Comment on Matthew 4.1-11 - Nate Paschall's Writings

[[Comment on Matthew 3.13-17|« 3:13-17]] | **4.1-11** | [[Comment on Matthew 4.12-25|4:12-25 »]] **Sermon**: [[Matthew 4.1-11]] **Notes**: [[Matthew 4 Notes]] # Preface Following (immediately, as Mark has it) upon Jesus' vindication in baptism he is led into the wilderness by the Spirit. Jesus' baptism, as a sign of his conquering of Satan, sets the stage for this next event. What was done symbolically in baptism and divinely approved by the Father with the descent of the Spirit is now put to the test. Will he be the one to conquer Satan? When the Father declares, "This is my beloved Son," the moment of testing—proving—comes. Will the Messiah prove himself to be such? Will he prove himself to be the Son of God? At the very heart of this is the question of *Is Jesus the Messsiah?* And the title, "Son" carries with it the title of Messiah. Satan's temptations are thus put into this category of Jesus "proving" himself as the Son of God. What will demonstrate Jesus as the Son of God? Each of these three tests, focusing in their significance, probe Jesus for his source of power. ###### Important Questions *Why must Jesus engage Satan in this way **prior** to his public ministry?* # Original Text 1 Τότε ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἀνήχθη^[Aor, Pass, Ind, 3rd, Sg] εἰς τὴν ἔρημον (14) ὑπὸ τοῦ πνεύματος (6) πειρασθῆναι^[Aor, Pass, Inf] ὑπὸ τοῦ διαβόλου. (11) 2 καὶ νηστεύσας^[Aor, Act, Ptc, Masc, Nom, Sg; Temporal] ἡμέρας τεσσεράκοντα καὶ νύκτας τεσσεράκοντα ὕστερον ἐπείνασεν^[Aor, Act, Ind, 3rd, Sg] 3 καὶ προσελθὼν^[Pres, Act, Ptc, Masc, Nom, Sg; *Parallel*] ὁ πειράζων^[Pres, Act, Ptc, Masc, Nom, Sg; *Substantive*] εἶπεν αὐτῷ εἰ υἱὸς εἶ τοῦ θεοῦ εἰπὲ^[Aor, Act, Imp, 2nd, Sg] ἵνα οἱ λίθοι οὗτοι ἄρτοι γένωνται^[Pres, Act, Subj, 3rd, Pl] 4 ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν· γέγραπται· οὐκ ἐπʼ ἄρτῳ μόνῳ ζήσεται^[Fut, Act, Ind, 3rd, Sg] ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ παντὶ ῥήματι ἐκπορευομένῳ^[Pres, Act, Ptc, Masc, Dat, sg; *Means*] διὰ στόματος θεοῦ. 5 Τότε παραλαμβάνει^[Pres, Act, Ind, 3rd, Sg] αὐτὸν ὁ διάβολος εἰς τὴν ἁγίαν πόλιν καὶ ἔστησεν^[Aor, Act, Ind, 3rd, Sg] αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸ πτερύγιον^[BDAG: "the tip or extremity of anything, *end*, *edge*"] τοῦ ἱεροῦ 6 καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ εἰ υἱὸς εἶ τοῦ θεοῦ βάλε σεαυτὸν κάτω γέγραπται γὰρ ὅτι τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ ἐντελεῖται περὶ σοῦ καὶ ἐπὶ χειρῶν ἀροῦσίν σε μήποτε προσκόψῃς^[Aor, Act, Sub, 2nd, Pl; *Prohibitory Subjunctive*, Burton §162-164] πρὸς λίθον τὸν πόδα σου. 7 ἔφη^[Imp, Act, Ind, 3rd, Sg] αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς πάλιν γέγραπται οὐκ ἐκπειράσεις^[Fut, Act, Imp (2nd, Sg)] κύριον τὸν θεόν σου. 8 Πάλιν παραλαμβάνει^[Pres, Act, Ind, 3rd, Sg] αὐτὸν ὁ διάβολος εἰς ὄρος ὑψηλὸν λίαν καὶ δείκνυσιν^[Pres, Act, Ind, 3rd, Sg] αὐτῷ πάσας τὰς βασιλείας τοῦ κόσμου καὶ τὴν δόξαν αὐτῶν 9 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ ταῦτά σοι πάντα δώσω^[Fut, Act, Ind, 1st, Sg] ἐὰν πεσὼν προσκυνήσῃς μοι 10 τότε λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς ὕπαγε σατανᾶ· γέγραπται γάρ· κύριον τὸν θεόν σου προσκυνήσεις καὶ αὐτῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις. 11 Τότε ἀφίησιν αὐτὸν ὁ διάβολος καὶ ἰδοὺ ἄγγελοι προσῆλθον καὶ διηκόνουν αὐτῷ. # Textual Notes 1a - Three scripts omit article 1b - of the 6 words in this phrase, the first 3 are transposed with the last 3 in several text (+ א). 2 - variance of how 'forty nights' is transmitted. The result is insignificant 3 - the phrase "προσελθὼν ὁ πειράζων εἶπεν αὐτῷ" is transmitted as follows: - προσελθὼν αὐτῷ ὁ πειράζων εἶπεν (Early, significant witnesses) - προσηλθεν αυτω ο πειραζων και ειπεν αυτω - Changes verb (Aor, Act Ind) & doubles αυτω (clearly wrong) - Text - **Evaluation**: Text is correct. αυτω receives not the action of "took" but "said". 4a - a few scripts have εν instead of επι 4b - ἐκπορευομένῳ διὰ στόματος is ommitted in a few scripts (significant error but wrong) 5 - 6 - 7 - 9 - 10 - # Translation Verse Number formatter block: ``` 00 ``` 1 Then Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit in order to be tempted by the devil 2 and after fasting forty days and forty nights, he then hungered 3 and the Tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God then, command that these stones become bread" 4 But he answered saying, "it has been written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God'" 5 Then the devil took him along to the holy city and stood him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and he spoke to him, "if you are the Son of God, cast yourself down, for it has been written that 'his angels will give orders concerning you' and 'on their hands they will lift you up lest you strike your foot against a stone.'" 7 Jesus said to him, "Again, it is written, 'You shall not put the lord your God to the test'" 8 Again the devil took him along to an exceedingly high mountain and showed to him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory 9 and he said to him, "All these I will give to you if you fall down *and* bow to me." 10 then Jesus spoke to him, "Leave Satan, for it is written, 'You shall bow before the Lord your God and to him alone shall you offer worship." 11 Then the devil left him and behold, angels came and began ministering to him. # Structure The text is set in an introduction followed by the three-part structure of each temptation, with the conclusion of the test A - **Setting** of the test B - Satan's **proposal** C - Jesus' **refusal** & **dependence** ``` Introduction (v. 1) A - Setting for Test: Fasting/starvation (v.2) B - Proposal: Food (v. 3) C - Refusal of Proposal, dependence affirmed (v.4) A - Setting for Test: holy city --> pinnacle of temple (v. 5) B - Proposal: Cast yourself down (v. 6) C - Refusal of proposal (v.7) A - Setting for Test: Mountain (v. 8) B - Proposal: Worship Satan (v. 9) C - Refusal (v. 10) Conclusion (v. 11) ``` The text is also marked by a specific usage of the name of the devil. This is a full picture of Adam's probation before the tree of knowledge: - It was good for food - It was able to make one wise, that is, to avoid danger - And it was a delight to the eyes, that is, it provided the pathway to happiness # Commentary ## General Comments In each of the 'tests', what Satan takes as an opportunity to defeat the Messiah, Jesus takes as an opportunity to defeat Satan. Thus, while these are temptations in the sense > [!Info] Important Themes > [!tip] Names of Satan > - The Devil (διαβόλος) - v. 1, 5, 8, 11: "Slanderer" > - The Tempter (ὁ πειράζων) - v. 3: > - Satan (σατάν) - v. 10: "Adversary" He is called "the devil" prior to each of the tests. He is referred to as "the tempter" by Matthew when he gives his first test to Jesus. He is called "Adversary" after the last temptation when Jesus tells Satan to leave. Wild this could simply be a stylistic variation so as not to have to repeat the title "Devil" > [!tip] Increasing Location > Note that what begins in the wilderness moves to the "holy city" and then to an exceedingly high "mountain". *Check if Kline's "God, Heaven, and Har-Magedon" references this passage* > [!tip] "It is written" Statements The role of the Spirit is to be thought of as the empowerment of Christ to bring about New-Creation activity. The Spirit is the fructifying presence of God who energizes both the words and actions of Jesus to accomplish what Jesus intends. While Jesus could overcome either Satan himself *or* the effects and powers of Satan (sin: forgiving of sins; death: healings and supernatural powers over nature), he would be doing this as the *Son of God* alone, apart from his humanity. Thus, while Jesus could accomplish the acts proposed to him by Satan, he would be doing this apart from being the mediator-Messiah. And this is precisely what Satan is trying to get Jesus to do in the temptations. But with the descent of the Spirit upon Christ, it is a supernatural authorization and empowerment of the human nature of Christ to conduct this ministry. Thus, while Jesus is recognized as God in the flesh through his miraculous deeds, his accomplishment of these supernatural acts is by the power of the Holy Spirit. ## 4.1 In leading Jesus into the wilderness subsequent to his baptism, the Holy Spirit is continuing in his confirmatory work of Jesus as the Messiah. John the Baptist's work was preparatory, the Spirit's work in Jesus is confirmatory. This is essentail to grasp as we approach this text for if we believe what is happening is preparatory then we believe Jesus lacks something which he himself does not already possess. The fact is that Jesus now possesses all he needs in order to execute his ministry: the Holy Spirit himself (with the divine approbation of his Father). The leading into the wilderness recapitulates Israel's leading into the desert. As Jesus is the one who just prior had heaven itself opened to him, he now will conduct his "herem warfare" on the enemy (and enemies) of Israel. We must be clear here that when Matthew writes that the Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, h ## 4.2 The 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness is a duplication of both Israel *and* Moses. Matthew is setting up Jesus not only as the fulfillment of Israel, but also the one who is greater than Moses, who went up on the mountain to receive the law. This was the important preparation for temptation in that Jesus was recapitulating Israel's experience yet unlike Israel's experience where God's provision of bread came *after* complaining, Jesus is showing the true nature of what that experience would have been. Quite literally God would have sustained Israel through their journey without any food should they have had perfect faith in their God. The fast was a preparation for the temptation. It was the necessary condition Jesus had to be in in order to face Satan. His human nature must be brought to the brink of starvation.^["Finally it should be noticed that what became a temptation was not the suffering of hunger only, but the danger of starvation." Vos, G. (2003). [_Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments_](https://ref.ly/logosres/bblclthntstmnts?ref=Page.p+337&off=2038&ctx=exalted+state+only.+~Finally+it+should+be) (p. 337). Wipf & Stock Publishers.] There in that state was he readied for Satan's assault upon him. In addition, Jesus presents himself to Satan in weakness. This is the offering up of the Son of God in weakness to the will of Satan, at least in respect that Satan can have his way with Jesus, but not so as to mean that Jesus is giving over his will to Satan's will. Jesus' offering himself in the wilderness in weakness is for the greater purpose of withstanding the Devil even in weakness to show that Satan is not overcome by sheer will power or strength of innate power, but instead through faith (cf. Vos). ## 4.3 Satan throughout the three questions good ## 4.4 Note that "mouth" of God is that which feeds man. An irony of how the mouth of man is filled is from the mouth of God ## 4.5 ## 4.6 ## 4.7 ## 4.8 Note the usage of πτερύγιον (pinnacle) and ὑψηλὸν λίαν (exceedingly high). Satan's attempt is to bring Jesus to the loftiest places. ## 4.9 ## 4.10 By using Satan's personal name, Jesus demonstrates his power over Satan. Whatever power Satan has, it cannot prevail against the will of God. We see in Jesus' command to Satan the first instance of Jesus' power over the the unclean spirits, he commands them and they obey him ([Luke 4:36](https://www.bible.com/bible/59/LUK.4.36)). ## 4.11 # Application Note Satan's schemes. He know's God's word. The problem with Satan is not that he is ignorant of what God says, its that he distorts God's word. This has been his way from the beginning. It is not enough to know God's word, we must understand it. Many of the greatest heretics throughout Christian history have had incredible knowledge of scripture. Jesus condems the Pharisees because they think their great knowledge of scripture is what will save them: >[!Bible] [John 5:39 ESV](https://www.bible.com/bible/59/JHN.5.39) >You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me Test # Footnotes