Daily Devotions
40 Days and 40 Nights
"The tempter came to Him..."
Text: Matthew 4:3
THREE TEMPTATIONS
Three temptations were recorded by the Gospel writers, Matthew and Luke. Were there only three temptations? Most likely, “No!” However, these three temptations stood out as most significant and thus they were preserved.
THE ORDER OF RECORDING
Matthew recorded the order of the temptations differently from Luke. Does it make any significant difference to the meaning of the temptations? The simple answer is “No!”
THE FIRST TEMPTATION
Both Matthew and Luke focused on how the devil sought to tempt Jesus after the 40 days of fasting.
1. Matthew’s perspective
“And when He has fasted forty days and forty nights,
afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him,
he said, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.'”
Matthew 4:2-3
a) “Afterward He was hungry”
i) This was a natural consequence.
ii) Jesus had donned human flesh and would thus feel hungry.
iii) Understandably He would be vulnerable.
b) “Now when the tempter came to Him”
i) Matthew already identified the adversary; he was called “the devil” (Matthew 4:1).
ii) He was called “the tempter” in this text.
iii) He had come as a tempter and may have appeared as one who was concerned about the hunger that Jesus felt.
2. “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
a) This temptation was very subtle.
b) The word “if” does not mean that the devil doubted who Jesus was.
c) Satan was postulating that since Jesus was the Son of God, He could turn the stones into bread.
d) Then He would not need to feel the hunger pangs that could have been there after fasting for so long.
3. Where did this temptation lie?
a) It was a test of how Jesus would respond.
b) Would He respond to physical, bodily needs as the devil suggested?
That would have been so ordinary and human. Jesus would then have fallen into the trap of the devil.