The Temptations of Jesus

MARK 1

Mark's mention of the temptation is incredibly brief. He was led into the wilderness, he was tempted, he lived with wild beasts and angels ministered to him. That's all. Several things are missing... Fasting is not mentioned and any detail about temptaion is gone.

MATTHEW 4

Matthew built from Mark's summary. Like Mark, Matthew mentioned that Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit, was tempted by the devil and was ministered to by angels. Unlike Mark, Matthew was not concerned about wild beasts living with Jesus and unlike Mark, Matthew told us that Jesus fasted and after 40 days, and Matthew explained in detail 3 temptations Jesus faced. These temptations were the same temptations that Israel faced in the desert. And although Israel failed in these temptaions, Jesus faced them and conquered.

TEMPTATION #1 - HUNGER IN THE DESERT

Jesus fasted 40 days and was hungry afterwards. When Israel faced hunger in the desert they sinned by complaining before God and talking about going back to Egypt. When Jesus was faced with hunger, he was tempted to sin by usng God's power to turn a rock into bread, but instead he fought the temptation with the scripture, "One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."

TEMPTATION #2 - TESTING THE LORD

1 Corinthians 10 tells us that Israel tested the Lord in the wilderness - Exodus 17 tells us that they tested the Lord when they grumbled and complained to Moses about their lack of water - rather than trusting God to provide for them what they needed, they concluded that God had abandoned them to die in the wilderness. They wanted to kill Moses. To this Moses asked, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?"

Although Jesus' temptation was different, the purpose of the temptation was the same, he was tempted to put a test before the Lord. The test was to have God prove to him that he was indeed the messiah, the Son of God.

Remember that James 1 tells us that temptation is always the result of our own desires and Hebrews tells us that Jesus was tempted in every way like us yet without sin. His identity as the Son of God did not exempt him from being truely tempted and from desiring the things in which he was tempted. Jesus truely faced the temptation to put God to the test, to jump off the top of the temple to prove to himself and perhaps to the rest of those watching that he was the messiah they were looking for. But Jesus successfully fought the temptation, by quoting Deuteronomy 6:16 which were the words Moses told Israel many years after they had tested the Lord over the lack of water, "Do not put the Lord to the test."

TEMPTAION #3 - IDOLATRY

In its primal form idolatry is about controlling the gods and nature for the benefit of survival and a prosperous life. Power is no different. It is the ability to have others do what you would like them to do for the purpose of personal or social survival and / or prosperity.

In the desert, when Israel lost trust in God, they turned to idolatry in order to find guidance, delivery and protection as they set out to go back to Egypt.

Satan promised Jesus the glory and wealth of the world if he would worship him, and Jesus replied with a passage of scripture from Deuteronomy that was about idolatry, "Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only."