05/31/2026
“The Christian's Faith, Obedience, Love and Allegiance to God will be Tested” Matthew 4:1-11
Jesus' Temptation follow after being baptized by John the Baptist. Although we know Jesus is God, we must see his baptism from the aspect of him being a true authentic human being without sin, sinless. The last Adam, the son of David, etc.
And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Mark 1:9-11)
"Jesus joins the crowds, and, as he is baptized, his vocation is confirmed and sharpened by a voice from the heavens: “You are my son! You are the one I love! You make me very glad” (Mark 1:11). … (Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased)- KJV By me. All the signs are that Jesus understood his baptism as the moment when he was “anointed” like Israel’s kings long ago, for this task. Israel’s God was acting through him, in him, as him. The baptism confirmed what Jesus had intuited long before and gave him the moment and the platform from which to launch the kingdom movement through which the saving plan would be accomplished." - Dr. N.T. Wright
Jesus pursues John’s eschatological baptism as a way of signaling the fulfillment of God’s restoration in Jesus himself.
The Spirit of God descends on Jesus at his baptism, indicating that the time of God’s restoration has begun.
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Every Christian (Those who have by Grace through Faith: Repented, got water Baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and received the Holy Ghost with the initial sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives the utterance).
God the Father looks at us, and say to us, “You are My Beloved Child in whom I am Well Pleased”. He sees us, not as we are in ourselves, but as we are in Jesus Christ
When you were Baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and received the Holy Ghost
God the Father said to you and is still saying to you everyday
‘You are my dear, dear child – [put your name here]; I’m delighted with you.’
God the Father's words of Love to you
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Jesus as Israel’s Representative as God’s Obedient Son
{From Jesus baptism to the Desert is like Israel through the Red Sea and out to the Wilderness}
(There is a comparison, the metaphor to Jesus as the True Vine in John 15:1 and Israel being a Vine or vineyard (Ezekiel 17:1-6; Isaiah 5:1-7 and others)
In Matthew 4:1-11
This seems to connect Jesus’ testing by the Devil or Satan to that of Israel in the Wilderness.
Parallel Jesus’ 40 days and nights to Israel’s 40 years.
There is a comparison to Israel as God’s Son called out of Egypt
When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. (Hosea 11:1)
(But they are disobedient) and
Jesus is God’s Son called out Egypt
And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. (Matthew 2:13-15) (He is the Obedient Son)
We (Christians) many times view our coming out of Egypt to coming out of sin and the world, but we must not see Jesus in that fashion because He Did Not have sin.
Jesus after his baptism and before his ministry began, he was led by the Spirit out to the desert to be tempted of the Devil or Satan.
“What it indicates is that it was the plan of God for Jesus to begin His ministry with this challenge--and that it was not the devil’s doing. The devil was willing to tempt Jesus, to be sure; but it was the Spirit of God leading Jesus to it. The devil could tempt Jesus with every power he had, but he would not succeed. The temptation episode was God’s way of showing that Jesus was the perfect man, that He could resist sin, that he could defeat Satan. – Allen Ross
Satan, the devil said:
“If Thou be the Son of God”, there is two ways one may look at this statement.
1. This can be viewed as the devil trying to give doubt to the Word of God. The Father spoke to Jesus at the baptism and told Him you are my Son in whom I’m well pleased. In this instance if the devil try to get us to doubt who we are in Christ Jesus in order to get us Not to Trust God and wait on Him we must believe the Word Of God, Draw near to God, SUBMIT TO Him by being obedient to His Word (this is to fight the enemy with the Word of God not just quoting the word but being obedient to it also.)
2. The statement as saying: “Since” you are the Son of God. In other words, you know who you are therefore use this prerogative to Not wait on God and take matters into you own hands and not do things the way God says do it. This is why I believe it is important to pray Not my will God the Father But let Your Good and Perfect Will be done to do this or that or have this or that.
(Remember to fight the enemy with the Word of God is not just quoting the Word but being obedient to it also.) Faith/Obedience
The three temptations of Jesus.
1. Temptation to Doubt God’s provision and love. - Matthew 4:3-4
Jesus does not use his own prerogatives (being God) for himself. But totally operated as a Human in every way.
The temptation was to turn His spiritual nature into a means of satisfying His material need without reference to finding the will of God. In fact, he would be doing the will of the devil. The devil simply chose a little thing for the test; but it would have destroyed the work of Christ.
The perfection of Jesus is displayed in His refusal. Hunger was not wrong, especially in a spiritual time of fasting (fasting was designed to focus attention on the spiritual and away from the comforts of life). And Jesus was announcing to Satan, and to all of us who will hear it, that it is better to be hungry than to be fed without any reference or recourse to the will of God. Satan had hit the nail right on the head--Jesus is the Son of God. But the essence of Sonship is obedience to the will of the Father. He would not, therefore, act independently of the will of the Father. Jesus knew that the Spirit had led Him into a place that necessitated hunger, and so He would fulfill that task.” – By Dr. Allen Ross
We don’t use our own way of doings things to get what we need but do it God’s way.
It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (cf. Deuteronomy Chapter 8)
2. Temptation to Twist God’s word for personal advantage - Matthew 4:5-7
Self -sought danger or Moral Gamble it is presumptuous
If you flirt around with edges of sin, you are asking to be burned.
No one is safe from the Moral realm or the Physical realm.
[The Word of God – The Bible must be rightly divided with the help of the Holy Ghost in Jesus name]
It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. [cf. Deut. 6:16]
There is an example about Twisting Scriptures that destroy peoples’ lives given by Apostle Peter. He writes in 2 Peter 3:15-16
And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. –2 Peter 3:15-16
“Probably the false teachers were doing this with Paul’s letters, as I said. They may have taken his doctrine that God justifies the ungodly by faith.....(Rom. 4:5) and wrongly concluded, “Therefore, it doesn’t matter whether we live holy lives.” They may have twisted his teaching that we’re not under the law to justify their immorality. They may have taken his teaching on God’s grace to argue, we can continue in sin so that grace may increase (Rom. 5:20; 6:1). They may have perverted the truth of God’s love to argue that He will not judge sinners. So, the application is, be careful not to use the Bible to justify your sins but rather allow the Bible to confront your sins. As you read the Word, ask the Spirit to search your heart and bring to light any sins that you need to turn from.” –Rev. Steve Cole (REPENT is to Turn from sin unto God).
There have always been people to come along and pervert (Twist) God's Holy Scriptures.
"Throughout biblical history, there have been people who have taken God’s Word and twisted it to serve false teachings, personal agendas, or deception."
Genesis 3 records the serpent’s first recorded “twisting” of Scripture, questioning God’s prohibition on the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (“Yea, hath God said…?”) to lead Adam and Eve astray.
Solution First believe the Bible is the inerrant, infallible Word of God. All Scriptures are God-breathed. By Grace through Faith, get saved: John 3:5, Acts 2:38, 2:4. Have a Life of Prayer, study the Holy Scriptures for yourself. Also, in the multitude of counsel there is safety. Have koinonia (fellowship) with others (The Church) that have obeyed the Gospel, believe the Bible is the Word of God etc.....
I believe the King James Version of the Bible is the Preserved Word of God in the English Language
3. The Temptation to break the first commandment - Matthew 4:8-10
…the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; (Matthew 4:8
That's precisely what Satan whispers in our ears today. He points to all the things of this world— the successes, the accomplishments, the pleasures, and the possessions— and he says, "Get them now." He promised Adam and Eve that they would be like God if they ate the fruit, and they believed him. They ascribed worth to Satan instead of worth to God. We are tempted to do the same thing that Adam and Eve did.
We are tempted to assert ourselves in the world while we rob God of His worship. Instead of a simple, humble, difficult obedience to God in this world, in our pride we seek to attain what we want in the way we want to do it. This pride is at the root of all our rebellion. We all struggle with pride, wherein we bow the knee to the prince of this world and seek to dethrone the one true God who alone is worthy of all worship. Once again, we need to see how Jesus resisted this temptation.
Russell Moore said: “Jesus refused to exchange the end-time exaltation by the Father for a right-now exaltation of a snake”. Jesus, the beloved Son, knew that the supreme duty of everyone and everything is to worship God, and He knew that everyone who humbles himself before God will be exalted (Matt 23: 12). Jesus chose to live a life of suffering obedience to the Father instead of sinful submission to Satan, and in the end, all authority in heaven and on earth was given to Him (Matt 28: 18).] By Dr. David Platt]
Also: The Temptation to break the first commandment - Matthew 4:8-10
Jesus being Human in which we must always remember. We many times concentrate so much on him being God we miss his total identity with us in being human. And being Human, he must have total allegiance to God (the Father) just like we must. That was the temptation by the devil to Jesus because the obedience to the First Commandment bring obedience to the others, and breaking of the others is tied to already breaking of the First.
I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bo***ge.
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:2-3)
Hear Oh Israel the Lord our God the Lord is One (Monotheism) totally allegiance and devotion
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Read: Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Mark 12:29-32 1Cor.8:6 and many others
(We must not lose the Fact that although we are looking at Jesus being truly Human in this temptation He is Also the True God that One Lord to whom we owe all our allegiance, Love and Obedience because He is God manifested in Flesh)
Jesus said in Matthew 10:37- He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Idolatry is not one of many sins; rather it’s the one great sin that all others come from. So if you start scratching at what struggle you are dealing with, eventually you’ll find that underneath is a false god. Until that god is dethroned, and the Lord Jesus, the Father God takes his rightful place on the throne of your mind, heart, life and in your body, you will not have victory.
Some temptations of Idols for us are materialism, Money, prestige, s*x, worshipping at the altar of Self and others.
The Love of money is the root of all evil.
Moses “Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season” (Hebrews 11:25)
(Kingdom Christians-We are to deny ourselves take up our cross and follow Jesus.)
it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. (cf. Deuteronomy 6:13, 10:20)
Remember we are to Follow Jesus; Die to Self (Selflessness, ‘Not’ being Self-Centered but being Jesus Christ-Centered, Gospel- Centered, Kingdom of God –Centered. It’s about an intimate, Love, Fellowshipping, Faith Relationship with Abba Father, God in the name of Jesus Christ via the Holy Ghost and the Holy Scriptures rightly divided); Bear Much Good Fruit, Fruits of the Kingdom of God and fruit of the Spirit, and Witness to others the Gospel of Jesus Christ verbally and with your lifestyle and make Disciples unto Jesus Christ
Some material incorporated by Dr. D.A. Carson