Matthew 3:13-4:11 – The Baptism and Temptation of Jesus
15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.
16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted[d] by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’[e]”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “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.’[f]”
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’[g]”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’[h]”
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Footnotes
- Matthew 3:3 Isaiah 40:3
- Matthew 3:11 Or in
- Matthew 3:11 Or in
- Matthew 4:1 The Greek for tempted can also mean tested.
- Matthew 4:4 Deut. 8:3
- Matthew 4:6 Psalm 91:11,12
- Matthew 4:7 Deut. 6:16
- Matthew 4:10 Deut. 6:13
Matthew 3:13-14
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
Imagine being in John’s shoes (…sandals). At this point, he knows Jesus is the Messiah, the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Yet Jesus comes to him and asks to be given the Sacrament of baptism. He acts John to perform a holy act for the Holy of Holies Himself. That would be so humbling for John! I can hear him saying, “Are You serious right now, Jesus?! You want me to do this for You? I’m not worthy to serve You in this way! Are You sure?”
And Jesus says, “Yes, I’m sure. I want you to do this.”
And the fact is that Jesus comes to each one of us and asks us to do things for Him that we are not worthy or qualified to do. The good news is we don’t need to worry about our own holiness, status as “good enough” Christians, or other qualifications. All we need to do is recognize that Jesus has asked us to do something and then do it. The merit of our service to Him comes not from ourselves but from Him who asked us to perform it!
What is Jesus asking you to do today? Are you worrying about yourself being able to do it or are you leaning on the One who asked you to do it? Don’t try to deter Him with excuses about yourself; simply trust Him and perform your service as requested.
Matthew 3:13-15
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.
God’s plan is a mystery. We don’t always know why something happens or why He asks us to perform a particular task. Like John, we simply need to “let it be so now” and trust our good and wise Lord to know what needs to happen to fulfill all righteousness.
Matthew 3:16
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.
Do you remember when the Holy Spirit first came to you? What did that feel like? How did it open your spirit and mind to the things of God? How did that experience open your heart and emotions to the Lord?
Is the Spirit still with you in that way? Are you still aware of Him awakening you to the things of God and giving you spiritual clarity? When I feel distant from God or out of touch for some reason, I ask the Spirit within me, “Are You there? I need to feel Your Presence.” I encourage you to pray that now.
Matthew 3:16-4:1
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
Satan attacks no one as much as he attacks Christians. Before we come to Christ, the devil doesn’t have to work very hard to get us to sin. We want to sin. We want to be selfish. If we think we can get away with something and not face any consequences, we will.
But THEN, the Lord opens our spiritual eyes and transforms our mind. He gives us a new heart and puts a right spirit within us. He changes our will so that we don’t want to sin, but rather, we want to please Him. We want to be holy as He is holy. Our conscience is more sensitive to how deep sin runs.
So, Satan (which means “accuser”) has to work extra hard on us to get us to sin so that he has something to accuse us of before God. He wants us to look as bad to God as he does. He wants to drag us down with him.
But look at Who led Jesus into the desert to face the devil’s temptation – the Spirit! The Holy Spirit who descended on Jesus at His baptism was still with Him when He went into the desert. The Holy Spirit of God is also with each of us every time we are tempted. The question is, Will you allow Him to guide you through your temptations?
Matthew 4:3
The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
At first, we might think this first temptation is about Jesus fulfilling His hunger, but it’s more involved than that. We see the devil repeat this line a few verses later: “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down…” The third temptation is similar; the devil offers to give Jesus all the kingdoms of the world.
What’s the core temptation in all of these? “Take what’s Yours! You’re the Son of God, aren’t You? If You’re hungry, eat. If You throw Yourself down, the angels will catch You. If you want to rule the earth, go ahead and do it.”
It reminds me of people saying, “I’m going to get mine for me.” Or, “I deserve this…” Or, “Ooh, shiny! I want it.”
But Jesus, who did deserve all power and wealth and honor, took a different attitude. He knew that life wasn’t about what He could get but about how He could best honor God. He lived simply and trusted His Heavenly Father to meet His needs. His focus wasn’t on gaining material goods for Himself but on the spiritual good He could do for others.
As you go about your day, remember that, like Jesus, you are a son or daughter of God, but that doesn’t mean you live like a prince or princess in this world. It means you are loved by God and have a place in His family. It means you are to carry on the family business of spiritual redemption, not material consumption.
John 4:4
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
What’s your relationship to Scripture? How much time do you spend in it? How often? Jesus’ quote from the Old Testament here makes it sound like God’s Word is just as important to our daily lives as food is.
If we want to be in good health spiritually, we need to be taking God’s Word in daily – maybe a few times a day, just like you eat more than once a day. It doesn’t always need to be an in-depth Bible study, but your time in Scripture should take some time and thought. It takes a bit of preparation to ready your meals, so it should take some effort on your part to be nourished from God’s Word.
Some ideas for getting more Scripture time in include:
- Getting up 15 minutes early to read
- Substituting podcast or radio time to listen to an audio Bible
- Listening to Scripture songs instead of other music
- Watching word-for-word movie adaptations for your TV time
We also want to notice that Jesus says we live on “every word that comes from the mouth of God.” We want to take all of Scripture into ourselves, not just our favorite parts over and over. We need a well-balanced diet that includes every part of the Bible. Scripture is what we live on spiritually.
Matthew 4:6
“‘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.’”
This quote from Psalm 91 (check it out!) is a promise to all who seek refuge in the Lord. He will protect you. No, He won’t protect you every time – believers can still get hurt and die – but neither do we know all the times He does protect us. I imagine there have been times I have been in severe danger and never knew it because God sent His angels to save me. The angels’ activity on our behalf is something we get only a rare glimpse into, but I think we’ll be surprised when we get to Heaven and God shows us all the near-misses we had (and how tired our guardian angels are!)
Though Satan is using this quote to tempt Jesus to take advantage of God’s promises, I want to encourage you to reflect on God’s word to you. Thank Him for His protection. Thank Him for sending His angels to keep you safe. He loves you enough to send His angelic servants to intervene for you.
Matthew 4:8-10
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
Worship.
How do you keep from wanting all the kingdoms of the world their splendor?
Worship. Turn your attention away from yourself and worship your God. Worship is an emotion that unbelievers can’t experience. It’s a mixture of love, adoration, transcendence, awe, thanksgiving, praise, surrender, excitement, anticipation, fulfillment, joy, triumph, and assent. It’s like no other human emotion because it’s not entirely human. The Holy Spirit participates with your spirit in worship.
Can I encourage you to worship today? When you’re feeling anxious, worship. When you need to realign your priorities, worship. When you recognize temptation in your life, worship.
Matthew 4:11
Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Luke 4:13 says the devil left Jesus until an opportune time. We don’t read about another temptation of Jesus, but we can imagine that like us, Jesus was tempted on a regular basis. The Letter to the Hebrews says He was tempted in every way we are (Hebrews 4:15).
Combining the two verses, we see that the Christian life is a cycle. You will face temptation, angels will attend to you, then the devil will tempt you again. When you recognize the pattern, you can anticipate it and live into the rhythm. It’s like exercising. You push yourself, rest, then push yourself again.
So, get ready. Anticipate the time of temptation that’s coming. You know the things that tempt you. Set your mind and will to resist it. Pray for the Lord’s strength ahead of time instead of when you’re in the midst of the temptation. Come up with a game plan of how you’re going to get through it. And then look forward to the time of rest and renewal that comes after your victory.
Temptation doesn’t last forever. It comes in waves. It ebbs and flows. The tide of temptation comes in, and it goes out. Like Jesus, you can stand against it because you have the same Spirit He did and you recognize the pattern.
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