Apostolic Antiquity

V.1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted  by the devil.

Jesus went into the wilderness for the purpose of being tested by the devil so that he as the second Adam and the second Israel could overcome the sins that they could not thereby presenting both Jews and Gentiles righteous to God through His own obedience.

V.3-4 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread. Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’

This was the test of manna in the wilderness. Just as the Hebrews were subject to the wilderness for a number of 40 years Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days (verse 2). It is recorded in Numbers 11 that when the children of Israel received manna which was used and turned into bread (Numbers 11:7) that they became ungrateful and took it as an opportunity to sin in their hearts against God by desiring more than what God was giving them and by loving food more than the word of God. 

“And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord: and the Lord heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp. And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the Lord, the fire was quenched.  And he called the name of the place Taberah: because the fire of the Lord burnt among them.  And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?  We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic:  But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.”

 – Numbers 11:1-6. 

Jesus conquered this sin in His own wilderness when He refused to eat bread. It wasn’t simply about not ending His fast but it was about reversing that sin that was done in the days of Moses. However Israel was not the one to provide the manna that was God. Similarly Jesus merely as an archetype of Israel could not have provided the bread for Himself only as God could He do that if He so desired. Because the devil tested Jesus in the desert that he might make the stone bread he was essentially testing to see if He was the God who provided manna in the wilderness.

V. 5-7 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:“‘He will command his angels concerning you,  and they will lift you up in their hands,  so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’

In this passage Satan is quoting from Psalm 91 which when read in context is seen to be a messianic prophecy about the Messiah’s favor with God and His victory over Satan and death. Let’s go over some of the verses in this chapter and how they relate to Christ. Verses 14- 16 say “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;  I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. 15  He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. 16  With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” This is speaking of the resurrection. Verse 15 speaks of Jesus calling upon God from the grave which although is not recorded in the New Testament it is alluded to in the book of Jonah when he was in the belly of the whale for three days this was a symbol of of Christ burial (Matthew 12:40) and before his resurrection from the belly of the whale he cried out to God

 “Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, ² saying, ‘I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.”’ – Jonah 2:1-2. 

Verse 16 of Psalm 91 also has very similar language to that of Isaiah 53:10-11

 “and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.

11 After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied ”

Lastly Psalm 91:13 says “You will tread on the lion and the cobra;

    you will trample the great lion and the serpent.” Satan in scripture is referred to as both a lion and a serpent (1 Peter 5:8 – “the devil prowls around like a roaring lion… ” Revelation 12:9 – “That old serpent called the Devil…” ). Genesis 3:15 is prophetic pointing towards the coming of the anointed one who would crush the head of the serpent

 “And I will put enmity  between you and the woman,  and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” 

When we look at the New Testament we see that Paul attributed this verse to God Himself 

“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet…” – Romans 16:20. 

In Matthew 4 when Satan is attributing this passage to Jesus He is attributing it to the Messiah who is God manifested in the flesh who was promised to crush the head of the snake.

In Matthew 4 the devil seems to be not merely testing Jesus but tempting Him to use His divine power to serve Himself. How did He do this? By relating to Jesus the scriptures that pertained to the Messiah and His divinity. How did Jesus respond? By denying Himself of that divine power to serve Himself. The calling upon of angels and turning stone into bread could have easily have been done through His Godhead yet he refused, why? Philippians 2:5-7 – “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” Jesus chose to empty Himself not of His divine nature but of the contemplation of His equality with God in that He did not use His divine nature to serve himself rather through His life,  death,  burial, and resurrection we might have eternal life in Him (Matthew 20:28).