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Sermon
The Gospel of Matthew

Jesus Does Not Deviate from His Mission When Satan Tempts Him

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October 20, 2024
Matthew 4:1-11
Andy Naselli
professor

The Person of Christ

Spiritual Warfare

Sin & The Fall

Transcript

0:22This sermon is bittersweet for me because it's my final opportunity to preach to you as a fellow member. It's been my joy to be a member of this church since 2013 when my family moved here so that I could teach at Bethlehem College and Seminary. And it has been a joy and an honor for about the past nine years to serve alongside the pastors here. And I and my family continue to be members here through the end of 2024. And I'm excited to plant Christ the King church and Stillwater God willing in January, along with Tom Dodds and Dustin Williams and Nathan Cole stock and our families and some other dear brothers and sisters, we will miss being part of this church and we are grateful that you're sending us.

1:14And if you'd like to know more about Christ the King Church, please talk to any of us. Now, let's pray together before we look at Matthew four, our Father, would you please enlighten our minds and soften our hearts as we consider your words to us In Matthew four, we ask in the name of Jesus, amen. Have you ever heard someone preach or teach on Satan tempting Jesus by focusing on how you should fight Satan with God's words? You ever heard that application? It's probably the most common way that preachers and teachers apply this event in Jesus' earthly life. So here's how the the reasoning goes.

2:12So first, Satan tempts Jesus three times. Then Jesus resists by saying, it is written, it is written, it is written in verses four, seven and 10. And this implies that Jesus read and memorized and studied and believed and obeyed God's words, the Old Testament at that time. So here's the application, therefore when you face a temptation, you should quote God's words like Jesus did. And you should prepare for temptations by reading and memorizing and studying and believing and obeying God's words. Have you heard something like that before? Yeah. I think that that is well reasoned and that is a good application, but it's not what I'm going to preach.

3:05And the reason is that there's a problem with focusing on applying the passage that way, that the problem is that it misses the main point of the passage. That's a very good secondary application. And if you've applied the Bible that way here, that's good. But if that's the main way we apply this passage, we're missing the best part. That's what I'm gonna show you in the sermon. So this passage is not about you. It's funny, we can read the Bible and we're always thinking, how does it relate to me? What do I, what do I do? This passage is about Jesus. The main point of this passage is that Jesus triumphantly passes this test.

3:59Jesus continues to faithfully accomplish his mission to live righteously without any sin and then die and rise again for sinners. So the gospel of Matthew presents Jesus as on a mission to succeed where the nation Israel failed. Israel repeatedly sinned immediately after God rescued Israel from Egypt in the Exodus. Remember what Israel did? Committed idolatry with a golden calf. And then when they were tested for 40 years in the wilderness, they repeatedly grumbled and complained. So in contrast to Israel, Jesus successfully passes through his temptations in the wilderness. So I'd like to preach to you from Matthew four, one to 11 on this subject.

4:46Jesus does not deviate from his mission when Satan tempts him. Now let's see how this happens by looking at the three temptations. We'll start with number one, the temptation is deviate from the mission by rebelliously turning stones into bread. This is verses one to four. Let's read it starting verse one. Then Jesus was led up by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting 40 days and 40 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. But he answered, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

5:43Notice in verse one, Jesus was tempted by the devil tempted and in the same sentence, who who led Jesus into the wilderness, the spirit. So is God tempting Jesus in this passage? No, God is testing Jesus. Satan is tempting Jesus. God tests people. Satan tempts people. James one 13 says Of God, he himself tempts no one. Now Jesus brings the story of Israel to its God designed end by succeeding or Israel failed. In Deuteronomy eight verse two, Moses writes, you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these 40 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.

7:00This is the very next sentence from which Jesus quotes, and he 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. And here's what Jesus quotes, man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. So Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness. So Jesus spends symbolically and literally 40 days in the wilderness. Matthew four verse two, Jesus succeeds where Israel failed. He also succeeds where Adam failed. So Adam failed his test and the garden of Eden. But Jesus passes his test.

7:50Remember in the garden, Satan tempted Adam and Eve with food. They both ate fruit from the tree. And here in Matthew four, Satan tempts Jesus with food after not eating for 40 days. Satan tempts Jesus when he is hungry. So when Jesus is physically weak and isolated, is he vulnerable? What happens? He emerges victorious. And notice in Matthew four, when Satan says, if you are the son of God, what's? What's he saying there? Satan is assuming for the sake of argument that Jesus is the son of God and then Satan challenges Jesus on that basis. In other words, if you're really the son of God, what are you doing?

8:38Hungry. You should simply tell these stones to become br and to translate that if you are with since you are would lose some of the rhetorical force. It's a very good translation if you are the son of God. Satan is trying to entice Jesus to to deviate from his mission, but Jesus doesn't take the bait. Back in Exodus 16, Israel grumbled against Moses when they were hungry in the wilderness and God mercifully provided manna. Here Jesus succeeds or Israel failed. And he does it by quoting Deuteronomy eight, three, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

9:22So what exactly is Satan tempting Jesus to do here? The temptation is not merely for Jesus to prove he's the son of God. The temptation is for Jesus to deviate from his mission as the Messiah. So lemme show you a parallel passage in the gospel of Matthew that will illustrate this I think helpfully for you. It's from the cross. When Jesus is on the cross in Matthew 27, 39 and 40, those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, you who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself. Here it is. If you are the son of God, come down from the cross. So in that moment, did Jesus have the power to come down from the cross?

10:10Well, obviously yes, of course. But if he did that he would be deviating from the father's mission. He would be disobeying the Father. And the situation here in Matthew four, three is similar, if you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread. Did Jesus have the ability to turn stone into bread? Of course, but if he did that he would be deviating from his mission as the Messiah. He would be disobeying the Father, he'd be rebellious. Insubmissible, self-serving just as Jesus in Matthew 27 did not come down from the co the cross, but he accomplished his mission. So here in Matthew four, he does not turn stones into bread, but he accomplishes his mission as the Messiah Christ, according to his human nature, submitted to God the Father's plan.

11:12And that is why he would not rebelliously turn stone into bread at this particular time, and you might read this and think, I don't get it, what is so bad about turning stones into bread? Especially when you're starving? Why would that be rebellious? And I think what underlies the challenge to turn stones into bread is this, Jesus would be acting independently from the Father, perhaps because he doubts that the Father lovingly provides food for him when he is so hungry. And the sentence just before Matthew four one is three 17 B uh, that records God the Father saying this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.

11:58And right after that, Satan is basically saying, okay, Jesus, if you really are the father's beloved son, then why are you starving? Why are you following the Father's plan to go for so long without food when you have the power to make food yourself? Right? Go ahead, make yourself some bread right now. Now, is it always sinful for Jesus to create bread? No. He does that when he feeds the 5,000. The issue here is when and why. It's about timing and motivation. If Jesus were to create bread apart from submitting to the Father's plan, then he would be rebelling against God. But Jesus always does. The father's will.

12:41He does not deviate from his mission as a messiah. So that's the first temptation, deviate from the mission by rebelliously turning stones into bread. Now let's look at temptation. Number two, deviate from the mission by presumptuously testing God to miraculously protect you, deviate from the mission by presumptuously testing God to miraculously protect you. Let's read verses five, six and seven. Then the devil took him to the holy city, miss Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle, the highest point of the temple. And said to him, if you are the son of God, throw yourself down, jump off for it is written.

13:29He will command his angels concerning you, or he will order his angels to protect you, his idea and on their hands, they will bear you up lest you strike your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him, again, it is written or it is also written. You shall not put the Lord your God to the test. Don't test the Lord your God. So here Satan tempts Jesus to throw himself down to jump off of the temple's pinnacle. And this time Satan adds a proof text. He quotes the Bible, he quotes Psalm 91, 11 and 12. Here's what that passage says. He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways on their hands.

14:15They will bear you up lest you strike your foot against a stone. Now, compare that to what Satan says in Matthew four. Do you notice any differences? So this, this quotation, I'm on the screen here is four lines. Satan quotes lines one, three and four. He skips line two. What do we make of that? Is that omission critical to Satan's misuse of this passage? Not necessarily. The New Testament often quotes only portions of the Old Testament and does so responsibly. But since Satan is a liar and the father of lies as John 8 44 says, I suspect that Satan is being Trixie here by omitting that line to guard you in all your ways.

15:10That phrase to guard you in all your ways seems to indicate that God is promising to protect us as we go about our normal ways. Not that he promises to protect us when we presumptuously and selfishly test God to miraculously protect us when we do something crazy like jump off of a tall building. But whether or not it is significant that Satan omits that line to guard you in all your ways, Satan is definitely misapplying scripture to try to trap Jesus. And again, Jesus doesn't take the bait. Jesus knows that scripture does not contradict scripture. So he corrects Satan's misapplication of scripture by quoting Deuteronomy six 16, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test.

16:02So how exactly is Satan tempting Jesus to sin? Here again, the temptation is to deviate from his mission. This time it's to deviate by presumptuously testing God to miraculously protect him. That is by demanding that God miraculously protect him to prove that God cares for him. Israel sinned this way when they demanded that God miraculously provide water. In Exodus 17, two to seven, Exodus 17, three says that when there was no water to drink, that people qualed with Moses and says, and said, give us water to drink. And Moses said to them, why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord? So Israel tested God when you should not put the Lord your God to the test again.

16:52Israel failed. Jesus succeeds where Israel failed. So that's the second temptation. Deviate from the mission by presumptuously testing God to miraculously protect you. Now let's consider temptation number three, deviate from the mission by worshiping Satan as a shortcut to receive authority over this world. Deviate from the mission by worshiping Satan as a shortcut to receive authority over this world. Let's read verses eight, nine and 10 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'll fall down and worship me.

17:43Then Jesus said to him, be gone. Satan, go away. Get outta here for is written you shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve. Now, I don't know how this scene played out. My guess is that Satan showed Jesus some sort of vision, uh, because even on a very high mountain, you can't see all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. So Satan's first and second temptations are relatively subtle. He's a snake trying to deceive Jesus. And in contrast to those first two temptations, this third temptation is not subtle. Here he's a dragon trying to devour Jesus. Satan promises to give Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their glory on the condition that Jesus worship Satan.

18:38So this is a shortcut to what the Father has already promised to give Jesus at the end of the mission. And again, Jesus doesn't take the bait. And why does Jesus refuse to worship Satan? Because again, it is written. And this time Jesus quotes, Deuteronomy six 13, God commands us to worship only the one true God, him alone. No one else, nothing else. Now how, how exactly is Satan tempting Jesus to sin here this third temptation, the temptation is to deviate from his mission by taking a shortcut to receive authority over this world by worshiping Satan. So this would be a shortcut because it would be apart from Jesus's suffering on the cross, Jesus is on a mission that includes suffering before glory.

19:33So Satan's temptation is a shortcut. The glory without the suffering, the catches that all Jesus has to do is worship Satan. And once again, Jesus doesn't deviate from his mission when Satan tempts him. Contrast that with Israel. The story of Israel in the Old Testament is filled with sad episodes of idolatry. Like when they worship the golden calf in Exodus 32 and contrast to Israel, Jesus succeeds where Israel failed. So that's, that's the third temptation, deviate from the mission by worshiping Satan as a shortcut to receive authority over this world. And Jesus passes all three tests, he emerges victorious.

20:15And verse 11 concludes our passage. Then the devil left him and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. So after this third temptation, Jesus orders Satan to get outta here, be gone Satan. And verse 11 says, the devil left him. Jesus illustrates James four seven, submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. But what what I wanna focus on next is that final phrase, angels came and were ministering to him. What do you think they were doing? Well back in verse two, remember Jesus' condition, he was hungry. My guess is that this service included food and this raises some theological questions about Jesus in this passage.

21:09At least three questions. So question one is how can Jesus be hungry if He is God? Question two, was Jesus tempted in exactly the same ways that we are? And question three, could Jesus have sinned? I'm raising these three questions because my students almost always ask these three questions about the temptations of Jesus when I teach on the person of Christ or sin or same-sex lust. And we don't have time to go into depth here, but I'll briefly answer these three questions. So question one, how can Jesus be hungry if he is God? Answer. Jesus is truly God and truly man. When the Bible describes Jesus as hungry, Jesus is hungry according to his human nature.

22:09God, the Son is never hungry according to his divine nature. The orthodox view of the person of Christ is that he is one person with two natures. So Christians affirm seemingly contradictory claims about Jesus. I say seemingly because to us they seem like contradictions. They're not actual contradictions. That Jesus is self existent and depending on food and water, all powerful and getting tired and sleeping, all knowing and growing in knowledge everywhere present and localized eternal and born from a mother's womb unable to sin and tempted as we are immortal and dying in short, truly God and truly man.

23:09And you ask, how can that be? And the answer is, I have no clue. It is a mystery. It's a mystery to us. How God the Son incarnate is truly God and truly man. But it is gloriously true and our salvation depends upon the glorious person of Christ, one person with two natures truly God and truly man. Question two, was Jesus tempted in exactly the same ways that we are answer no. Jesus is unique as the God man with no sin, nature. And if you're thinking carefully, you have a question right now in your head you're thinking, what about Hebrews four 15 which says, we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are yet without sin.

24:14What about that passage? I don't think that Hebrews four 15 means that Jesus was tempted in exactly exactly the same ways that we are otherwise. It would mean that Jesus was tempted to commit adultery or to lie or to steal or to commit idolatry. And it would also mean that Jesus was tempted in ways that only females are tempted. Jesus is unique as the God man. So his temptations are not exactly the same as ours, but as the God man, Jesus is a mediator who genuinely sympathizes with us. Jesus experienced real temptations like we do. But here's the difference. All of Jesus's temptations came from the outside in the sense that he had no sin, nature from which sinful desires could internally arise.

25:17None of his temptations came from his heart because his heart is not sinful. Jesus never wanted to commit a sinful act. If he were guilty of wanting something that is sinful like the sin of coveting, then that desire itself would be sinful. But Jesus never sinned. So you say, well, in what sense did Jesus experience genuine temptations? Jesus's temptations were based on normal human weaknesses like hunger or wanting to avoid pain. Satan tailored his temptations to the unique person of Jesus. Satan is not going to tempt you to deviate from the Messianic mission by turning stones into bread, but Satan regularly tempts you to disobey God by going your own way.

26:07All right, that's question two. And then question three, could Jesus have sinned? Answer no. Jesus could not have sinned. But before I go further, let me just back up to answer this question. Well, we should affirm three truths. First truth number one, Jesus did not sin. The New Testament repeatedly asserts that Jesus did not sin. Two Corinthians 5 21. For our sake, he made him who knew no sin. Uh, no, he made him who? Uh, he made him to be sin. Who knew no sin. There we go. That's the phrase I'm looking for. He knew no sin. That's the point. Then, uh, one Peter 2 22, he committed no sin. Neither was deceit found in his mouth in one John three, five in him, there was no sin.

27:00So the debate here is not whether Jesus sinned. The question is whether Jesus could have sinned. We all should agree Jesus did not sin. Truth number two, Jesus experienced real temptations. His his temptations were not fake, they weren't false. Jesus is truly human and his human temptations were real. Jesus was genuinely tempted according to his human nature. And in truth number three, God cannot be enticed to sin. That is what James one 13 means, which says this, God cannot be tempted with evil. There's nothing in God's nature that is inclined toward evil or even open to evil. So Jesus, according to his divine nature, cannot be tempted with evil in that sense.

27:57That is Jesus according to His divine. Nature is never open to sinful desires or sinful actions. So external temptations are not sinful. Temptations that arise from a sinful nature are sinful. Jesus never experienced internal temptations that arose from a sinful nature. He experienced external temptations according to his human nature, but he cannot be enticed to sin according to his divine nature. Now, some Christian theologians wrongly I think, argue that Jesus could have sinned. I think that Jesus faced real temptations as the God man who is unable to sin. So when Jesus experienced hunger, he experienced hunger according to his human nature.

28:51But if Jesus were to desire sin or to commit sin, then he would be doing that as an entire person. Natures don't act. People act. And Jesus couldn't sin according to his human nature, while being sinless according to his divine nature. If Jesus were to sin, he would be sinning as God the son incarnate. So if Jesus could have sinned, then that would mean that God could sin, but God can't sin. We know this from many passages, like it is impossible for God to lie. Hebrews six 18. Therefore I conclude Jesus as the God man is unable to sin, he is impeccable. Jesus's inability to sin does not mean that his temptations were not real.

29:41If an army is invincible, that doesn't mean it can't be attacked. An attack would be a real attack. Okay, so those are three theological questions people often ask when they reflect on this passage. I'd like to return to the big idea of this passage. The main idea of Matthew 4 1 11 is that Jesus does not deviate from his mission when Satan temps him. Again, the three temptations are to deviate from the mission by rebelliously turning stones into bread by presumptuously testing God to miraculously protect you. And by worshiping Satan as a shortcut to receive authority over this world, Israel repeatedly failed in the wilderness.

30:27But Jesus triumphs. Jesus triumphantly passes this test. Jesus continues to faithfully accomplish his mission to live righteously without any sin and then die and rise again for sinners. The main idea that God intends to communicate in Matthew four, one to 11 is that Jesus triumphantly passes the test. Just think about the literary context of the gospel according to Matthew, thus far, Matthew one, two, and three, right before this passage, an angel of the Lord says to Joseph in Matthew one twenty one, you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sin. That's the mission. Save your people from their sins, Jesus.

31:13And he's on a mission to accomplish that. This is Operation Rescue. And maybe you've, you've seen one of the Mission Impossible movies. Those missions aren't actually impossible. They're just really difficult and unlikely. But the Messiahs mission actually is impossible unless the person executing the mission is God the Son incarnate. He's the only person who can accomplish this mission. So Tom Cruise the lead actor in the Mission Impossible movies. He can't save us from our sins. The strongest and smartest and most skilled navy seal can't save us from our sins. No other person can. Only one person can accomplish this mission.

32:01And in Matthew one, two, and three, Jesus is announced and anointed and empowered as the ultimate king and David's line. So kings must be tested to prove that they have a right to the throne. And Matthew four, one to 11 is a test. Will Jesus the Messiah, will King Jesus stay on mission to save his people from their sins? Will Satan persuade Jesus the Messiah to deviate from the mission? If Jesus fails his test, then the whole mission fails. It looks to us like the rescue operation is hanging in the balance. Will Satan successfully sabotage the mission? And the answer is no. Jesus successfully passes this test.

32:47And as Matthew presents Jesus throughout the book of Matthew as accomplishing this mission, he develops a theme throughout. Watch for it. As you hear these sermons on the gospel, according to Matthew, the theme is mountains. It's woven all throughout. I'll just point out two of the passages. So in our passage today, the devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. The bookend of this temptation is Matthew 28, 16 and 18. The 11 disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And on this mountain, Jesus said to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

33:36So Satan tempts Jesus on a mountain by offering him a shortcut to worldwide authority. And after Jesus accomplishes the mission, the gospel of Matthew ends on a mountain with Jesus possessing all authority in the universe. Jesus is our champion. A champion is someone who fights on behalf of others as their representative. Jesus is our champion who lived, died, and rose again for sinners to save sinners from their sins. And the story of Jesus withstanding Satan's temptations is part of the saving work of Christ accomplished on our behalf. Jesus did not deviate from the mission. Jesus successfully accomplished this rescue operation.

34:29So let's admire our champion, our savior, king Jesus. Let's honor and worship Christ the King. Hallelujah. What a savior. Let's pray. Father, thank you that Jesus triumphantly passed this test. Thank you that Jesus did not deviate from his mission when Satan tempted him. Worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. Amen.

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Matthew 4:1-11

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