In the third and final temptation of Jesus, the devil takes him to a high mountain. He promises Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world and their glory” if Jesus will simply fall down and worship him.
On one hand, this sounds like an easy trap to avoid. Temptations don’t get much more obvious than worship the devil.
But for Jesus, this temptation is real. As the Son of God who will ascend to heaven, Jesus is destined for kingship, power, and glory. But the path is incredibly hard. It involves humiliation, suffering, betrayal, and a horrendous death.
Satan is proposing a way around the hardship, a back door to the main stage.
Resisting with Scripture
In response to the devil’s offer, Jesus counters with clear teaching from Scripture.
Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” (Matthew 4:10)
This command is found in Deuteronomy 6:13. Here’s the larger context.
And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you—for the Lord your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth. (Deuteronomy 6:10–15)
In response to his first temptation, Jesus’s use of Scripture showed that he was putting himself in the place of Israel. This raised the question, Will Jesus obey?
In the second temptation, Satan tempts Jesus to test the Lord, to call forth an unnecessary, dramatic rescue. Jesus turns this away as well, knowing that God is with him and that his delivery will come after the grave.
In this final temptation, Satan continues the pattern. He asks Jesus to claim now what he will receive later. To avoid the pain and rejection associated with his upcoming ministry, and to end up with glory, Jesus only needs to worship the tempter.
But Jesus refuses. He obeys. He will not forget the Lord, who brought his people out of the house of slavery and who will once again liberate his children. He will not go after another god, for he knows the Lord is in his midst—the Lord is with him. Jesus knows that the Lord is jealous and that his anger can be kindled to destruction.
Jesus is the Better Israel
We know what happened to Israel after Egypt. They grumbled, they didn’t obey the Lord, and they followed after other gods. Eventually, they went into exile because of their rebellion and idolatry.
Jesus stands where Israel fell. He walks the path from his baptism to his cross and he trusts the Lord with every step. In this encounter with the devil, Matthew shows Jesus’s intentions and first steps, and he invites careful attention to the Savior’s life and words.
I just now saw this article and the past three others. This was so encouraging and exciting! Thank you for taking up the challenge on seeing how Jesus rightly interpreted (in context) the Scriptures that He quoted to Satan. Such love that He would endure all the hardships of life here on earth so that He would obey His Father and “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). The correlation to Israel and Jesus as the better Israel was really cool also.
Keep it up! I greatly appreciate these “context matters” and related articles.
Thanks for the encouragement!