus sends His disciples out into the world in pairs so that even if one of them is deceived, the other can offer correction. Now what is the nature of this temptation? Are we protected from all harm? This is again a common questions believers face. Does our faith guarantee the protection of our physical self or only of our soul? Often when a believer faces any imminent danger of bodily harm in the form of sickness or even possible death the faith often falters. We often challenge God with sentiments like- God if you are there you won't let this happen. This is exactly what Jesus warns against when He again quotes Moses (Deut 6:16).
The Temptation of Power
The lure of power is very dangerous. The devil tempts Jesus with the lure of world dominion. The devil promises the Lord of Lords lordship over the world if the Lord of Lords would worship him and make an idol of him. For a zealous believer it sounds like a joke and we often try to see Satan as a ludicrous jester while saying this. But truth is that through this entire episode Jesus serves as an example. Jesus is trying to show us how to face such temptations. It doesn't have to come in the form of world dominion. Sometimes it comes in the form of a promotion or an increment in our salary, an increased number of followers on social media or an increase in physical appeal. All these can serve as a temptation and lead us to idolatry. Here the idol doesn't need to be a red horned Satan but it can be our work, our finances or even our beauty. When we give our priority to anything other than God that leads to idolatry. When Jesus answers with the law of Moses yet again (Deut 6:13) we learn how to organize our priorities.
Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; (Deu 6:13-14)
We see what happens when Jesus has answered the Devil though. He leaves and the angels appear to minister to Jesus's needs. That is the providence, protection and power of God as compared to that of the world.
The Ministry of Jesus
Jesus was baptised in Judea by John the Baptist. Then He went into the wilderness of Judea during his fasting. By the time His preparation fast is over John the Baptist has been arrested. Jesus still has a lot of work left before He can follow John on that path, three years of ministry work. Thus he returns to Galilee. The province of Galilee was formerly the area allotted to the tribes of Zebulun and Napthali. As Jesus starts His ministry in Capernaum in Galilee Matthew does not fail to remind us the fulfilment of another prophecy made by the prophet Isaiah (Isa 9: 1-2). Again, this is a region that is not exclusive to religious Jews. There are fishermen and craftsmen, not Pharisees and Sadducees. Those in spiritual darkness receive the light of hope. We find that the key aspects of Jesus's ministry, being the same as that of John the Baptist, are repentance and hope.
Once Jesus starts His ministry, He calls His disciples. He calls them from fishermen and promises to make them fishers of men. The terminology has more to do with a direct relation to the profession that these men are used to. When Jesus called His disciples for evangelical work He expected them to not only spread His teaching, baptize disciples but also to determine who is worthy to be a disciple in the first place. We find several accounts throughout the gospel where Jesus has discouraged someone from following Him. Just as a fisherman knows how to differentiate between good and bad fish and throws out the bad fish, to keep the good ones fresh in the net, similarly must the disciples of Jesus do in selecting followers. It was not just about casting nets anymore but more about knowing and understanding people and reading their hearts.
In the Jewish community the call to follow a rabbi was a high spiritual calling, not to be refuted. The fact that the calling was placed to fishermen was a novelty. Nonetheless they grasped at the opportunity and immediately followed Him. As the numbers increased so did His popularity. He preached at the synagogues and performed miraculous healing. People flocked to Him not only from Galilee but from all the surrounding region of Syria (Tyre). It wouldn't be long till someone took notice of His radical teaching and start feeling threatened. But Jesus was there to do His work, not think about the outcome. His obedience to perform His God-given task was what made Him the second Adam, the one who through His obedience up to the Cross would redeem us from our sins.
