Theological Term of the Week
Tuesday, May 7, 2013 at 8:38PM 
temptation of Jesus
Satan’s temptation of Jesus in the wilderness the beginning of his ministry.
- From scripture:
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Then the devil took him to the holy city and 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 will command his angels concerning you,’and
“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’”Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
- From Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem:
These temptations were really a culmination of a lifelong process of moral strengthening and maturing that occurred throughout Jesus’ childhood and early adulthood, as he “increased in wisdom . . and in fear with God” (Luke 2:52 and as he “learned obedience through what he suffered” (Heb. 5:8). In these temptations in the wilderness and in the various temptations that faced him through the thirty-three years of hislife, Christ obeyed God in our place and as our representative, thus succeeding where Adam had failed, where the people of Israel in the wilderness had failed, and where we had failed (see Rom. 5:18-19).
As difficult as it may be for us to comprehend, Scripture affirms that in these temptations Jesus gained an ability to understand and help us in our temptations, “Because he himself has suffered and been tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted” (Heb. 2:18).
- In the Bible: Matthew 4:1-11, see also Luke 4:1-13, Mark 1:12-13.
- Got Questions.org: What is the meaning and purpose of Jesus’ temptations?
- Bob Deffinbaugh: The Temptation of Jesus, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.
- D. A. Carson: The Temptation of Jesus (audio)
Related terms:
Filed under Person, Work, and Teaching of Christ
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