Matthew 4:1-11: Trusting God in Temptation

Trusting God in Temptation: Matthew 4:1-11

Our Scripture reading this morning comes from Matthew 4:1-11. Hear now the words the Living and True God:

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And 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, ‘Man shall 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 set him 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, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again 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 worldand their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” 11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

May God bless the reading of his Word.

I recently watched a documentary with my wife called, Titan. On June 18, 2023, five people descended underwater to explore the remains of the Titanic. The vessel they were in, called the Titan, imploded; killing all five people aboard, including the company’s founder, Stockton Rush. Those who worked with Rush gave a clear consensus; this mission was doomed from the start. Engineers and deep-sea professionals warned him of the mission’s certain danger, but these concerns were dismissed, often firing those who spoke up. He saw caution as an obstacle to progress, saying, “At some point, safety is just pure waste.” Rush was motivated by status and ego, tempted to leave his mark on the world even at the risk of other people’s lives. His ambition blinded him, and his leadership was marked with impatience, selfishness, and defiance to all the experts.

 The Titan tells a story not just about technology or tragedy; it’s about the human heart, and how easily we can be lured away. Sometimes temptation is loud and obvious. Sometimes it comes dressed as ambition, innovation, or even noble purpose. But when our desires outrun our dependence on God, we risk trading wisdom for recklessness.

 We live in a culture that celebrates speed, self-made success, and pushing boundaries. But beneath that lies a real danger: the temptation to take shortcuts, ignore wise counsel, and force outcomes that God has not given us. Whether in leadership, relationships, or personal calling, we all face moments where we’re tempted to grasp instead of wait, to take instead of trust. We do not need more drive, we need more discernment. We need reliance on God’s provision, trust in His love, and strength to walk in obedience. Which brings us to the main idea of today’s passage…

Main idea- Fight off temptation by waiting for God’s provision, trusting God’s love, and walking in obedience.

 The Gospel of Matthew focuses on how the promised ‘Messiah” of the Old Testament had finally come. Chapter 1 establishes Christ’s lineage, showing the connection from Abraham, through David, all the way to Jesus. It shows that Jesus has the rightful claim to the throne of David as King. Matthew then demonstrates the uniqueness of Jesus in the virgin birth. Angels appear to Joseph and Mary, affirming Jesus was no ordinary child; He was the fulfillment of God’s promise. Chapter 2 builds on this, with the Magi worshipping Jesus as the “King of the Jews” and King Herod seeking to kill this baby, threatened by the arrival of God’s promised king. Chapter 3 fast forwards to the adult life of Jesus, with John the Baptist preparing the way for the Lord. And after Jesus was baptized by John, the Holy Spirit visibly descends upon Jesus as a sign of confirmation and anointing. The Father Himself speaks from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”. So, its in light of all of this confirmation of Jesus’ identity that we come to our main text. Chapter 4:1-4 focuses on…

I. Temptation in the Flesh, 1-4

And to…

A. Trust Where the Spirit Leads, 1

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”

At His baptism, the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus. Now, the Holy Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness with the explicit purpose of temptation. He leads Jesus “to be tempted by the devil.” This is an unsettling thought. In the Lord’s Prayer, we explicitly pray “Lead us not into temptation.”, and yet, that’s what He does here. Why would the Spirit do this? Well, first, we must note that the Holy Spirit does not do the tempting. James 1:13 clearly states. “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’...” God does not tempt us, the Spirit does not tempt Jesus; it says that temptation comes from the devil. But, the Spirit led Him there. Couldn’t He have led Jesus away from the devil? What does God want us to learn from this?

Well, what may seem troubling in this passage becomes deeply comforting when we realize what’s happening: Jesus steps into our struggle. The temptation that Adam and Eve faced in garden, that we often face in the world, Christ will now face in the wilderness. His temptation serves as a way for Christ to identify with us. He doesn’t observe temptation from a distance, He steps into it, He walks through temptation with full humanity; He feels hunger, hears lies, and confronts the enemy head-on. So, perhaps the Spirit guides Christ into the wilderness so that when we cry out to Him in our weakness, Jesus can meet us with sympathy and compassion. Hebrews 2:18 says, “¹⁸ For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” Through His time in the wilderness, Jesus personally knows the struggles we face and is now able to help us in our temptation. Christ’s ability to identify with us in our ‘struggle with sin’ comes from the Spirit having led Him to face temptation in the wilderness.

We can also see that Christ’s temptation does not necessarily mean divine abandonment or punishment. We’re reminded of Job, when God permitted Satan to test Job, not as punishment, but to reveal the strength of his trust; to demonstrate the strength of Job’s relationship with God. Likewise, the Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness not as punishment, but to reveal the strength of Christ’s trust in the Spirit; to demonstrate the strength of His relationship with the Father. When we find ourselves in the wilderness, in times of struggle and temptation, do we often feel abandoned? Punished? Maybe even persecuted by the enemy? Do we feel alone? But we see here that when we find ourselves in the wilderness, the Spirit has not abandoned us. But He may use that time to reveal the strength of our trust, to demonstrate the strength of our relationship with God; showing us ways in which we need to grow. The same Spirit who descended like a dove at the Jordan does not depart in the desert; He remained with Jesus in the battle. And He remains with us too, not only in our victories, but in our vulnerabilities as well.

Jesus followed the Spirit into the wilderness to enter our struggle and face the enemy. Christ trusts wherever the Spirit leads Him, faithfully following Him, knowing that He does not enter the wilderness alone. Jesus then models, in vv.2-4, how to…

B. Fight off Temptation by Waiting for God’s Provision, 2-4

“² And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. ³ And 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,“ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

40 days and 40 nights is a significant amount of time, and this length of time is significant in the Bible. Noah saw rain fall in the flood for 40 days and 40 nights. Moses waited for the commandments on Mount Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights.

But the prophet Elijah’s story offers the closest parallel. After fleeing Jezebel, in the book of 1Kings, Elijah traveled to Mount Horeb. And in 19:8 it says that angels came to Elijah, “⁸ And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb…” In the story of Elijah, God gives provision, the angels ministered to him by providing food that sustained Elijah. But in our main text Jesus finds Himself waiting, He fasts for 40 days and nights waiting for God’s provision. And in this time of waiting, the enemy seeks to capitalize. Satan targets what he sees as a weakness in Jesus. Because of Christ’s hunger, Satan thinks he may succeed in leading Jesus astray.

Satan seeks to cast doubt in Christ, starting his temptation with, “If you are the Son of God….” He will repeat this phrase in the second temptation, and this is important. Remember, at His baptism, God the Father audibly spoke from heaven and said, “This is my beloved Son…” Now, Satan questions this. When God says one thing, Satan always comes around with the question, “Did God really say that?” He’s so obvious, but he hopes that Christ’s hunger will distract Him enough to take the bait.

Our flesh has a way of doing that; making us short-sighted and impulsive. That’s what happened to Esau back in Genesis. He was so hungry he gave up his birthright; he gave up his inheritance for a bowl of stew. Our flesh has a way of deceiving us into thinking the moment is all that matters, forgetting our relationship with God. Adam and Eve believed that lie, and so they ate. But where Adam and Eve ate in deception, where Esau ate in impulsiveness, Jesus fasted in faith. Adam and Eve lost their fellowship, Esau lost his birthright. But Jesus, the true Son, held fast to both by waiting on the Lord, trusting His Father, and resisting temptation.

Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 8:3, saying “It is written,“ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” This verse implies that we do need food to live, but not food alone. Our greater need is for God Himself. Christ shows us our need for faithfulness outweighs any other need. But we often get our needs and wants mixed up, thinking we need something just because we desire it.

It’s like a parent telling a child, “Do not eat dessert before dinner”. The parent’s instruction implies that not only will the child eventually have dessert but will have a full dinner before that. The dinner has actual nourishment; the child wants dessert but they need the meal. The child has their priorities mixed up. They think they need the dessert and they need it right now, the parent promises dessert and a full meal if they wait patiently. But in the child’s short-sighted desire for dessert, they deliberate if it’s worth the wait.

 We often act like that child. But we hunger not just for food, our flesh desires many things and we deliberate if it’s worth the wait; we get our priorities mixed up. But Jesus shows us our greatest need is God; He provides and feeds the soul in a way nothing else can. And so, Christ faithfully waits on the Lord. Now, I recognize that sometimes God calls us to wait, and other times He calls us to action, but the waiting often precedes the action. Christ faithfully waits in the wilderness, which precedes His ministry. Before He begins to take action and start His ministry, Christ undergoes a time of waiting. We too must prayerfully wait on the Lord to discern what He wants from us, we must let Him lead us to faithfulness. It’s in the waiting that He prepares us for action, it’s in the waiting that we find our satisfaction in the Lord. In that time, He equips us with His Spirit to fight the temptation in our flesh, trusting where the Spirit leads and trusting His provision.

The temptation then escalates, in vv.5-7, shifting from temptation in the flesh to…

II. Temptation in the House of Worship, 5-7

And to…

A. Beware of the Twisting of Scripture, 5-6

“⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him 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, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”

Satan brings Jesus to the Holy City of Jerusalem to stand atop the temple, the central place of worship. Here, at the Father’s house of worship, Satan attempts to use God’s words against Jesus. Satan quotes Psalm 91:11&12, saying, “throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” This Psalm focuses on trusting God, but Satan twists this Psalm, using it to potentially test God rather than trust Him. Interestingly enough, Satan only recites vv. 11&12 of the Psalm, he conveniently leaves out v.13, which reads, “You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.” For Satan, that whole trampling on the serpent part didn’t seem important.

Honestly, Satan picked a terrible scripture to tempt Jesus, but that only becomes clear if you know the scripture. We must beware of those who come to the house of God, those who come to the church, and twist His Word. It’s one thing to misunderstand Scripture, it’s another to intentionally twist it. Because some temptation wears a disguise, masked in religious language. This kind of deception may not be obvious, it may even sound holy, but it seeks to manipulate and lead people astray. Satan doesn’t always deny Scripture; he distorts it, cutting out the parts that expose him and twisting the rest to serve his agenda.

And notice Satan’s specific lie here: ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ In other words: “If God really loves you, He’s not going to let you fall against those rocks; no harm will come to you. If God truly loves you, He’ll shield you from pain.” Except, that’s the explicit reason God sent His Son; so that Christ would suffer and die for our sin. The Father sent His beloved son so that He would willingly go to the cross for us. The gospel shows us that God’s love is most visible in sacrifice. But do we often believe Satan’s lie? Do we think ‘God’s love’ must mean good health, physical comfort, and safety for us?

Jesus Himself tells us in Matthew 16:24, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Christ tells us that to be a Christian, to follow Him, means a life of self-denial and a willingness to carry our cross and glorify God even in our suffering, just as Christ did. He calls us to follow Him even at great cost to our comfort, because often times love is most visible in sacrifice. Satan says, “If God really loves you, no harm will come to you, he’ll shield you from pain.” In contrast, God says “Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me.” God does not promise health and physical comfort on this side of heaven, beware of those say otherwise; beware of the twisting of Scripture.

In v.7, Jesus once again combats Satan with the Word of God, and models how to….

B. Fight Off Temptation by Trusting God’s Love, 7

^“7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:16 in response to Satan’s lies. Jesus knows that God the Father loves Him, the Father audibly proclaimed this at His baptism. Jesus does not need to test that. I mean, can you imagine your child jumping off the roof of the house just to see if you’d catch them? What a crazy scenario. And yet, that’s what Satan tempts Jesus to do, to jump off the temple as a test. Satan tempts Him to test God’s love by forcing His hand, to make the Father prove His love. But Jesus knows that true love does not manipulate, it trusts. We often face the same temptation: to test God’s love by demanding signs or specific outcomes. 

It’s like a young couple in a relationship. If one person says to the other, “If you really love me, you’ll sleep with me.” This kind of test distorts love. True love does not demand proof through manipulation; love protects, honors, waits, and trusts. The moment someone ties love to this kind of manipulative test; demanding signs or specific outcomes, they are not asking for love, they’re asking for control.

 That’s exactly what Satan does to Jesus: “If the Father really loves you, make Him prove it.” Jesus does not need a dramatic rescue to confirm what the Father has already proclaimed. In the same way, we fight temptation not by demanding signs or outcomes, but by remembering God’s faithfulness. We must return to His Word and trust in the love He has demonstrated through Christ. As Jesus says in John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” Christ demonstrated love in its fullest form. If you ever doubt God’s love for you, look to His demonstration of it on the cross; He bore the punishment for your sin, He laid down His life for you. So, will we leap off rooftops demanding proof of God’s love? Or will we stand firm on what God has already said and done, looking to His death on the cross as all the proof we need, trusting in His love.

The temptation escalates yet again in vv.8-11, now focusing on the…

III.  Temptation in the World, 8-11

And to.. 

A. Beware of the Glory of the World, 8-9

^“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 I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.””

Satan shows Jesus the kingdoms of the world, and he offers them to Jesus in exchange for His worship. “Turn from the Father and worship Father of Lies.” You see, Satan appears to know how this story ends. He knows that should Jesus continue, the Father will give Jesus “all authority in heaven and on earth.” Satan knows that through the work of Christ, as Colossian 2:15 says, He will disarm “the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” So, attempting to avoid this outcome, Satan now makes the best offer he can make.

“I will give these kingdoms to you, I will give you the world, you can still be king and you won’t even have to go to the cross to do it. All you need to do is worship me.”

Satan claims he can offer the same things God can but without the agony of the cross. This offer seduces with power, authority, and ease.

Satan says, “You do not need to do the right thing or the hard thing, I have another way.” But James 4:17 tells us ^“17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” James says that, as Christians, we know what we should do. God has blessed us with His Word and Spirit. Now we must be faithful, doing the right thing even when it’s hard.

Temptation may not come to us with horns and a pitchfork, it may come trying to cut a deal, offering us the glory of the world in exchange for our faithfulness; and we quickly forget the cost of compromise. The kingdoms of the world tempt in many ways, but the kingdoms of the world can not compare to the glory of God. 1 Peter 5:4 says, ‘⁴And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”

God promises unfading glory, an everlasting crown for those in Christ. The world’s glory fades, it’s temporary. Will we really trade eternal glory for temporary gain? Will we exchange our eternal inheritance for earthly indulgence? For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? So, will we go astray chasing the fading glory of this world, or will we follow Christ’s example, in vv.10-11, and…

B. Fight Off Temptation by Walking in Obedience, 10-11

“¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ” ¹¹ Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.”

Jesus does not take the bait. He refuses to compromise His obedience, He refuses to trade right worship for worldly gain. Jesus chooses the hard road, the faithful road, the road that leads to the cross. Jesus shows us that worship belongs to God alone, and anything that steals that worship away from God is sin. 

And He shows us this by, yet again, turning to Scripture. For the third and last time, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy, this time 6:13-14. “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.” All of His quotations come from the same book. Why? Why does Jesus keep quoting Deuteronomy to combat Satan? Well, in Deuteronomy, God prepares Israel to inherit their promised land after 40 years in the wilderness. Likewise, God now prepares Jesus to inherit a promised kingdom after 40 days in the wilderness. God prepares and leads both for the fulfillment of divine promises. But if you know anything about Israel’s time in the wilderness, you know they often fell short and disobeyed God’s commands. Christ cites this book to Satan to emphasize that He will obey where Israel failed to obey. Jesus is the faithful Son who triumphs in the wilderness where Israel often fell short. The promises made to Israel will find their ultimate fulfillment in Christ, and Christ will walk in obedience.

But we often act more like Israel than we do Christ. We find ourselves failing to keep God’s commands because of the temptation of the world.

 There’s an old saying that Luther used to describe temptation, he said, “You cannot keep birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.” Meaning, we can’t always control the temptations we will face, just like we can’t control birds flying overhead in the sky, but we can refuse to let them build a nest in us. We can and we must refuse to let sin find a home in us, rejecting and turning away from temptation.

 Jesus models this for us. He does not entertain Satan’s lies or negotiate with evil; He casts him away, He commands, “Be gone”. He stands firm on God’s Word. Do we entertain our temptations? Do we command they “Be gone”, as Christ did? Or do we invite temptation to build a nest; to settle in, to hatch and grow sin in us? But where we often entertain sin, Christ embraces obedience.

His obedience flowed from love and loyalty to the Father. But it also flows from love for His church. He resists temptation not only to honor the Father, but to rescue us. We need a sinless substitute for our salvation, and Christ will not compromise. He will not let sin build a nest in Him, our salvation depends on it. Christ entered the wilderness as a step towards conquering the enemy; so that His victory would count for us. Romans 5:19 says, “¹⁹ For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners…” referring to Adam, “…so by the one man’s obedience…”, the obedience of Christ, “… the many will be made righteous.” Every step of Christ’s faithfulness in the wilderness was a step towards the cross, a step towards securing our freedom; that God would make us righteous through His perfect obedience, that His righteousness would count for us. With our salvation in His hands, Christ remained faithful.

And because Jesus remains faithful, Satan leaves, and angels arrive to care for Him. We may sometimes feel alone in the wilderness, but the Father sees us and ministers to us, as He did Christ. Jesus shows us that when we walk in obedience to the Lord, we grow in our relationship with Him, and its in that relationship with God that we find our satisfaction.

So, we fight off temptation by faithfully waiting for God’s provision, trusting God’s love, and walking in obedience. Each decision pushes Satan and temptation further back and draws us into deeper relationship with God. And while we often fail, Christ succeeds. We worship a God who triumphs over the enemy where we fail, who remains faithful when we fall, and who gives us the victory through Christ.