Bible Commentaries

If thou art the Son of God (ε υιος ε του θεου). More exactly, "If thou art Son of God," for there is no article with "Son." The devil is alluding to the words of the Father to Jesus at the baptism: "This is my Son the Beloved." He challenges this address by a condition of the first class which assumes the condition to be true and deftly calls on Jesus to exercise his power as Son of God to appease his hunger and thus prove to himself and all that he really is what the Father called him. Become bread (αρτο γενωντα). Literally, "that these stones (round smooth stones which possibly the devil pointed to or even picked up and held) become loaves" (each stone a loaf). It was all so simple, obvious, easy. It would satisfy the hunger of Christ and was quite within his power. It is written (γεγραπτα). Perfect passive indicative, stands written and is still in force. Each time Jesus quotes Deuteronomy to repel the subtle temptation of the devil. Here it is Deuteronomy 8:3 from the Septuagint. Bread is a mere detail (Bruce) in man's dependence upon God.

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Then the devil taketh him (τοτε παραλαμβανε αυτον ο διαβολος). Matthew is very fond of this temporal adverb (τοτε). See already Matthew 2:7; Matthew 3:13; Matthew 4:1; Matthew 4:5. Note historic present with vivid picturesqueness. Luke puts this temptation third, the geographical order. But was the person of Christ allowed to be at the disposal of the devil during these temptations? Alford so holds. On the pinnacle of the temple (επ το πτερυγιον του ιερου). Literally "wing:" the English word "pinnacle" is from the Latin pinnaculum, a diminutive of pinna (wing). "The temple" (του ιερου) here includes the whole temple area, not just the sanctuary (ο ναος), the Holy Place and Most Holy Place. It is not clear what place is meant by "wing." It may refer to Herod's royal portico which overhung the Kedron Valley and looked down some four hundred and fifty feet, a dizzy height (Josephus, Ant. XV. xi. 5). This was on the south of the temple court. Hegesippus says that James the Lord's brother was later placed on the wing of the temple and thrown down therefrom.

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Cast thyself down (βαλε σεαυτον κατω). The appeal to hurl himself down into the abyss below would intensify the nervous dread that most people feel at such a height. The devil urged presumptuous reliance on God and quotes Scripture to support his view (Psalms 91:11). So the devil quotes the Word of God, misinterprets it, omits a clause, and tries to trip the Son of God by the Word of God. It was a skilful thrust and would also be accepted by the populace as proof that Jesus was the Messiah if they should see him sailing down as if from heaven. This would be a sign from heaven in accord with popular Messianic expectation. The promise of the angels the devil thought would reassure Jesus. They would be a spiritual parachute for Christ.

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Thou shall not tempt (ουκ εκπειρασεις). Jesus quotes Deuteronomy again (Deuteronomy 6:16) and shows that the devil has wholly misapplied God's promise of protection.

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And showeth him (κα δεικνυσιν αυτω). This wonderful panorama had to be partially mental and imaginative, since the devil caused to pass in review "all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them." But this fact does not prove that all phases of the temptations were subjective without any objective presence of the devil. Both could be true. Here again we have the vivid historical present (δεικνυσιν). The devil now has Christ upon a very high mountain whether the traditional Quarantania or not. It was from Nebo's summit that Moses caught the vision of the land of Canaan (Deuteronomy 34:1-3). Luke (Luke 4:5) says that the whole panorama was "in a moment of time" and clearly psychological and instantaneous.

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All these things will I give thee (ταυτα σο παντα δωσω). The devil claims the rule of the world, not merely of Palestine or of the Roman Empire. "The kingdoms of the cosmos" (Matthew 4:8) were under his sway. This word for world brings out the orderly arrangement of the universe while η οικουμενη presents the inhabited earth. Jesus does not deny the grip of the devil on the world of men, but the condition (εαν and aorist subjunctive, second class undetermined with likelihood of determination), was spurned by Jesus. As Matthew has it Jesus is plainly to "fall down and worship me" (πεσων προκυνησηις μο), while Luke (Luke 4:7) puts it, "worship before me" (ενωπιον εμου), a less offensive demand, but one that really involved worship of the devil. The ambition of Jesus is thus appealed to at the price of recognition of the devil's primacy in the world. It was compromise that involved surrender of the Son of God to the world ruler of this darkness. "The temptation was threefold: to gain a temporal, not a spiritual, dominion; to gain it at once; and to gain it by an act of homage to the ruler of this world, which would make the self-constituted Messiah the vice-regent of the devil and not of God" (McNeile).

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Get thee hence, Satan (Hυπαγε, Σατανα). The words "behind me" (οπισω μου) belong to Matthew 16:23, not here. "Begone" Christ says to Satan. This temptation is the limit of diabolical suggestion and argues for the logical order in Matthew. "Satan" means the adversary and Christ so terms the devil here. The third time Jesus quotes Deuteronomy, this time Deuteronomy 6:13, and repels the infamous suggestion by Scripture quotation. The words "him alone thou shalt serve" need be recalled today. Jesus will warn men against trying to serve God and mammon (Matthew 6:24). The devil as the lord of the evil world constantly tries to win men to the service of the world and God. This is his chief camouflage for destroying a preacher's power for God. The word here in Matthew 4:10 for serve is λατρευσεις from λατρις a hired servant, one who works for hire, then render worship.

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Then the devil leaveth him (τοτε αφιησιν αυτον ο διαβολος). Note the use of "then" (τοτε) again and the historical present. The movement is swift. "And behold" (κα ιδου) as so often in Matthew carries on the life-like picture. " Angels came (aorist tense προσηλθον punctiliar action) and were ministering (διηκονουν, picturesque imperfect, linear action) unto him ." The victory was won in spite of the fast of forty days and the repeated onsets of the devil who had tried every avenue of approach. The angels could cheer him in the inevitable nervous and spiritual reaction from the strain of conflict, and probably also with food as in the case of Elijah (1 Kings 19:6). The issues at stake were of vast import as the champions of light and darkness grappled for the mastery of men. Luke 4:13 adds, that the devil left Jesus only "until a good opportunity" (αχρ καιρου).

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