―And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not,
neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by
every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live‖. (Deut 8:3)
―Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah‖. (Deut 6:16)
―Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name‖. (Deut 6:13)
Satan is the inventor of the lie (John 8:44) and misuses Scripture (see Luke 4 verse 6 above). He was citing
Psalm 91:11-12 out of context.
The baptism and temptations of Y‟shuaThe baptism of Y‘shua HaMashiach is included in all four Gospels, while the temptation of Y‘shua is omitted
by John. Since John seeks to establish the deity of the Messiah (and YHWH cannot be tempted— James
1:13), it is unnecessary to his argument. Luke seeks to stress the humanity of Y‘shua, and thus it is not
difficult to comprehend his reasons for placing the genealogy of Y‘shua (which traces His lineage back to
Adam) between his account of Y‘shua‘s baptism and temptation.
4:11 When the devil ended all the temptations, the angels came and ministered unto him―(11) Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him‖.
―And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the
angels ministered unto him‖. (Mark 1:13)
―And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season‖. (Luke 4:13)
Another thing we should note in the temptations of Y‘shua is that Y‘shua plays a representative role in two
ways. First, He plays a representative role with Israel. The aim here is to show that where Israel failed,
Y‘shua succeeds. Notice the similarities:
- The mention of the Son of YHWH: In Exod 4:22-23 and Hos 11:1, Israel is called the Son of YHWH.
Here Y‘shua is called the Son of YHWH. - Both were tested in the wilderness: Israel was tested in the wilderness according to 1 Cor 10:1-13,
and now Y‘shua is being tested in the wilderness. - The figure 40: For Israel 40 years, for Y‘shua 40 days.
- The presence of the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit was present with Israel in the wilderness according
to Isaiah 63:7-14. The presence of the Holy Spirit was made evident in the first verse of each of the Synoptic
Gospels. - When Y‘shua was with Satan, He quotes Scriptures and all the quotations are from the book of
Deuteronomy.
Secondly, Y‘shua plays a representative role of mankind. According to Heb 4:15, Y‘shua was tempted in all
points as we are; yet, without sin. This does not mean that He suffered every temptation that we do, anymore
than we suffer every kind of temptation that He did. The word ―points‖ simply means areas, and He suffered
temptation in all areas that we do. According to 1 John 2:16 there are three areas of temptation:
- The lust of the flesh;
- The lust of the eyes; and
- The pride of life.
When Y‘shua was tempted to turn the stones into bread to satisfy His hunger, He was being tempted in the
area of the lust of the flesh. When He was taken to the pinnacle of the Temple and asked to throw Himself
down to prove that He was Messiah, this was a temptation in the area of pride of life. When He was shown
visibly all the kingdoms of the world and offered authority over all of them, that was a temptation in the area
of the lust of the eyes. Every temptation fits into one of these three categories.
4:12 John cast into prison and Y‟shua departed to Galilee to preach―(12) Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee‖.
(14) ―Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the
kingdom of God,
(15) And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the
gospel‖. (Mark 1:14-15)
―Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison‖. (Luke 3:20)
―And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all
the region round about‖. (Luke 4:14)