Then Jesus was led up into the desert by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil. And after he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he became hungry. So the Tempter came and said to him……
Matthew 4:1–3
Helen Barrett Montgomery NT, 1924 Translation
Jesus was led by the Spirit for the specific purpose of testing. His baptism revealed that He was the Son of God, the Beloved, in whom the Father delighted. We are told in the Gospel of John that John the Baptist had seen and bore witness to this reality. Now filled with the Spirit, Jesus is led into this isolated place to be tempted by the Devil. Jesus endures this time with prayer and fasting.
By way of introduction to this testing process, let us consider the following three phrases before we examine the testing’s purpose. The following academic comments are being offered as a foundation for the next few Good Words.
We begin with ~
1. Led up of the Spirit ~
Ellicott’s Commentary notes: “Each narrator expresses the same fact in slightly different language. St. Luke (Luke 4:1), ‘Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, was led in the wilderness.’ St. Mark (Mark 1:12), more vividly, ‘Immediately the Spirit driveth Him into the wilderness.’”
Bible Hub’s Topical Lexicon: Strong’s Greek number 321 for the phrase “led up” portrays purposeful upward or forward movement, whether the launching of a vessel, the leading of a person to a higher place, or the bringing up of someone from confinement or death. Across Scripture, the term consistently serves salvation history by portraying God’s initiative in moving His people, His servants, and His Son toward the fulfilment of divine purpose.
Each statement presents to us a reality of God’s workings.
2. To be tempted ~
Helps Word Study
peirazō: From peira; to test (objectively), i.e., endeavor, scrutinize, entice, discipline—assay, examine, go about, prove, tempt(-er), try.
3985 peirazō (from 3984 / peíra, “test, trial”)—“originally to test, to try, which was its usual meaning in ancient Greek and in the LXX” (WP, 1, 30). “The word means either test or tempt” (WP, 1, 348). Context alone determines which sense is intended, or, as we find here in Matthew’s writing, both may apply simultaneously.
The word peirazō is used in the negative sense of “tempt” in Matthew 16:1; 19:3; 22:18, 35; Mark 8:11; 10:2; 12:15; Luke 11:16; 20:33; John 8:6; and James 1:13–14.
However, peirazō is also used of positive testing in Matthew 4:11; Luke 22:28; 1 Corinthians 10:13; and James 1:12.
It is important to note here that this word, “tempted,” carries two very distinct connotations, and context alone determines which sense is intended. In Matthew’s account, however, both apply simultaneously.
Being led by the Spirit into the wilderness indicates a working of the purposes of God for a greater good. To be tempted by the Devil shows us the evil that is present to destroy that purpose by enticing Jesus to sin.
We must always hold before us the truth from James 1:13–15:
“Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God.” For God cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death.
We learn from James’ writing that temptation is not sin. Every person is tempted. There isn’t any temptation that has ever occurred that is not common to man. Because we are flesh living in a fallen world, the enticement to sin will be present until Jesus returns. Mindful of our present state, Satan’s desire is to sift every man away from the purposes of God.
3. By the Devil ~
Helps Word Study
1228 diábolos (from 1225 / diabállō, “to slander, accuse, defame”)—properly, a slanderer; a false accuser; unjustly criticizing to hurt (malign) and condemn, with the purpose of severing a relationship.
1228 (diábolos) is the root of the English word “Devil” (see also Webster’s Dictionary).
In secular Greek, 1228 (diábolos) means “backbiter,” that is, an accuser, calumniator, or slanderer. Diábolos is literally someone who “casts through,” making charges that bring down or destroy.
From this introduction, we are brought face to face with the existence and personality of the power of evil. It is Satan’s challenge to God’s proclamation of sonship. He tests Jesus’ desires, seeking to entice Him to place any and all other things above God.
Faced with the same temptations that Adam encountered in the garden, we are now watching the unfolding of Jesus’ ultimate overcoming. This is the beginning of Jesus being tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin, as Hebrews 4:15 declares. And in Jesus, we are shown the way out of every temptation that we face.
God has made a way of escape, as 1 Corinthians 10:13 declares, as Jesus reveals the right response to every temptation.
To be continued ~