Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led [ago] (led) Luke / [anago] (led up) Matt by the Spirit in the wilderness, where He was tempted by the devil for forty days [and forty nights]. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry. Then the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone/these stones to become a loaf/loaves of bread.” But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone but on every rhema coming from the mouth of God.'” [Deut 8:3]Luke 4:1-4
Deuteronomy 8:3 records coming from the mouth LXX Deut 8:#
ἀλλ᾿ ἐπὶ παντὶ ῥήματι τῷ ἐκπορευομένῳ διὰ στόματος θεοῦ ζήσεται ὁ ἄνθρωπος.
but on every word which {coming out} from mouth {of God} {will live} the man
Matt 4:4
ζήσεται ἄνθρωπος ἀλλ᾿ ἐπὶ παντὶ ῥήματι ἐκπορευομένῳ διὰ στόματος Θεοῦ.
{will live} man but on every word {coming out} from mouth {of God}
Luke 4:4
ζήσεται ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλ᾿ ἐπὶ παντὶ ῥήματι Θεοῦ
{Will live} the man but by every word {of God}
There is a lot of theory surrounding synoptic studies. Many think Luke and Matthew are working from a written document which experts call Quelle (Q) which is German for “Source”. Many times Matthew and Luke follow Mark. Mark is the first written gospel. But then there are times that both Matthew and Luke insert new material not found in Mark as in the case of the Temptations of Jesus. Clearly Luke and Matthew are drawing from the same source, but what is that source. I am of the opinion that it is not necessarily a written source. It could well have been the oral tradition that the Jews all knew well and Luke has utilized. For that reason I think that Luke is the one changing things rather than Matthew. Besides Matthew tends to stick closer to the Jewish traditions for obvious reasons. See what has happened with the quote above from Deuteronomy 8:3. Therefore I suspect Luke is changing elements: omitting some things, inserting others and changing words and re-ordering the elements. He tends to do this more frequently than Matthew. Hence that is the approach I am taking. I may be wrong but can’t find out until I sit down with Luke and Matt and ask them both together. I haven’t got to meet them yet but will one day.
I plan to divide these temptations and deal with them separately. Notice above that Luke has left out Matt’s “and 40 nights” as well as the “coming from the mouth” segment. He has inserted the fact that “Jesus ate nothing all that time”. All what time? All the time He was in the wilderness for 40 days. No wonder He was very hungry. It is interesting to note that Satan will always tempt us at our weakest point. Our flaws in character will attract his attention and those moments when we are down or struggling or not our best physically, emotionally or spiritually. Watch out for those times. Note that Luke says Jesus ate nothing in all of that time (a stronger statement than Matthew) and so became very hungry. Notice when Satan comes with the turn-stones-to-bread challenge. If you are the Son of God . . . turn stones to bread. You’re hungry; satisfy yourself with your super powers. He doesn’t doubt whether Jesus can do it. It seems he assumes He can. Mmm food for thought. The “If you are the Son of God” taunt is an empty one. Satan knows who He is. And we now know. Luke has just spelled it out through the genealogy who He is.
Luke has changed Matthew’s anago (to be led up and down) and made it ago (passive: to be led about). But in either case, it is not just a sense of Jesus being led into the wilderness and abandoned once He was there. Jesus was being led about in the wilderness by the Spirit. He was under the guidance of the Holy Spirit in all the time He was there. Furthermore Luke says Jesus was en (in/with the Spirit); Matthew says by the Spirit, meaning the Spirit was the agent by which the leading took place. Do you realise it is like that for you too? Holy Spirit has not abandoned you in your wilderness experience. He is right there with you still guiding. It is like the Footprints story with only one set of footprints across the sand. Yes that’s right; that where God carries you. Look too at the meaning of the desert of Paran in Gems 534, 535.
Forty in Scripture refers to testings, trials, temptations. “Forty” is often associated with a testing time and a wilderness experience. Moses on Horeb for 40 days, Elijah 40 days on his way to Horeb without food or drink, the children of Israel in the wilderness for forty, wait for it . . . YEARS. Do you know you are the one who sets the duration of your wilderness experience according to your attitude? The Horeb to Kadesh Barnea journey should have taken just 11 days. (You will be able to hear my sermon on this on the Berean Insights web site when it is all organized. The Journey from Horeb to Paran: from Glory to Glory.)
A survey of the versions will show you that there are two different interpretations of the 40 days and what it applies to.
1. The 40 days duration applies to the leading of the Spirit in the wilderness. [NAB, NASB, NEB, RSV, TNT etc]
2. The 40 days duration applies to “being tempted by the devil”. [JB, KJV NIV TEV etc]
My reading of the Luke suggests Jesus was tempted throughout the forty days but that the three specific temptations mentioned occurred at the end of the time. Whereas Matthew’s account seems to indicate the testings came at the end. Watch out for both possibilities. Be on your guard. Satan wants to sift you like wheat. (Luke 22:31) It is also true to say intense periods of testing are test grounds for us drawing close to God too. No wonder the devil throws everything at us at those times; that is the last thing he wants to happen. In short, temptations signify examinations of our true selves. Jesus went through this too before His ministry and furthermore was led into it by and with the Spirit of God. All sound ministry must be tested to prove whether it is genuine or not. It like the heat applied to gold to bring the dross to the surface. There are Christians who claim that we should not go through trials. All of us must go through trials, how else will the real be distinguished from the counterfeit?
Some questions:
The first of which I will cover here because it is easy to deal with.
1. “The devil said to Him” – was this a personal visitation from Satan or did the encounter take place in Jesus head/His thoughts? My comment here is that satan reserves the personal visits for the warriors he fears the most. It is said of Smith Wigglesworth that he woke one night to realize that the devil himself was standing at the foot of his bed. SW’s reaction was “Oh it’s only you and turned over and went back to sleep again.” I love that reaction. For most of us we encounter satan in our thoughts as he whispers his lies and trickery into our souls. It is the classic route laid out in James 1:14-15. Satan tempts us in the area of our desires and the thought gets in there and takes hold, the thought then leads to action which leads to sin which leads to death (eternal death). Some have asked me what Smith Wigglesworth’s Christian name was? I believe it was Smith. But if it was something else then maybe he had a middle initial of “B” which would make him the first SBW and take away the glory from Sonny Bill Williams. Mmm interesting. Sorry I let my thoughts lead me astray but hopefully not to the point of committing a sin.
This gem is already long and so I won’t cover the other issues in this Gem. (In fact throughout Luke there is lots to comment on, I am trying to refrain from commenting on everything.)
In subsequent days we will look at:
Stone(s) to loaf / loaves
“The Scriptures say“.
“If you are the son of God . . . but by every word of God”
It’s not what you go through in life that messes you up; it’s what you keep going back to!
Bob Gass
Contentment: Realising God has already provided everything we need for our present happiness.
Anon
You will not change your behaviour until you change your thoughts; right action follows right thinking!
Joyce Meyer