The Temptation of Jesus – Matthew 4:1-11

Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness

4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God]”

5 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.’”

7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

What to do with this educator’s commentary

This commentary invites you as a teacher to engage with and interpret the passage. Allow the text to speak first. The commentary suggests that you ask yourself various questions that will aid your interpretation. They will help you answer for yourself the question in the last words of the text: ‘what does this mean?’

This educator’s commentary is not a ‘finished package’. It is for your engagement with the text. You then go on to plan how you enable your students to work with the text.

Both you and your students are the agents of interpretation. The ‘Worlds of the Text’ offer a structure, a conversation between the worlds of the author and the setting of the text; the world of the text; and the world of the reader. In your personal reflection and in your teaching all three worlds should be integrated as they rely on each other.

In your teaching you are encouraged to ask your students to engage with the text in a dialogical way, to explore and interpret it, to share their own interpretation and to listen to that of others before they engage with the way the text might relate to a topic or unit of work being studied.

Structure of the commentary:

The World Behind the Text

See general introduction to Matthew.

The World of the Text

Text and Textual features

The Temptation of Jesus follows a narrative structure, with a clear beginning, middle, end, and dialogue. The Temptation immediately follows Jesus’ Baptism: Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit and was led by a good spirit into the wilderness, which at the time was considered the normal habitat of spirits. This is where he did battle with an evil spirit (the devil). Jesus does not use special forces to battle the spirit, rather he engages the tempter in a Scripture-quoting contest. Three times Jesus is tempted to do something that would make him a displeasing son (typically three is a number used to emphasise a point and highlight it as being significant or important). Three times Jesus replies with a quote from Scripture (Deut 8:3; 6:16; 6:13). The tempter also quotes Scripture to Jesus (Ps 91:11-12) but doesn’t succeed in tripping him up. Jesus wins and the devil leaves. 

Characters and Setting

The Beatitudes form the foundation for a sermon that spans Matthew 5-7: the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount is central to Matthew’s presentation of Jesus and outlines the way of life that should characterise life in the kingdom of God. 

The physical setting of the mountain is used to emphasise the closeness of Jesus to God and to denote the fact that he now has God’s authority. The mountain setting was a deliberate literary tool by Matthew, who was writing primarily for Jewish converts to Christianity. Jesus, however, is more than a new Moses, as Moses received the Torah and then promulgated to Israel what he received. Jesus has unparalleled authority to speak as the Son of God and imparts the sermon with a definitive interpretation of the Torah. 

Matthew will note other significant moment occur on a mountain: the transfiguration (Mt 17) and the commissioning of the disciples (Mt 28). The use of mountains, which are symbolic as a place of revelation, emphasises Jesus’ authority from God and his role as a lawgiver for all peoples. 

At the start of the Beatitudes Jesus sits – this gesture signifies one who is about to start teaching and highlights the importance of what is about to be said by Jesus. Like Moses on Mt Sinai, Jesus preaches the Beatitudes (the New Law) from a mountain, indicating that Jesus is, on one level, a ‘new Moses’, that is, a new law-giver for Jews and Gentiles alike. 

Pope Francis says that Jesus “embodied the Beatitudes” throughout his entire life: all the promises of God’s Kingdom were fulfilled in him. 

Background to the story

The temptation story is based upon Israel’s temptations in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt. Matthew arranges the temptations so it ends with a mountain, which are important symbols of revelation in Matthew’s gospel. Jesus was tested, as we all are, right through to his death. He was never free from the struggle that every human experiences. 

Characters and Setting

The Wilderness
The Bible doesn’t tell us exactly where the wilderness is that Jesus was tempted in, however, people think it was probably a lonely and deserted place near the Jordan River as that was the location of Jesus’ baptism. The wilderness can be seen more symbolically as a place of being tested spiritually and alone, rather than as a specific spot on a map. It’s important to note that the Bible doesn’t give us exact locations like a GPS coordinate; what is more important is the lesson, story, and symbolism. 

Mountains

The physical setting of the mountain is used to emphasise the closeness of Jesus to God and to denote the fact that Jesus now has God’s authority. The mountain setting was a deliberate literary tool by Matthew, who was writing primarily for Jewish converts to Christianity. Jesus, however, is more than a new Moses, as Moses received the Torah and then promulgated to Israel what he received. Jesus has unparalleled authority to speak as the Son of God and imparts a definitive interpretation of the Torah. 

Mountains are used throughout the Scriptures to emphasise significant moments. For example, The Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5-7), the Transfiguration (Mt 17), and the Commissioning (Mt 28). The use of mountains, which are symbolic as a place of revelation, emphasises Jesus’ authority from God and his role as a lawgiver for all peoples. 

Ideas/Phrases/Concepts

Honour and shame – The core values of honour and shame were central to Mediterranean society. During Jesus’ lifetime, no opponent successfully ‘shamed’ him – Jesus always protected his honour. To lose your honour (and be shamed) was a terrible thing to happen in Jesus’ culture. 

The Exodus Story – The author of Matthew’s Gospel creates several parallels between the story of Exodus and the Temptation of Jesus. The people of Israel spent forty years being tested in the desert after escaping slavery in Egypt, in search of the promised land (Num 32:13; 13:25; 14:34). Forty is symbolic of a generation, a lifetime (of struggle). It is no coincidence that Jesus was tested for forty days. Like the Israelites, Matthew presents Jesus as living in Egypt in the Nativity story. In Jesus’ Baptism story, he is presented passing through waters, just like his ancestors. Just like the Israelites Jesus is testing in the wilderness. However, whereas they failed the test, Jesus remained sinless. 

Like Jesus, the Israelites were tested in three ways. Firstly, they were hungry after passing through the Red Sea and were tempted to go back into slavery. After they were fed they started testing God and demanding that God satisfies all their needs. The third temptation involves Moses, on a high mountain, looking out over the promised land and hearing the promise of God:

“I will give it to your descendants. I have let you see it with your own eyes.”

(Deuteronomy 34:4)

The Devil –

In Jewish folklore, and arising from Babylonian folklore, was an understanding that things that couldn’t be explained were often attributed to supernatural forces such as angels or devils, demons and satan. Especially in relation to evil, they had a sense there were sources of evil or malice that were greater than the malice of individual people. People in the New Testament times were very conscious of the spirit world – the forces of good and evil that influence our human existence but lie beyond our control. This is still true of many cultures today. 

The key message in this passage is that Jesus’ mission was to defeat evil in all its manifestations by the power of the Spirit of love that graced him so convincingly at his Baptism. This conflict, and Jesus’ victory is a theme that permeates the whole of Matthew’s gospel. 

Jesus – Matthew’s purpose in this story is to present Jesus as the faithful and obedient son of God, which contrasts with the disobedient son Israel in the Exodus story. Jesus is a model of obedience to God. He can safeguard and maintain his honour and avoid shame, which in his context was extremely important. 

Questions for the teacher:

World in Front of the Text

Questions for the teacher:

Meaning for today/challenges

Reflection questions:

• Jesus had to struggle for his victory over the devil – what are some things that you struggle for? 
• Jesus spent forty days in the desert without food or water. What parts of your life are a ‘desert’ – where do you feel that things are missing? What are you starving for?
• What temptations in your life are you trying to resist now?
• How can you overcome these temptations? What strategies can you use?
• What people can you go to for your support? 
• Where can you find time to speak to God for support and comfort when you are being tested?

Church interpretation and usage

This text is used on the First Sunday in Lent of Year A.