Understanding the Appeal of Temptations

Read Matthew 4:6-11

Let’s conclude our study of temptation by observing how Jesus teaches us to repel temptation. Already we have seen that God’s Spirit allows temptation to occur; we have also seen Satan’s appeal: to use physical power to meet our needs. However, as Jesus’ temptation shows us in these verses, we are also to be on guard against several other strong appeals. To be forewarned is to be forearmed against them.

Satan tempts Jesus by appealing to his power to do anything he wanted to do.

Unsuccessful in his first venture, Satan tries a second temptation. He ushers Jesus to the highest spot in the temple in Jerusalem, wanting to give Jesus a more difficult test. Again he appeals to the desire to have people value Jesus for the sake of his miravles. If we could work great miracles and have people swoon at our ability, we might be tempted to do that, too. Satan wanted Jesus to perform “a vain display of his miraculous power,” either to show off for a gathered multitude or else later to be reported later.

But one of the things to note is this: Had Jesus succumbed to Satan’s temptations, the devil would have been in control, not Jesus. In temptation, we surrender the right order of God’s creation. We allow the deceiver to pose as the truth-teller, and the lie to play second-fiddle to God’s reality. In this and every temptation, the ground-rules are all important. If Satan is allowed to set the agenda, all of us will be running around, following the drumbeat of his will. Each temptation also carries within it a perversion of defining issues. God plans to set the agenda; when we sin, we let the Usurper come in and determine the priorities. But of course, Jesus did not let that happen.

In this second temptation, for Jesus to have accommodated or cooperated with Satan would have been presumptuous, “a rash reliance upon God’s protecting care in situations where he had not promised it, and where the danger is a voluntary or self-produced one.”[1] God does not want us performing miracles for our own comfort or fame, especially when they involve silly risk. Only if Satan sets the ground-rules would we be trapped into this.

Another thing that we would be wise to note about this temptation is this: Satan can quote Scripture. He actually cited a passage from Psalm 91. Jesus had this memorized, too. While there is an ever-so-slight difference in Satan’s recitation, by and large he even cited this passage accurately. The NT teaches that “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light . . . his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness.” (2 Cor. 11:14-15). 

Even the citation of Scripture needs to be correct and in line with the rest of God’s teaching to keep us from sin.

So we need to know that Satan can even pervert or distort the Scriptures. The Scriptures need to be rightly interpreted. Many false teachers serve Satan’s goals when they distort Scripture. The mere citation of verses does not guarantee the godliness of the speaker.

Jesus repulsed this second temptation in the same way he did the first one: by speaking back to Satan the very words of God. That is the only device Jesus employs in this whole drama. He does not resort to programs or cute ideas. He does not avoid Satan; he merely responds with God’s Word. That is one of the reasons that it is so crucial to study, store up, and know God’s Word. It helps us resist temptation. God’s Word is strong when we are weak.

Jesus answered with an OT passage: “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Jesus diagnosed this temptation for what it truly was: an effort to prove God—as if he needed proving. Once again, it is a perversion for the creature to ask the Creator for proof of existence. It is equally sinful for persons to put God to the test in daily activities. God is so clear that whenever one demands proof, rest assured that such demand is not from God.

Jesus corrected Satan with the OT, another quotation from the book of Deuteronomy. He reminded Satan that God was God and did not need to provide demonstrations.

You may be tempted sometime to do or pray for some miracle. It might be better to ask God what he wants, what His will is. In sin, we get so involved in doing what we think is right that we often leave God out of the equation. One aid in resisting temptation is to surrender to God and accept whatever terms of proof he has decided to offer. We must not be demanding of God. That will lead to sin every time.

Satan tempts Jesus by appealing to his power to rule the whole world.

In the third temptation, Satan really pulls out all the stops for Jesus. He wanted to seduce Jesus in the worst way. So he ushered Jesus up to a high mountain. With a vantage point that allowed him to show Jesus many geographical kingdoms “and their splendor,” Satan challenges: “All this I will give you if you will bow down and worship me.” Satan has now arrived at his real destination. As he had for centuries, even for thousands of years, he is now seeking to receive the honor that is appropriate for God alone. Only God is worthy of worship. Yet, Satan the Liar wants adoration. He did this in the Garden of Eden, and he did this in the Garden of Gethsemane.

He actually has the nerve to think that Jesus might be so desperate for fame and to rule that he might resort to a Faustian bargain to worship Satan in exchange for this worldly glory. Satan seems to project his own character onto Jesus, thinking that Jesus will do anything to reign. This is at the heart of this temptation. Jesus is tempted to rule the whole world—which was by right his destiny—but the way he would get it is if he succumbed to the Satanic temptation. In no case is it right to honor Satan, revere him, certainly not to worship him, nor to submit to him. Of course, the kingdoms were never Satan’s to give; his promise is really another of his lies.

Some people think of Satan as in control of the universe between the resurrection of Christ and the Second Coming. If that were the case, then God would not be sovereign; Satan would be sovereign. While the Bible does affirm that Satan is a potent ruler, even the ruler over those in this world (Eph. 2:2), he certainly does not control all; his power is limited and circumscribed by God’s rule. Satan does exercise “a very powerful influence for evil over the lives of all those wicked people and spirits that acknowledge him as their master. But such references certainly do not prove that the devil is the ultimate owner and ruler of the nations, with the right and the might to dispose of them and of their wealth as he pleases, so that Christ himself, at least during the present [time], would have to take a back seat to him. The contrary is the truth . . . even during [Jesus’] humiliation Satan was able to do no more than Christ [allowed] him to do.”[2]

Satan was speaking his native language here in this temptation; he was lying. Jesus knew it; he recognized the accent. Jesus knew that even if Satan had such power, to be able to give nations to faithful worshippers—that he wouldn’t because he was a liar.

Jesus dealt with this temptation by knowing the lies of the Liar. He did not accept Satan’s Word. Jesus disbelieved Satan. You should too. Anytime Satan offers something contrary to what God has offered, or if Satan’s emissaries promise something that is not allowed by God, you must meet that temptation at the door and slam the door shut. Answer as Jesus did with Scripture. But do not believe Satan when he whispers things like, “Has God really said . . . For he knows that in the day you eat of it you will be enlightened.”

At root, Satan wanted Jesus to worship him. He always had. He also wants you to worship and serve him. The temptation here is much like it was to Adam originally. Adam was tempted when he thought that he could be the center of the universe. This is present in every sin. Adam thought he could have all things. If he would merely cooperate with and serve the serpent, he was told he could be like God. Jesus, too, was presented with the opportunity to have the world at his fingertips. All he had to do was worship the creature instead of the Creator. Satan even claims (as a Liar) to be able to give all these things to Jesus. “All these things will I provide if . . .” But Jesus did what Adam did not. Jesus did not fall for it.

We see in this the Second Adam. This Adam conquers Satan and the temptation. He does not give in to it. J. A. Alexander wrote: “Our Lord’s susceptibility of temptation was no more inconsistent with his sinlessness than that of Adam, and is insisted on in Scripture as essential to his office, and especially as necessary to a real sympathy between him and his tempted people.”[3]

This Second Adam receives the Tempter. The Tempter sneaks around, dances with truth—never quite settling down—but sends forth his lying tongue to strike with deceit. The First Adam was surrounded by none of the effects of sin; the Second had sin all around him. The Second Adam stuck to God’s Word without twisting it. He kept the covenant, whereas the First Adam did not. Tempted with far more intensity and offered greater mirages, Jesus, our Representative, answered Satan with the only weapon powerful enough to handle temptation—the Word from another Source, the Word of God.

Jesus’ answer is also instructive: “Away from me, Satan [the first time he calls him by name]. For it is written [there it is again] Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” In every sin, there is some aspect of worship. When we steal, we worship material goods. Lust contains a worship of sexual expression or even irresponsibility. Slander worships self in the process of destroying the other person’s reputation. When we sin, we fall down at the altar of some other god, rather than worshiping the only true living God.

Yet, in contrast with Adam, the gravity of the test is much more. It is different in these respects: (1) Adam had not gone without food for a sustained period of time; (2) Had Adam been hungry, he could have reached out and taken fruit (Gen. 2:17); It was not off limits; and (3) Adam had everything in his favor. He lived in paradise; Jesus was in a horrible wilderness, surrounded only by Satan.

Actually, in each of these, the appeal was so tempting because it tempted Jesus to do something that was otherwise proper. It was not wrong for Jesus to perform physical miracles, do anything he wanted to do, nor to rule the whole world. All of these were quite appropriate for Jesus. However, it was neither the time nor the place to do so. Jesus was working on God’s timetable and not his own. Miracles themselves were subject to God’s eternal plan. To do a miracle, even if correct, at the wrong time, was to let Satan win the temptation. Jesus did not allow Satan to establish the rules. That was wrong then, and is wrong in our temptations as well.

It is important to remember this when tempted. When we are tempted, we would be wise to ask, not only is this possible, but is this God’s will?

Hebrews 2 says that Christ was tempted in every way that we are except without sin. In the Garden, Jesus was tempted finally before going to his death. No human has ever faced the temptation our Lord did. He faced it as a fully human man. He was actively obedient to God his Father. He defeated temptation by standing with, on, and behind the Word of God. Our Lord sympathizes with our weaknesses. He knows our temptations.

Having been cast out of heaven, Satan is on a mission: to destroy God’s plan, his Messiah, or his people. J. C. Ryle writes: “There is no enemy worse than an enemy who is never seen and never dies, who is near to us wherever we live, and goes with us wherever we go. . . . we must not count temptation a strange thing. The disciple is not greater than his master, nor the servant than his lord. If Satan came to Christ, he will also come to Christians.”[4] Therefore, we must be prepared. We must not be naive.

It might be a good time to revisit 1 Peter 5:8: “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith . . .” 

This is the third and final post in a series on Jesus' temptation. Read the first and second parts.