Temptation of Christ

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(Psalm 2:7-9; Psalm 91:1; Matthew 4:5-7, 10)

In the last installment, we began to ponder the temptation of Jesus from the angle of rabbinic debate and midrash, Satan pitted against Jesus. We introduced this subject and looked at the first temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. Today we will discuss Yeshua’s final two temptations. It is probable Jesus and Satan engaged in much more discussion than is recorded. We must remember that the Gospels are brief summaries.

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(Matt. 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13)

Most Christians do not think of Jesus’ wilderness temptation as including extensive debate between two rabbis who were arguing over midrash (appropriate interpretation). The debate between Jesus and Satan could well have been an extensive debate; perhaps many Bible passages were hurled back and forth with only a few summary examples mentioned.

I’m not simply referring to the reason why God allowed Christ to be tempted. I’m also querying God included the account of Christ’s temptation in the Bible. According to John’s Gospel, 20:30, Christ did many significant things in His lifetime that are not recorded in Scripture. Apparently, the Holy Spirit moved the writers of Scripture to record those events which were most necessary for the salvation of sinners and edification of the church.

Read Part 1.

The second temptation of Jesus in Matthew concerns the protection of God:

Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: `He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, `In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” (Matthew 4:5-6)

There are so many amazing stories about Jesus in the Gospels that they can vie for precedence and obscure somewhat from our minds their individual greatness. This problem of over familiarity certainly applies to the Temptation of Jesus. I shall follow Matthew’s report:¹

Read Part 1.