It is Written ...

Mt. 4:1-11
Mt. 4:4a; Jesus answered, "It is written…”

No man can withstand the temptation of Satan. The first man Adam had the command of God. When Eve tempted him, he listened to her more than God and lost paradise (Gen. 3). Cain received the counsel from God. When he saw his brother Abel his hatred overpowered him. He ended up killing his own brother and became a restless wanderer (Gen. 4). Jesus, however, overcame Satan’s temptation by meditating and upholding the Scriptures. Amid the barrage of temptations he resorted to the Scriptures as of first importance. The Bible is the potent weapon to discern and defeat the Satan's temptation. Nothing else replaces it.

Jesus set out for his ministry at the age of thirty. He first went to John the Baptist and was baptized. Unlike the baptism for the forgiveness of sins, his baptism was the inauguration ceremony for his Messianic ministry as the Son of God. The joyful ceremony was soon followed by intense spiritual training. The Holy Spirit led him to the desert to undergo the temptation of Satan (Mt. 4:1). For forty days and forty nights he fasted (Mt. 4:2). Humanly speaking he was completely exhausted. During this period, Jesus meditated over the Scriptures day and night.

Jesus had been prepared to meet the challenge of the Satan. His utmost respect for the Scriptures were not made overnight. Every Sabbath Jesus went to the synagogue. He either heard or delivered a speech based on the Scriptures. His understanding of the Scriptures was the second to none. When he was twelve years old, he went to Jerusalem with his parents for the Passover Festival (Lk. 2:42). After the Festival, he stayed behind and talked with the leading scholars of the day in the temple. He had a deep and intense conversation with many questions and answers. They were marveled at his understanding of the Scriptures (Lk. 2:47). Jesus loved the Scriptures and deepened his understanding as he grew older.

He meditated over the Scriptures day and night during the temptation. He was determined to use the Scriptures against the Satan’s temptation. Although Jesus was the Son of God he did not depend on his own ideas or wisdom of others. Rather he went straight to the Scriptures and cited them literally as he fought the temptation of the Satan. His strategy in fighting the Satan was simple, however he faced the enormous challenge in choosing the right verses among so many in the Scriptures. For his confrontation with Satan, he focused on the first five books of Moses— the pillar of the Scriptures. It was his strength to discern what was right and wrong. It was the basis in which Jesus made an important decision against Satan’s temptation. This simple, yet effective approach paved his way to the ultimate victory against Satan’s temptation.

It is likely that Jesus was exposed to numerous temptations while he was in the desert but this passage records three major ones. First, Satan came to Jesus and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread (Mt. 4:3).” After the fast Jesus was starved and weakened to the point of death. So he was physically exhausted and became vulnerable to temptation. In pioneering the Western frontier of our country, pioneers faced starvation. In his desperation one pioneer killed and ate another fellow pioneer. Jesus had been tempted to make bread by any means for temporary relief, but Jesus withstood it. Satan then led Jesus to justify it. Making bread was not for his physical satisfaction, but for the proof as the Son of God. It was a great temptation. By making bread, he would not only prove that he was the Son of God, but also have something to eat. It appeared to kill two birds at one stone. Jesus, however, had an insight to read the deeper issue behind it: "Is it the first priority of my ministry to provide unlimited food to people?" God provided unlimited food to mankind when he first created heavens and earth. There are times, however, when farmers cannot produce crops for various reasons such as drought and war. Many suffer from famine and starve to death. Such misery breaks our hearts. The deeper challenge of Satan is associated with such extreme situation. Satan questioned what Jesus would do for mankind in such situation.

It is easy for a person to consider bread more important than anything else when he is extremely hungry. In Russian history, Lenin made such a mistake. During his early years, Russia was in political, economic, and social chaos. Russia had been a Christian country before Lenin and many previous leaders had embraced Christianity and made efforts to establish Christendom. They valued and honored the word of God. However, the political and religious leaders of Lenin’s time were corrupt and neglected the sufferings of people. They kept a disproportionate amount of crops for themselves while many people starved to death. This motivated Lenin's older brother to join a leftist movement in hopes of improving the national situation. Soon after, his brother was arrested, tortured and executed for his insurrection. Lenin was bitter against the government and followed in his brother's footsteps. He was a patriot hoping to help the government to look after their people. Lenin found hope in communism which offered a utopia where everyone shared bread equally. Communism, however, denied God and based its theory on materialism. Lenin decided to abandon God and pursue the communism. The founder Karl Marx predicted that the communism would follow naturally the collapse of capitalism. Lenin modified it and added violence to the original theory in the name of utopia: hence the term, Leninism. After the fall of the Russian empire, Russia had an opportunity to establish a democratic government through the provisional government in 1917 (February Revolution), but Lenin overthrew it and became the dictator (October Revolution). He suppressed all religious activities and forced people to share bread equally. Everyone shared equally, but poorly. What was worse, many suffered during the centralization and lived in terror. Lenin hoped to create a utopia, but ended up creating a dystopian government for Joseph Stalin. In sum, Russia has been viewed as a horrible communist country although she had rich Christian heritage in the past. The temptation of Satan was related to the question and direction of Jesus’ ministry. Which is more important between the word of God and bread? Should I neglect the word of God in order to provide bread? What is essential to mankind? Is it bread or the word of God? Jesus upheld the Scriptures. "It is written: `Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God (Mt. 4:4).'” Jesus understood the needs of bread for mankind, but Jesus did not lose his sight for mankind’s need of the word of God. Man is both body and soul. And just as a man needs bread to sustain his physical body, man needs the word of God to sustain his soul.

After Jesus passed the first test, Satan took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple saying, "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: `He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone (Mt. 4:6).'” He started his test with the same phrase as the one used in the first temptation, “If you are the Son of God...” It sounded as if he was testing his identity as the Son of God as before. It appeared imperative that Jesus obey the Satan’s command. Furthermore, Satan cited the Scriptures when he tested him, that doing so would appear to be the will of God. It appeared reasonable to do so. It appeared to be the best way to demonstrate that he was the Son of God to everyone once for all. He was encouraged to do so by Satan.

Then Jesus answered him, "It is also written: `Do not put the Lord your God to the test (Mt. 4:7).'" Once again he held on to the word of God. Jesus thought about the motivation behind the Satan's suggestion. It was to show off. Jesus' mission was to save men from their sins (Mt. 1:21). Satan’s suggestion would not help anyone to be saved. It might surprise people for the moment and create instantaneous wows, but it would not last long. Further, there is another intrigue in Satan’s temptation. Satan quoted the word of God in his temptation. His temptation supported that God's rescue after being jumped off of the highest point would demonstrate that God’s promise is true. It appeared beneficial to people regarding God’s promise. But Jesus foresaw the abuse of using God’s promise for one’s own benefit. It would be also dangerous. Jesus concluded that the Satan's suggestion was a test of God, not a trust in God. Jesus declined it. Jesus had this wisdom, since he held on to the word of God. Unlike Satan, Jesus quoted the word of God with trust regardless of proof. Many people cite the word of God with wrong motivations— to justify their own agenda and satisfaction. The cause of division in the church is not necessarily the lack of knowledge on the Bible, because often times both parties are well versed in the Bible. One party can quote the Bible as much as the other. Yet they cannot come to an agreement, since each party quotes the Bible in his own way. It is often not a matter of right and wrong, but a matter of emphasis. What matters is not the word of God cited, but the motivation behind it. It is hard to discern whether it is God's voice even if it comes from the Bible. One has to develop the power to discern in light of motivation and the final fruit.

After the second temptation, the devil took Jesus once more to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor and said, "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me (Mt. 4:8, 9)." On the high mountain the devil showed all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. Owning even a house or an acre of land is a great privilege. Owning a town is even better. Owning a kingdom is even better. If one owns a kingdom, he is a king. He enjoys all the wealth and power that come with it. The devil claimed that he owned all the kingdoms of the world. He promised to give all of them to Jesus. His claim appeared to be true. He was able to show all of them to Jesus. He was able to display their splendor. But his claim was a fake. God created the heavens and earth (Gen 1:1). He owned everything. He gave everything to Adam, the first man. Unfortunately he lost it, because he sinned (Gen. 3). Then God called his people out of Egypt and promised to give the whole world to them if they would obey him (Ex. 19). So there is a clear path in claiming the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.

The devil pretended as if he were the owner of the whole world. The devil promised to give all of them to Jesus only if Jesus would bow down to the devil and worship him. It appeared to be simple. All Jesus had to do was to bow down and worship him. In this offer, however, the devil wanted to put Jesus underneath him. In the end Jesus had to do whatever the devil wanted him to do. In exchange for all the kingdoms of the world and all the power and wealth that came with them, Jesus had to submit himself to the devil. This ultimate relationship would defeat the very purpose of Jesus’ mission to establish the kingdom of God on the earth.

Nonetheless the devil’s offer was a great temptation, since it was too attractive to refuse. On a modest scale, the temptation is like a bribe. Many officers bend justice because of the monetary or other benefits they would enjoy from those bribes. When they are caught, however, their careers end in shame. On a bigger scale, the temptation means a war for self-glory, which results in self-destruction. For example, Hitler was influenced by Nietzsche’s philosophy on the superman in the place of God. It was Satan’s deception. When his nation suffered from poverty and oppression he rose to the occasion. Hitler received support from his people because he carried out his promises producing prosperity and glory for his people. Occupying Austria was like eating a piece of cake, since he had gained much support from the Austrians at that time. As time passed, he became ambitious, bombed neighbor countries and made people worship him. He forced people to shout, “Hail, Hitler.” Enjoying such glory, Hitler led his country to war against the whole world, dreaming to be the god over the world. It did not last long. In the end he brought much sufferings and tragedies not only to the people in other countries, but also to his own people. He ended up committing suicide.

Jesus responded to the temptation saying, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: `Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only (Mt. 4:10).'" Jesus again held on to the Scriptures. He made it clear that he would worship God only. His loyalty and commitment to God was not based on any reward. He was not looking for any reward for serving him. He decided to do so, since it was the right thing to do according to the Scriptures. Serving God in exchange for material benefits is the root of shamanism. It essentially amounts to worshipping idols in the name of God. This is deeply ingrained in men’s sinful nature. They do so in ignorance and suffer the consequence. For example, the Israelites were oppressed by the Philistines. Some brought the ark of God to the battle field wishing that it would bring the victory for them (1 Sa. 4). To their dismay they were defeated and even lost the ark of God. The ark of God could not save them. The ark of God was there to guide his people to remember the law of God and live according to the law of God. When they ignored the law of God and lived according to their sinful nature, the nation was weakened. They misunderstood the role of the ark of God and abused it as an idol.

Jesus teaches us that we must serve God without expecting any benefits or material gains in mind. Rather we must worship him and serve him as our duty. It starts with our acknowledgment that he is worthy of our worship and praise. It starts with our acknowledgment that he owns everything. When we do what he wants us to do, everything else will be taken care of and we will surely have a victorious life. Satan’s claim had no ground in the Scriptures. He presented the whole world and showed its glory to Jesus as if he owned everything, but none of them was his. It was a deception. Those who were deceived suffered the consequences like Hitler and the Israelites. Jesus’ decision was based on the Scriptures. His decision does not guarantee any glory or power, only toils and labors. But when we do right by serving God unconditionally, he provides us with everything we need and more. It does not appear to be obvious at the beginning but it guarantees a final victory, including prosperity. Abraham is one such example. God called him to leave his country and go to the land he would show. Abraham left his country and relatives, not knowing where he was going. He only served God by obeying him and God blessed him step by step.

When Jesus meditated and upheld the word of God he was able to discern the Satan’s deception and overcome it. Jesus could stand firm and defeat Satan. It was the best strategy to overcome the temptation of Satan and render glory to God. It was the best strategy to enjoy the power, wealth and honor from God in his time.