Matthew 4 (WEB)
After His baptism and being recognized as the Messiah, Jesus goes into the desert to be tempted by Satan. He goes through three temptations. The Devil tempted Him to use His ability to turn stones into bread. He then tempts Him to receive a crown as ruler of the world, without the cross. His last temptation is on the pinnacle of the temple, receiving acclaim from the people.
I'm standing at the southern portion of the Temple Mount, on some of the stones, many of which in this area Jesus would have walked on Himself.
One of the stories at the beginning of each of the Gospels, except for John, talks about a temptation of Christ.
And one of these temptations of Satan actually occurred where we are here in Jerusalem.
The pinnacle of the Temple may be a little bit disconcerting initially, because you're saying, was this where the Temple was?
Well, temple in the Gospel sometimes refers to the Solomonic or the second temple, the time after Zerubbabel, after the Babylonian captivity.
But it refers not merely to the inward temple, but also the temple complex itself, including the walls.
And it was understood that the pinnacle of the temple, the very southeastern wall of the temple complex, is a place that this text is referring to.
As a matter of fact, several years after that, James, whom you know as the half-brother of Jesus, was thrown from this wall, according to the record of Josephus.
In this indication of temptation, I think we need to learn some things from the Lord Jesus.
He was presented by Satan with the desire of the flesh.
He was hungry after several days of having been in fasting.
And Satan said to him, "If you'll just simply make the stones in front of you bread, you can feed yourself."
But he was willing to bypass that in order to fast before the Lord and be serious about his call.
What had happened just prior to this time?
He'd been baptized.
He'd been declared by the Father as being His Son.
He'd been declared by John as God's Messiah.
The Spirit had come as a form of a dove.
At this point, Jesus was at His high point, being called to the Messianic ministry.
First thing that Satan put before Him is, if you're really God's Son, you can function in a way differently than God has set out for Him.
Satan offered Him food instead of fasting, a time of meditation before God.
And then He took Him to the high mountain and He offered Him a kingdom apart from a cross, a crown rather than the suffering.
And Jesus turned that aside, for He knew that His way to glory was through suffering.
And last of all, at the pinnacle of the temple, when he could have flown down in the view of everyone and receive acclaim by man, he recognized that one is not to seek to bypass God's way to do God's work.
No pride in Jesus.
And yet that's oftentimes true in us.
Jesus' three temptations provides an example for us in our lives, that we might live like Him.
And we learn one of those lessons right here near the pinnacle of the temple, the southern walls of Jerusalem.
1Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry afterward. 3The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
4But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of God’s mouth.’”
5Then the devil took him into the holy city. He set him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6and 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,
so that you don’t dash your foot against a stone.’”
7Jesus said to him, “Again, it is written, ‘You shall not test the Lord, your God.’”
8Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9He said to him, “I will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and worship me.”
10Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’”
11Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and served him.
12Now when Jesus heard that John was delivered up, he withdrew into Galilee. 13Leaving Nazareth, he came and lived in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying,
15“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
toward the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles,
16the people who sat in darkness saw a great light;
to those who sat in the region and shadow of death,
to them light has dawned.”
17From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to say, “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”
18Walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers: Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men.”
20They immediately left their nets and followed him. 21Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them. 22They immediately left the boat and their father, and followed him.
23Jesus went about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people. 24The report about him went out into all Syria. They brought to him all who were sick, afflicted with various diseases and torments, possessed with demons, epileptics, and paralytics; and he healed them. 25Great multitudes from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan followed him.