Jesus and his Trials (Second Essay); Matt. 4:1-11

We understand the trials of Jesus best if we have Deuteronomy 6-8 in mind. That is the passage that will "bail out" Jesus as he is confronted by the three tests given him by the Devil. Jesus' designation as the Son of God in Matt. 3:17 encourages us to think back in time to the experience of God's other "Son," Israel. In addition, Jesus' trial began after a period of 40 days without food, a period reminiscent of the 40 years of Israel's wandering. As I turn now to the specific trials, I will especially be interested in the way Scripture functions for Jesus in extricating him from the dilemmas posed by the Devil. In short, Jesus will read Scripture literally, contextually, and imaginatively in warding off the Devil. Jesus' method with Scripture ought to embolden us to develop our own varied approach to reading the sacred text.

Trial # 1--The Stones Into Bread

The author isn't interested in "proving" to us that the Devil actually is speaking to Jesus. He just assumes a certain reality, and in order to appreciate the story, we must join in with his assumptions. The Devil comes to Jesus and says, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread," Matt. 4:3. This first test hits Jesus at the level of human need and dignity. The test suggests that it is beneath the dignity of the Son of God to be forced into near-starvation. And, since he is the Son of God, he can remedy that humiliation by quickly transforming the stones. No one may even note that he does this miracle, but Jesus would be far the better off for having a full stomach. We all know that weariness and lack of energy make cowards of us all; what better way to endure the rest of the test than to do it with a full stomach? That is the essence of the trial.

In fending off this challenge, Jesus points to a specific verse in Deut. 8: "one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord," Deut. 8:3. Actually the Biblical text doesn't speak precisely to the challenge brought by the Devil (the Devil says nothing about living by bread alone; He may think of it just as a supplement of sorts), but Jesus reads the text literally and applies it directly to his situation. The previous verse in Deut. 8 had talked about how God led them in the wilderness for forty years, "in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments," 8:2. Thus, when Jesus heard the Devil encourage him to show himself Son of God by this act, he thought to the very words of Deut. 8 and decided that such an action would violate the literal words of those verses. 'Lack of food humbles; I have lack of food; I live by more than food; I live by every word that comes from the mouth of God.' Thus, the request to make bread out of stones violates the literal flow of the text. Hunger is felt for a reason--to humble us, to make us dependent on every word that comes from God's mouth. So, Jesus responds as he does.

Trial # 2--The Top of the Temple

This second trial is more complex and interesting. The Devil took him (note in v. 1 it is the Spirit who led him) to a high place of the temple and urges him to throw himself down. Why? Because, as the Scriptures literally say, God's angels will rescue you (4:6). Since Jesus had given the Devil a literal "word for word" explanation to ward off the first trial, the Devil now shows that He (or is it She?) can also quote Scripture literally. The quotation is from Ps. 91, one of the most beautiful Psalms of divine protection in the Psalter. Who can ever forget the opening lines, "You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,...." It is a promise of God that God's angels "will guard you in all your ways," 91:11. They will "bear you up" "on their hands," so that "you will not dash your foot against a stone," 91:12. Not a scrape. That is the way that God protects. You can almost hear a mega-church preacher intoning the words.

We don't know what exactly is meant by this super-high location of the Temple. In fact, the interesting Greek word behind it, pterugion, only appears in Matt 4/Luke 4 and is best translated "little wing" (we see the English prefix for "wing" in the word--ptero--as in pterodactyl or pterology). The word brings to mind for me my trip to Florence, Italy early in July 2006. I climbed the hundreds of stairs to the top of Giotto's Tower and, as I was going up, I got the most unsually close look at the roof figures and finials of the nearby Duomo. I could imagine perching next to a finial hundreds of feet above the pavement below, and I immediately thought of Matt. 4 as my mind wandered.

Jesus' use of Scripture in his response is different from his use of it in v. 4. Instead of agreeing with the Devil and diving off, or trying to counter the Devil with a verse that negates the precise thought of the verse, Jesus points to another passage, from Deut. 6, which deals with the theological theme of testing. Thus, instead of reasoning literally, Jesus reasons contextually. He assesses what the Devil is saying--it is a challenge not simply to throw oneself off a building but to tempt God, to try God, to put God to the test--to save you. Jesus would be forcing the hand of God in so doing. He would have abandoned trust and be relying on guile or even compulsion to get his way. Seeing that this was at stake in the Devil's request, Jesus responded not with a literal reading of the Psalm, but with a contextual reading of Deuteronomy. The issue behind Israel's wilderness wanderings was their inability to, or slowness to learn how to, trust God. If Jesus had "forced God's hand," it would be similar to the way that the Israelites had forced Moses' hand at Massah (Ex. 17:1-8), where Moses was "forced" to give them water. Thus, the issue is a test of God, and, as Deut. 6:16 says, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah." Making our needs central or forcing God's hand--that is the essence of putting God to the test.

Trial # 3--All the Kingdoms of the World

If the first two trials have some connection to reality, this one seems to lead us to a surreal world, a world where all the kingdoms of the world become visible to Jesus in a moment. The third trial shows the Devil "with the gloves off," so to speak. He goes directly for the issue of power; all subtleties regarding choice of allegiance are abandoned. Is this an indication of the Devil's growing sense of his impending defeat or a sign that he feels that pulling out all the stops will overcome Jesus' "reluctance"? And, we are not told how it is that the Devil can deliver all the kingdoms to Jesus. Is this just another indication of diabolic hype or is the "ruler of the world," as he is elsewhere called, telling the truth? Jesus responds in language similar to the way he will cast out demons: "Get away, Satan!" (v. 10). But instead of leaving it there, Jesus will follow with specific words from Deut. 6:

"Worship the Lord you God, and serve only him" (v. 10).

If we check the text of Deuteronomy 6, however, we find that the word "worship," which is central to the altercation between Jesus and the Devil here, doesn't appear in the quoted verse (Deut. 6:13). The text simply says:

"The Lord your God you shall fear; him you shall serve and by his name alone you shall swear."

Isn't this an interesting creative reading of the Scripture--i.e., using a term that isn't even there in the original text to make your major point in warding off the Devil?

Thus, we have seen what might be called Jesus' "liberal" reading of Scripture. He knows how to appeal to the precise langauge of the text; he knows how to read the larger "context" of an action when the actual wording of the text might not be in his favor; he knows how creatively to read a text by adding or substituting a word or two when he needs or wants to do so. This is the kind of Jesus whom I like--without only one narrow reading of the Bible. It was the Scriptures that got him through the trials and moved him along the path of his own life. Can we say the same thing for ourselves?

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