Temptations in the Wilderness: Finding Strength in Testing

After Jesus was baptized, he faced three temptations in the wilderness. He overcame those temptations and entered his ministry with power. But what was his secret? Before we get there, I want to introduce part of my own experience with the wilderness.

My first camping trip was possibly my last. In 2019, I joined some friends on a road trip to North Carolina. The plan was to hike Grandfather Mountain. We drove 10 hours, got to our campground, and started setting up. I soon realized: I done messed up.

I brought a sleeping bag, but I neglected to ask some important questions about necessities. Frustrated, I found myself switching between using a towel for a pillow and a blanket. I tossed and turned for a few hours. Only the lining of our tent separated my back from a hard wooden deck we were renting for “lodging.” I was not prepared.

Thankfully, there was a commons area where we could shower and use the restroom. We weren’t fully “roughin’ it,” but it was pretty rough. My back was in pain. I was cold. I feared the possibility of wild animals. It was quite unpleasant. So I did what any self-preserving man would do: I slept in the common area. It stayed unlocked all night and totally unsupervised, and it had a couch. I shamelessly escaped the discomfort and fear of the great outdoors.

In Matthew 4, Jesus took the opposite approach to me. Rather than running away from it, he ran into it. Verse 1 says, “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” Jesus obeyed the leading of the Holy Spirit to intentionally put himself in the way of the devil’s temptations. And spoiler alert: He overcame those temptations.

Temptation of Hunger

Remember that in order to understand the mind of Christ, we ought to pay attention to the words of Christ. So in order to make sense of what Jesus is revealing, let’s see what he says when the devil tempts him: “After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread'” (Matthew 4:2-3).

Why does the tempter begin with that line, “If you are the Son of God”? Well, if we look just before this in Chapter 3, the Father has just declared Jesus the Son of God. And this is the obvious reason for the challenge. The devil wants to plant seeds of doubt, just like the serpent did for Eve. He convinced her that God did not really mean what he said (Genesis 3:1-6). But Jesus was not shaken: “He answered, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God”‘” (verse 4).

This quote from Deuteronomy 8:3 is fascinating when we see its context. In this part of the book of Deuteronomy, Yahweh is recapping the journey of the Israelites in the wilderness. He says right before this in verse 2, “You shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.”

Christ and Israel’s Temptations

To understand this call back, we need to understand that most Jews during Jesus’ life did not have Hebrew Bibles. The ones who knew the Scriptures, for the most part, knew the Greek version, called the Septuagint. In this version, where God says he was “testing” his people, this is a form of the word peirazó. The Bible uses this same root to describe Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1).

This was doubtless on Jesus’ mind throughout his 40-day fast. He reflected on Israel’s unfaithfulness and their failure to live up to God’s commandments, and he stood firm in his mission to make things right. While Jesus fasted, he looked back on the next statement in Deuteronomy 8:3: “[The Lord] humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone…” When Jesus thought back to Deuteronomy 8, he would have remembered verse 5: “As a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you.”

Jesus, the unique Son of God, was willing to endure the Father’s discipline as long as it took, and when the devil came against him with the temptation to relieve his hunger with his own power, he was prepared. Jesus remembered that he lives by “every word that comes from the mouth of God.” He knew that “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work” (John 4:34). He understood that if he humbled himself before his Father, he would lift him up (see James 4:10).

Temptation of Fame

Again, we see the tempter challenging Jesus’ identity. “Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and 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”‘” (Matthew 4:5‭-‬6). The devil tries to tempt Jesus with a promise found in Psalm 91:11-12.

This promise seemed to be an opportunity for Jesus to show himself to the world. See, the devil “set him” on the highest point of the temple, likely about 150 feet above ground. This was the same temple where his parents found him talking theology with the rabbis.¹ His temptation was to throw himself down and force God to fulfill his word of protection by sending angels to catch him and save him from harm. The logic is that the crowds worshipping in the temple courts below would see this event and believe who Jesus is. This temptation was to put worldly fame and notoriety above the plan of God. But the devil used a strange technique: He quoted the Word of God to tempt the Son of God.

Psalm 91 and the Powers of Darkness

Psalm 91 has been a mantra and prayer for millions of people due to its emphasis on God’s protection of those who trust in him. While there are many Psalms that emphasize God’s power and protection, there is just something about Psalm 91 that speaks to the depths of our human fears. Here is part of it: “You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked” (Psalm 91:5‭-‬8). This promise is for those who “dwell in the shelter of the Most High” (verse 1).

When we hear this, if we really believe God means what he says, it stirs in us a sense of courage, a sense of faith, because we can relate to the fears mentioned. Fears like these have deep roots in the human psyche. This is why Hollywood is able to capitalize on terror, violence, pestilence, and destruction. But is that really all there is to this Psalm? Protection from human fears or bad circumstances? No. It isn’t.

These specific objects of fear are not merely concepts or circumstances. They are actually Hebrew names of ancient Canaanite gods.² In the mind of the original audience, these gods were the dark powers behind the sort of fears that our English translations lay out. These are demons. These are real spiritual entities, and God promises the righteous safety from them. And the devil quotes this very Psalm to tempt Jesus.

Don’t Test God

Christ is the most righteous, the most holy, the most in touch with God. Of course he could trust this promise! And God never failed him. When dark forces confronted Jesus, they could not harm or defeat him. God kept his word. But what the devil really wanted was for Jesus to try to force God’s hand. And Jesus was not having it: “Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test”‘” (Matthew 4:7).

This is a quote from Deuteronomy 6:13. In the original source, God adds, “as you tested him at Massah.” This word Massah, is the Hebrew equivalent to the Greek word for “testing” discussed earlier, but here God refers to a location originally mentioned in Exodus 17:7. A place called Rephidim was renamed Massah because of the event that took place there.

God led Israel there to set up camp. Exodus 17:1 says they had no water there, so they nagged Moses to get them something to drink. In verse 3, they asked, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” God met their need through Moses striking a rock to supernaturally produce water from it, despite their asking, “Is the Lord among us or not?” in verse 7.

In Deuteronomy 6:16, God specifically tells his people not to act in this way. To test him is to push him to act in our way, on our time. And for Jesus, throwing himself off the pinnacle of the temple would be just the same. It would be a demand that the Father act on his terms. But Jesus showed the devil that he could not fool him by this appeal to the ego.

Temptation of Power

Finally, we read, “Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me'” (Matthew 4:8‭-‬9). Luke 4:6 adds to the devil’s words, “For it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will.”

The devil really had this power. The gods of the nations are real beings with real power, whom Jesus “disarmed” in his crucifixion (Colossians 2:14). God granted that power to them when he scattered the nations at Babel (Deuteronomy 32:8). The devil, being one of them and the chief rebel against God, sought worship from Christ. He truly had dominion over the kingdoms of the world. Jesus knew that was true. He did not correct him. Part of his mission taking that dominion back and reclaiming the nations from the evil gods. He knew from Daniel 7 he would be exalted to rule over all the earth.

But Jesus knew also that he had to do it the Father’s way: “Then Jesus said to him, ‘Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve”‘” (Matthew 4:10). The passage he quoted goes on: “You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you— for the Lord your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth” (Deuteronomy 6:14‭-‬15). He knew if he worshipped the devil, he would be no better than the people of Israel who turned away from Lord, which wasn’t an option.

What Do the Temptations Have in Common?

Now we have seen each of the temptations and each response. We understand the significance the temptations hold. But what can we learn from it all?

When we look at the three temptations together, we see that they have one thing in common: a shortcut. Jesus could miraculously make bread to curb his hunger. He could jump off the temple to make a quick show of his identity. He could worship the devil to skip the pain of the cross and go straight to dominion. But all of these apparent shortcuts would have been to his dismay and ours. And when he stayed faithful to the Father, Matthew 4:11 tells us that “the devil left him,” and the very promise he was tempted with in verse 6 came to pass when “angels came and were ministering to him.”

Don’t Take Shortcuts

Jesus was “tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15), but how often do we fall prey to the shortcut in our own ways? God takes us on a journey through our own wilderness, and rather than trusting him in it, we tend to look for the quickest way out. The past 6 years have felt like one long wilderness to me, and every time I feel I am getting close to the end, the wandering begins again. One thing after another sets my family back from paying off our debts, getting past health issues, moving forward in a ministry career, and finding stability. And it is so easy to look around and say with the Israelites, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

It is tempting to give up on ministry and the purpose God has placed in my heart just to go after bread when it feels like I won’t be getting my needs met from God. And the world calls to me with promises of influence and power at the cost of my compromise. But when we allow the word of God to become our mindset,³ we can learn to respond to life’s tests with humility and confidence. And on the other side of the wilderness of testing, we will find God faithful; we will enter the promised land.

Footnotes

*If you enjoyed this post, please comment your thoughts down below and consider subscribing to stay updated on new posts.

1. See my post, Honor Your Father and Mother: Did Jesus Break This Command? ↩︎
2. See the Naked Bible Podcast Episode 324: Psalm 91 and Demons ↩︎
3. See my post, Heaven’s Thoughts: God’s Ways Are Not Ours ↩︎