Jesus was telling satan to get lost

JESUS WAS TELLING SATAN TO GET LOST
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
MATTHEW 4:8-11 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 saidto him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is
written: ‘Worshipthe Lord your God, and serve him
only.’[e]”
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and
attended him.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
New Living Translation
“Getout of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “Forthe Scriptures say, ‘You must
worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”
English Standard Version

Then Jesus saidto him, “Be gone, Satan!For it is written, “‘You shall worship
the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”
The Third Ordeal-temptation Of Jesus
Matthew 4:8-10
P.C. Barker
The first temptation was aimed at Jesus in the matter of the appetite of the
body. The secondin that of the audacious ambition of a daring mind, whose
pride of self and of thought would court every presumption whatsoever. The
third is an immediate assaulton the properly spiritual nature of man, which
involves first of all conceptionof duty, of religion, and of its grandest
presentationin commandment the first, for ever and ever the first! It "goes
without saying" that no description more brief, comprehensive, true,
addresses itselfto the fixing of what it is that is amiss with man than this - that
he forgets that he is estrangedfrom his being's first glory, the worship of its
Creator, Father, sovereignOwner, God. And when this is well remembered,
that one type of temptation should be recorded in this direction is what we
should entirely expect. It may be held probable that the eighth verse goes a
long way to give a satisfactoryclue as to how far the details of the sceneryof
these temptations are to be read literally. It is plain that here they cannot be
read so absolutely. None the less, in our opinion, is the groundwork in this
case itselfmost real; in other words, we believe the scene was the summit of a
high mountain, although even the narrowestexegesis ofthe expression"all the
kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them," may be too wide for literal
construing. Notice in the description of this temptation that -
I. IT BEGS THE VANTAGE-GROUND, THE ENHANCING
CIRCUMSTANCESOF THE IMPRESSION,LENT BY ACTUAL SIGHT.
That this kind of considerationmay legitimately be setto the credit of Christ's
combined nature is sufficiently shown by the numerous occasions in which we
find such things as these - that his "tears," his "deepanger," his

immeasurable "grief," reachedtheir climax respectivelywhen his eye actually
"beheld" (the city), "saw (her weeping, and the Jews also weeping whichcame
with her), lookedround about" (upon them, being grieved, etc.). For those
even who believe that the temptations of Jesus were conductedonly in vision,
the words "actualsight" may still have their meaning.
II. IT WENT DIRECT TO THE SUBSTANCE OF THE WORKWHICH
BROUGHT CHRIST TO EARTH, THE SECURING OF THE KINGDOMS
OF THIS WORLD. To give what facility may be possible to any conceptionof
the feasibility of Satan's fulfilling the offer of his tempting, we might imagine
that he meant he would "give all the kingdoms," etc., in the sense ofutterly
retreating himself from the conflict; and from the endeavour, at present too
successful, to win the world for his own. On the other hand, we know by what
very different method, of the Passionand blood of Christ, the victory was to
be won, and Satanto be dispossessedofhis hold.
III. IT ASSERTS (Luke 4:6), WHAT CHRIST AT ALL EVENTS DOES
NOT DENY OR CHALLENGE, A CERTAIN ABSOLUTE HOLD ON THE
WORLD ON THE PART OF SATAN, AND BY SOME SORT OF RIGHT. It
is a thing supremely worthy of note that, in so small a compass as the
description of the facts of the temptation, a place should thus be found for the
recognitionof a phenomenon so inscrutable, and so undeniably embedded in
the facts of the world, in the statements of Scripture, and in the very grain of
universal theology.
IV. IT PRESENTSITSELF IN TEMPTATION'SABSOLUTE, ESSENTIAL,
FORM. The essentialcrucialquestion in all temptation of moral matter is this
- Will a man bow down from himself, from his God, to worship untruth, to do
the thing calledsin, to honour the thing calledevil, to actthe thing called a lie,
to worship Satan? These things, all mystery apart, arc to" worship." Satan,
and not to "worshipthe Lord God."
V. IT GETS ITSELF ITS ANSWER, POSITIVE AND SWIFT. This twofold
answeris revealed.
1. The instinctive resentment of the nature: "Getthee behind me, Satan!"

2. The unqualified confessionofthe philosophy of that resentment: "It is
written," i.e. written in reason, in conscience,in the Word: "Thou shalt
worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." - B.
Biblical Illustrator
Worship the Lord thy God.
Matthew 4:10
Divine worship
NevisonLoraine.
I. Divine worship is HUMAN INSTINCT. Among all the living occupants of
the earth, man is the only worshipper. Man feels after the Divine. Hence, in
different ages, different evidences of man's worshipfulness — sacredgrove,
mosque, synagogue,temple, church. Man's natural tendency has never been
not to worship; but to worship too many objects. Paganismdivided and

weakenedworship. Christianity concentrates andgives life, force, and unity to
the worship.
II. Christian worship ENNOBLES THE WORSHIPPER. "The Lord thy
God!" In the worship of such a God, man's own intellectis ennobled, and his
heart purified. His whole humanity is raised.
III. The worship and service of the Christian religionare UNENDING. "Thou
shalt worship," etc. There are no limitations to that command in the Book;
none in the human heart. The moral aspirations of the soul are enduring as
itself.
(NevisonLoraine.)
The objectof worship
Anon.
I. The qualifications necessaryto constitute a being a proper objectfor Divine
adoration.
II. What is the worship God requires?
III. Why we should worship God. He commands. Is our Creator, etc. In it
consists our happiness.
(Anon.)
Worship and service
Bishop LancelotAndrewes.
I. WE MUST WORSHIP.
1. A man cannever be too reverent to God.
2. Our religionmust be uncovered.

3. The wandering eye must learn to be fastenedon Him.
4. Jacob, thoughhe were not able to stand or kneel, yet leaned upon his staff,
and worshipped God.
5. This must be done as duty due to God, and in regard of those that be
strangers.
II. WE MUST SERVE.
1. Bow the soul when we bow the body.
2. We must serve Godwith our sacrifices.
3. Notwith our sins.
4. Notwith our iniquities.
5. God must be above all: and of whomsoevera man is overcome, to him he is
in bondage.
(Bishop LancelotAndrewes.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(10) Getthee hence, Satan.—Once more the answerto the Tempter was found
in the words of the Tephillim and the lessons ofchildhood. No evidence of
powercould change the eternal laws of duty. There came to the Son of Man
the old command, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God,” as an oracle from
heaven, and this, rather than an attempt to refute the claim of sovereignty,
was that on which He took His stand. Others, dealing with the same
temptation, as the writers of the Book ofJob and of Psalms 73, have discussed
the question of the apparent triumph of evil in the world’s history, and have
pointed to its ultimate downfall, to the sure though slow retribution which
even that history records, to the redress of the anomalies of this life in a life

beyond the grave. Here we have a truer and simpler answer. Eventhough
they cannot solve the problem, the true wisdom of men who follow in the
footsteps ofChrist is to recognise thattheir allegianceis due to God and to
Him only. Here, once more, the truth thus affirmed reappears lateron. When
the chief of the Apostles soughtto turn his Masterfrom the appointed path of
suffering, he was met, as renewing the same form of temptation which had
been thus resisted, with the self-same words. Even Peterhad to hear himself
rebuked with “Getthee behind me, Satan” (Matthew 16:23). The use of the
formula here, for the first time in the conflict, is significant as implying that in
the previous temptations Evil had presented itself in disguise, making sins of
distrust appear as acts of faith, while now it showeditself in its naked and
absolute antagonismto the divine will.
BensonCommentary
Matthew 4:10. Then saith Jesus, Getthee hence, Satan — The expression,
Υπαγε, Σατανα, plainly expressesChrist’s authority over Satan, as wellas his
detestationof so vile a suggestion:for it is written, Thou shalt worship the
Lord thy God, &c. — It would therefore be unlawful to worship thee, who art
no other than a mere creature, eventhough thou wastindeed his deputy on
earth; and how much more then must it be so, as thou art, in reality, the great
avowedenemy of God and man! for such, under all thy disguise, I wellknow
thee to be. It appears from these words, that religious worship, or service, is
due to God alone, and cannotbe lawfully given to a creature. From whence we
must infer, that Christ is not a mere creature:for all men are to honour him,
even as they honour the Father, John 5:23. And all the angels of God are
commanded to worship him, Hebrews 1:6 : and it is given as the characterof
all Christians, 1 Corinthians 1:2, that they call on the name of Jesus Christ
our Lord: and Colossians 3:24, Thatthey serve the Lord Christ. As to the
answermade by some to this irrefragable argument in favour of our Lord’s
divinity, it appears from this very passage to have no weightin it. God alone
say they, is to be worshipped as the first and principal cause ofall things, and
the chief author of our salvation; but yet, religious worship and service may
be paid to Christ, as the intermediate cause ofthat salvationwhich God, by

him, hath revealed and brought to us. Foras there are no footsteps ofthis
distinction in the holy Scriptures, so it is plain that our Lord’s reply to Satan
here entirely condemns it. The devil, it is manifest, did not require to be
worshipped by Jesus as the originalcause and supreme governorof the world.
He frankly owns that all the power he had over the kingdoms of the earth was
given to him. He claims, therefore, only a subordinate worship; and yet our
Lord rejects his claim, not on the ground of his being a liar and usurper, who
had no such power, and therefore had no right to any such worship; but on
the ground of God only having a right to any kind of religious worship,
saying, in the words of Moses, Thoushalt worship the Lord thy God, and him
ONLY shalt thou serve. Christ, therefore, cannotbe worshipped lawfully, if
he be not God as well as man.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
4:1-11 Concerning Christ's temptation, observe, that directly after he was
declaredto be the Son of God, and the Saviour of the world, he was tempted;
greatprivileges, and special tokens ofDivine favour, will not secure any from
being tempted. But if the Holy Spirit witness to our being adopted as children
of God, that will answerall the suggestionsofthe evil spirit. Christ was
directed to the combat. If we presume upon our own strength, and tempt the
devil to tempt us, we provoke God to leave us to ourselves. Others are
tempted, when drawn aside of their own lust, and enticed, Jas 1:14; but our
Lord Jesus had no corrupt nature, therefore he was tempted only by the devil.
In the temptation of Christ it appears that our enemy is subtle, spiteful, and
very daring; but he canbe resisted. It is a comfort to us that Christ suffered,
being tempted; for thus it appears that our temptations, if not yielded to, are
not sins, they are afflictions only. Satanaimed in all his temptations, to bring
Christ to sin againstGod. 1. He tempted him to despair of his Father's
goodness,and to distrust his Father's care concerning him. It is one of the
wiles of Satan to take advantage of our outward condition; and those who are
brought into straits have need to double their guard. Christ answeredall the
temptations of Satan with It is written; to set us an example, he appealed to
what was written in the Scriptures. This method we must take, when at any
time we are tempted to sin. Let us learn not to take any wrong courses for our
supply, when our wants are ever so pressing: in some way or other the Lord

will provide. 2. Satantempted Christ to presume upon his Father's powerand
protection, in a point of safety. Nor are any extremes more dangerous than
despair and presumption, especiallyin the affairs of our souls. Satanhas no
objectionto holy places as the scene ofhis assaults. Letus not, in any place, be
off our watch. The holy city is the place, where he does, with the greatest
advantage, tempt men to pride and presumption. All high places are slippery
places;advancements in the world makes a man a mark for Satanto shoot his
fiery darts at. Is Satan so well versedin Scripture as to be able to quote it
readily? He is so. It is possible for a man to have his head full of Scripture
notions, and his mouth full of Scripture expressions, while his heart is full of
bitter enmity to God and to all goodness. Satanmisquotedthe words. If we go
out of our way, out of the way of our duty, we forfeit the promise, and put
ourselves out of God's protection. This passage, De 8:3, made againstthe
tempter, therefore he left out part. This promise is firm and stands good. But
shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? No. 3. Satantempted Christ
to idolatry with the offer of the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them.
The glory of the world is the most charming temptation to the unthinking and
unwary; by that men are most easilyimposed upon. Christ was tempted to
worship Satan. He rejectedthe proposalwith abhorrence. Getthee hence,
Satan! Some temptations are openly wicked;and they are not merely to be
opposed, but rejectedat once. It is good to be quick and firm in resisting
temptation. If we resistthe devil he will flee from us. But the soul that
deliberates is almost overcome. We find but few who can decidedly reject such
baits as Satan offers;yet what is a man profited if he gain the whole world,
and lose his own soul? Christ was succoured afterthe temptation, for his
encouragementto go on in his undertaking, and for our encouragementto
trust in him; for as he knew, by experience, whatit was to suffer, being
tempted, so he knew what it was to be succoured, being tempted; therefore we
may expect, not only that he will feel for his tempted people, but that he will
come to them with seasonable relief.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
Get thee hence - These temptations, and this one especially, the Saviour met
with a decided rebuke. This was a bolder attack than any which had been
made before. The other temptations had been founded on an appeal to his

necessities, andan offer of the protection of God in greatdanger; in both cases
plausible, and in neither a direct violation of the law of God. Here was a
higher attempt, a more decided and deadly thrust at the piety of the Saviour.
It was a proposition that the Son of God should worship the devil, instead of
honoring and adoring Him who made heaven and earth; that he should bow
down before the Prince of wickednessand give him homage.
It is written - In Deuteronomy 6:13. Satan askedhim to worship him. This
was expresslyforbidden, and Jesus therefore drove him from his presence.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
10. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan—Sincethe tempter has
now thrown off the mask, and stands forth in his true character, ourLord no
longerdeals with him as a pretended friend and pious counsellor, but calls
him by his right name—His knowledge ofwhich from the outsetHe had
carefully concealedtill now—and orders him off. This is the final and
conclusive evidence, as we think, that Matthew's must be the right order of
the temptations. For who can wellconceive of the tempter's returning to the
assaultafter this, in the pious characteragain, and hoping still to dislodge the
consciousnessofHis Sonship, while our Lord must in that case be supposedto
quote Scripture to one He had calledthe devil to his face—thus throwing His
pearls before worse than swine?
for it is written—(De 6:13). Thus does our Lord part with Satanon the rock of
Scripture.
Thou shalt worship—In the Hebrew and the Septuagint it is, "Thou shalt
fear";but as the sense is the same, so "worship" is here used to show
emphatically that what the tempter claimed was preciselywhat God had
forbidden.
the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve—The word "serve" in the
secondclause, is one never used by the Septuagint of any but religious service;
and in this sense exclusivelyis it used in the New Testament, as we find it here.
Once more the word "only," in the secondclause—notexpressedin the
Hebrew and the Septuagint—is here added to bring out emphatically the

negative and prohibitory feature of the command. (See Ga 3:10 for a similar
supplement of the word "all" in a quotation from De 27:26).
Matthew Poole's Commentary
As this was of all the three the most impudent temptation, so our Lord
receivethit with the highest detestation, saying,
Get thee hence, Satanby which words he doth not only show his detestationof
this temptation, but also chides him off from any further tempting him. The
sense is, Satan, I know better things, viz. that a religious adorationis not to be
given unto any but unto God alone. Thou art a creature;no worship is due
unto thee: to worship before thee (so Luke phrases it, Luke 4:7) is to worship
thee. This is expresslycontrary to the command of God, Deu 6:13 10:20. It is
also observable, that our Saviour opposeththis to the devil’s words, ean
pesuyn proskunhshv moi, if thou falling down wilt worship me; and that
Christ answers, TonYeos souproskunhseis kaiautw latreuseiv; which shows
the idleness of the papists’ distinction of doulia and latreia; the first of which
they say may be given to the creature, the secondonly unto God; by which
they justify their veneration of images. The using a posture of adoration
before the creature in an actof worship, Christ here interprets a worshipping
the creature, if the creature either exacts it of us, or we purposely set it before
us, or choose it as an objectexciting or moving us to such an actof adoration,
which the papists do. Notthat all prostration before the creature is an act of
Divine adoration;there is a civil as wellas a Divine worship; and in Divine
worship the position of the creature before us may be merely for convenience,
or accidental. But all prostration in an act of Divine worship is a posture of
adoration, and where a creature is chosenand setbefore us in that act or
posture, to excite or move us, it partakes ofthe homage. There is some little
difference betweenthe words, Deu 6:13 Deu 10:20, and those of St. Matthew;
but that is saidto be written, which is written as to the substance and sense,
though not in those terms. Moses saith, Thoushalt fear; as Matthew quotes it
it is,

Thou shalt worship. The term fear applied unto God, signifieth any act of
religion, whether external or internal, and though the lastwords in
Deuteronomy, thou shalt swearby his name, be not mentioned in Matthew,
yet enoughare quoted for our Saviour’s purpose. Falling down and
worshipping belongeth only to God, (saith our Saviour), not to thee; let me
therefore hear of thee no more.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
Then saith Jesus to him, get thee hence, Satan..... In Luke 4:8 it is "getthee
behind me": and so some copies readhere, and is expressive of indignation
and abhorrence;see Matthew 16:23 rebuking his impudence, and detesting
his impiety: he had borne his insults and temptations with greatpatience;he
had answeredhim with mildness and gentleness;but now his behaviour to
him was intolerable, which obliged him to show his resentment, exert his
powerand authority, and rid himself at once of so vile a creature;giving this
reasonfor it;
for it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou
serve. The place referred to is in Deuteronomy 6:13
thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him: to fear the Lord, and to
worship him, is the same thing. Worship includes both an internal and
external reverence of God: the word "only" is not in the original text, but is
added by our Lord; and that very justly; partly to express the emphasis which
is on the word "him"; and in perfect agreementwith the context, which
requires it; since it follows,
ye shall not go after other Gods. Moreover, notto take notice of the
Septuagint version, in which the word "only" is also added, Josephus (q), the
Jewishhistorian, referring to this law, says, because Godis one, , "therefore
he only is to be worshipped". And Aben Ezra (r), a Jewishwriter, explaining
the lastclause in the verse,
and thou shalt swearby his name, uses the word "only";and which indeed, of
right, belongs to every clause in it. The meaning of our Lord in citing it is;
that since the Lord God is the alone object of worship, it was horrid

blasphemy in Satanto desire it might be given to him, and which could not be
done without the greatestimpiety.
(q) Antiq. Jud. l. 3. c. 5. sect. 5. (r) In Deut. vi. 13.
Geneva Study Bible
Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan:for it is written, Thou shalt
worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary
Matthew 4:10. Ὕπαγε] The spurious words ὀπίσω μου would have to be
explained: go behind me—that is, go back that I may see thee no longer!
ἀφανίσθητι, Euth. Zigabenus. ὀπίσω with the genitive belongs to the LXX.
and the Apocrypha, after the Hebrew, ‫ַא‬ ֲ ‫ר‬ֵ‫י‬ ‫;׳פ‬ in this way the Greeks construe
ὄπισθεν.
σατανᾶ]to infer from this that Jesus now for the first time (too late)
recognisesSatan(de Wette), is arbitrary, and opposedto the representationof
the matter in Matthew 4:1, according to which Jesus cannothave been
unaware of the intention of the Holy Spirit, who impelled Him to go into the
wilderness. ThatHe now calls Satanby name, is in keeping with the growing
intensity of the emotion in general, as well as with the personaladdress of the
tempter in Matthew 4:9. “Tentatorem, quuni is maxime favere videri vult,
Satanamappellat,” Bengel.
κύριον, κ.τ.λ.]Jehovahalone shalt thou worship, do homage to Him only as
thy master. Deuteronomy6:13, according to the LXX., freely applied to the
proposalof Satan.” According to this arrangement, it is by the wayof
obedience to God that Jesus is aware that He will attain to the government of
the world. John 18:36;Php 2:6 ff.; Matthew 28:18;Acts 10:36 ff.
Expositor's Greek Testament

Matthew 4:10. ὕπαγε σατανᾶ. Jesus passionatelyrepels the Satanic suggestion.
The ὕπαγε σ. is true to His character. The suggestions ofworldly wisdom
always rousedin Him passionate aversion. The ὀπίσω μου of some MSS. does
not suit this place;it is imported from Matthew 16:23, where it does suit, the
agentof Satan in a temptation of the same sort being a disciple. Christ’s final
word to the tempter is an absolute, peremptory Begone. YetHe condescends
to support His authoritative negative by a Scripture text, again from Deut.
(Matthew 6:13), slightly adapted, προσκυνήσεις being substituted for
φοβηθήσῃ (the μόνῳ in secondclause is omitted in Swete’s Sept[15]). It takes
the accusative here instead of dative, as in Matthew 4:9, because it denotes
worship proper (Weiss-Meyer). The quotation states a principle in theory
acknowledgedby all, but how hard to work it out faithfully in life!
[15] Septuagint.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
10. Get thee hence, Satan]It is instructive to find these words addressed to
Peter(ch. Matthew 16:23)when he put himself as it were in the place of the
tempter. See note ad loc.
him only shalt thou serve]Deuteronomy 6:10-13. Idolatry, multiplicity of
aims, and forgetfulness of God are the dangers of prosperity and ambition.
See contextof passagein Deut.
Bengel's Gnomen
Matthew 4:10. Ὕπαγε, depart) “Getthee behind Me, Satan” saidthe Lord to
Peter, when he took Him and endeavouredto dissuade Him from undergoing
His passion;thus commanding Peterto retire into the proper place of a
disciple, i.e., behind Him. But to SatanHe said, Depart, Satan:go, not behind
Me, but plainly from Me.—Σατανᾶ, Satan)q.d. “Thou hasttried to discover
who I am, and I tell thee who thou art.” He calls the tempter, when he wished
to appear speciallygracious to Him, Satan.[143]—Κύριον—προσκυνήσεις,

κ.τ.λ., Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve)
In Deuteronomy 6:13, the LXX. have Κύριον—φοβηθήσῃ,κ.τ.λ., Thoushalt
fear the Lord, etc. Jesus substitutes worship aptly for fear.—Cf. Matthew
4:9.—μόνῳ, only, alone) Thus the LXX. have it, who have inserted μόνος also
in Genesis 3:11;Genesis 3:17, without doing violence to the meaning.
[143]For he had plainly showed, by his pride, that he was Satan.—Vers.
Germ.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 10. - Get thee hence, Satan. "Avaunt, Satan" (Rheims). Christ does not
address him directly till this climax. The two previous temptations were,
comparatively speaking, ordinary and limited. This temptation calls out a
passionate utterance of a personality stirred, because touched, in its depths.
Only once againdo we find our Lord so moved, in Matthew 16:23 (the
"Western" and "Syrian" addition here of ὀπίσω μου from that passage
emphasizes the feeling common to the two cases), whena similar
representationis made to him that he ought to escape the troubles which his
Messianic position, in fact, brought upon him. For it is written (Deuteronomy
6:13); from the LXX., which differs from the Hebrew by
(1) translating ‫,׳ֲֵת‬ "fear," by προσκυνήσεις (but B has φοβηθήσῃ);and
(2) the paraphrastic insertion of "only." Thou shalt worship the Lord thy
God, and him only shalt thou serve. Worship; προσκυνέω) , as in ver. 9.
Serve;λατρεύω, "in perfect subjectionto a sovereignpower" (Bishop
Westcotton Hebrews 8:2, Add. Note). Our Lord's reply cuts up the devil's
solicitationby the root. "I do not enter," he means, "into the question of thy
authority over these things, and of thy power concerning them. I acknowledge
thee not. The command which I willingly obey excludes all homage and
service to any other over-lord than God alone. I acceptnot thy orders and thy

methods. I take my commands direct from God." Observe that our Lord does
not sayhow he is to gain the kingdoms for his own; this would be the care of
him whose command he follows. But before ascending, the Lord proclaimed
(Matthew 28:18) that he had received(i.e. gainedthrough suffering, Hebrews
2:10: Philippians 2:9) more than (note "in heaven")what the devil would have
given him as a reward of obedience to false principles.
STUDYLIGHT RESOURCES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(10) Getthee hence, Satan.—Once more the answerto the Tempter was found
in the words of the Tephillim and the lessons ofchildhood. No evidence of
powercould change the eternal laws of duty. There came to the Son of Man
the old command, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God,” as an oracle from
heaven, and this, rather than an attempt to refute the claim of sovereignty,
was that on which He took His stand. Others, dealing with the same
temptation, as the writers of the Book ofJob and of Psalms 73, have discussed
the question of the apparent triumph of evil in the world’s history, and have
pointed to its ultimate downfall, to the sure though slow retribution which
even that history records, to the redress of the anomalies of this life in a life
beyond the grave. Here we have a truer and simpler answer. Eventhough
they cannot solve the problem, the true wisdom of men who follow in the
footsteps ofChrist is to recognise thattheir allegianceis due to God and to
Him only. Here, once more, the truth thus affirmed reappears lateron. When
the chief of the Apostles soughtto turn his Masterfrom the appointed path of
suffering, he was met, as renewing the same form of temptation which had
been thus resisted, with the self-same words. Even Peterhad to hear himself
rebuked with “Getthee behind me, Satan” (Matthew 16:23). The use of the
formula here, for the first time in the conflict, is significant as implying that in

the previous temptations Evil had presented itself in disguise, making sins of
distrust appear as acts of faith, while now it showeditself in its naked and
absolute antagonismto the divine will.
BensonCommentary
Matthew 4:10. Then saith Jesus, Getthee hence, Satan— The expression,
Υπαγε, Σατανα, plainly expressesChrist’s authority over Satan, as wellas his
detestationof so vile a suggestion:for it is written, Thou shalt worship the
Lord thy God, &c. — It would therefore be unlawful to worship thee, who art
no other than a mere creature, eventhough thou wastindeed his deputy on
earth; and how much more then must it be so, as thou art, in reality, the great
avowedenemy of God and man! for such, under all thy disguise, I wellknow
thee to be. It appears from these words, that religious worship, or service, is
due to God alone, and cannotbe lawfully given to a creature. From whence we
must infer, that Christ is not a mere creature:for all men are to honour him,
even as they honour the Father, John 5:23. And all the angels of God are
commanded to worship him, Hebrews 1:6 : and it is given as the characterof
all Christians, 1 Corinthians 1:2, that they call on the name of Jesus Christ
our Lord: and Colossians 3:24, Thatthey serve the Lord Christ. As to the
answermade by some to this irrefragable argument in favour of our Lord’s
divinity, it appears from this very passage to have no weightin it. God alone
say they, is to be worshipped as the first and principal cause ofall things, and
the chief author of our salvation; but yet, religious worship and service may
be paid to Christ, as the intermediate cause ofthat salvationwhich God, by
him, hath revealed and brought to us. Foras there are no footsteps ofthis
distinction in the holy Scriptures, so it is plain that our Lord’s reply to Satan
here entirely condemns it. The devil, it is manifest, did not require to be
worshipped by Jesus as the originalcause and supreme governorof the world.
He frankly owns that all the power he had over the kingdoms of the earth was
given to him. He claims, therefore, only a subordinate worship; and yet our
Lord rejects his claim, not on the ground of his being a liar and usurper, who
had no such power, and therefore had no right to any such worship; but on
the ground of God only having a right to any kind of religious worship,

saying, in the words of Moses, Thoushalt worship the Lord thy God, and him
ONLY shalt thou serve. Christ, therefore, cannotbe worshipped lawfully, if
he be not God as well as man.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
4:1-11 Concerning Christ's temptation, observe, that directly after he was
declaredto be the Son of God, and the Saviour of the world, he was tempted;
greatprivileges, and specialtokens ofDivine favour, will not secure any from
being tempted. But if the Holy Spirit witness to our being adopted as children
of God, that will answerall the suggestionsofthe evil spirit. Christ was
directed to the combat. If we presume upon our own strength, and tempt the
devil to tempt us, we provoke God to leave us to ourselves. Others are
tempted, when drawn aside of their own lust, and enticed, Jas 1:14; but our
Lord Jesus had no corrupt nature, therefore he was tempted only by the devil.
In the temptation of Christ it appears that our enemy is subtle, spiteful, and
very daring; but he canbe resisted. It is a comfort to us that Christ suffered,
being tempted; for thus it appears that our temptations, if not yielded to, are
not sins, they are afflictions only. Satanaimed in all his temptations, to bring
Christ to sin against God. 1. He tempted him to despair of his Father's
goodness,and to distrust his Father's care concerning him. It is one of the
wiles of Satan to take advantage of our outward condition; and those who are
brought into straits have need to double their guard. Christ answeredall the
temptations of Satan with It is written; to set us an example, he appealed to
what was written in the Scriptures. This method we must take, when at any
time we are tempted to sin. Let us learn not to take any wrong courses for our
supply, when our wants are ever so pressing: in some way or other the Lord
will provide. 2. Satantempted Christ to presume upon his Father's powerand
protection, in a point of safety. Nor are any extremes more dangerous than
despair and presumption, especiallyin the affairs of our souls. Satanhas no
objectionto holy places as the scene ofhis assaults. Letus not, in any place, be
off our watch. The holy city is the place, where he does, with the greatest
advantage, tempt men to pride and presumption. All high places are slippery
places;advancements in the world makes a man a mark for Satanto shoot his
fiery darts at. Is Satan so well versedin Scripture as to be able to quote it
readily? He is so. It is possible for a man to have his head full of Scripture

notions, and his mouth full of Scripture expressions, while his heart is full of
bitter enmity to God and to all goodness. Satanmisquotedthe words. If we go
out of our way, out of the way of our duty, we forfeit the promise, and put
ourselves out of God's protection. This passage, De 8:3, made againstthe
tempter, therefore he left out part. This promise is firm and stands good. But
shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? No. 3. Satantempted Christ
to idolatry with the offer of the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them.
The glory of the world is the most charming temptation to the unthinking and
unwary; by that men are most easilyimposed upon. Christ was tempted to
worship Satan. He rejectedthe proposalwith abhorrence. Getthee hence,
Satan! Some temptations are openly wicked;and they are not merely to be
opposed, but rejectedat once. It is good to be quick and firm in resisting
temptation. If we resistthe devil he will flee from us. But the soul that
deliberates is almost overcome. We find but few who can decidedly reject such
baits as Satan offers;yet what is a man profited if he gain the whole world,
and lose his own soul? Christ was succouredafterthe temptation, for his
encouragementto go on in his undertaking, and for our encouragementto
trust in him; for as he knew, by experience, whatit was to suffer, being
tempted, so he knew what it was to be succoured, being tempted; therefore we
may expect, not only that he will feel for his tempted people, but that he will
come to them with seasonable relief.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
Get thee hence - These temptations, and this one especially, the Saviour met
with a decided rebuke. This was a bolder attack than any which had been
made before. The other temptations had been founded on an appeal to his
necessities, andan offer of the protection of God in greatdanger; in both cases
plausible, and in neither a direct violation of the law of God. Here was a
higher attempt, a more decided and deadly thrust at the piety of the Saviour.
It was a proposition that the Son of God should worship the devil, instead of
honoring and adoring Him who made heaven and earth; that he should bow
down before the Prince of wickednessand give him homage.
It is written - In Deuteronomy 6:13. Satan askedhim to worship him. This
was expresslyforbidden, and Jesus therefore drove him from his presence.

Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
10. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan—Sincethe tempter has
now thrown off the mask, and stands forth in his true character, ourLord no
longerdeals with him as a pretended friend and pious counsellor, but calls
him by his right name—His knowledge ofwhich from the outsetHe had
carefully concealedtill now—and orders him off. This is the final and
conclusive evidence, as we think, that Matthew's must be the right order of
the temptations. For who can wellconceive of the tempter's returning to the
assaultafter this, in the pious characteragain, and hoping still to dislodge the
consciousnessofHis Sonship, while our Lord must in that case be supposedto
quote Scripture to one He had calledthe devil to his face—thus throwing His
pearls before worse than swine?
for it is written—(De 6:13). Thus does our Lord part with Satanon the rock of
Scripture.
Thou shalt worship—In the Hebrew and the Septuagint it is, "Thou shalt
fear";but as the sense is the same, so "worship" is here used to show
emphatically that what the tempter claimed was preciselywhat God had
forbidden.
the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve—The word "serve" in the
secondclause, is one never used by the Septuagint of any but religious service;
and in this sense exclusivelyis it used in the New Testament, as we find it here.
Once more the word "only," in the secondclause—notexpressedin the
Hebrew and the Septuagint—is here added to bring out emphatically the
negative and prohibitory feature of the command. (See Ga 3:10 for a similar
supplement of the word "all" in a quotation from De 27:26).
Matthew Poole's Commentary
As this was of all the three the most impudent temptation, so our Lord
receivethit with the highest detestation, saying,

Get thee hence, Satanby which words he doth not only show his detestationof
this temptation, but also chides him off from any further tempting him. The
sense is, Satan, I know better things, viz. that a religious adorationis not to be
given unto any but unto God alone. Thou art a creature;no worship is due
unto thee: to worship before thee (so Luke phrases it, Luke 4:7) is to worship
thee. This is expresslycontrary to the command of God, Deu 6:13 10:20. It is
also observable, that our Saviour opposeththis to the devil’s words, ean
pesuyn proskunhshv moi, if thou falling down wilt worship me; and that
Christ answers, TonYeos souproskunhseis kaiautw latreuseiv; which shows
the idleness of the papists’ distinction of doulia and latreia; the first of which
they say may be given to the creature, the secondonly unto God; by which
they justify their veneration of images. The using a posture of adoration
before the creature in an actof worship, Christ here interprets a worshipping
the creature, if the creature either exacts it of us, or we purposely set it before
us, or choose it as an objectexciting or moving us to such an actof adoration,
which the papists do. Notthat all prostration before the creature is an act of
Divine adoration;there is a civil as wellas a Divine worship; and in Divine
worship the position of the creature before us may be merely for convenience,
or accidental. But all prostration in an act of Divine worship is a posture of
adoration, and where a creature is chosenand setbefore us in that act or
posture, to excite or move us, it partakes ofthe homage. There is some little
difference betweenthe words, Deu 6:13 Deu 10:20, and those of St. Matthew;
but that is saidto be written, which is written as to the substance and sense,
though not in those terms. Moses saith, Thoushalt fear; as Matthew quotes it
it is,
Thou shalt worship. The term fear applied unto God, signifieth any act of
religion, whether external or internal, and though the lastwords in
Deuteronomy, thou shalt swearby his name, be not mentioned in Matthew,
yet enoughare quoted for our Saviour’s purpose. Falling down and
worshipping belongeth only to God, (saith our Saviour), not to thee; let me
therefore hear of thee no more.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Then saith Jesus to him, get thee hence, Satan..... In Luke 4:8 it is "getthee
behind me": and so some copies readhere, and is expressive of indignation
and abhorrence;see Matthew 16:23 rebuking his impudence, and detesting
his impiety: he had borne his insults and temptations with greatpatience;he
had answeredhim with mildness and gentleness;but now his behaviour to
him was intolerable, which obliged him to show his resentment, exert his
powerand authority, and rid himself at once of so vile a creature;giving this
reasonfor it;
for it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou
serve. The place referred to is in Deuteronomy 6:13
thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him: to fear the Lord, and to
worship him, is the same thing. Worship includes both an internal and
external reverence of God: the word "only" is not in the original text, but is
added by our Lord; and that very justly; partly to express the emphasis which
is on the word "him"; and in perfect agreementwith the context, which
requires it; since it follows,
ye shall not go after other Gods. Moreover, notto take notice of the
Septuagint version, in which the word "only" is also added, Josephus (q), the
Jewishhistorian, referring to this law, says, because Godis one, , "therefore
he only is to be worshipped". And Aben Ezra (r), a Jewishwriter, explaining
the lastclause in the verse,
and thou shalt swearby his name, uses the word "only";and which indeed, of
right, belongs to every clause in it. The meaning of our Lord in citing it is;
that since the Lord God is the alone object of worship, it was horrid
blasphemy in Satanto desire it might be given to him, and which could not be
done without the greatestimpiety.
(q) Antiq. Jud. l. 3. c. 5. sect. 5. (r) In Deut. vi. 13.
Geneva Study Bible
Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan:for it is written, Thou shalt
worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary
Matthew 4:10. Ὕπαγε] The spurious words ὀπίσω μου would have to be
explained: go behind me—that is, go back that I may see thee no longer!
ἀφανίσθητι, Euth. Zigabenus. ὀπίσω with the genitive belongs to the LXX.
and the Apocrypha, after the Hebrew, ‫ַא‬ ֲ ‫ר‬ֵ‫י‬ ‫;׳פ‬ in this way the Greeks construe
ὄπισθεν.
σατανᾶ]to infer from this that Jesus now for the first time (too late)
recognisesSatan(de Wette), is arbitrary, and opposedto the representationof
the matter in Matthew 4:1, according to which Jesus cannothave been
unaware of the intention of the Holy Spirit, who impelled Him to go into the
wilderness. ThatHe now calls Satanby name, is in keeping with the growing
intensity of the emotion in general, as well as with the personaladdress of the
tempter in Matthew 4:9. “Tentatorem, quuni is maxime favere videri vult,
Satanamappellat,” Bengel.
κύριον, κ.τ.λ.]Jehovahalone shalt thou worship, do homage to Him only as
thy master. Deuteronomy6:13, according to the LXX., freely applied to the
proposalof Satan.” According to this arrangement, it is by the wayof
obedience to God that Jesus is aware that He will attain to the government of
the world. John 18:36;Php 2:6 ff.; Matthew 28:18;Acts 10:36 ff.
Expositor's Greek Testament
Matthew 4:10. ὕπαγε σατανᾶ. Jesus passionatelyrepels the Satanic suggestion.
The ὕπαγε σ. is true to His character. The suggestions ofworldly wisdom
always rousedin Him passionate aversion. The ὀπίσω μου of some MSS. does
not suit this place;it is imported from Matthew 16:23, where it does suit, the
agentof Satan in a temptation of the same sort being a disciple. Christ’s final
word to the tempter is an absolute, peremptory Begone. YetHe condescends
to support His authoritative negative by a Scripture text, again from Deut.

(Matthew 6:13), slightly adapted, προσκυνήσεις being substituted for
φοβηθήσῃ (the μόνῳ in secondclause is omitted in Swete’s Sept[15]). It takes
the accusative here instead of dative, as in Matthew 4:9, because it denotes
worship proper (Weiss-Meyer). The quotation states a principle in theory
acknowledgedby all, but how hard to work it out faithfully in life!
[15] Septuagint.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
10. Get thee hence, Satan]It is instructive to find these words addressedto
Peter(ch. Matthew 16:23)when he put himself as it were in the place of the
tempter. See note ad loc.
him only shalt thou serve]Deuteronomy 6:10-13. Idolatry, multiplicity of
aims, and forgetfulness of God are the dangers of prosperity and ambition.
See contextof passagein Deut.
Bengel's Gnomen
Matthew 4:10. Ὕπαγε, depart) “Getthee behind Me, Satan” saidthe Lord to
Peter, when he took Him and endeavouredto dissuade Him from undergoing
His passion;thus commanding Peterto retire into the proper place of a
disciple, i.e., behind Him. But to SatanHe said, Depart, Satan:go, not behind
Me, but plainly from Me.—Σατανᾶ, Satan)q.d. “Thou hasttried to discover
who I am, and I tell thee who thou art.” He calls the tempter, when he wished
to appear speciallygracious to Him, Satan.[143]—Κύριον—προσκυνήσεις,
κ.τ.λ., Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve)
In Deuteronomy 6:13, the LXX. have Κύριον—φοβηθήσῃ,κ.τ.λ., Thoushalt
fear the Lord, etc. Jesus substitutes worship aptly for fear.—Cf. Matthew
4:9.—μόνῳ, only, alone) Thus the LXX. have it, who have inserted μόνος also
in Genesis 3:11;Genesis 3:17, without doing violence to the meaning.

[143]For he had plainly showed, by his pride, that he was Satan.—Vers.
Germ.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 10. - Get thee hence, Satan. "Avaunt, Satan" (Rheims). Christ does not
address him directly till this climax. The two previous temptations were,
comparatively speaking, ordinary and limited. This temptation calls out a
passionate utterance ofa personality stirred, because touched, in its depths.
Only once againdo we find our Lord so moved, in Matthew 16:23 (the
"Western" and "Syrian" addition here of ὀπίσω μου from that passage
emphasizes the feeling common to the two cases), whena similar
representationis made to him that he ought to escape the troubles which his
Messianic position, in fact, brought upon him. For it is written (Deuteronomy
6:13); from the LXX., which differs from the Hebrew by
(1) translating ‫,׳ֲֵת‬ "fear," by προσκυνήσεις (but B has φοβηθήσῃ);and
(2) the paraphrastic insertion of "only." Thou shalt worship the Lord thy
God, and him only shalt thou serve. Worship; προσκυνέω) , as in ver. 9.
Serve;λατρεύω, "in perfect subjectionto a sovereignpower" (Bishop
Westcotton Hebrews 8:2, Add. Note). Our Lord's reply cuts up the devil's
solicitationby the root. "I do not enter," he means, "into the question of thy
authority over these things, and of thy power concerning them. I acknowledge
thee not. The command which I willingly obey excludes all homage and
service to any other over-lord than God alone. I acceptnot thy orders and thy
methods. I take my commands direct from God." Observe that our Lord does
not sayhow he is to gain the kingdoms for his own; this would be the care of
him whose command he follows. But before ascending, the Lord proclaimed
(Matthew 28:18) that he had received(i.e. gainedthrough suffering, Hebrews
2:10: Philippians 2:9) more than (note "in heaven")what the devil would have
given him as a reward of obedience to false principles.

PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
BRUCE HURT MD
Matthew 4:10 Then Jesus saidto him, "Go, Satan!For it is written, 'YOU
SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'"
Go: Mt 16:23 Jas 4:7 1Pe 5:9
Satan: 1 Chr 21:1 Job 1:6,12 2:1 Ps 109:6 Zec 3:1,2
YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD: Dt 6:13,14 10:20 Jos
24:14 1 Sa 7:3 Lk 4:8
Matthew 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
ParallelPassage -
Luke 4:8+ Jesus answeredhim, "It is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE
LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'"
Then (5119)(tote)is an expressionof time which means "At that time."
THOUGHT - When used as an adverb THEN is always worth pausing to
ponder and query asking questions like "Whattime is it? What happens next?
Why does this happen now?, etc". When then is used (as determined by the
context) to be an expressionof time or "time phrase", it usually indicates
sequence and thus marks that which is next in order of time, soonafter that,
following next after in order of position, narration or enumeration, being next
in a series (See Englishdefinitions or here). Observing then canbe very useful
in following the course of events in a chapteror paragraph, especiallyin
eschatological(prophetic) passages - e.g., in Nebuchadnezzar's dream there
are several occurrences of"then" (in the NAS) - Da 2:35, Da 2:39, Da 2:40, Da

2:46, Da 2:48-commentary. Compare the uses of then in the Olivet Discourse -
Mt 24:9, Mt 24:14, 16, 21, 23, 30 (2 uses!), etc-see commentary.
Jesus saidto him, "Go, Satan!For it is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP
THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY - Jesus is quoting Deut
6:13 "You shall fear only the LORD your God; and you shall worship Him
and swearby His name." (cf Dt 10:20) But He adds a phrase from the
Septuagint (Lxx) translation of Deut 6:13 which says the "Him (the LORD)
you shall serve" (kaiauto latreuseis). So while Satan’s temptations failed, but
God’s testings succeeded. Jesus’responses to the tempter were, in essence, “I
will trust the Father; I will not presume on His Word; and I will not
circumvent His will. I will take the Father’s goodgifts from the Father’s own
hand, in the Father’s own way, and in the Father’s own time.” Thus the King
was accreditedby the severesttest.
Why did Jesus add this phrase from the Septuagint (Lxx)? Worship is
intimately linked to service. If we worship God on Sunday, but are not willing
to serve Him enabled by His Spirit Monday through Saturday, then our
worship is at best "defective" and at worsthypocritical!
Warren Wiersbe "Satanhad said nothing about service, but Jesus knew that
whateverwe worship, we will serve. Service to the Lord is true freedom, but
service to Satanis terrible bondage. God's pattern is to start with suffering
and end with glory (1 Peter5:10-note), while Satan's pattern is to start with
glory and end with suffering. Satanwants us to sacrifice the eternal for the
temporary and take the "easyway." (Ed: Beloveddon't be enticedby the
passing pleasures ofsin - Heb 11:25+)(Bible Exposition Commentary)
You shall worship (bow down) (4352)see above forproskuneo
Shall...serve (3000)(latreuo from latris = one hired or latron = reward, wages)
means to work for reward, for hire or for pay, to be in servitude, render cultic
service. Latreuo was used literally for bodily service (e.g., workersonthe
land, or slaves), and figuratively for “to cherish.” In the NT the idea is to
render service to God, to worship, to perform sacredservices orto minister to
God in a spirit of worship (in fact in the NT uses below, note severalpassages
clearly associateworshipwith serving.).

J Vernon McGee -Oh, Satanleft out something. Satansaid, “If You will
worship me only for a moment, I’ll give You the kingdom.” Our Lord said in
effect, “You left out something. You cannot worship without serving. If I
worship you, I’ll serve you. And we are to worship God only, and Him only
are we to serve.” MayI say to you, this is a mistake that even some Christians
are making today. They think they canserve Godon Sunday, and maybe
through certain Christian agencies, but that they can live their own lives to
suit themselves. My friend, you cannotdo that. It’s impossible. Listen to Paul
in Romans 6:16: Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves
to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to
death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?Don’tyou know, my friend,
that whomeveryou obey, whateverlivery or uniform you wear, you are the
servant of that one? If you are serving sin, then sin is your master. Don’t fool
yourself. I stoodin front of my office window one day and lookedacross the
streetat the California Club. There were about fifteen chauffeurs standing
and chatting. Walking very briskly, a man came out of the club. I couldn’t
hear what he said, but he lifted a finger and spoke something. Immediately
one chauffeur withdrew from the crowd, went over and opened the door of
the car, and the man got in. Then the chauffeur went around the car, got in
the driver’s seat, and drove off. So I came to the profound conclusionthat he
and no one else in the crowd was that man’s chauffeur because the one you
obey is your master. The others didn’t obey him. My friend, today when you
serve sin, sin is your master. Our Lord says you are to worship only God, and
Him only are you to serve. You can’t worship Him without serving Him. And
if you’re serving sin you cannotworship God. (Jesus:Centerpiece of
Scripture)
Jesus would not short circuit the Cross forthe seductive, passing glory of the
kingdoms of this world. Jesus clearlyunderstoodHis mission as shown by His
declarationthat His glory would follow His Cross
Was it not necessaryfor the Christ to suffer these things (THE CROSS)and
to enter into His glory (THE CROWN)? (Lk 24:26+)
Go (present imperative) (5217)(hupago fromhupo = under or denoting
secrecy+ ago = to go) means literally to lead under or to bring under and is

used in this sense only once in the only use in the Septuagint/Lxx in Ex 14:21
(to translate "swept… back" -causedto recede). Mostcommonly hupago
means to go, to go away, to withdraw one's self (e.g., ofJesus'departure from
the world (Jn 8:14, etc). Hupago has the notion of withdrawing.
THOUGHT - BecauseSatan’s presentpoweris only by God’s permission,
when the Son commanded him to leave, Satanhad no choice but to obey.
Therein Christ demonstrated the very sovereignpowerSatanwanted Him to
misuse! Now believers are a beneficiaryof this truth for John writes "You are
from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greateris He who
is in you than he who is in the world." (1 Jn 4:4+). The Lord now gives all of
His children the power to resistSatan. “Resist(aoristimperative)(BUT NOT
THE PRECEDINGCLAUSE-"SUBMIT [aorist imperative] TO GOD")the
devil,” James assures us, “andhe will flee from you” (Jas 4:7+). As he did
with Jesus, Satan(his demons) will not long stay awayfrom us; but we can
take heart in the truth of God's Word which promises that with every
temptation God “will provide a way of escape”(1Co 10:13+). Forevery
temptation Satanleads us into, a way out is provided by our Father. We need
to keepour spiritual eyes open to discern the wayof escape!
Steven Cole - Satan’s goalin all three temptations was to getJesus to act
independently of the Fatherrather than to submit to the will of God, which
included the cross. It would have been a tempting shortcut to gain the glory of
ruling all the kingdoms of this world without the agonyof the cross. Butthe
Bible is clearthat anything we do apart from faith and obedience is sin (Ro
14:23). This means that we have to be careful not only to pursue godly goals,
but also to use biblical means of attaining those goals. Forexample, church
growth is a goodgoal, but if the church adopts worldly marketing and sales
techniques or waters down the message to bring people into the church, we’ve
fallen into the devil’s trap. We need to be careful to follow biblical methods as
well as goals. We should learn from our Lord Jesus how to be wise to Satan’s
schemes. (The Temptation of Jesus)
It is written - This was the typical way to identify a specific quote from an Old
Testamentprophecy or an allusion to a prophecy (cf allusion in Mk 14:21
alluding to Ps 22:1-31 and Isaiah 53:1-12+). As it is written in the NT - Matt.

26:24;Mk. 1:2; Mk. 7:6; Mk. 9:13; Mk. 14:21;Lk. 2:23; Lk. 3:4; Jn. 6:31; Jn.
12:14;Acts 7:42; Acts 15:15; Rom. 1:17; Rom. 2:24; Rom. 3:4; Rom. 3:10;
Rom. 4:17; Rom. 8:36; Rom. 9:13; Rom. 9:33; Rom. 10:15; Rom. 11:8; Rom.
11:26;Rom. 15:3; Rom. 15:9; Rom. 15:21;1 Co. 1:31; 1 Co. 2:9; 1 Co. 10:7; 2
Co. 8:15; 2 Co. 9:9
Written (1125)(grapho fromroot graph- = primarily means to scratchon or
engrave as on an ornament, reports, letters, etc;English = graph, graphic, etc)
means to engrave or inscribe with a pen or stylus characters orletters on a
surface which can be wood, wax, metal, leather, stone, parchment, dirt (John
8:6+), paper, etc. The perfect tense indicates it was written down in the Old
Testamentand it stands written. This speaks ofthe permanence of the
Scriptures even as Jesus declaredin Mt 24:35 “Heavenand earth will pass
away, but My words will not pass away."
When we were children and our parents told us to do something and we
questioned "Why?", the answerwas usually "BecauseI said so!". Why are we
commanded to be holy? BecauseGodsaid so!A popular saying is "Godsaid
it, I believe it, that settles it." This sounds goodbut isn't accurate because
God's Word is true, irregardless of whether we believe it or not. A more
accurate "saying" wouldbe "Godsaid it, that settles it!" In fact It is written
should put a stop to every complaint or excuse.
THOUGHT - May the absolute certainty of this truth uttered by He Who is
Himself Truth (Mt 24:35) stir your hearts and motivate you to desire to
treasure God's precious, permanent Word of Life in your hearts during your
short sojourn on earth (Ps 119:9,11)? Whata blessedbut passing privilege we
now have to memorize His Word. Don't miss this golden opportunity, the
opportunity of a lifetime! You will not regretit throughout eternity! To help
start you on this journey see MemoryVerses by Topic. As they saywhen they
serve your filet mignon in the restaurant"Enjoy!"
A Review of the ways Satantempts us - they are the same basic ways he
tempted Jesus in the wilderness.

First, he will try to getus to distrust God’s providential care and to try to
solve our problems, win our struggles, and meet our needs by our own plans
and in our own power.
Second, he will try to get us to presume on God’s care and forgiveness by
willingly putting ourselves in the way of danger-whetherphysical, economic,
moral, spiritual, or any other.
Third, he will appeal to selfishambitions and try to get us to use our own
schemes to fulfill the promises God has made to us-which amounts to trying to
fulfill God’s plan in Satan’s way.
THOUGHT - The story is told of a man who was trying to teach his dog
obedience. He would take a large piece of meat and put it in the middle of the
floor. Eachtime the dog attempted to take the meat the man would swatthe
dog and say, “No.” Soonthe dog beganto associatethe swatting with the word
"no" and learned to stop simply when the word was said. When meat was
placed on the floor the dog would not look at it but rather at his master,
waiting for his word of approval or denial. That is essentiallythe message God
teaches in this passage:“When temptation comes, don’t look at the temptation
but at Jesus Christ. Keep your eyes on His example and do what he did. Look
at the ways He was tempted and at the way He resisted, and learn from Him.”
The writer of Hebrews, perhaps with Jesus’wilderness temptations
particularly in mind, tells us, “Forwe do not have a high priest who cannot
sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things
as we are, yet without sin” (Heb 4:15+) Even more encouraging is the
declaration:“Forsince He Himself was tempted in that which He has
suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted” (Heb 2:18+).
Jesus has been there before us; He has met the worstSatancan give and has
been victorious. More than that, He is eagerto share that victory with His
own people when they are tempted. We can have victory over temptation only
by resisting in the way that Jesus resisted-byholding with complete obedience
to God and His Word. Jesus endured temptation to the very limit of Satan’s
power, and He resistedto that very limit. He did not in the leastdegree allow
temptation to develop into desire, much less into sin (cf. Jas 1:13-15+). He did
not think the matter over or give it any consideration. He simply stoodfirmly

in His Father’s will and said no! We find help againsttemptation, just as we
find help for everything else in the Christian life, by “Fixing our eyes on Jesus,
the Author and Perfecterof faith” (Heb 12:2+). A hurdler soonlearns that if
he looks at the hurdles as he runs, he will trip and fall. From start to finish he
looks only at the goal, and when he does that the hurdles are clearedin stride
as eachone is encountered. Keeping our eyes on our Lord Jesus Christis our
only hope of conquering temptation and faithfully running “with endurance
the race that is set before us” (Heb 12:1+).
The same principle of looking to Jesus before looking to the temptation is
found in the wonderful truth of the Expulsive Powerof a New Affection
(check it out!)
Deuteronomy 6:1-15 - Who Is On The Throne?
According to English poet Oliver Reynolds, an old man had a family altar
where he burned incense to an engraving of Napoleon. Whenaskedwhy he
worshiped the picture as a god, the man replied that he would worship
anything.
Imagine venerating a picture of that Frenchgeneral!Imagine burning incense
to the portrait of a human being who has no meaningful relationship to his
worshipers!That’s idolatry at its worst! We don’t think of ourselves as
idolaters, of course, but are we in subtle ways disobeying God’s
commandment: “You shall have no other gods before Me”? (Exodus 20:3).
We would never dream of bowing down to the picture of any mortal, however
famous or powerful. But who is on the throne of our hearts? Are we giving a
loved one first place in our lives? Is that person number one in our affections?
Maybe we’re worshiping money. Or perhaps our job is our top priority. Jesus
said, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve”
(Luke 4:8). Are we worshiping and serving only Him?
Spend some time alone with God to examine your heart. Make sure that you
haven’t become an idolater. —V C Grounds (Our Daily Bread, Copyright

RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. — Reprinted by permission. All rights
reserved)
Unless we worship only God
Our lives cannotbe truly free;
For we were made for Him alone—
All else is but idolatry.
—D. De Haan
An idol is anything that takes the place of God.
Matthew 4:11 Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and beganto
minister to Him.
NET Then the devil left him, and angels came and beganministering to his
needs.
GNT Τότε ἀφίησιναὐτὸνὁ διάβολος, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἄγγελοι προσῆλθονκαὶ
διηκόνουναὐτῷ.
NLT Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.
KJV Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered
unto him.
ESV Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering
to him.
NIV Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Then the devil left Him: Lu 4:13 Lk 22:53 Joh14:30
behold, angels came and beganto minister to Him: Mt 4:6 26:53 28:2-5 Mk
1:13 Lu 22:43 1Ti3:16 Heb 1:6,14 Rev 5:11,12
Matthew 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
JESUS WON

THE BATTLE
Jesus wonthe battle over three fierce temptations from the devil who
believers will surely never face, althoughthey will be continually assaultedby
his demonic hordes who are also crafty. Note that Jesus was victorious
because He depended on the empowering of the Spirit of God and the
powerful of the Word of God. These are the same "weapons"Godhas given
every believer that we too might experience victory over the manifold and
incessanttemptations from the the world, the flesh and the devil It therefore
behoves us to do two things eachmorning before we go out into the battle, for
Petersays "fleshly lusts...wage waragainstthe soul." (1 Pe 2:11+) - (1) Be
filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18+) and (2) Let the Word of Christ dwell
in us richly (Colossians3:16+). If you falter on either of these points, then rest
assuredyou are at the very leastvulnerable and at the worstwill surely
experience defeatthat day. As a commercialused to say "Don'tleave home
without it" (referring to a credit card)! Don't leave home without the Spirit
and Word empowering your walk!
Then (see note on tote above)When? When Jesus saidBe gone!(Mt 4:10)
The devil (see above for diabolos) left Him - Luke says "When the devil had
finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time (kairos)."
(Luke 4:13+) We need to always be on the lookoutfor temptation, for the
devil (and our flesh) is always looking for an "opportunity" to pounce (cf Ge
4:7). The word left is also translated "forgive" 47xin the NT which of course
shows the importance of the contextwhen one does word studies, lesthe
arrives at an inappropriate definition. The devil hardly "forgave"Jesus for
not falling for his temptations! And as Luke adds, he would return when he
thought would be the "right time." Of course, he would never find a "right
time" for Jesus was "temptedin all things as we are, yet without sin." (Heb
4:15+).
Devil (Latin diabolus) (1228)(diabolos from diá = through, between+ ballo =
to cast, throw) means a false accuser, slanderer(one who utters false charges
or misrepresentations which defame and damage another’s reputation),
backbiting (malicious comment about one not present), one given to malicious

gossipor a calumniator (one who utters maliciously false statements, charges,
or imputations about, this term imputes malice to the speakerand falsity to
the assertions). See also study on Satan(4567)satanas
THOUGHT - Notice the derivation of devil is dia meaning betweenand ballo
meaning throw giving us a word picture of one of his primary tactics/goalsto
come between. He constantly throws betweenseeking to divide whether it be
betweena husband and wife, a child and parent, a church, etc. Resisthis
divisive, condemnatoryaccusations firm in your faith. He did this successfully
with Adam and Eve in a perfect setting (Ge 3:12, 16+ where "desire" in the
Lxx = apostrophe - basic meaning = turning away from) and dear believing
husband or wife, his minions seek to accomplishthe same evil goalin your
marriage! Look out! As Paul warns:
BE ANGRY (present imperative) AND yet DO NOT SIN (present imperative
with a negative);do not let (present imperative with a negative)the sun go
down on your anger, 27 and do not give (present imperative with a negative
the devil an opportunity (kairos - SAME WORD IN Luke 4:13+! DID YOU
GO TO BED ANGRY AT YOUR SPOUSE LAST NIGHT? THEN LOOK
OUT, YOU CAN BE SURE YOU ARE THE DEVIL'S RADAR! CONFESS,
REPENT,BE RECONCILEDQUICKLY!). 28 He who steals must stealno
(present imperative with a negative)longer; but rather he must labor (present
imperative), performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have
something to share with one who has need. 29 (HERE IS WHAT THE DEVIL
WILL TEMPT YOU TO DO) Let no unwholesome (ROTTEN)wordproceed
from your mouth (present imperative with a negative = stop doing this or
don't begin and necessitates dailydependence on the Holy Spirit to obey), but
only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the
moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. 30+ (NASB IS NOT
CORRECTHERE -- THERE SHOULD BE THE WORD "AND" FOR
GREEK"KAI" WHICH DIRECTLYLINKS GRIEVING OF THE SPIRIT
WITH GRIEVOUS SPEECH!LOOK OUT WHAT YOU SAY DEAR
SPOUSE LEST YOU BLUNT THE SPIRIT'S WORKIN YOUR LIFE AND
SET YOURSELF UP FOR Eph 4:31+!) Do not grieve (present imperative
with a negative)the Holy Spirit of God (A GRIEVED SPIRIT WILL BLUNT

HIS POWER IN YOUR LIFE!), by whom you were sealedfor the day of
redemption.(Eph 4:26-30+)
Left (863)(aphiemi from apo = prefix speaks ofseparation, putting some
distance between+ hiemi = put in motion, send) conveys the basic idea of an
actionwhich causes separation. Literally aphiemi means to send from one's
self, and refers to total detachment, total separation, from a previous location
or condition. In secularGreek literature, aphiemi was a fundamental word
used to indicate the sending awayof an object or a person. In the present
context it refers to Jesus commanding the devil to "Go" in Mt 4:10. The devil
obeyed giving us clear evidence of Jesus'authority over the Creation,
specificallythe supernatural world.
Behold, angels came and beganto minister to Him - Mark has "And He was
in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild
beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him." (Mk 1:13+). Notice the
fascinating juxtaposition of wild beasts on one hand and ministering angels on
the other. Have you ever heard wild animals in a desertedplace at night?
Wolves and coyotes howling? The sound of those wild animals piercing the
darkness of the night is enough to stop the heart. In this sense Jesuswould
have experiencedthe testof fear. But perfectlove casts out fear (1 Jn 4:18+).
There was no fearin Jesus becausein Him was perfectlove of His Father (cf
Mt 3:17+). Ministering is in the imperfect tense picturing the angels
ministering to Jesus overand over. He was fully Man and as such He was in a
sense demonstrating for us the truth in Hebrews where the writer asks "Are
they (ANGELS) not all ministering (leitourgikos)spirits, sent out to render
service (diakonia)for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?" (Hebrews
1:14+) Luke 4:13+ omits the angels and simply says "Whenthe devil had
finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time."
THOUGHT - Becauseofhis sin, the first Adam lost the dominion overnature
which God had given to him (Genesis 1:28). Contrastthis with the Last Adam,
Jesus Christ, to whom dominion is returned as evidenced by the wild beasts
that surrounded Him in the wilderness—a sneakpreview of the coming
kingdom wherein the wolf shall lie down by the lamb (Isaiah 11:6). Where
Adam failed in the garden, Jesus came through in the desert.

Behold(2400)(idou)is the secondpersonsingular aorist middle imperative of
eidon which means to see, perceive, look at. In the NT idou is used as a
demonstrative particle that draws attention to what follows. Idou in the
middle voice means "you yourself look, see, perceive!" The aoristimperative
is a command emphasizing "Do it now! Don't delay!" In 2Cor 5:17 Paul uses
idou, to gethis reader's attention as he introduces the truth that the one who
in now in Christ is a qualitatively new person. (see also notes above on
"behold") Spurgeonreminds us that "Beholdis a word of wonder; it is
intended to excite admiration. Wherever you see it hung out in Scripture, it is
like an ancient sign-board, signifying that there are rich wares within, or like
the hands which solid readers have observed in the margin of the older
Puritanic books, drawing attention to something particularly worthy of
observation." I would add, behold is like a divine highlighter, a divine
underlining of an especiallystriking or important text. It says in effect"Listen
up, all ye who would be wise in the ways of Jehovah!"
Beganto minister (the vivid imperfect tense - you canpicture the angels
beginning to minister and ministering over and over)(1247)(diakoneo-
derivation uncertain - cp diakonis = in the dust laboring or running through
the dust or possibly diako = to run on errands; see also study of relatednoun -
diakonia)means to minister by wayof rendering service in any form or to
take care of by rendering humble service. How did they minister? The Bible
does not saybut by implication they brought Him food would be a reasonable
considerationgiven His hunger.
William Hendriksen summarizes the lessons fromMatthew 4:1-11
Resistthe devil by appealing to Scripture, as Jesus did three times in
succession.
Restassuredthat Jesus, as his people’s Representative, has vicariously
rendered the obedience which Adam, as mankind’s representative, failed to
render.

3Derive comfort from the fact that we have a Highpriest who, having himself
been tempted, is able to help us in our temptations (Heb. 4:14–16).
Note that by not giving heed to the devil, Jesus receivesthe very blessings
which Satan had held out to him. However, it is in a far more glorious sense
and with the Father’s favor resting upon him that he receives the strength to
endure physically, the ministry of the angels, and authority over the kingdoms
of the world. (BakerNTC-Matthew)
GREG ALLEN
"IN ALL POINTS TEMPTEDAS WE ARE"
Matthew 4:1-11
Theme: We learn much about dealing with temptation from the example of
our Lord.
(Delivered Sunday, April 25, 2004 at Bethany Bible Church. Unless otherwise
indicated, all Scripture is takenfrom the New King James Version, unles.)
INTRODUCTION
We're dealing this morning with a subject that is relevant to everyone in this
room - that is, the temptation to sin. And we're going to be learning from the
greatestTeacherwe could ever learn from - none other than the Lord Jesus
Christ. And we're going to be learning from Him in the most vivid way could
be taught by Him - that is, by His own example as it's recordedfor us in
Matthew 4:1-11.
And before we begin looking at this passagetogether, Iwant to impress on
you just how important and practical I believe it is. I believe that it's a passage
that the devil himself hates. I believe, of course, that he hates all of Scripture;
but I believe that he hates this one passagewith a particularly resentful

hatred. I believe that, if he could, he would rid the earth of it, and would keep
you and me from ever learning anything about it. He hates it, certainly,
because it tells the tale of the humiliating defeathe suffered early in his efforts
to prevent Jesus from becoming our Redeemer. ButI believe that he also
hates it because it reveals his strategyagainstus. The specific temptations that
he directed againstJesus may be different in characterfrom those he directs
againstus; but I believe this passageshows us the broad areas in which he
seeks to deceive men and women of God, and to cause them to trip up in sin. It
helps us to recognize his temptations when they come. And what's more, it
shows us - by Jesus'ownexample - how we are to resist his efforts in such a
way as to cause him to flee from us.
But, as practicalas I believe this passage is, I believe there's one more thing
that makes it a very important and very precious passageto us. It's that it
affirms to us a wonderful truth about our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. You
see;even though the devil failed to trip the Lord up, he very often succeeds in
causing us to stumble. And this passageteaches us a wonderful truth that is
very goodnews to all of us who struggle with sin - who very often fail and feel
like giving up because we're suchdreadful and unworthy failures before God.
It affirms to us the assuring and encouraging truth spokenof in Hebrews
4:14-16, and it comes like healing medicine upon the soul of the struggling
child of God;
Seeing then that we have a greatHigh Priestwho has passedthrough the
heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fastour confession. Forwe do not
have a High Priestwho cannot sympathize with our weaknesses,but was in all
points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the
throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of
need (Hebrews 4:14-16).
* * * * * * * * * *
This morning, I'd like for us to simply walk through this passage together,
and understand the details of what it says to us about the temptation of our
Lord. And then, I'd like for us to considersome of the principles about
temptation that we can learn from it.

First, let's considerwhat this passage tells us about . . .
1. THE TEMPTATIONOF THE LORD IN THE WILDERNESS.
Matthew opens this passage withthese words; "ThenJesus was led up by the
Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." And I'd like you to
notice right away the word "Then . . ." It points us back to what had
happened in the time just prior to this. We can't really appreciate what
Matthew is telling us in this passageunless we see it in the light of what had
just occurred.
What had just occurredwas Jesus'baptism. Matthew tells us that Jesus came
to John the Baptist to be baptized by him in a baptism of repentance. When
Jesus came to him, John initially resisted. John viewedJesus'request as
utterly inappropriate. After all, how could Jesus - a Man who had never
sinned - be baptized in a baptism that representeda repentance from sin? But
as we saw lastweek, Jesus came -not because He needed to repent of sin - but
rather to personallyidentify Himself with our own need so He could bear our
sins for us. He told John, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to
fulfill all righteousness"(Matthew 3:15).
John consentedto baptize Jesus;and the Bible tells us that, "When He had
been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the
heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a
dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven,
saying, 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am wellpleased'" (vv. 16-17).
And now, in our passage this morning, we find that Matthew tells us that
"then" Jesus was ledby the same Holy Spirit into the wilderness. Jesus'
temptation in the wilderness followedafterHis baptism. In fact Mark, in his
Gospel, tells us that after Jesus was baptized, "Immediately the Spirit drove
Him into the wilderness" (Mark 1:12). It was immediately after the Lord
visibly and publically united Himself to us in our sin problem - and
immediately after the heavens opened up to Him, and the Spirit descended
upon Him, and the Father declaredHis pleasure in Him - that He then
willingly went into the wilderness to suffer the temptations to sin that we

suffer. When He identified Himself with us, He identified Himself with us
fully! What a Saviorwe have!!
* * * * * * * * * *
Before we go any further, we need to stop and deal with a question that this
raises. In just a few chapters from now in our study of Matthew's Gospel,
we're going to read that Jesus taught His disciples to pray, "And do not lead
us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one" (Matthew 6:13). But here,
we see that it was the Holy Spirit Himself that actually led Jesus into the
wilderness to be tempted by the devil. How do we reconcile those two things?
I believe that the answercomes in the Greek word that our Bible translates
"tempted". It's the word peirazõ; and it's used in the Bible in two distinct
ways. One waythe word is used is the way that's probably most familiar to us
- that is, with reference to an enticement to do evil. The apostle James uses the
word in this way when he writes, "Let no one saywhen he is tempted [that is,
enticed to do evil], 'I am tempted by God'; for God cannotbe tempted by evil,
nor does He Himself tempt anyone" (James 1:13).
But another waythat the same word peirazõ is used is to describe the act of
"testing" or "trying" someone in order to refine them or to prove the
genuineness oftheir character - much like precious metal is "tested" and
"refined" in the fire. Abraham, for example, was commanded by God to offer
up his only son Isaac onthe alter as a sacrifice;and God saw his faithful
obedience and stopped Abraham from actually slaying his son. And the Bible
tells us - using this same Greek word - "Byfaith Abraham, when he was
tested, offered up Isaac . . ." (Hebrews 11:17). Similarly, the Apostle Peter
uses a form of this same verb and writes, "Beloved, do not think it strange
concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing
happened to you . . ." (1 Peter4:12). So the Greek word peirazõ can either
refer to God subjecting one of His children to the sort of testing and trying
that reveals and refines their true character, orto the devil's actual
enticement to do evil. The only way you can know which meaning is intended
is by looking carefully at the context in which it is used. Sometimes - as in the
case ofthis morning's passage -both ideas are present.

When the Lord Jesus taught us to pray, "And do not lead us into temptation .
. .", it's pretty clearthat He was speaking of"temptation" in the sense of
enticement to sin. God will never lead us in such a wayas to entice us to sin.
But when the Holy Spirit led Jesus out into the wilderness, it seems equally
clearthat the Spirit was not enticing our Lord to sin - because the devil was
certainly going to do that. Rather, it was the Spirit's intention to "test" our
Savior and "try" Him, and thereby prove the genuineness ofthe character
that had alreadybeen testified to by the Fatherconcerning Him - "This is My
beloved Son, in whom I am wellpleased."
So our Lord was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted - that
is, "enticedto sin" - by the devil; but God's purpose in this was that proof
might be given to the Lord's righteous character. To state it as the Bible
speaks elsewhere;What the devil meant for evil, God meant for good(Genesis
50:20).
* * * * * * * * * *
It's in this context, then, that Matthew goes onto tell us of the first of the
devil's three temptations of our Lord. He writes, "And when He had fasted
forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter
came to Him, he said, 'If You are the Son of God, command that these stones
become bread'" (vv. 2-3).
Matthew identifies the devil by what he does - calling him "the tempter". He
tells us that Jesus fastedfor forty days and nights, and that after that period
He was hungry. And he tells us that it was then - when Jesus was very hungry
- that the devil came to tempt Him. The Gospelof Luke tells us this story as
well; and he writes that Jesus was tempted by the devil throughout that forty
day period (Luke 4:2). So I take Matthew's words to be telling us that at the
end of the forty days and nights - when Jesus was physicallyexhausted and
very hungry - it was then that the devil's temptations became particularly
intense and specific. It helps to remember that the devil had, by that point,
accumulatedover four-thousand years of experience in enticing people to sin.
He has also gained anothertwo-thousand years of experience since then. He
knows very well how to come upon us at our most vulnerable moments.

And notice the temptation itself. "If You are the Son of God," the devil said,
"command that these stones become bread." He, of course, knew that Jesus
was the Son of God; and wasn't demanding proof. Norwas he trying to entice
Jesus Himself to doubt that He was the Son of God. Jesus' identity had
already been made clearto the whole world at His baptism; and Satanhimself
has knownwho Jesus was from before creation. This was a particular
temptation that was gearedtowardcapitalizing on the factthat Jesus already
knew who He was. WhatSatan was saying was this: "Listen; You are the Son
of God. I know it; and so do You. There is nothing You cannotdo. It was You
who causedwaterto come out of the rock to refreshthe thirsty people of
Israelduring the times of their wanderings. It's within Your powerto cause
bread to rain down from the heavens in the wilderness. Well look;here's a
stone. If You're the Son of God, why wait any further? Why go on being
hungry. Turn this stone to bread and feed Yourself!"
Now;there's no wrong in eating bread. After forty days and nights of fasting,
Jesus certainlycould have brokenHis fast and eatenbread and - on the face
of it - have done no wrong. And what's more, it was most certainly in His
powerto turn the stone to bread if He wished. As John pointed out, Godis
able to raise up children to Abraham from the stones of the ground (3:9);
certainly it was no problem for the Lord to make "rolls" from "rocks". But
note carefully what Jesus saidin response:"But He answeredand said" - here
quoting from Deuteronomy 8:3 - "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by
every word that proceeds from the mouth of God'" (4:4).
I think it helps if we hear that passagefrom Deuteronomyin its context. It has
some amazing parallels to our Lord's circumstance. The people of Israelhad
completed their wilderness wanderings, and were just about to enter into the
promised land. And God's message to them through His servant Moses was
this:
Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to
observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possessthe land of
which the LORD swore to your fathers. And you shall remember that the
LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to
humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would

keepHis commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowedyou to hunger,
and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know,
that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone;but man
lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. Your
garments did not wearout on you, nor did your foot swellthese forty years.
You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the LORD
your God chastens you. Therefore you shall keepthe commandments of the
LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fearHim (Deuteronomy 8:1-6).
Stop and think. If Jesus had done as the tempter had suggested, He would
have obeyed the word of the devil instead of the word of His Father - which is
exactly what the devil wants. And I think it's worth pointing out that the
whole fall of mankind in the garden of Eden was brought about by eating at
the devil's suggestionin the first place! But that's not the worstof it. If Jesus
had used His power and authority as the Son of God in this way, He would
have done so without the permission of the Father. Jesus - whose "food" it
was to always do the will of His Father (John 4:34) - had no word from the
Father to turn stones into bread. If He had done so, He would have been using
His divine power on His ownvolition for His ownbenefit. He would have been
seeking to meet His own needs in a way that made Him independent from His
Father's will.
The Fathersustained the people of Israelin the wilderness for forty years.
You tell me: Could the Father have provided for Jesus'nourishment without
bread for forty days or more? Of course He could! In fact, it's a remarkable
proof of this that Jesus was only describedas being hungry after the forty
days and nights had been completed. God is able to keepa man alive
indefinitely without food if He so wishes and so commands. It was the word of
God that brought all of Creation into being. One word from God can most
certainly support all that live. But no man cansurvive without a word from
God.
The devil's particular temptation, in this case, was to try to getJesus to meet
His bodily needs and satisfy His fleshly carvings independently from God's
word. This was a temptation that all of us feel - the temptation to place our

own physical cravings over the commandments of God. Jesus Himself felt this
temptation - and yet did not sin.
* * * * * * * * * *
This first temptation failing, the devil then brings a second. Matthew tells us,
"Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the
temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down.
For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge overyou,' and, 'In their
hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your footagainsta stone'"
(Matthew 4:5-6). That's a quote from Psalm 91:11-12. And isn't this
interesting? Look who's quoting the Bible now!
Apparently, the devil was able to actually take Jesus from the desertregions
to Jerusalemitself; and to even take Jesus up to the highest point of the
temple in Jerusalem- the pinnacle of the temple. The ancient Jewishhistorian
Josephus wrote about this lofty point of the temple. He said that it was so
high, and that the Kedron Valley it overlookedwas - from that vantage point -
so deep, that if anyone stoodat that point and lookeddown, "he would be
giddy, while his sight could not reachto such an immense depth."1
And as Jesus lookeddownfrom this height to the temple court below, it was
then that the devil's temptation came. His first temptation was to callJesus to
distrust in God's providence; and now it was to call Jesus to presume upon it.
"If You are the Sonof God, then jump! Throw Yourself down! You quoted
the Scriptures to me. Well; don't the Scriptures promise that God will send
His angels to bear You up in their hands? Just think of what a picture that
would give to the people down below!Surely everyone will believe that You
are the Son of God, as they see You descendfrom the highest point of the
temple - being borne up by the hands of the angels!There would be no need to
say anything further! There would certainly be no need for the cross!
Everyone would believe! Instant Messiahship!God has promised! All you
have to do is jump!"
We geta better picture of what's happening if we look at what the passagethe
devil is quoting really says. If we do, you'll see that he left some important

things out when he quoted it; and you can then detectthe subtile trick of the
devil. Psalm91:9-12 actually reads,
Becauseyou have made the LORD, who is my refuge,
Even the MostHigh, your dwelling place,
No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
For He shall give His angels charge overyou,
To keepyou in all your ways,
In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your footagainsta stone (Psalm 91:9-12).
The context of this psalm is that of a man who makes Godhis refuge and
dwelling place - the man who utterly trusts God for protection and
preservation. It's a promise that God will protect the man who so trusts Him.
And this contextgive meaning to the portion that the devil omitted; that God
would give His angels charge oversuch a man, "to keepyou in all your ways".
Those "ways" are the ways of a man or woman who trust God as His or her
refuge in a time of evil - times that are outside of his or her control. It's not an
invitation to throw one's self off a high tower and expect God to respond to
such presumption. Always beware when the devil quotes the Bible. Always
watchfor how he takes it out of context, or leaves portions out.
And note Jesus'response.It's interesting that Jesus doesn'tsay, "Ah, but
devil; you left a part out!" The devil DID leave something out; but Jesus
didn't respond by filling in what was omitted. Instead, Jesus quotes another
passageofScripture that corrects the devil's misuse of the first one. Jesus
quoted from Deuteronomy6:16; and we're told, "Jesus saidto him, "It is
written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God'" (v. 7). The idea that
Jesus assertedis that we are not to try to presumptuously force God's hand,
and make Him prove that He will keepHis promise. When we try to put God

in a bind, and try to place Him in a situation that obliges Him to prove that
He is trustworthy, we're showing that we're not trusting Him at all.
So, the devil's particular temptation in this secondeffortwas to try to get
Jesus to obtain glory through taking matters into His own hand apart from
God's will. It was, at heart, a temptation to elevate Himself at the costof
stealing glory from His Father. This is a temptation that we all feelat one time
or another; and again, Jesus experiencedit fully - yet without sin.
* * * * * * * * * *
Twice the devil sought to tempt our Lord; and twice he failed to get Him to
sin. And now comes the most desperate and most outrageous attempt of all.
Matthew tells, "Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedinglyhigh
mountain, and showedHim all the kingdoms of the world and their glory"
(4:8).
Apparently, something unique is happening here. We're not told which
mountain this is - except that it is an exceedinglyhigh mountain. I'm not sure
we even have to believe that it was somewhere in the land of Israel;because it
was from there that the devil - somehow - paraded all the kingdoms of the
world, and their glory, before the eyes of the Lord Jesus. We know this is
something very unique, because Luke tells us that he showedit all to Him "in
a moment of time" (Luke 4:5).
And then comes the most outlandish offer in all of history! "And he said to
Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me"
(v. 9). Can you imagine such a thing? Here's the fallen creature demanding
that the eternal Son of God fall before him and worship him! He's saying,
"Listen; I know what You're after. You are destined to be King of kings and
Lord of lords. You are destined to rule this earth. But let's make it easy.
Here's an offer You can't refuse. You fall down and worship me; and I'll give
You all the kingdoms of this world and their glory! That's what You're after,
isn't it? See how they all sparkle? See how they shimmer in the horizon? And
all Yours for the taking! This way, there'll be no suffering - no cross. All You
have to do is fall down and worship me; and it will all automatically belong to

You." Here, we see that the devil took our Lord to the highestpossible
mountain in order to commit the highestpossible outrage!
Well, a couple of things need to be said. First of all, the devil was offering a
stolengift and nothing more. None of those kingdoms were his by right; and
none of them would be in his hand for long. And what's more, we know from
the Scriptures that nothing the devil evergives to anyone is theirs to keep. He
promised our first parents that they would be like God if they but ate of the
fruit - and they found out the hard way that "he is a liar and the father of it"
(John 8:44). All of those kingdoms - and their glory - would indeed belong to
Christ; but only after the suffering of the cross;and so, the Lord didn't fall
for the devil's lie.
And second, evenif the kingdoms of the earth really had been the devil's to
give, the costof receiving them was too high. Jesus againquoted from the
Book ofDeuteronomy - specificallyfrom Deuteronomy6:13; and this time,
there's a sense that Jesus'answerwas final: "ThenJesus saidto him, "Away
with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God,
and Him only you shall serve.'"
The passagethat Jesus quotedfrom, again, bears a remarkable relevance to
Jesus'situation; and we can't really understand what He said unless we read
that passage. In it, God is againspeaking to the people of Israel, just before
they entered the promised land; and it says,
So it shall be, when the LORD your God brings you into the land of which He
swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and
beautiful cities which you did not build, houses full of all goodthings which
you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive
trees which you did not plant - when you have eaten and are full - then
beware, lestyou forgetthe LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
from the house of bondage. You shall fear the LORD your God and serve
Him, and shall take oaths in His name. You shall not go after other gods, the
gods of the peoples who are all around you (for the LORD your God is a
jealous God among you), lestthe angerof the LORD your God be aroused

againstyou and destroy you from the face of the earth (Deuteronomy 6:10-
15).
And can you see from this passagewhatthe temptation of the devil was? He
was seeking to tempt the Lord to put the temporal treasures overeternal
things. He is seeking to make the Lord so lust after the riches that He can see
with His eyes, that He would abandon the One who gives all goodthings to
those who trust Him. This is a temptation everyone feels - especiallyin the
prosperous culture we live in. Jesus feltit too - and yet did not sin.
* * * * * * * * * *
Matthew tells us, "Then the devil left Him . . ." (v. 11); although we know
from Luke's Gospelthat it was only "until an opportune time" (Luke 4:13).
He would be back. But for now, the time of testing had come to an end. Then,
after the devil left Jesus, Matthew tells us, "and behold, angels came and
ministered to Him." My belief is that they had been waiting eagerlyfor the
tempter to leave so they could come and serve their Lord.
This leads us, now, to consider. . .
II. THE LESSONS WE CAN LEARN FROM HIS TEMPTATION.
1. Temptations are an expectedpart of the Christian experience. We may wish
that we could getto a place in our lives where we could completely escape
them, but we cannot. God has designedthem to be a part of our experience in
order to teach us and train us and refine us. We learn this from the fact that
the Holy Spirit Himself led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the
devil. As the apostle Petersays, we are to rejoice in our hope of future glory;
"though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various
trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold
that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and
glory at the revelationof Jesus Christ" (1 Peter1:6-7).
2. Though He may allow them into our lives, enticements to sin do not come
from God. We learn this from the fact that, though the Spirit led Jesus to be
tempted by the devil, it was the devil himself that did the tempting. The
apostle James, as we have alreadyseen, has taught us this; "Let no one say

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