Was it a Trial, was it a Test, or was it a Temptation? (Part 1 of 2)
Matthew 4: 1-11
I’ve heard Ministers and preachers talk about trials and temptations and then every now and again they throw in the word, testing for good measure. For most of my early Christian life I must confess that I had no idea what the difference was between these three things. What is the difference between a trial and a temptation, and how does that differ from a test? What’s the distinction? What’s the difference? How do you know if what you’re going through is a trial? And how do you know what is a test, and what is a temptation? What’s the difference? More specifically, if faced with temptation, how do you overcome it?
I can’t think of a better passage to explain all of this than the temptation of Christ as recorded in Matthew Chapter 4: 1-11.
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “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.’”
Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. “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.’” Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
(Matthew 4: 1-11)
So, to answer all of these questions and a few more besides, I invite your do what we always do and go through it verse by verse.
“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry”.
(Matthew 4: 1-2)
Obviously, there are three temptations here, and that just makes this a great text for a preacher because we love to talk in threes. But before we get to those three temptations, which we will, there are some preliminary questions I think we need to ask and answer first. For example, what is the temptation, because that is how these events are described by the text itself, and how does that differ from a test and how, in turn, does that all differ from a trial? The first two verses give us the setting of this situation but we need to answers those questions first. If you look carefully at what is said, for example, verse one says, “then Jesus was led by the spirit, so the Holy Spirits involved in this. “Into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil”, so the devil is also involved in this as well. And it the devil, that seems to be connected to the temptation part of what is going on, so, that’s a clue. Verse 2 says “Jesus had fasted 40 days and 40 nights and he was hungry. That fact that these two verses tell us about a trial, is not often disputed, after all it says that Jesus had fasted for 40 days, and nights and he was hungry. So, from Jesus’ point of view, this ws a trial, before anything else had even happenned. The word trial was used of something that was hard or painful. It was also used of something that causes anguish. But look at verse one, it says, He was led by the Holy Spirit into all of this. What part does God have to play in this? In a trial, a testing, and a temptation, and the answer is that it varies as to what it is from the point of view of each protagonist. From God’s point of view, this is a test. As a matter of fact the testing of us is something that is sometimes definitely in the plans of God for us. The verse that most demonstrates that is Genesis 22 one.
“Sometime later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.
(Genesis 22: 1)
That says very simply and very plainly, God tested Abraham. And when Abraham was seen to meet the test and pass with fortitude, it is that which opens up the whole blessing of God for him and his future family. Now, from Jesus’ point there’s a difference between a trial, which of Back in the Matthew text what we see from Jesus point of view was a test. The test is not to prove something as bad or wrong, but to demonstrate that it’s right. It’s to prove the faithfulness of the individual. So, God tested Abraham to demonstrate that he had faith. and God allowed this testing of Jesus because he knew how he would respond. Someone once say something does not become a conviction until it has been tested. Think about that, we need to be tested and then the things that we have learnt can percolate, filter deep down into our being so that they become deeply held convictions. So, there’s always a purpose in being tested. There’s a third thing that is portrayed here is that is also a temptation. Very clearly this passage that. So, Satan’s part in this is to tempt, to be the tempter. The word tempt has within its core the idea of the solicitation to evil. What Satan is trying to do is to get the person he is tempting to sin, understanding that then puts it all in place.
Let’s review. What is the difference between a trial, a test, and a temptation? From our point of view, it is a trial. From God’s point of view, it is a test, but from Satan’s point of view, it is a temptation. To say it all very simply, God tests, we experience trials and Satan tempts. Satan temps to try and bring you down. God tests to help build you up.
Having said that, this passage provokes a really challenging question, if Jesus is being tempted and temptation is a solicitation to evil, could Jesus have responded and sinned? This is one of history’s great theoretical, theological, questions? Could Jesus have sinned? Now there’s no question that he did not sin in fact the book of Hebrews tells us says that he was tempted in all points, like us, but remained without sin. So, there’s no question about the fact that he did not sin. The question is, could he have sinned. And then the question beyond that is, well, if he couldn’t have sinned, then is it a valid temptation? I will try and not get too technical about this, but this is what Bible experts call the impeccability of Christ. Could he have sinned? Let me answer it like this. The answer is, from a divine point of view Jesus could not have sinned. God can’t sin. James 1:13 says that. The point is Jesus in His divine nature could not have sinned. But what then about his human nature, well the point is these two things, the human and the divine are so welded together, you can’t have one without the other, so the divine nature would always take precedent so he would not have sinned.
Let me illustrate, if I were to take a 3-foot length thick, thick steel, I could not d it. If I were to take a separate 3-foot length of computer cabling I could easily bend it. If I were to drill a hole the entire length of the steel rod and ran the cable through it then I could not bend the cable, within it. Now if the cable represents Jesus’ human nature, and the steel the divine nature and we understand that they are combined in such a way as to be inseparable, could I bend them? No. So I conclude that Jesus could not have sinned because he was the combination of a human and a divine nature, and one was completely enveloped by the other. Now that brings up another question. Well, if he couldn’t have sinned, then was this temptation real, right? But hear me well, just because he couldn’t have said yes because of his divine nature doesn’t mean, it wasn’t a real temptation. This is a bit like a rubber dingy going into battle against a huge battleship. Is there any chance of that little rubber dingy destroying the battleship? No. but is it a real attack, yes it is. This is a real temptation, it isn’t just a hypothetical, or a theoretical temptation, it is a real attempt of the devil trying to tempt Jesus.
This is a deeply important truth. To argue about whether or not Jesus could or could not have been tempted in his nature, well my conclusion is he could not have, but it is still, a valid temptation. Because you have to consider it from the point of view of the individual protagonists. Well, having I hope delt with with all those theological questions, let’s consider what where the actual temptations the devil hurled at him? Let’s also , how does this relate to us, can it be of help to us to see how he responded? How did Jesus overcome these temptations, and can we do what he did to overcome temptations that come our way? Let’s look at the passage and look now specifically at the three temptations of Christ.
I’m going to call the first one, the temptation to disobey God’s will.
Let me show you how I arrived at the conclusion, that this what this temptation is all about. Look at verse 3.
The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
(Matthew 4: 3)
Did the devil doubt that Jesus was the son of God, No? In the text, in fact the words used could be translated as, “since you are the son of God”. Remember this follows hot off the heels of the statement at the end of Chapter 3. “This is my beloved son” . So, the devils first words are, OK, since you’re the son of God and you fasted for 40 days and nights. Why don’t you make these stones bread and eat them?
Is there anything wrong with eating? No” Is there anything wrong with eating bread? No! Is there anything wrong with Jesus using power to change stones to bread? No! He could certainly make bread out of stone if he wanted to. Well then, what’s the temptation? There was nothing wrong with eating, nothing even wrong in changing stones into bread, all of those are legitimate needs. The problem with this is Satan is telling him when and how to do it. So, he could have followed Satan’s lead instead of God’s lead, and the Son of God says he is willing to wait on the father to be fed. This temptation is not about eating when hungry it’s about disobeying the will of God and following, Satan’s urges instead. The temptation here, and the temptation that we all face every day is when we are tempted is to take a legitimate need and fulfil it in an illegitimate way. May I repeat that? The temptation is to take a legitimate need and fulfil it in an illegitimate way.
I don’t know how many times I’ve talked to people who were struggling with something, and they wanted to argue that it was a legitimate need. Sure, it is. I’m not questioning that. The issue is how are you trying to get it filled? The simplest and easiest illustration is sex. Is that a legitimate need?
Sex is a legitimate need, particularly when you understand it is an expression of committed love. Because of that God then has some things to say about where and how that need should be met. In case you are wondering, it’s in marriage. So, casual sex outside of marriage, is an illegitimate way to try to get a legitimate need met, and that is one of Satan’s greatest ploys. As a matter of fact, it is specifically said in First Corinthians chapter seven that Satan tempts married people on that very issue, so be aware. Now some of you probably think, I would never do that, I’m above that. Well then you ought to be particularly careful because Satan often attacks us at our strongest point. He didn’t hesitate to boldly go up to none other than Jesus Christ and try to get him to respond to a legitimate need in a illegitimate way. The issue in this part of the temptation is will Jesus step outside the will of God and will you follow Satan’s lead in order to meet his legitimate physical need.
Another point worth bearing in mind is the nature of the tempter temptations will nearly always be to temps us through the bending of our natural God given gifts and abilities. The person who is gifted with charm will be tempted to use that charm to get away with something. The person who is gifted with the power of words will often use their command of words to produce excuses to justify their own conduct. The person with great gifts of intelligence will be tempted to use those gifts for themself and not others, to become the master, not the servant of other people. It is a grim fact about the nature of temptation that is just where we are, the strongest, that we must forever be on the watch. So, be careful of saying I wouldn’t do that. Those needs inside the human heart are strong and you may think you’re stronger than you are, and that then is your danger point.
So, how did Jesus handle this temptation? Well, the text tells us, and we shall look at that next time.