Meaning of TEMPTATIONS OF THE LORD

In addition to the general temptations alluded to in Hebrews (Heb. 4:15), there were three special and typological temptations to which the Lord Jesus was subjected (Mt. 4:1-11; Mark 1:12- 13; Luke 4:1-13).

He faced them as a man dependent on God, supported by his word, and Satan had no response to this.

The fact that the Lord confronted Satan in the relationship he had as a man with Israel and with other men is effectively confirmed because the temptations are omitted in the Gospel of John, where the Lord is contemplated in a primordial way in his character. of Son of God: God cannot be tempted by evil (James 1:13).

A. The first temptation was intended to try to get him to abandon the path of dependence. Making bread from stones to satisfy his hunger would have meant that he stopped waiting on God; The true path of man is to live by every word of God, to depend on Him in all circumstances.

The first temptation is notable as it becomes clear that Satan knew who he was addressing (cf. Mt. 4:3).

B. The second temptation was to test God's fidelity to his word by pretending that Christ would throw himself from a great height, appealing to the promise that the angels would support him.

Satan quoted this passage, but omitted the important section that angels would guard him "in all his ways" (Ps. 91:11, 12).

The temptation was to abandon his path, which would have been putting God to the test, tempting him (Mt. 4: 7).

C. The third temptation was to offer the Lord all the glory of this world, if he worshiped Satan. In this he discovered himself as the Adversary. Christ replied that only God should be worshiped, and he orders Satan to leave.

All the kingdoms of this world will be Christ's at the time God has appointed, and Christ waits until then. Yet how many men have given their worship to Satan, in one way or another, to gain crumbs of glory or worldly possessions!

It should be noted that the Lord, in responding to Satan, quotes on each occasion from the book of Deuteronomy, in which Israel is contemplated as about to enter the Promised Land.

This same weapon is at the disposal of the Christian. The Word of God is called the “Sword of the Spirit” (Eph. 6:17). It is also commanded: "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7).

In the Gospel of Luke the temptations are arranged in moral order, with Matthew's second temptation being the last in Luke.