Matthew 4:5, commentary and pictures

The devil carried Jesus to Jerusalem and set Him on a high point of the temple as the second of three great temptations, upon presumption and love of display after appetite and before love of the world. There Satan challenged His divine sonship and urged Him to throw Himself down to prove trust in the Father's protection, backing the demand with God's promise of angelic keeping while leaving out its limit to the ways of God's choosing. Jesus refused to test God, to leave the path of duty to force a rescue, or to use miraculous power for display or self-benefit, answering only with what is written. True faith claims God's promises in obedience, while to rush unbidden into danger expecting miraculous protection is presumption, not faith. As a man with human nature He withstood where Adam failed, overcoming wholly by the Word to win a foundational victory for the race that all may share by reliance on that same Word.

Setting and Sequence

Matthew 4:5 describes the second of three great leading temptations from which many other sins grow, the first upon appetite, the second upon presumption and love of display, and the third upon love of the world. The devil takes Jesus to the holy city of Jerusalem and sets Him on a pinnacle, a high point of the temple, in a public sacred setting where He is challenged to prove sonship and trust by throwing Himself down. The temptation does not defile Him, and He remains sinless through an unusually fierce struggle.

The event belongs to the wilderness trial after baptism and close communion with God, when led by the Spirit to contemplate His mission He fasted forty days and nights with nothing to eat or drink. He suffered real hunger, weakness, physical suffering and mental anguish, was assailed by Satan who thought it the best time to approach, and after the conflict angels ministered food and strength to Him. It occurred in complete aloneness immediately after baptism, separated even from human sympathy, with John himself dismissed from His presence, and He became emaciated and marked by suffering. The marks of the conflict and evidence of His high mission remained visible afterward on His countenance, yet having won the victory He returned to the Jordan without drawing attention to Himself or publicly displaying His work, before going to the marriage at Cana and presenting Himself at Nazareth as an unpretending mechanic.

After failing on appetite in the wilderness, Satan unwilling to cease kept besetting Jesus with every artifice and force, carrying Him to Jerusalem to awe Him with superior strength. From that height also the world in its glory was presented as a bribe on condition of worship, and the effort sought to draw Him toward human acclaim, ambition and earthly kingship, which He later refused when the crowd wanted to make Him king. The handling was a humiliation in which the spotless Son appeared in His foe's power, His dignity questioned, His authority disputed, His allegiance assailed, and superiority asserted over Him. All heaven watched with intense interest, with angels standing on guard ready to act for Christ if Satan passed his prescribed limit, burning with love and sympathy as they beheld their loved Commander, and later ministering to Him.

No further detail about the temple pinnacle itself is given beyond showing Satan's attempt to deceive Christ while hiding hostile purpose under the appearance of benefactor and heavenly angel. After the failed wilderness temptations Satan's presence and his angels were withdrawn and he left Him for a time, leaving Christ free of his powerful adversary for a season.

Satan's Challenge and Tactics

On the pinnacle Satan pressed the second temptation with the taunt, If Thou be the Son of God, daring Jesus to throw Himself down from the dizzy height to prove who He was and to prove His trust in the Father's protection. The challenge was framed by doubt and insinuation of distrust, testing whether Jesus would act on Satan's word rather than remain in God's way and forcing a needless risk of life merely to supply proof. Jesus would not entertain the doubt, would not perform a miracle to prove Himself, and would not step unbidden outside the path of obedience to force providence to rescue Him. To ask God for proof of His word or for what He has not promised is distrust that tempts God, while true petition asks because He will fulfill His word and because He loves.

He backed the demand with what is written, the promise that God will give angels charge to uphold Him lest He dash His foot against a stone, quoting the ninety-first Psalm. The quotation left out the limiting condition, in all Thy ways, which confines that keeping to all the ways of God's choosing and appointment. Twisted thus, a promise of angelic protection for those following God's way was made to appear as safety while needlessly placing oneself in danger and acting outside the ways the Father appointed. God's promises and blessing cannot be received without complying with their necessary conditions, for He preserves all who walk in obedience, but to depart from it is to venture on Satan's ground.

The demand pressed presumption as if it were faith, urging Jesus to risk life merely to prove faith, to answer Satan's challenge about sonship, and to use divine power for self-rescue from injury and difficulty. It sought a bold public display from the dizzy height above surging crowds, a miraculous rescue to establish identity, secure popular favor, and win the people's confidence. Jesus could not so relieve Himself without breaking His agreement with the Father to live as humanity's probationer, for He never worked a miracle to help Himself or to supply His own necessities, and He would not go unbidden into temptation or act rashly where God had not called Him into danger.

Satan who thus tempted was once an angel next to Christ in majesty and glory in heaven, exalted for beauty, who wanted Christ's place as one with the Infinite God. Jealousy led him to originate sin, to wish to change God's government and fix his own seal on its rules, to war against Christ with secrecy, deception and falsehood for truth, to draw a large number of angels by deceptive power in his own selfish interest, and to be expelled from heaven. He retained great strength and subtlety after his fall, claimed to be sanctified and pure, and thought with pretentious claims to deceive and overcome Christ.

He approached not as a hideous monster or fiend but in attractive, kingly, heavenly disguise as an angel of light, as a beautiful young man more like a monarch, enshrouded in light and angel robes and clothed with the livery of Heaven. He claimed to be a pure angel from the heavenly courts, sent in mercy to sympathize and relieve suffering, concealing evil purpose and hostile intent to appear as friend and benefactor. Jesus was not deceived by his pretensions, though brought to great physical suffering and enduring the temptation in weak, suffering human condition after taking human nature.

He used intimidation and awe over apparent power, flattery over past faithfulness, knowledgeable misuse of Scripture, and deceptive artful insinuations and reasoning meant to pervert judgment and weaken the sense of right. He pressed Christ with manifold temptations, met Him on His own ground with words that proceeded from the mouth of God, and sought to push perfect faith over the line into presumption and to undermine confidence in God. He sought to turn trust in the Father's care and mercy into a demand for miraculous proof and a needless test of love and faithfulness, urging Jesus to force Providence to rescue Him.

He attacked when Christ was weakest from the forty-day fast in the wilderness at the beginning of His public ministry, hoping by exploiting weakness to shake confidence in God, discourage the soul, and gain victory by the same approach that had succeeded against people. He concealed his real character, offered an easier way than the path of trial and suffering, and labored to destroy the Redeemer and prevent His holy ministry. Meeting him without parleying shows how to resist and avoid defeat, while parleying gives advantage, and the trials only revealed Christ's spotless character more clearly.

The act itself shows Satan had real power to take Jesus to Jerusalem and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and likewise to a high mountain, while tempting and taunting Him. This demonstrated great strength remaining after his fall and proves him a real and powerful adversary whose strength and subtlety must not be underestimated. He can exercise great power over human beings, who are far weaker and less wise than the Son of God even in human nature, and people less wise and less prepared stand in peril from that power.

He varies and changes his assaults from one to another, so that new and unexpected temptations come, and the same deceitful method still comes to souls in trying times. Having failed to accomplish his purpose against Christ, he now presents deceitful temptations to people, sometimes appearing beautiful and working cures so that they are deceived. Christ's experience reveals Satan's methods and plans to confuse minds and obstruct understanding of God's word, showing that unceasing watchfulness and earnest continuing prayer are needed for light and strength to withstand.

Christ's Answer and Victory

On the pinnacle Jesus refused to test God, remaining on the path of duty and obedience rather than stepping unbidden into deadly danger to force the Father to intervene. He would not turn trust into presumption by casting Himself down to prove sonship, to prove faith, to satisfy Satan's dare, or to supply His own necessity by miracle for His own benefit. Trusting the Father perfectly, He would not demand proof of His word nor claim what He had not promised, for to ask for proof is distrust that tempts God, while true petition asks because He will fulfill His word and because He loves. God's people belong to Him and must not needlessly imperil life expecting protection, but must walk in the ways of God's choosing and appointment.

To free Himself from difficulty by miraculous power or to make a bold display to establish public confidence and win the people's trust would have broken His agreement with the Father to live as humanity's probationer. The temptation pressed presumption rather than the intelligent confidence of faith, urging Him to put Himself in danger and rely on God to preserve Him from injury. He resisted that inclination and endured temptation in humanity in order to overcome on humanity's behalf, refusing to use divine power to escape peril.

He met the demand only with what is written, answering that God must not be tempted, depending on God's written word rather than arguing, reasoning, parleying, controversy of words, excitement, or evil feelings. Satan met Him on His own ground with words that proceeded from the mouth of God from Psalm 91 about angels having charge, showing acquaintance with Scripture, but left out the limiting condition to keep Him in all His ways, meaning in all the ways of God's choosing. Jesus answered with Scripture, refused to go outside obedience or force Providence to rescue Him, never worked a miracle for Himself but only for others' good, and gave no word that could lead Satan on or be used against Him.

He uttered no retaliation and no words of His own that stirred feelings, taking care to say nothing Satan could misinterpret or misrepresent. He did not repeat what Satan said, did not argue against opposition, and did not become excited, because repeating an opponent's statements strengthens the arguments. He held always to the affirmative, presenting living truth plainly without attack or debate, and had He failed to hold that course He would have lost all He desired to gain, while by keeping it He left the way open for angels to work and for the opposer to carry true words home and be converted.

Satan could tempt, invite, distress, taunt, and cause agony, but he could not compel Jesus to sin, defile the soul, contaminate, or cast Him down. Jesus could be overcome only by consenting to depart from His Father's will, even by the least departure from God's word, and likewise Satan has no power to control the human will or force the soul to sin. That battle was fought on behalf of humanity, and Christ will give strength to all who seek it, so no person is overcome without his own consent.

He withstood every temptation point by point without failing at any point, tempted as people are yet without sin, and came off more than conqueror over the powers of evil. He held His ground against every ingenious assault and came out of the wilderness a conqueror, leaving a perfect example that with the power God provides people can stand firm. Had He failed on a single point the battle would have been lost.

Satan failed in his design despite strongest efforts and most powerful temptations, and was vanquished and completely defeated. He could not move Jesus from loyalty to God, stain His purity, corrupt His integrity, or deceive Him though appearing in brightness like an exalted angel. This first manifest defeat gained by the Prince of life for the race caused all heaven to rejoice, and Christ bore the test on humanity's behalf to open the way for people to overcome through His merits.

Comprehending those temptations and victories gives a more correct idea of the greatness of the work before human beings in overcoming, for Satan knew that if he failed his case was hopeless, while if he succeeded he had gained victory over the entire race and his life and kingdom would be established.

The severe conflict ending in complete victory meant Satan's presence and his angels were withdrawn for a time and Christ was free of His powerful adversary for a time, while the plan of salvation was carried out and Satan failed to draw Jesus away from God. Because He endured temptations more severe than those brought against people who feel forsaken or overwhelmed, He knows how to deliver those who are tempted. That terrible test after the forty-day fast was one part of the suffering He endured in greatest weakness for humanity, so that people might become partakers of the divine nature and escape the world's corruption.

He endured the temptation in great physical and mental distress, taking upon Himself the humiliation of humanity in shame and agony during a fast of nearly six weeks under fiercest assault. That wilderness suffering stands with Gethsemane and Calvary as part of the hard, self-denying, self-sacrificing, humble path He trod to save men, revealing the inexpressible love of God in not withholding His divine Son but giving Him to bring many sons and daughters to glory. It teaches that it is infinite gain to overcome as Christ overcame and eternal loss to gain the whole world yet lose the soul, so heaven is cheap at any cost and followers must accept conflict, self-denial, privation, weariness, toil, and every sacrifice rather than complain of hardship.

Faith Versus Presumption

The setting on the pinnacle of the temple in the holy city is the second temptation, and it turns on the point of presumption. Satan urges casting down to force Providence to rescue, backing the demand with the promise about angels having charge, yet leaving out the limiting words to keep in all ways, which mean in all the ways of God's choosing and appointment. True faith claims God's promises and bears fruit in obedience, while presumption claims a promise while disregarding obedience, risking life merely to prove faith or answering Satan's challenge when God has not called into danger. Jesus stays on the path of duty, refuses to step outside obedience, and answers with Scripture rather than by controversy of words, refusing a rash presumptuous act to prove divinity or sonship. He will not unbidden place Himself in deadly danger so the Father must interpose to save Him from death, for to force rescue would break trust and submission and fail to leave humanity the right example of trust and submission. God preserves all who walk in obedience, but to depart from it is to venture on Satan's ground where falling is certain, so all must watch and pray lest they enter temptation. The promises and blessing cannot be received without complying with their necessary conditions; those who trust God and follow His way remain under guardianship of holy angels and receive strength for every required duty, but those who follow their own way cannot claim the promises. Believers are not to accept or repeat the doubt framed by if, nor to accept the enemy's challenges, but to obey commands and walk in His ways, meeting temptation successfully by Scripture and by refusing to tempt God. He never worked a miracle for Himself but only for the good of others, and God's people belong to Him and should not needlessly imperil their lives.

Perfect trust does not create needless danger to demand protection, and God's protection is not a reason to follow temptation or demand evidence of care. Claiming promises as protection while rushing recklessly into danger, disregarding prudence, judgment and the means given, or violating nature's laws expecting miraculous rescue, is presumption and not genuine faith. God's promises do not authorize presumption or needless exposure where He has not called, nor warrant demanding miraculous protection when people go where He has not sent them, as shown when a promise was used to make casting from the pinnacle appear safe. Meditation and prayer and cooperation with divine influence help avoid such dangerous situations, and Christ's victory over appetite, presumption, and worldly gain by relying on Scripture shows people may overcome in His name. The path of presumption lies right alongside the path of faith, and influenced by suggestions of the enemy people are in danger of calling presumption faith. Sudden spasms of supposed faith leading professed followers to act unreasonably and do inconsistent things are not genuine faith but presumption, so God's people must walk according to His Word and not open the door to the enemy's suggestions, and then the Lord will do much more for them.

To ask God for proof of His word or for what He has not promised is distrust that tempts Him; true petition asks because He will fulfill His word and because He loves, not to prove whether He will fulfill it or whether He loves. Trust in the Father's care and mercy does not permit going where He does not send or doing what He forbids, for that promise is not for those who wilfully venture into danger, and Jesus would not throw Himself down to please Satan when God had not told Him to do it. Mercy and readiness to forgive do not make disobedience safe; God will forgive all who seek pardon and turn from sin, but presumption that chooses disobedience cannot be blessed. Risking life before the mission was complete would test God rather than honor Him, and using miraculous power to free Himself from difficulty or make a bold display to establish confidence would break His agreement to live as a probationer on humanity's behalf. Christians are to bear disputed rights and disputes patiently and not ask God to display power to win confidence, settle disputes, or defeat enemies unless for a special purpose directly honoring and glorifying God. A leap witnessed only by Satan and angels would not have glorified the Father but would have tempted God and lowered Jesus before the foe He came to conquer.

Human Nature and Representation

As a man Christ took human nature with all its possibilities and withstood on the pinnacle the temptation where humanity and Adam had failed, winning on humanity's behalf a foundational victory for the plan of salvation that raises humanity's moral value, so that men might overcome, be equal with angels, and be worthy to be acknowledged as sons of God, and His followers must choose to overcome rather than be overcome. He overcame wholly by the word without consenting to sin even by a thought, having nothing in Him that responded to sophistry, His humanity united with divinity and fitted by the indwelling Spirit, and He came to make believers partakers of the divine nature so that united to Him by faith sin has no dominion and they may attain perfection by laying hold on His divinity and living by every proceeding word hidden in the heart. He came in person because it was necessary to dispute Satan's authority which had become almost supreme, joining issue after fasting forty days and nights, pitying human weakness because help is only in God and human strength is weakness and human judgment foolishness, clothing divinity with humanity to reach man with human arm while grasping the Infinite throne with divine arm and resting wholly on God's power, meeting temptation only with It is written.

To break Satan's power over mankind and purchase the world as a ransom divinity was communicated to humanity through a divine-human Saviour who laid aside royal robe and kingly crown and lived as a man among men, coming not in brightness sinners could not have stood before but to meet humanity in its most sinful and corrupt form and manifest divine love, gaining victories over enticements through power imparted from above in answer to prayer by meeting temptation again and again with the sword of the Spirit, God's Word. In His human nature He bore temptation and overcame on humanity's behalf as a man, and if He had withstood by relying on divine power unavailable to humanity He would have been tempted as God rather than as man, so His victory shows people may overcome as divine power works through humanity, human nature united with the divine by faith withstanding Satan, keeping the commandments as humanity can keep them, bridging the gulf sin made and connecting finite man with the infinite God. He was genuinely tempted in created, fully human flesh, knowing hunger, thirst and fleshly weakness, tempted as human beings are yet without sin, in a body like ours and without angelic powers, standing on the ground where Adam and Eve fell to redeem Adam's failure, suffering in every respect what man will suffer and very much more because the sins of the whole world were laid upon Him in humiliation, reproach, suffering and death, giving a perfect example through which people can receive divine power to resist.

He took fallen but uncorrupted nature without sinful corrupt propensities, capable of yielding or His temptation would not be a true example or help, yet remaining uncorrupted unless He accepted Satan's words instead of God's, and denying He could yield would destroy the example and power of His humiliation as instruction and help. It was a real living battle in which His very purity and holiness were assailed by the fallen foe ejected from heaven, which He felt deeply and keenly, and by not yielding He kept allegiance to God as a garment around Him on the field of battle and was not reckoned with the transgressor, which allegiance is His greatest glory, His liability to yield not degrading His humanity. In that humanity He had the same free will Adam had in Eden and could have chosen to cast Himself down from the pinnacle, but His will was ever kept on God's side in perfect obedience and crucifixion of will, showing Adam by believing God and doing His word could have resisted as Christ resisted with It is written.

Led by the Spirit not for His own sake, as substitute, representative and head of the fallen race, He passed over the ground where Adam fell and began redemption where ruin began through disobedience to God's law, resisting where Adam failed by relying on what was written, and His victory makes it possible for people to overcome through His name and grace with earnest prayer bringing Him near as helper. He faced the same test on which Adam fell after baptism when weak from fasting, entered the ground where Adam fell as a human being and did not yield, conquered on humanity's behalf, and fought as representative to win victory for fallen humanity showing that through living connection with God people may overcome. Unlike Adam tempted in glorious Eden in sinless perfection of manhood with every want supplied and in daily communion with heavenly beings without taint of sin, Christ was tempted single-handed in gloomy desolate wilderness after four thousand years of decreasing physical strength, mental power and moral worth, taking upon Him the infirmities, weaknesses, sins and degeneracy of fallen man though He knew no sin, to rescue man from the lowest depths of degradation and elevate him where he was. Only thus taking humanity with all its liabilities and possibility of yielding and enduring what we bear could He be placed in Adam's position, gain the victory Adam failed to gain, and succor us in more trying conflict, while the first Adam charmed by sophistry to believe a lie did not reach above humanity for divine power and would not become the enemy's bondslave as Christ would not.

The assault He met was a hundredfold stronger than ever was or will be brought upon humanity, stronger than any will be called to suffer, with the sins of the world upon Him and under circumstances in every way more trying in a world disloyal to God seared and marred by the curse of rebellion and corrupted by Satan's inventions, yet He resisted by referring to the Inspired Record with It is written in the same manner every soul may resist, relying solely upon the word of God as a man. He met the wilderness battle after forty days of fasting and prayer weak and emaciated from hunger, worn and haggard with mental agony, appearance marred beyond human likeness, yet clinging firmly to His Father's hand and bringing out spotless character in purer light, proving false in human nature Satan's false representations of God's character and meeting misrepresentations that claimed mercy, goodness and truth for Satan while attributing his own attributes to God, with the deceiver presenting as an angel of light. His victory testifies to fallen humanity and to all unfallen worlds that through divine power granted from heaven man can keep God's commandments, take hold of divine power to escape corruption, become partakers of the divine nature and be changed into His likeness by beholding Him, giving positive assurance none will be tempted above what they are able for with temptation God will make a way of escape.

That victory was gained for man because man could not conquer in his own strength, and human weakness united to His enduring might can resist the strongest temptation in His all-powerful name and overcome just as He overcame, leaving a true standard and only safe pattern to copy, with continual resistance the only hope and with pardon and heaven for even the vilest sinner through a life of obedience in His name and merits by making Christ his trust. He as Redeemer overcame appetite and manifold temptation and vanquished Satan on every point without failing at any point, and the plan of salvation was carried out securing redemption, while understanding the mystery of godliness and the atonement strengthens by comparing lives with His self-denying life against gatherings for pleasure and indulgence. He endured fierce temptations so He could understand how to help those who are tempted, and His identity as Messiah was to be recognized through His character and the prophecies not outward appearance, coming in poverty and bearing temptations so no one could excuse himself by saying He did not know hardship or temptation.

Cosmic Conflict and Prophecy

The moment on the pinnacle belonged to a conflict in which mighty issues for the world were at stake between the Prince of Light and the leader of the kingdom of darkness, for after tempting man to sin Satan claimed the earth as his and styled himself prince of this world, holding dominion through control of men after conforming Adam and Eve to his nature. Christ had come as Son of man to stand loyal to God and disprove that claim, to show Satan had not gained complete control of the human race, to set free all who desired deliverance, and to recover the dominion Adam had lost through sin. He passed over the same ground where Adam fell and bore the test Adam failed to endure, thus redeeming Adam's disgraceful failure when by disobedience to the Father's express law Adam lost divine favor and plunged the race into hopeless misery and despair. Looking beneath outward beauty and splendor He saw the wretchedness and sin of a world apart from God through turning to worship Satan, and He longed to redeem what was lost and restore the world to more than Eden beauty and place men on vantage-ground with God.

Satan knew the contest depended on whether he could overcome Christ, and brought every artifice and force to bear to turn Him from allegiance to God. He knew that his rule would be challenged and broken if he failed, that Christ's victory would contest his rule over the world, break his power, and bring the kingdom foretold by ancient prophecy embracing the world's kingdoms. That foretold kingdom would end Satan's power and bring his retribution and destruction, and the kingdom Christ came to establish would not depend on earthly triumph, worldly honor, or display. He hoped to tempt Jesus away from God's will as he had tempted Adam and Eve, and thereby defeat God's plan of redemption, meeting and conquering Him on behalf of humanity.

As One stronger than Satan He interposed to help the human family and measured weapons with the prince of darkness in this world as two great generals of armies. It was open battle in this little world over humanity possessed by the power of demons, a conflict between the Prince of life and the powers of darkness in which Christ disputed Satan's authority and claim. Satan followed Christ at every step determined to overthrow Him by temptations, to seduce men to be disloyal like himself and be his companions in rebellion, and to establish a kingdom in opposition to Christ's kingdom with laws in defiant opposition to God's laws governing human intelligences. All the heavenly universe and heavenly intelligences looked on and took cognizance of the battle to see which would triumph, which if the Son of God had not pitied man and undertaken redemption would have left the whole human family on Satan's side at war with God.

Satan's presumptuous boldness in carrying Christ to the pinnacle of the temple and bearing Him there was part of his cruel warfare upon the world's Redeemer to tempt and destroy Him. The act betrayed malicious intent in urging Christ to cast Himself down from the dizzy height, and with his demand for homage it exposed the deceiver's malice and helped reveal his true character to the universe. That unmasking of the great deceiver uprooted him from the minds and affections of the heavenly angels and the whole loyal universe, exciting their amazement and indignation.

That defeat was Satan's first manifest defeat, in which the Prince of life gained a victory in behalf of the human race at which all heaven rejoiced. It belongs to the warfare between Christ and Satan foretold in the promise of enmity between the serpent and the woman's seed, a warfare fulfilled in every conflict between good and evil, between right and wrong, truth and error, the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness. This encounter was a contest over Satan's authority and his hold on people, for Christ came to break that hold and dispute Satan's right to rule.

The assault was part of a continual determined attack conducted personally by Satan from Christ's infancy as a babe in Bethlehem to Calvary, with all the energies of apostasy rallied and every weapon of hell aimed at Him because Satan must either conquer or be conquered. In Satan's councils it was determined that Jesus must be overcome, and the attack sought in every possible way to prevent Him from developing a perfect childhood, a faultless manhood, a holy ministry, and an unblemished sacrifice by leading Him into sin, discouraging Him, and driving Him from the work He came to do. From the desert to Calvary the more mercilessly the storm of wrath beat upon Jesus, the more firmly the Son of God clung to His Father's hand and pressed on in the bloodstained path, with every effort to oppress and overcome Him only bringing out His spotless character in purer light. Meeting the wily foe and discerning his falsehoods demands more than the highest intellectual qualities, and power to do it comes only through Christ's sacrifice, by opening the heart to God, confessing every sin upon the atoning sacrifice, and drawing near with full assurance of faith.

The destiny of the race and man's salvation were at stake in that single-handed wilderness trial of long fasting, watched with intense interest by heaven and by angels around Him to see whether Satan or Christ would conquer. The humiliation of the spotless Son appearing in Satan's power, with Satan asserting superiority by taking Him and setting Him where he chose, questioning His dignity, disputing His authority, and assailing His allegiance, was permitted in behalf of fallen humanity, with angels standing on guard ready to act if Satan passed his prescribed limit. Christ met the assault in human nature without yielding allegiance and submitted His will to His Father, and His victory placed the human race on vantage ground with God, making it possible for man by becoming partaker of the divine nature to resist satanic power and keep God's law. Having failed to overcome Him, Satan turned to strategy working through human agents to oppose Christ during His ministry, and the conflict would later reach its final struggle in Gethsemane.

Enraged by complete defeat in the wilderness where he used his strongest efforts and most powerful temptations and prevailed nothing and could not entice Him to sin, Satan determined to bring sorrow upon Christ by striking John the Baptist, whom he had likewise failed to draw away from unreserved surrender to God. The defeat left him disappointed and enraged, yet not without hope of succeeding at a future time, so he laid plans for the period of Christ's ministry to blind the understanding of the Jews, fill their hearts with envy, jealousy, and hatred, and keep them from faith in Christ as the promised Messiah and Redeemer. He sought to secure them as his agents, to make Christ's life on earth as bitter as possible, and to discourage Jesus in His mission.

Christ's bearing of the test in the wilderness proves His veritable coming as the Coming One foretold in sure prophecy and shows Him to be the Son of God. In that severe testing He did not fail but overcame the powers of evil, bore the weight of human guilt, and proved to be a sure foundation for those who trust in Him.

That victory over the arch-enemy is recalled when He faces Satan's power again to free the possessed man, for the same evil spirit that tempted Jesus in the wilderness later possessed the afflicted man at Capernaum and was again defeated by Christ with authority. The tempter who confronted Christ there worked also through the unbelieving Jews, sometimes appearing pious and learned and disguising his influence as piety to deceive those who reject Christ, for Satan uses different devices to reach his goal. Jesus spoke with authority and set the captive free, and the same enemy that recognized and cried out to Him was conquered again.

Christ's severe conflict with an obstinate foe at the beginning of His ministry reveals Satan's kingdom in opposition to God's kingdom, with its effort to carry to the fullest the rebellion commenced in heaven after battling the wily foe forty days and forty nights without food or drink until fainting and apparently dying on the field of battle. His life shows the pattern of character to attain, for despite powerful delusions He made the right path plain. When angels from the world of light came to the royal Sufferer and ministered unto Him and strengthened Him with food, the cost and the pattern were both made manifest.

Scripture Use and Witness

Christ overcame wholly by the word of God, answering only with It is written and resisting only by the word, with nothing in Him responding to Satan's sophistry, not consenting to sin nor yielding even by a thought. His humanity was united with divinity and He was fitted for the conflict by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, meeting the enemy's enticements with God's Word through power from above in answer to prayer. He came to make believers partakers of the divine nature, so that while united to Him by faith sin has no dominion over them and they may attain perfection of character by laying hold upon His divinity. Every promise in God's word is theirs, they are to live by every word proceeding from God, and when assailed they are to look not to circumstances or self-weakness but to the power of the word hidden in the heart to keep from sin and from the paths of the destroyer.

Within the holy city at the temple He met the devil's temptations by standing firm on Scripture, for It is written showed His footing was firm and Scripture is the weapon that repulses Satan. He faced temptation as a human being without answering with railing accusation, but met each suggestion with the truth and authority of Scripture, and God's word was the means by which He vanquished Satan. The law and the prophets are true and carry their own proof, and remembered and spoken Scripture helps people resist and grow stronger.

God's Word rather than human opinions, authority, tradition or speculation is the ground of faith in eternal matters and the test to be brought home to every soul, for Jesus met the tempter by appealing to what is written rather than human arguments. Scripture is thus the sure unfailing guide, the authority for teaching and answering questioners, and the weapon for resistance with which those who proclaim the third angel's message must put on the whole armor of God to stand bravely at their post against detraction, falsehood and every device set in operation for pre-eminence. Knowing and keeping Scripture in mind equips people to answer temptation as Christ did, and its truth is to guide life and child-rearing. The truth as He presented it in simplicity convicts and converts souls and carries felt power, and no theories or tests He never mentioned and without foundation in the Bible are to be advocated, for there are grand solemn truths for the people.

Satan's devices are barred by knowledge of God's word, and if children become familiar early with the truths of Scripture a barrier against ungodliness is erected so they can meet the foe as Jesus did with It is written. Parents are therefore to teach its truth to their children and make it the guide for their own lives and child-rearing, since God's Word is the defense against temptation and the tempter's deceptions were met by the written Word as the only weapon.

Applying God's truth to the temptation routed the enemy and turned the tempter back despite his advantages, giving his lies no place in the soul. Believers must meet each advance of the enemy with that same weapon, resisting through faith in God's Word and staying alert against deceptive influence. The account shows the power of the Word to withstand even the strongest temptations, and its failure to change hearts comes from human disobedience, not from any lack of power in the Word.

His example teaches all believers, especially ministers when called to violate God's law, to echo God's words, speak few words of their own, and answer from Scripture supplied to the heart while trusting wisdom from above. With God present this stand makes them firm as a rock to principle through perplexing ordeals, obeying God rather than man, and brings victories that lack of faith called hopeless and impossible, standing as admonition for those upon whom the ends of the world are come.

Controversy is unprofitable, so those facing false theories and opponents are not called to argue but to keep close to the Word and let true testimony speak. Christ held to the affirmative and refused to meet His opponent with argument, excitement or evil feelings, did not repeat what Satan said and did not attack opposition, because repeating an opponent's statements strengthens their arguments. Had He failed to hold to the affirmative He would have lost all He desired to gain, but by keeping always to assertions of living truth He secured it all. His way is the best way to meet opponents, presenting truth plainly and affirmatively without debate, depending on God's word rather than reasoning, leaving the way open for angels to work and for the opposing man to carry the true words home and be converted to sensible truth reaching his understanding.

Satan's method is deceptive use of Scripture, substituting misleading statements for God's Word and interweaving some truth with falsehood to gain confidence, deceive and make truth ineffective, just as he beguiled Eve. Those who misquote Scripture to support error follow that same example. He can disguise evil as good and temptation as something good, presenting himself as humanity's friend though he is its enemy, and used Scripture in plausible but deceptive temptations in an attempt to overthrow Christ when He was weak and suffering, yet Jesus resisted him with Scripture and did not yield.

The record reveals Satan's methods and plans, showing he works to confuse minds and obstruct understanding of God's word, and that his assaults change from one to another so that new and unexpected temptations come requiring earnest continuing prayer for light and strength. He brings to people temptations like those he brought to Christ, approaching in human form with entrancing words, and people need pure unselfish love to resist his power and avoid deception. Meeting the wily foe and discerning his falsehoods demands more than the highest intellectual qualities, and power to do it comes only through Christ's sacrifice by opening the heart to God, confessing every sin upon the atoning sacrifice, and drawing near with full assurance of faith, even as Christ advanced step by step in humiliation and self-sacrifice from the desert toward the cross with all hell leagued against Him and all attempts to inspire Him with Satan's own attributes unsuccessful.

The contest was recorded for the help and encouragement of God's people today, in which Christ worked no miracle and gave no sign but depended only on God and His Word. His example shows how to meet Satan in the future when he comes with great power, signs, wonders and fire from heaven to deceive if possible the very elect. Those who stand firm on the Word will meet Satan as Christ did with It is written, which has more power than the working of miracles, and they will conquer through the Holy Spirit's working, which is stronger than miracles or anything else, with power to be obtained from the Word.

Application for Believers Today

Matthew 4:1-11 shows Christ meeting the wiles and subtleties of the old serpent with the simple weapon It is written and with the rebuke Get thee behind me, Satan. Those who make Christ first in everything, feel their own weakness and dependence on God, refuse to lean to their own understanding, seek strength and wisdom from above daily, and keep God in all their thoughts meet the adversary the same way. They are not betrayed into sinful neglect of duty, can be trusted, and do not become self-confident or sink their religious interest in their business.

Victory comes by meeting the tempter as Christ did with It is written and by standing securely on Thus saith the Lord, barricaded by the assurances the Scriptures give to those doing God's will. The tempted soul must follow that example to bear away the victory, having no weak points in defense. Those who realize their weakness and look to a power higher than self leave Satan no power over them. But Christ does not save from wounds the one who unbidden places himself on the enemy's ground, rejects His guidance, and trusts in self-sufficiency. Satan's warfare exploits the weakest points in defense and makes his fiercest assaults there, and his strategy of exploiting human weakness to shake trust in God and discourage the soul is illustrated when Christ was at His weakest.

Christ's way of meeting temptation without parleying with the enemy shows how to resist and avoid defeat, while parleying gives him an advantage. During a forty-day fast in the wilderness at the beginning of His public ministry, Satan concealed his real character and tried to overcome Christ by offering an easier way than the path of trial and suffering, and Christ resisted him and sent him away defeated. Tempted souls must not enter into controversy with him or his agencies except on Bible ground, having as little as possible to do with opposing arguments and repeating Satan's sentiments as seldom as possible, but meeting every temptation with It is written. The way Satan tempted Christ there he still tempts every soul, seeking to hold men under his reasoning. Christ stood firm to the end of His test, taking His stand on the foundation of truth and refusing to swerve from allegiance to God or move even for the offer of the whole world if He would worship Satan, and in His strength human beings can gain the same victory by accepting Christ, accepting the principles of heaven, yielding obedience to the law of Jehovah, and standing firm against the enemy.

Jesus withstood Satan's temptations by relying on God's word, and believers can overcome by that same word and strength. Scripture is the sure guide for resisting temptation, and Satan has no power over the soul that relies on its living testimony. His example shows that God's Word equips people to discern and resist the enemy's schemes. Christ's humility and dependence on God kept Him from being overcome, and the sure weapon against Satan's subtle arguments is God's word, not debate or attempts to refute Satan on his own terms.

One point of Christ's priceless victory gained in behalf of man over the manifold temptations of Satan in the wilderness, where Christ overcame appetite and vanquished the mighty foe upon every point and came off victor in every contest as an example of obedience and self-denial, is the pledge that believers can gain victory through His name and must overcome as He overcame. That victory will not benefit man unless man also gains the victory on his own account. Man has the advantage over Adam through Adam's disobedience and fall as a warning and through Christ's life as an example, so if man stumbles and falls under Satan's temptations he is without excuse, with the promise that he who overcomes as Christ overcame will sit with Christ in His throne. Jesus endured and overcame temptation through love of honor and pride of display leading to presumption for humanity, working out a righteous character because people could not do so for themselves, and His victory reverses Adam's failure and makes it possible for the human family to overcome through the merits of the crucified and risen Saviour and through patient, determined effort.

His wilderness victory is the true standard and the only safe pattern for man to copy if he would overcome as Christ overcame. As the world's Redeemer He overcame appetite and manifold temptation and vanquished Satan on every point, and Christians who understand the mystery of godliness and have a high sense of the atonement realize that victory was for them and are strengthened by earnestly comparing their lives with Christ's life. His example rebukes gluttony and the indulgence of harmful desires, shows appetite can be resisted, and stands in such marked contrast between His self-denial and church gatherings for pleasure and indulgence of appetite that they turn in disgust from scenes of revelry. Numerous socials, festivals, and picnics that tempt the appetite to overindulgence, and amusements that lead to levity and forgetfulness of God, can find no sanction in His example in the wilderness. His fast in the wilderness had a definite object and teaches temperance reform, including abstinence from tobacco, control of eating and drinking to God's glory, and displays God's great gift to the world and gives a lesson on temperance, with It is written as the weapon by which He repulsed the enemy and gained victory over appetite on behalf of the world.

The victory gives a pattern of firm trust through danger and shows how to overcome appetite and intemperate indulgence, including narcotics, stimulants and tobacco, through self-denial and divine power, with workers also to use discretion to preserve health when exhausted. His long fast broke the power of appetite over humanity, and though weakened by fasting He resisted temptation and won victory over appetite after forty days. His humanity alone could not have endured the test, but divine power joined with humanity won an infinite victory on humanity's behalf, raised humanity's moral value before God, and showed that people could overcome and that no case is hopeless through strength from Him. Through His victory He gives people divine strength to overcome appetite and every unholy passion, as part of the plan of salvation providing strength through His name.

The temptation belongs to His first great temptation whose most important lesson bears upon the control of the appetites and passions. Temptations appealing to the physical nature have in all ages been most effectual in corrupting and degrading mankind. Through intemperance Satan works to destroy the mental and moral powers that God gave to man as a priceless endowment, so that men become unable to appreciate things of eternal worth, and through sensual indulgence Satan seeks to blot from the soul every trace of likeness to God. His victory gives those struggling with appetite reason to look to Him and hope for victory, including the temptation concerning appetite which He faced and overcame.

Followers who work to rescue souls may likewise face Satan's severe attacks, and such experience does not mean God has abandoned them. Those who preach the word can likewise overcome temptation when exhaustion makes them vulnerable, and those who face severe temptation especially while rescuing others from Satan's snares may overcome as Christ did through God's grace and by relying on God's word. If the tempted person remains steadfast and relies wholly on God's word and stands firm, Satan will leave and angels will minister grace and strength as they did to Jesus, who was tempted by the devil for forty days yet submitted His will to His Father and never yielded, was buffeted and then left for a season and ministered to by angels. Christ's experience also means that He can help those who are tempted and identifies Himself with them in their suffering.

When the host of hell sought to destroy with temptations, Christ meeting Satan in the wilderness discerned his wiles with sharp perception and answered him with It is written. Believers must do the same by having the treasure of the Word of God ever abiding in the soul, feeling personal weakness and depending on Christ and not on self. Then the tempted one has unseen heavenly agencies working in his behalf to lift up the standard against the enemy and set a limit to Satanic agencies. Christ met the enemy there to prepare the way to overcome over the ground every human being must travel in conflict with Satan, where Satan brings temptation through the clamors of fallen nature, taking advantage of hereditary weakness and ensnaring by false insinuations all whose trust is not in God, so that no one need stand at a disadvantage or be intimidated and discouraged, but enduring all that it is possible for humans to bear, especially in the struggle against the power of appetite, His victory becomes the victory of all who look to Him in the wilderness and on the cross and trust in God rather than their own strength.

The same kind of manifold trials that met Christ in the wilderness of temptation come to those who stand in defense of the honor of God and maintain the purity of truth at any cost. Such faithfulness brings severe conflicts and will frequently require standing almost alone. But those who in harmony with God receive strength through faith to resist wrong and stand for right will gain precious victories by making God their dependence, with His grace as their strength, a keen, clear, sensitive moral sense, and moral powers able to withstand wrong influences.

His resistance is the pattern for resisting evil through God's grace, with patient effort, constant watchfulness, and humble dependence on God, and for holding fast to right principles rather than yielding. His example teaches that people should study how He endured trials and form characters like His, resisting the devil rather than yielding. When Satan came to Him as an angel of light and tried to lead Him into sin with deceptive enticements, Christ resisted steadfastly and continued His mission to seek and save the lost, showing that people are expected to resist temptation as He did. Through human nature united with the divine, people can receive His teachings in the highest education and follow them.

He conquered on every point, meeting the wily foe with spiritual not carnal weapons, using the Word of God as the Sword of the Spirit. He is the example in all things for resisting manifold temptations, standing with firm hold upon Christ, constantly watching unto prayer, holding firmly the weapons of warfare and fighting the good fight of faith day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute with no release, gaining victory after victory over attacks on weakest points of character until accounted a conqueror.

His steadfastness when taken to the pinnacle of the temple showed that no threat could intimidate Him, no peril could awaken His fears, no hardship could exhaust His endurance, and no temptation could allure Him from duty. He gave Satan no place, remaining exact in principle and upright in conduct, and had to stay wide-awake to discern the tempter's wiles. He overcame by humility, dependence on God, and the Word of Scripture, with the Word rather than argument with Satan as the weapon against temptation. Walking and working as He worked makes all transactions with believers and unbelievers strict, and makes the character tender, charitable, meek and lowly of heart by learning of Him.

The history of Jesus' conflict in the wilderness of temptation teaches self-sacrifice, patience under affliction, solemn consecration to God, and preparation for holy work. Christ resisting Satan in our behalf leaves an example that strengthens weak purposes and resolves to obtain victory over Satan's temptations. That victory requires connecting with God to receive wisdom and grace to refine and elevate life. Those who stay content with earthliness of mind and friendship with the unsanctified fail to obtain it and will be judged for the good they might have done but failed to perform, and their fall is never alone but carries others down through influence.

The honors and favors of the world were set before Him on condition of disobedience to God, and Christ refused them, but many people accept those same temptations and thereby concede to the powers of darkness. To accept such temptation is disobedience to God exposing the fatal, hopeless deception of living without God, and all the honors or favors of the world are not sufficient compensation for one hour or one act of such disobedience. Disobedience to God is dishonor and disaster to oneself, while the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and in keeping His commandments there is great reward. Worldly advantages are presented to draw people away from truth and from love of the world and pursuit of worldly gain, and those who accept the truth must resist the opposing influence rather than yield to Satan's devices. Beholding and studying the ambitious plans and projects of the world makes a person favorable to worldly methods and willing to listen to Satan and take his bribes, but the duty is to refuse union with the world that cannot discern Jesus and to instantly reject Satan's suggestions and bribes as Jesus did instead of listening to the enemy.

The temptation shows a temptation to self-exaltation by doing some wonderful thing to bring self into prominence. This is the danger for those working for Christ. Safety is never giving place to self-exaltation but looking to God and obeying God.

As Satan came to Christ so he comes to people, especially to those who know they are not fully doing the will of the Lord and to those in distress, attacking weak points and trying to shake their confidence in God's care and love. He presents representations that lead in false paths away from God and uses delusions to draw people toward what is temporary and away from what is spiritual and eternal. Yielding leads people to act independently of God and to spread doubt to others. The fierce temptations Satan brings against people belong to the same account of Satan tempting Jesus.

Satan still brings the same temptations he brought against Christ, watching for his chance and coming to men in human form speaking most entrancing words. He comes to believers in the same way, bidding them to look sharply for their own interest, to treat liberality with means as whimsical notions, and to do his way with the promise that he will make their name great. He may approach with deception, even appearing as an angel of light, and God's people will likewise be tested. Strength to resist comes by looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, and becoming strong in His strength. Men's great danger is being self-deceived.

Unless a person is kept by the power of God he will fall under the enemy's temptation, and if Satan once gains a foothold in the mind he works upon it with all his deceptive power. Therefore the heart must be kept pure and holy, free from every trace of selfishness, and peace with God must be made without delay. His work to weaken and destroy through deception has been carried on ever since the fall begun in Eden, by misconstruing the Scriptures and applying them to serve his own purposes in order to confuse judgment and weaken faith, working through every divided heart, every unchristlike trait of character, and every tendency to wrong, speaking words of deception that men in their own wisdom cannot discern. His temptations are overcome through faith in Christ, while attempting to meet them in human strength leaves one to fall a prey to his devices.

True disciples who have received the pure, unselfish, sanctified love Christ revealed do no deceptive action and make no move for self-advantage that places others in sore trial. Unless mind and heart are filled with that love, people fall under Satan's power and do and say and write strange things to deceive, if it were possible, the very elect.

His life is the true standard for Christians and the only safe pattern to follow in order to overcome as He overcame. Christ endured tests involving appetite, ambition, and love of the world, showing that humanity can obey God through cooperation with divine power and Christ's imputed righteousness. He endured and overcame these temptations for humanity, establishing a righteous character that sinners may receive through repentance, faith in Him, and obedience to God's law. Help is only in God and human strength is weakness and human judgment foolishness, so He clothed His divinity with humanity to reach man with His human arm while grasping the throne of the Infinite with His divine arm, resting wholly upon the power of God and enduring the severe conflict at great cost to conquer the foe as a perfect example. His merits elevate and ennoble humanity so that through His name and grace and through His exalted divine nature man can overcome the degradation caused by the fall and be linked to the Infinite, showing it is dangerous to think the eternal reward can be won by any easy or common effort.

Christ resisting temptation is the pattern believers must follow by following all the light. This requires diligent Bible study and fully meeting its requirements in preparation for the day when every case is forever decided, laying aside story magazines to study the Word of God with angels present to strengthen understanding, bringing God into families so children are saved, and giving education in schools that teaches students to escape the corruption in the world through lust.

Satan approaching Christ in disguise as an angel of light to lead Him away from the right path shows the same kind of deception that draws sincere people seeking reform farther from truth. His bringing Christ into temptation is part of that continued work to weaken and destroy.

Jesus' example in that encounter is to answer Satan with pure truth and righteousness, not to use Satan's own weapons. The verse illustrates Satan's attempt to tempt Christ to oppose the divine will, and Satan's deceptive appearance does not change the evil purpose of his temptation.

Those who live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God will likewise not be deceived by pretentious claims to sanctification as Jesus was not deceived by Satan claiming to be sanctified, a pure angel from the heavenly courts. God will not accept willful, imperfect obedience, and those who claim to be sanctified yet turn away their ears from hearing the law prove themselves children of disobedience whose carnal hearts are not subject to the law of God. Satan seeks to weaken people physically and morally so he can overcome them, also coming to people as an angel of light and as an angel from heaven doing good for humanity seeking to exploit weakness and lead them to ruin, and indulgence in appetite can impair the faculties needed to fulfill duties to God and others, so that when intemperance dulls perception eternal things are not discerned. The devil was once an angel of great majesty and glory, but jealousy over Christ's place and unity with God led him to become the originator of sin.

Overcoming temptation can require self-denial and enduring suffering, as Jesus endured a fast of nearly six weeks with physical suffering and mental anguish and the fiercest temptations and overcame. His victory shows that it is possible to overcome temptation as He did and that people are not hopeless in their own struggle with temptation and appetite. Victory requires effort in cooperation with Christ, joined with divine power, to maintain moral integrity and hope of sharing His throne.

Satan's apparent advantages come at the cost of what is good and holy, and God's word is the answer to temptation when he tried to lead Jesus into following his plans in the holy city at the temple. Satan could not lead Jesus into sin in his effort to destroy Jesus and prevent His holy ministry, and the trials only revealed His spotless character more clearly.

Christ resisting Satan in our behalf strengthens weak purposes and resolves to obtain victory, and through the provision He made people can receive divine power to resist temptation. He overcame wholly by the word of God, answering It is written and resisting only by the word, having nothing in Him that responded to Satan's sophistry, not consenting to sin and not yielding even by a thought, with humanity united with divinity and fitted for the conflict by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. He came to make believers partakers of the divine nature, so that so long as they are united to Him by faith sin has no dominion over them and they may attain perfection of character by laying hold upon His divinity. Every promise in God's word is theirs, they are to live by every word proceeding from God, and when assailed by temptation they are to look not to circumstances or self-weakness but to the power of the word hidden in the heart to keep from sin and from the paths of the destroyer.

A severe test can follow rich blessing, as the threefold temptation followed Jesus' baptism when the Spirit led Him into the wilderness, and after long fast and severe conflict angels came and ministered to Him. He was led by the Spirit of God, not inviting temptation but going to be alone to contemplate His mission and work and to brace Himself by fasting and prayer for the path before Him, eating nothing and being with the wild beasts, and Satan knew He had gone into the wilderness and thought it the best time to approach Him. Mighty issues for the world were at stake in the conflict between the Prince of Light and the leader of the kingdom of darkness, because after tempting man to sin Satan claimed the earth as his and styled himself prince of this world, holding dominion through control of men after conforming Adam and Eve to his nature, while Christ had come as the Son of man to stand loyal to God and disprove that claim, to show Satan had not gained complete control of the human race, to set free all who desired deliverance from his power, and to recover the dominion Adam had lost through sin. That severe test is met by prayer and fasting and by drawing near to God and relying on His strength, with the second temptation after the forty-day fast in which the devil challenged His Sonship by urging Him to cast Himself down backed by a partial quotation of the promise that God will give angels charge over Him, leaving out the qualification to keep Him in all His ways, that is in the ways God marks out, met by Scripture alone answering not to tempt the Lord God and by planting feet on the eternal platform of truth and standing on the affirmative with nothing to do with proving truth by testing God or working a miracle for His own benefit.

Claimants to be an angel of light who turn from obedience prove disobedient, and God's people will likewise be tested by the same deceptive approach. Those who live by every word will not be deceived, needing pure unselfish love to avoid deception, while the devil's history as once an angel of great majesty fallen through jealousy shows the origin behind the disguise.