THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS (PART II)

“Test & Temptation are Two Sides of the Same Coin”

By Akin Ojumu

This commentary series is an examination the significance of the temptation of the Lord Jesus by the devil. We are hoping to glean, from this destiny defining encounter between the beloved Son of God and the condemned Son the Morning, nuggets of wisdom that the Holy Spirit would enable us to perceive and receive.

Matthew 4:1-2

“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.”

There are those who may struggle to reconcile what they know about God not being an instigator of temptation with the fact that it was the Holy Spirit who led the Lord Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 

James 1:13

“Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.”

If, according to James 1:13, God does not tempt anyone, why would the Holy Spirit lead Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil? How do you square the fact that God tempts no one with the Holy Spirit leading Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil? Isn’t that a contradiction?

As long as the intention is to seek illumination and understanding, there are really no good or bad question one can ask about Scriptures. So, if any of the above questions have crossed your mind, you aren’t committing a sin. 

In today’s iteration of this commentary series, our hope is to shed some light on what may appear to some as an inconsistency in the character of God with respect to temptation. 

By explaining what temptation really means from the biblical perspective, and how the people of Bible times understood the word, it’s our prayer that those who have questions would have them answered, and they’d come to appreciate the fact that Scripture is the inerrant (i.e., free from error) and infallible (incapable of being wrong) Word of God inspired by the Holy Spirit.

In the contemporary mindset, temptation always connotes something evil. When viewed through the lens of modern-day perspective, being tempted is pretty terrible. To us, to be tempted is to entice somebody to do evil, to entice somebody to do wrong, to seduce somebody to sin.

Unfortunately, this understanding of temptation is reinforced and compounded by the definition of the word in some of the most popular dictionaries.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, to be tempted is: 

“To entice to do wrong by promise of pleasure or gain.” 

Similarly, the Cambridge dictionary defines the word tempted as:

“To make someone want to have or do something, especially something that is unnecessary or wrong.”

Contrary to the contemporary understanding of the word, however, temptation isn’t necessarily evil. Unlike the modern-day perception of what it means, to be tempted is not always terrible. Temptation, generally speaking, can actually be a good thing. You could even go as far as to suggest that being tempted is a positive thing. 

The word translated “tempt” in the Bible is the Greek peirazo. It occurs 39 times in the King James Version where it’s variously translated as: tempt (29x), try (4x), tempter (2x), prove (1x), assay (1x), examine (1x), go about (1x). In the Greek usage of the word, peirazo is a neutral term with either a positive or negative connotations.

Throughout the Bible, the word temptation is variously used either positively or negatively. Wherever it occurs, the context in which it’s used is what determines the meaning. Take for instance the use of the word in Matthew 4:1-2. Here, we read that it was the Holy Spirit who led the Lord Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. In fact, the Mark Gospel used an even much stronger word to describe the same incidence. 

Mark 1:12

“The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.”

We see here that the Holy Spirit actually “drove” Jesus into the wilderness. The word translated “drove” here is the Greek ekballei, and it means to compel by aggressive pressure. Essentially, the Holy Spirit compelled the Lord Jesus into the wilderness to face temptation in the hand of Satan.

If it’s not in God’s character to tempt anyone, why would He drive His only begotten Son into temptation? As we said above, the answer is in the context.

The Gospel of Matthew presents the Lord Jesus Christ as King. In the opening verse of the first chapter, the genealogy of Christ was traced to show that He is of the royal lineage of king David. 

Matthew 1:1

“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”

To demonstrate the kingship of Christ, Matthew writes about the Wise men from the east. These men, known as the Magi, were the official kingmakers of the Medo-Persian empire. Whenever and wherever they show up, it’s always to crown a king. And they came to Jerusalem bearing gifts to honor the baby Jesus, who is the King of the Jews. This was the reason Herod commanded that all babies up to two years be slaughtered. He was scared to hear that a rival King with rights to the throne in Jerusalem had been born.

Matthew 2:1-2

“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.””

In the same theme of royalty, the baptism must be understood as the consecration of Christ as King. When the Holy Spirit descended on Him and the Voice of God came down from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” the Lord Jesus is commissioned as King. 

Matthew 3:16-17

“And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.””

The baptism of the Lord Jesus by John at the Jordan river is the commissioning of the King. This event was the anointing of the King for the work of redemption. And immediately following this moment of great triumph, the Lord Jesus faced a period of great temptation. He was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Just as soon as He was proclaimed as King, Christ was led into the wilderness to be proven as King. 

Not only was it required that Christ’s kingship be declared by God to all through His baptism, but it was equally necessary that His right to kingship be demonstrated to all through His temptation. If in the baptism we see the proclamation of the kingship of Christ, in His temptation we see the proving of His kingship. The Lord Jesus Christ was attested to be worthy to be King in His baptism. In His temptation, He was tested to prove that He was worthy to be King. 

Whereas God’s intention for driving the Lord Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil was to prove Him worthy, the devil’s intention was to use the temptation to prove Him unworthy. What God purposed to use to pronounce Christ as faithful, the devil determined to cease to denounce Christ as unrighteous.

Test and temptation are two sides of the same coin, and it’s a thin line between the two. Very often, what God intends to use to test us, the devil hijacks to try and tempt us. The things that God allows to come our way to prove us worthy to be called His own, Satan always uses to entice us to evil, draw us into sin, and prove us unworthy to be called God’s own. The trial that God intends to promote us often becomes the temptation the devil uses to demote us.

We’ll take it from here next time.