NOTES for Mat 4:1-11

Forty days is not forty years. But just as the people had to pass through the wilderness, just as John went into the wilderness before coming out to preach, so Jesus endured a forty-day fast in the wilderness. All the details of what happened during that time have remained hidden from us, but what the evangelists report about the last days of those forty speaks of their importance both for Jesus Himself and for the history of our salvation.

Whom was the tempter trying to tempt - a human being, or God incarnate? It seems he saw Who was before him, and the attempt to influence the human nature assumed by the Lord, with all its limitations and weakness, became a continuation of Satan's old rebellion against the Creator. But in passing through the hardships of the fast, Jesus strengthened His human nature. Not only by the power of God's omnipotence, but also by those spiritual powers that are now available to people thanks to Him, He both beat back the temptations Himself and showed us that it is possible to stand firm before temptations.

The order in which the temptations come is not accidental; they clearly move upward: from the elementary promise of satiety and deliverance from the need to labor for food, then through incitement to perform a spectacular miracle, and they end with the promise of power over the world. But the one who promises power offers it in exchange for worshiping him, that is, for recognizing his own authority. So the promised might turns out to be fictitious...

It is interesting that the tempter tries to tempt Christ by using a phrase from Scripture. Before us is a vivid but, alas, frequent example not simply of dishonestly tearing a phrase out of context. Here we see that Scripture can be used to cover goals not only far from salvation, but also opposite to it. So let us try not to limit ourselves to memorizing quotations, but to enter into the essence of biblical teaching.

In his Gospel, Luke tells about the temptations in a different order. Evidently this is because he wrote for the Greeks, and they had already tasted imperial power, so it tempted them less. But in all ages, in different combinations, these temptations have risen before people again and again. Therefore the victory won over the tempter in the wilderness is important for all of us today. After all, we can rely on the help of Christ, the victor over temptations.

What does it mean that "man shall live"? Does bread, does food, not sustain life in us? Biological life, yes. But plants also feed and live. Is that vegetating even in the slightest degree like human life, is it worthy of a human being? Thanks to school education, by the word life we mean "metabolism" and nothing more. Life for us, as one rather unattractive thinker of the 19th century said, is "the mode of existence of protein bodies." Students at the end of the 20th century added: "the best mode..." No, life is not that. Life is something directly connected with meaning, beauty and immortality, love and openness, joy and truth... And life can also be given to others without losing it.

The words from Deuteronomy quoted by the Lord Jesus say that a human being can receive an entirely different life, eternal life, like the life God Himself possesses. For the breath of life that the Spirit of God places in a person cannot be limited by time. The source of this life is only God Himself, and He shares it with a person through "every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." And the word God speaks to a person becomes food, that which sustains eternal life in us. But one must suppose that these words contain another important aspect as well; to see it, it is enough to set aside the word "every." God gives us His life not only, and not so much, by the word He speaks to our heart. Above all, the eternal life of a human being is sustained by the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God who has come to us.

What “Man shall not live” means? Isn’t bread, food giving us life? Yes - biological life. But then even plants feed and live. Is vegetation even in a small degree similar to human life, is it worthy than man? We understand the word life as a “metabolism” and nothing more thanks’ to school education. As one of the 19 century’s unattractive thinker said, life for us is “a mode of existence of protein bodies”. The 20 century’ students added “the best mode…” But no, life is not like that. Life is something directly linked to sense, beauty and immortality, love and patency, joy and truth… Again life can be giving to someone else without losing it.

The words from Deuteronomy, quoted by the Lord Jesus say that a person can find a completely different life, eternal life like unto the one God Himself possesses. In fact, the breath of life put in man by God’s spirit can’t be limited in time. The source of this life can be only God Himself; and He shares it with us through “all words that come out of His mouth”. And the word that God says to man becomes food – by which everlasting life is maintained in us. But we should consider again one important aspect, it is enough to reject the word “every” to see that. God gives us His life not just and not so much by words that He says to our hearts. Man’s eternal life is first of all maintained by the body and blood of Jesus Christ, the Glory of God that came to us.

What does "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test" mean? This is a reference to Deuteronomy 6, and its continuation is: "as you tested Him at Massah" (Deut 6:16). Let us recall what is being discussed here. It is about how the people of God became thirsty in the wilderness at the rock of Horeb, and Moses struck the ground with his staff and water flowed out (Ex 17). "And he called the name of that place Massah and Meribah, because of the faultfinding of the children of Israel and because they tested the Lord, saying: Is the Lord among us, or not?" That is, to test the Lord means to call Him Himself into question simply because He does not fulfill our wishes at once. Or even worse, to do something in order to see whether He will keep what He promised in that case, because maybe He is not there at all. That is what it means to test the Lord.

Now let us think from the opposite direction about a common expression: "the Lord is tempting him." Among Christians there is a common error. They say that the Lord tempts us, evidently misinterpreting the words from the Lord's Prayer, "lead us not into temptation," understanding them as though God wanted to lead us into temptation and we were asking Him not to do it. This is a deep and very ugly delusion. The apostle James warns us against it: "Let no one say when he is tempted: God is tempting me; for God cannot be tempted by evil and He Himself tempts no one, but each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own desire" (Jas 1:13). So God does not tempt us; let us treat Him the same way.

During the temptation in the wilderness, Jesus answers the tempter Satan three times with quotations from Scripture, thereby showing us as well how one can resist the devil's schemes: simply by not departing from God's will, from His commandments. But this temptation, the second according to the Gospel of Matthew, may be the most unusual: Satan himself, while tempting Christ, quotes Scripture. And in effect he proposes that Jesus test whether the words from the psalm correspond to the truth.

Does this not remind you of another scene, described in the third chapter of Genesis, when the same tempter asks Eve: "Did God really say: Do not eat from any tree in paradise?" Of course it does. The same approach: test the truth of God's Word. Satan is not a creative being: it worked once, so he has to try again.

Where is the trick here? It is very simple: testing is the opposite of trust. Either I trust God, that He is the truth, or I place myself in the position of controller over God. I repeat: over God. By yielding to this temptation, the human being fell into slavery to sin. But Jesus does not yield; He breaks through the cunning temptation by His refusal: "I will not! I will never test what God has said. Either testing or trusting!"

Jesus answered the tempter-satan three times during temptation in the desert by quotes from scripture, thereby showing us how we can oppose devil’s intrigues: simply not receding from God’s will, from His commandments. But this is the second temptation according to Matthew’s Gospel, maybe the most no ordinary. Satan himself quotes the scripture when tempting Jesus. He actually proposes Jesus to check if psalm’s words correspond with the truth. Doesn’t this remind you of another scene, described in the third chapter of Genesis when this same tempter asks Eve: “Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?”(Gen 3:1); of course it reminds. Here is the same approach: verify the verity of God’s word. Satan is a non creative being: something worked one time – and he wants to try again. Wherein the dirty trick here? Very simple: verification is opposite to trust. Either I trust God that He is the truth; either I put myself in the position of a controller over God. I repeat: over God. Yielding to this temptation, man has then fallen into sin slavery. And Jesus doesn’t succumb; He breaks through a cunning temptation by His rejection: “I will not! I will never test what God has said. Either test, either trust!” there is no two ways.

The Evangelist could hardly even have had the thought that Jesus' trial in the wilderness would end with Him yielding to Satan's temptation and falling into some sin. Rather, in the description of this strange dispute, where the Son of God and Satan exchange biblical quotations, there lies the deep choice that stood before Jesus: what path He would choose to carry out His mission, and exactly how God would appear to people and return them to true life.

The tempter offers Him the path of an earthly kingdom: for if He truly is the Son of God, then all the kingdoms of the earth rightfully belong to Him, all the countless legions of angels will fight for Him, the earth itself will turn His realm into paradise, and stones will become bread.

But the Lord chooses another path: He will not draw people by showy miracles and power; instead of slaves He will have disciples, who will come to know His divine glory without coercion, through faith and love.