The Three Temptations of Jesus

The temptation narrative can conveniently be broken up into three sections (1-4, 5-8, 9-13), each of which contains one temptation. As the narrative develops, the temptations intensify. The means by which they intensify is the debate with the devil which focuses on the language and interpretation of Scripture. Scripture was foundational to Jesus' life, but the subtlety and alluring power of the devil's allusions and actual quotations of Scripture are stunning. This essay illustrates the use of Scripture in Jesus' testing.

I. Setting the Context and Temptation I (vv. 1-4)

Luke, uniquely among the Evangelists, is careful to note the importance of the Spirit in Jesus' temptation. Earlier we saw that Jesus received the Spirit when the dove descended on him in a bodily form (3:22), but now Luke emphasizes that Jesus was full of the Spirit and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. The struggle of 4:1-13 would be between spiritual forces, even though the conversation seems to bring down the encounter to "human" level. Paul said it best: "Our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12). That Jesus fasted in the wilderness was significant, because one of the negative allegations against Jesus during his ministry is that he "has come eating and drinking" (Luke 7:34). Indeed, later in Luke's two-volume work, he shows the connection between fasting, worship and spiritual discernment (Acts 13:1-2). During a period of fasting, the Holy Spirit spoke and commanded that Saul and Barnabas be set apart for a special work.

During Jesus' time of physical vulnerability, the devil came to him. Notice the subtlety of the devil. He doesn't deny Jesus' sonship: "If you are the Son of God..", but he uses this status to issue a challenge. "Command this stone to become a loaf of bread." It is as if one would say, "If you are so great, why don't you do this thing?" Jesus was aware of his Sonship, but had only experienced it passively so far. Why not make a loaf or two? Those of us who have never been hungry might not be able to understand fully the power of this temptation--not only to relieve Jesus' personal needs but also to form the basis of his ministry. Wouldn't a person in 2007 who was able to multiply loaves and relieve human hunger (The United Nations just released a report yesterday saying that nearly 18,000 people died daily in the world due to hunger and malnutrition) be treated as akin to a god? But Jesus repairs to the Torah, to Deuteronomy 8:3. Note that Jesus's response doesn't deny the importance of food; he points out that we just don't live by food alone.

II. Second Temptation (vv. 5-8)

Luke and Matthew differ on the order of the second and third temptations. In Luke we next have the temptation for Jesus to gain authority over all the world. Two points emerge from these verses. First is the assumption that the devil has mediate authority to bestow on whom he wants. We thought at the beginning of ch. 2 that it was Caesar Augustus who had authority not simply to enroll all people but to control the outward expressions of their lives. But here the devil says that this authority has been "given over to me." This may be "My Father's world," as the hymn says, but there is also something very real about this world being under the authority of the powers of darkness.

More significant in this passage, however, is the way that Scripture functions in the second temptation. The devil will give Jesus all authority if he will worship him. But isn't this authority something that Jesus wanted, and indeed, knew he would be promised? When Jesus was baptized in 3:22, one of the verses which he heard spoken to him from heaven was Ps. 2:7--"You are my Son." Notice, however, how Psalm 2 continues, in v. 8.

"Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession."

That is, the very thing that the devil is promising Jesus was first promised him by God. All that Jesus had to do, according to the Scripture, was "Ask of God." Now he had a figure speaking to him that said, basically, "Ask of me..." 'I will give you the nations of the world as yours.' Don't you think that Jesus knew his Scriptures well enough to have ruminated deeply in the 40 days on the verses surrounding Ps. 2:7? Thus, when the devil offers this gift to him, the devil has been studying well the Scriptures and feeding into Jesus' longing, promised to him by God. Might Jesus even have heard to voice to him saying "worship me," as coming from a divine, rather than diabolic source? We make the temptations insignificant if we hypothesize from the beginning that Jesus easily bested his diabolical foe. This temptation highlights the allure of a shortcut to glory. Wouldn't we fall for it? If something comes easily for us, why make it inordinately difficult to attain? But Jesus again repairs to Deuteronomy: "The Lord your God you shall fear; him you shall serve, and by his name alone you shall swear" (Deut. 6:13).

III. Third Temptation (vv. 9-13)

Luke has probably altered the order of the temptations from Matthew (or the underlying source) because of the central theological importance of Jerusalem for him. Jerusalem is the place which has stoned the prophets, but is the place of Jesus' destiny. "Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem" (13:33). So in this temptation Jesus is brought to the Temple of God in Jerusalem, with the encouragement to show himself in a dramatic way to the teeming crowds. And the devil's quotation of Scripture is extremely powerful for the occasion. He picks up on Ps. 91, a Psalm I exposit here, a Psalm that is suffused with images of divine protection for one who dwells "in the Shadow of the Almighty"--i.e., in the Temple of God. By quoting Ps. 91, the devil shows that he knows not only how to quote Scripture but how to quote a relevant one for the conversation. 'The angels of God will descend to protect you,' he says. Interesting it is that when all the temptations were over in Matthew's account (Mt. 4), it was angels who came and ministered to Jesus (Mt. 4: 11). Perhaps that notion was just too close for comfort for Luke, who eliminates that thought.

But most significant for Jesus' dealing with this temptation is his reinterpretation of Ps. 91 as a Psalm of trust in God. After all, Ps. 91:2 relates that the one trusting God will say, "My refuge and my fortress; my God in whom I trust." Thus, what the devil is asking Christ to do is to sever the Scripture he quotes (Ps. 91:10-11) from the larger context of the Psalm. In fact, the devil's reading of the Psalm is a fundamentalist reading: all you have to know is the verse and the words and you have understood God. Rather, what Jesus does is to give a contextual reading of Ps. 91, and he focuses on the notion that such a dramatic action of casting himself down from the temple would be tantamount to a test of God.

Conclusion

And so the devil leaves Jesus, not for all time, but until a suitable moment. Jesus has faced the most unnerving tests imaginable, and now will be ready for acceptance and rejection among the people. But now that he has endured the test, as anyone knows who has faced extreme tests in life, he is clothed with new strength, boldness and confidence. He, as well as we, will need it as the days of Lent (and his public ministry) unfold.

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