The Bible Book

198

T

he temptations of Jesus

in the wilderness are a

theological battle between

Jesus and Satan. Both figures quote

the Old Testament—Satan to taunt

Jesus into proving that He is the

promised Messiah, beginning each

of his challenges with the words

“If you are the son of God” (Psalm

91:11, 12), and Jesus to assert His

divinity: “Do not put the Lord your

God to the test” (Deuteronomy 6:16).

The encounter is described in

Matthew, Mark, and Luke, although

Mark mentions it in only two verses

(Mark 1:12–13). Applying the

scholarly assumption that Mark

is the oldest Gospel, it is likely that

Matthew and Luke expanded on

the stories using a source known

as Q—named for the German

Quelle, meaning source.

Satan speaks

In all three Gospels, Jesus is sent

or led to the desert by the “Spirit.”

There, after 40 days and 40 nights

of fasting, Jesus is suddenly

confronted by Satan, who poses

three questions to Him.

He first asks Jesus to sate His

hunger by turning stone to bread.

In reply, Jesus tells him that man

shall not live on bread alone. Then

Satan asks Jesus to demonstrate

the extent of His power by throwing

Himself from a mountain so that

angels can save Him. Jesus refuses,

telling him not to put the Lord your

God to the test. Finally, Satan tells

Jesus he will give Him the world if

Christ in the Wilderness (1872),

by Russian artist Ivan Kramskoi,

emphasizes the human in the divine,

depicting a figure pondering the heavy

responsibilities that await Him.

IN BRIEF

PA S SAGE

Matthew 4:1–11; Mark

1:12–13; Luke 4:1–13

THEME

Resisting temptation

SETTING

c. 26–27 ce The Judean

Desert, near the Dead Sea.

KEY FIGURES

Jesus The Messiah and Son

of God at the start of His

ministry, recently baptized

by John the Baptist.

Satan The accuser and

tempter, whom early

Christians later identify as

the serpent in the Garden of

Eden and the great dragon

of Revelation.

JESUS SAID TO

HIM, “AWAY FROM

ME, SATAN!”

MATTHEW 4:10, THE TEMPTATIONS OF CHRIST

He worships him. Again, Jesus

refuses, saying that only God should

be worshipped. In Matthew, Jesus

then cries: “Away from me, Satan!”

Even though Jesus never tells

Satan that He is the Son of God,

it is implied that He is not only

God’s Son, but also the embodiment

of God on earth. The Gospels

suggest that while humans would

succumb to the temptation of

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THE GOSPELS 199

See also: The Fall 30–35 ■ The Flood 40–41 ■ The Exodus 74–77 ■ The Suffering of Job 146–47 ■

The Lord’s Prayer 212–13 ■ Demons and the Herd of Pigs 224–25

Satan in the New Testament

Throughout the Bible, from the

writing of Job to the Gospels,

the figure of the satan (Hebrew

for “adversary”) is portrayed

as an antagonistic being who,

despite an existence predicated

on God's will, is intent on

destroying His followers

and discrediting Him.

The “devil” appears most

often in the New Testament. In

Luke 22:3, Satan enters Judas

Iscariot, and in Luke 13:10–15,

Jesus cures a crippled woman

whom Satan “has kept bound”

for 18 years. In Revelation 20:2,

Satan, “who leads the whole

world astray,” is hurled to the

earth and bound for 1,000 years.

The belief in Satan as an

independent, evil figure who

contrasts with God’s goodness

is known as “dualism.” The

concept became popular among

medieval Christian sects such as

the Paulicians and the Cathars.

Its origins may lie in the spread

of Greek culture after Alexander

the Great’s conquest of the

Phoenician Empire in 331 bce.

Satan tells Jesus

to turn stone

into bread to

sate His hunger.

Jesus refuses

because “man

does not live by

bread alone.”

Sustenance comes

from the spirit.

Satan bribes

Jesus with the

whole world if He

will worship him.

Jesus says only

God can be

worshipped.

Jesus is loyal

to God.

Jesus resists material, spiritual, and political

temptation, as He will through His ministry.

Satan goads

Jesus into

proving He

is divine.

Jesus tells Satan

not to put the

Lord your God

to the test.

The divine is

immutable.

Satan confronts Jesus in the desert and tries to tempt Him.

Satan, Jesus passes each test. His

divinity is confirmed in Mark and

Matthew’s description of angels

attending Jesus when Satan leaves.

Fulfilling the prophecy

In all three Gospels, the temptation

of Christ occurs after He has been

baptized by John, creating a

sequence of birth, baptism, and

then temptation that culminates in

His ministry. As in many passages

from the New Testament, the

Gospel authors also allude to the

fulfillment of Isaiah’s Messianic

prophecy through Jesus. Other

echoes of the Old Testament

include the Fall, when Adam and

Eve are tempted to eat from the

Tree of the Knowledge of Good

and Evil by the serpent (whom

Christians later identify as Satan),

and the significance of the number

40. Like Noah’s flood, which
    destroys the world’s sins, Jesus’s
    fast lasts 40 days and 40 nights,
    and there are echoes of the
    Israelites’ 40-year wandering in the
    wilderness, when God sates their
    hunger with manna from heaven. ■

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