Gospel Notes by Michael Whelan SM
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. 3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 saying 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 dash your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do 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 splendor; 9 and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’”
11 Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him. (Matthew 4:1-11 – NRSV)
Introudctory notes
General
“The customary title for Matt 4:1–11 and its parallels (Mark 1:12–13; Luke 4:1–13) is the ‘Temptation of Jesus.’ A better title, one more appropriate to the biblical basis of the narrative in the Book of Deuteronomy, is the ‘Testing of God’s Son.’ The concern of the passage is not so much whether the devil can lure Jesus into this or that sin as it is the portrayal of Jesus as God’s Son ‘who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin’ (Heb 4:15). Where Israel in the wilderness failed, Jesus passes every test.
“The Markan version (Mark 1:12–13) is very short in comparison with Matt 4:1–11 and Luke 4:1–13; it is a straightforward narrative, without the lengthy dialogues of the other Gospels. The Matthean and Lukan versions are clearly related. Since they depart from Mark and are closely parallel, they are usually attributed to Q (though by length and complexity they stand out from the simple sayings-material characteristic of Q).
“After a narrative introduction (Matt 4:1–2), the Matthean version consists of three dialogues between the devil and Jesus (4:3–4, 5–7, 8–10) and a narrative conclusion (4:11). Each dialogue has the devil offering a test and Jesus responding with a quotation from Deuteronomy 6–8. The biblical quotations correspond closely to the Septuagint, indicating that the present text at least was composed in Greek on the basis of the Greek Bible. Whether the story goes back to Jewish-Christian scribes (as Gerhardsson argues) or to Jesus himself (as Dupont claims) cannot be determined.
“The three biblical quotations in which Jesus’ responses are expressed come from Deuteronomy 6–8 (8:3; 6:16; 6:13). In those chapters Moses addresses the people of Israel near the end of their wandering in the wilderness and before their entrance into the promised land. The underlying motif of the Book of Deuteronomy is the covenant. In chapters 6–8 Moses supplies the historical foundations for God’s relationship with Israel and presents exhortations on that basis. This material is reminiscent of the “historical prologue” in the covenant formula. For a full discussion of covenant, see D. J. McCarthy, Treaty and Covenant (Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1978).
“The premise of Moses’ speech is God’s love for and election of Israel: ‘The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession … because the Lord loves you’ (Deut 7:6–7). The relationship between God and Israel takes the form of a covenant: ‘the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments’ (Deut 7:9). Woven through the speech are references to Israel’s wanderings in the wilderness and the challenges related to its entrance into the promised land. These are placed in the context of a father-son relationship: ‘As a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you’ (Deut 8:5). The motif of Israel as God’s son appears elsewhere in this book (see Deut 1:31; 14:1; 32:5–6, 18–20) and other ot writings (see Exod 4:22–23; Hos 11:1).
“Israel’s experience in the wilderness is expressed in terms of a test from God: ‘And you shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or not’ (Deut 8:2). Besides the testing motif this verse contains several other themes developed in Matt 4:1–11: Israel’s being led by God, the number forty, the wilderness, and perhaps even the notion of fasting in the verb “humble” (‘nh).
“Whereas God may test Israel, Israel should not test God: ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah’ (Deut 6:16). By quoting this verse in Matt 4:7 Jesus aligns himself with Israel as it should be and in contrast to Israel as it was at Massah and Meribah (see Exod 17:1–7).
So, Deuteronomy 6–8 not only supplies the three biblical quotations attributed to Jesus in Matt 4:1–11 but also provides the key terms ‘Son of God’ (see Matt 4:3, 6) and ‘test.’ Moses challenges Israel to learn from its past mistakes in the wilderness and to act faithfully as it enters the Promised Land. Matthew (following Q) presents Jesus as the true Son of God who passes the tests set forth by the devil and emerges as the model of covenant fidelity.
“If we grant that Matthew took over his version of the ‘Testing of God’s Son’ from Q, it was an especially congenial text for him and his audience. In form it resembles a rabbinic debate in which great teachers trade quotations from Scripture and settle arguments by them. In content it carries on Matthew’s attempt to identify Jesus before the beginning of his public ministry. The idea of Jesus as God’s Son had already been raised in Matt 1:20; 2:15; and 3:17. The testing narrative allows Matthew to connect Jesus’ divine sonship with the experience of Israel. Israel in the wilderness failed the testing; Jesus passes it.
“The contrast between the wilderness generation and Jesus need not lead to talk about Jesus as the “new Israel.” Rather Jesus stands with Israel in accepting the challenges posed by Moses in Deuteronomy 6–8. As in Heb 3:7–4:10 the wilderness generation is a negative example to be avoided. Far from replacing Israel, Jesus takes his identity from Israel. Behind the early Christian claims about his divine sonship is his solidarity with the Israel addressed by Moses. He accepts the testing from God and refuses to test God.
“The Matthean order of tests—wilderness, Temple, mountain—is generally considered to reflect the order of Q. Luke’s order—wilderness, mountain, Temple—is usually explained in light of Luke’s special interest in geography in general and in Jerusalem and its temple in particular. But it is possible that Matthew has changed the order to foreshadow future events in his Gospel so that there is a correspondence between the first temptation (4:2–4), and the miraculous feedings (14:13–21; 15:32–39), the second temptation (4:5–7) along with the baptism (3:13–17) and the transfiguration (17:1–13), and the third temptation and the conclusion of the Gospel (28:16–20).
“In the Church’s calendar, Matt 4:1–11 becomes prominent at the beginning of Lent. Understanding this text against the background of Deuteronomy 6–8 allows one to go beyond the narrow themes of fasting and temptation to the level of Christology. As is the case with all the material in the opening chapters of Matthew, the focus of attention is the identity of Jesus. Understanding it as the testing of God’s Son allows one to see the nature of Jesus’ divine sonship and its relation to Israel as God’s Son” (Daniel J Harrington, The Gospel of Matthew, Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2007, 68-70).
Specific
the devil: In the first sentence, Matthew, like Luke, uses the Greek word diabolos, here translated as “the devil”. In the third sentence, while Luke sticks to the Greek word diabolos, Matthew uses the word peirazōn, “the tester” or “the tempter”. Towards the end of the temptations, Matthew has Jesus identify diabolos and peirazōn as “Satan”. “Satan” is a name, not just a descriptive term. That name used in Job 1-2 (where Job is tested), Zechariah 3:1-2 (where Joshua is tested) and 1 Chronicles 21:1 (where David is tested). The testing in each instance – Jesus’ temptations included – has an adversarial quality to it. However, it is evident in the Hebrew Scriptures that “Satan” remains under God’s ultimate control.
The mystery of evil in our world remains that – a mystery. It is tempting to either simplify it as the Manicheans did in the 4th century or to use it to deny God – how could there be a loving God when there is so much pain and suffering etc. The first temptation has found its way into the Christian consciousness – perhaps largely under the influence of St Augustine with the help of Michelangelo and built on by popular pieties such as that associated with Fatima. If I was in charge of evil in the world I would be happy with both those outcomes because they both obscure and diminish the role of human freedom and responsibility. They also obscure and perhaps dismiss the paradoxical truth that human beings show their best when they are tested.
Reflection
In the Bible, the wilderness has both positive and negative meanings. It depends on the context. Generally, however, there are two strong strands of meaning associated with the wilderness. The first is that it is a place of testing, even death. Thus we read in the Book of Deuteronomy that the wilderness is “great and terrible” (1:19), a place of “flinty rock” and “no water” populated by “fiery serpents and scorpions” (8:15), a “howling waste” (32:10). The second is that it is a place of encounter with God – even intimacy – and therefore a life-giving place. Thus we read in the Prophets: “I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and led you forty years in the wilderness” (Amos 2:10); “I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown” (Jeremiah 2:2).
This tension of the wilderness – between dying and living – is always present to us. Can we live without dying? I am speaking of the dying that accompanies our getting out of bed in the morning, the dying of patience, of care and concern, of bearing the tedium of our days, of carrying through our duties gracefully, of living with incompleteness and loneliness, and so on.
Show me a magnanimous and compassionate human being and I will show you someone who has “found grace in the wilderness”(Jeremiah 31:2). Show me a mean spirited and selfish person and I will show you someone who is refusing to submit to the wilderness experience. The lesson of the Bible is clear: The way to the Promised Land goes via the wilderness. The way to becoming truly human goes via the wilderness too.
This can be daunting. W H Auden puts it as only a poet can:
Afraid of our living task,
the dying which the coming day will ask. (“Horae Canonicae,” “Prime”.)
A closer look at the Hebrew language here can give us light and strength. The Hebrew word for wilderness is miḏbār, which word in turn shares roots with dāḇār, which means “word”. In the silence of the wilderness, God speaks: “I will now allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her” (Hosea 2:14).
“Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness.” This is deeply symbolic for two reasons. In the first place, Jesus is identifying with the Chosen People whom God led out of Egypt into the wilderness to forge a Covenant with them. In the second place, Jesus is identifying with all human beings in their necessity to go through the wilderness on their way to being human.
How would you name the wilderness in your life? Can you think of your wilderness as a place in which God will “speak tenderly” to you?
Naming the unnameable
In today’s Gospel – Matthew 4:1-11 – Jesus is sent to confront “the devil”: “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” This confrontation heralds a new way of our being in the world. However, we find ourselves in a world, born of the so-called Enlightenment of Eighteenth Century Europe and dominated by rationalism, where the very idea of “evil” is called into question. What do you think?
The idea of “evil” depends on our acceptance of a given moral order, an order of values that serve and protect relationships, values such as honesty and care, justice and peace and a recognition of the dignity and therefore the rights of each human being. This moral order is not a fabrication. It is not dispensable. It demands continued intelligent analysis and courageous application in the light of questions and circumstances that change with time and place.
“Evil” may be understood as the hostile force that tends to undermine or destroy that moral order in whole or part. In every age, in every human organization, in every individual, the moral order is potentially under threat. In our times, it seems fair to say, “evil” is winning some significant battles.
For those of us “baptized into Christ” (Romans 6:3) “there is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Jesus’ confrontation with the hostile forces of this world in his life, death and resurrection, has laid the foundations for a new state of being. Matthew calls it the “kingdom of heaven.” It will manifest itself in a wholehearted embrace of the given moral order and a rejection of “evil” in any form – and that is not straightforward!
This truth of our Christian faith must be held in tension with the very uncomfortable truth of the human condition, that we live behind enemy lines, as it were. The Incarnation is a rescue operation that has yet to be fully completed. The last words of Matthew’s Gospel are hope-filled: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (28:18-20). Although the foundations of the victory have been laid, it is up to us each day to do our best to choose communion with Jesus Christ over the hostile forces that seek to undermine or destroy the moral order.
Jesus affirms what every fair-minded human being knows: “‘In everything do to others as you would have them do to you’” (7:12). However, he offers much more than a moral vision or a code of behaviour. The “kingdom of heaven” is being in him. In the end, it is this being in him that will completely defeat “evil.”