https://bffpb.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/biblent/Matthew/Mat04/Matthew04_Temptation1200.webp

Written by Paul J Bucknell on June, 26, 2024

Matthew 4:1-11 The Three Ifs and Temptation

How to Understand and Overcome the Devil’s Snares

The Temptation Account in Matthew 4:1-11

Matthew’s temptation account between Satan and Jesus provides impressive insights into how Satan tempts mankind. However, he does not need to be so careful with us. The evil one has so trained us that we “fall” for his devious schemes at the first suggestive picture or words. On the other hand, the devil cleverly crafted his best snares for Jesus, as seen in Matthew 4:1-11.

The Deceiver first deceived himself (Ezekiel 28), pridefully thinking of his beauty and powers, and confused himself, the created, with the Creator. He then persuaded many angels to join him and now incite rebellion among mankind against their Creator. The Spirit of God launched Jesus into ministry after His baptism and a forty-day fast, and then led Him into the wilderness to be tempted. This temptation passage records Jesus’ victory over three temptations presented by the evil one.

There are several ways to teach these verses.

We could compare Jesus’ temptations to the original temptations when the serpent beguiled Eve in Genesis 3, where he successfully sought their ill to gain authority.
We can also consider the avenues the devil uses to tempt us by observing our human nature’s weaknesses and situations. Being hungry, Satan tempted Jesus with food.
We could also contrast Jesus, the Son of Man’s success with Adam’s failure, both representatives of mankind. Jesus won a strategic battle and threw Satan down from His lofty position.
We must also examine how the devil and Jesus used God’s Word, each having mastered the holy Scriptures.

This article, however, examines the three ‘ifs’ Satan uses to set up his intricate temptations. The devil creates leading statements to direct Jesus’ thoughts. His suggestive words lead to thoughts, and the thoughts require responses. Though the words look innocent, his diabolical purposes, like barbs, are concealed. This is only apparent by Jesus’ astute responses. Although the devil is not all-powerful, he is clever enough to set Him and us in compromising situations by using convincing and ensnaring statements.

After familiarizing ourselves with the passage, we will increase discernment by observing the devil’s three ‘ifs.’

The Text: Matthew 4:1-11

¹ Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. ³ And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” ⁴ But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”

⁵ Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶ 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, So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’” ⁷ Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

⁸ Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; ⁹ and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’” ¹¹ Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him. (Mat 4:1-11, NASB)

An Overview of Matthew 4:1-11

Before looking at why Satan used ‘if’ statements, let’s first observe how he crafted them. Each ‘if’ is in bold print.

“And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” (Mat 4:3)

“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, so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’” (Mat 4:6)

“And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” (Mat 4:9)

Satan lures him into temptation three times with an “if” clause. Only after Jesus resisted a third time did the devil leave Him (11). The evil one hovered about Jesus throughout His ministry but emerged more boldly towards the end, which we will later discuss.

The First Two ‘Ifs’

The first two ‘if’ clauses attached to the first two temptations emphasize Jesus’ exalted position as the Son of God. Satan doesn’t deny His name or role but seeks to sever Jesus’ faithful service to His Father. Lofty names, positions, and titles are associated with our higher roles and responsibilities. Satan sought to confound Jesus through thoughts of His glorious title and role, making it easy to minimize His associated responsibilities. The vanity of titles tempts us, earned or not, by gloating in its honor and abusing its privileges. It is for this very reason the devil tempts the rich and powerful leaders to “forget God” (Jud 3:7; 1 Sam 12:9; Ps 106:21) and lead their societies astray.

The title Son of God is used 43 times in the Bible, all in the New Testament. ‘Son’ points to his expected allegiance to His Father (as well as His shared nature). ‘God’ refers to the Creator God from whom all life has come: “The Lord (i.e., Yahweh), the God of your fathers” (Ex 3:15-16). The evil tempter immediately recognized Jesus’ divine origin, but he did not honor Him; instead, he tested Him to steal His authority, as he did with Adam.

The devil (verse 1) crafted these scenarios to throw Jesus off balance. On the one hand, he used flattery to preoccupy Jesus’ thoughts, pretending to respect His spiritual authority and a love for God’s will by quoting God’s Word. The devil did not lie by stating that He was the Son of God but led Him to think of His position so that Jesus would act out of character, abusing His responsibility by making stones into bread for himself.

However, Jesus spotted how the devil ill-used God’s Word without considering God’s purpose and glory. Jesus refused to follow the misleading suggestion and rejected the evil one’s temptation by correctly using God’s Word to affirm His Father’s will and delight in doing only His will.

Jesus ignored the flattery in a very business-like manner, exposing the evil one’s pretentious suggestion to honor God and the devil’s evil purposes.

He waited on His Father to care for His ravaging hunger rather than do a miracle without His Father’s beckoning. “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Mat 4:3).
He ignored the temptation to prove His trust in His Father, claiming, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test” (Mat 4:7).

In His rebuke, Jesus quoted God’s words and affirmed His purpose and desire to serve His Father faithfully.

The Third ‘If’ (Mat 4:9-11)

“And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” (Mat 4:9)

Though issuing from the same poisonous purpose, this third temptation differs from the first two. The devil uses the ‘if’ to present his bargain. He no longer cloaks his words with politeness and pretense but strips off all subtleness to propose his finest deal.

The first two ifs were assumptive in nature, setting Jesus up to prove Himself, obeying the devil rather than the Father. “If this is true…, then prove it by ….”

Here, the ‘if’ plays a conditional role. “I will do this for you, if you do.…” The devil knows what Jesus came for, claiming His rightful rule over the world and mankind, and so makes a ‘holy’ offer to do God’s will.

The not-so-subtle condition to close the deal is stated upfront. The devil’s countenance and demeanor drastically changed. Though acclaiming God’s holy purpose for His Son to rule the world, this temptation bypasses the tortuous way to obtain it. Jesus must wrestle with the strenuous time to accomplish the Father’s will. The easy choice to rule under Satan cancels out the need for His death, God’s designated means to conduct redemption. His offer would undoubtedly haunt Jesus throughout His ministry, especially as the cross came closer in view. After all, Jesus could accomplish God’s purpose of ruling over mankind without suffering!

“Take the easier way!”
“You don’t need to suffer a bit if you do it my way.”
“You can have all the power without the pain. No pain, all gain!”
More subtly, “The Father’s way of the cross doesn’t befit your title, the Son of God. There’s a better way!”

Jesus withstood this temptation, but its extreme difficulty—the temptation—was not fully seen until the night before the cross when Jesus wrestled with the next day’s suffering. Later, however, Jesus stated, “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done” (Mat 26:42).

The Nature of Temptation

Four times, the tempter is identified as the devil. Matthew gives his readers no option but to catch the Accuser’s sinister purpose. The word for diabolical comes from the Greek form of the devil (Greek: diabolos).

The root word “tempt” is used twice early in this passage, exposing the devil’s purpose.

4:1 “To be tempted by the devil”

4:3 “And the tempter came and said to Him.”

Temptation is testing with the motive of making someone fall. It is depicted in all how man plots the fall of another. God’s justice and righteousness abhor this unprincipled attack on individuals, befuddling people to make them guilty, not to mention the assault on His only Son.

God does not tempt but tests. Let me carefully differentiate them. James says that God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God” (James 1:13). God tests His chosen ones to increase their success. The famous scene of God testing Abraham comes to mind. “Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham” (Gen 22:1). Similarly, the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tested. God wanted His Son to succeed. The devil, acting selfishly, however, and sought His worst.

Temptation comes with choice. This is the problem of freedom and privilege. Satan engages us with temptation when we feel the authority or the desire to choose a specific action without consulting God and His word. This is the essence of temptation—making decisions apart from God. We live by our desires and understanding, but it is spiritually unacceptable.

Temptation and Our Lives

The evil one seeks to expose our most vulnerable spots and plots to overthrow our faithful service as He did with our Master. The devil will leave but return when we don’t want him around! We must always be prepared. “Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mat 26:41).

The devil tempts God’s people to undermine God’s ways and accomplish their selfish purposes. The devil’s subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle proposals always go contrary to God’s will. If you are befuddled, it’s not the time to make decisions. Put it off and pray.

The first two “ifs” are flattering temptations, causing us to think much of our role, position, and title, urging us to take special privileges. Because I can, I do. How many men wrongly use their strength and position to threaten their wives? We can use our positions to trade in the markets illegally. High positions and leadership roles set us up for these temptations. Our ability to do something does not mean God’s freedom. We must resist temptation. We can ask, for instance, “Why did God give me this position?” It is always to serve, not to be served. The biblical way to respond is to mimic Jesus’ response. By using God's word, Jesus reframed His thoughts within the context of God’s purposes and ways. The Son of God purposed to do the Father’s will; it didn’t matter what He wanted, felt, or preferred. Life is oftentimes difficult, but obedience always leads to God’s preferred ways.

Sometimes, as in the third ‘if’, Satan comes roaring in with an “in your face” temptation. The circumstances will differ, but the devil’s diabolical purpose will always be to frustrate you from doing God’s work in His way. Respond by saying, “Even if what God wants will cost me this or that, I will seek what He desires.” He has greater purposes for the trials we meet up with. His will is of more importance than our comfort.

Proverbs 15:33 and Temptation

“The fear of the Lord is the instruction for wisdom, and before honor comes humility” (Proverbs 15:33).

As I pondered about temptation and flattery, I came across Proverbs 15:33, which says, “Before honor comes humility.” Humility is an important character trait that helps us stay vigilant against temptation. If we don’t practice humility, the honor that comes with a high position or title can cause us to neglect our God-given responsibilities. Looking at Jesus, we see His willingness to fulfill His ongoing duty to His Father humbly, which is why He was sent. We can protect ourselves by embracing humility and remembering that everything we have is from the Lord and meant for a purpose greater than ourselves.

The Three if statements in Matthew 4:1-11, the temptation account

Bible Study Questions on Matthew 4:1-11

When did Matthew say that these temptations occurred? Why then?
How many times does the word ‘devil’ occur in Matthew 4:1-11? What does “devil” mean?
If you knew someone nicknamed “Tempter,” how would this shape your necessary times near him?
How many times is the word “if” used in this passage? Find them.
How are the first two usages of “if” similar?
Do you think temptation can be seen as a choice without accountability? Discuss.
What does the Son of God mean? Why might the devil have used the term?
How does Satan use “if” for the third time to tempt Jesus? What does He offer? What would the offer be conditional upon?
How does Satan tempt you? Why do you think he so tempts you?
Does the evil one’s every advance with you seek to bring you down? Explain.
How does God’s testing differ from Satan’s tempting (James 1:13; Gen 22:1)?