The Temptations of Yeshua

“Then Yeshua, full of Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit), returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where He was tempted by the devil for forty days. Yeshua ate nothing all that time and became very hungry. Then the devil said to Him, ‘if You are the Son of God, change this stone into a loaf of bread.’ But Yeshua told him, ‘No! The Scriptures say, people do not live by bread alone.’ Then the devil took Him up and revealed to Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ‘I will give You the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,’ the devil said, ‘because they are mine to give to anyone I please. I will give it all to You if You will worship me.’ Yeshua replied, ‘the Scriptures say, you must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’ Then the devil took Him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple and said, ‘if You are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order His angels to protect and guard You. And they will hold You up with their hands so You won’t even hurt Your foot on a stone.’

Yeshua responded, ‘the Scriptures also say, you must not test the Lord your God.’ When the devil had finished tempting Yeshua, he left Him until the next opportunity came.” (Luke 4:1-13) (Also read Deuteronomy 26:1-11; Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16; Romans 10:8-13) This Scripture indicates that immediately after Yeshua was baptized by John the Baptist, He was led by YAHVEH’s Spirit into the wilderness, likely a sandy, hilly, limestone region between Palestine and the Dead Sea called Jeshimmon. Testing may be a more appropriate word for this experience than temptation. Could He really be the chosen instrument of YAHVEH? The account of this episode had to originate from Yeshua. He had to have shared it with his disciples later or the gospel writers were producing it to present a lesson about the inner struggle of Yeshua with His Messianic mission. This experience may also be representative of the continuous testing that Yeshua felt to compromise His mission.

This confrontation with the powers of Satan is symbolic of the struggle in which Yeshua was engaged throughout His ministry. The temptation story is depicted in a dramatic way, with Yeshua in a dialogue with the Devil in his sinister attempts to seduce Yeshua into using a shortcut to reach His Messianic goals or to turn in an entirely different direction and follow the Tempter’s leadership. The gospels set the wilderness place as the battleground for the drama between Yeshua and the tempter. “If you are the Son of YAHVEH” (4:3) could be a way of planting doubt in Yeshua’s mind about what had happened at His baptism. The Greek however, could allow the word “if” to be translated as “Sinceyou are the Son of YAHVEH.” The tempter’s approach then was not to question Yeshua’s Son-ship but to affirm Him as YAHVEH’s Son and then try to persuade Him to see His mission in a more self - aggrandizing way. Let’s consider now the three temptations:

I.) “You are hungry,” the Tempter observes. “See these flat stones around You. Why don’t You turn some of those stones into bread and satisfy Your physical hunger? You know You have that power as YAHVEH’s Son.” Yeshua was being tempted to use His power in a selfish and personal way.He was tempted to satisfy His personal needs with His miraculous powers. The temptation loomed larger, however: “If You satisfied Your own ‘bread’ need,” the tempter might be suggesting, “this could be a way to reach other persons as well. Use Your powers now to satisfy Your own needs and then later use Your powers to ‘bribe’ people into following You when You satisfy their personal needs.” Yeshua did not fall for the tempter’s trap. He responded with a quotation from Deuteronomy 8:3: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceeds from the mouth of YAHVEH.” Yeshua reached back to Israel’s wilderness experience and noted their dependence on YAHVEH for their provision. He refused to be a “bread Messiah” to attract people for His Kingdom. He faced this temptation later when He fed the five thousand by the Sea of Galilee with the lad’s lunch of a few fish and loaves. The crowd wanted to make Him King after that miracle (Matthew 25:31-46). Again He refused to take a distorted way to draw people to His Kingdom.

II.) As the drama continues, Yeshua is transported to the pinnacle of the temple, which may have been on a porch that rose 450 feet above the Kedron Valley. “Leap from this height,” the subtle tempter urges “and the people will follow anyone who can do such a wonder.” Quoting scripture, the tempter reminds Yeshua that “YAHVEH 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” (Psalm 90:11-12). The tempter’s suggestion is that such a sensational event will so dazzle the spectators that it will attract and win them to Yeshua’s cause. “Put YAHVEH to the test,” the tempter muses “and says that if YAHVEH will do this spectacular thing for You, then You will follow obediently.” Yeshua faced the choice of whether He was going to be a popular Messianic figure Who used entertainment and spectacular signs to win people to His Kingdom or whether He would follow the way of the suffering servant that would lead to the cross. Again Yeshua rebuffed the tempter with a quotation from scripture. “You shall not tempt the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 6:16). Yeshua knew that faith was not genuine faith that demanded assurance before one could say it was real. We cannot expect YAHVEH to perform miracles to satisfy our desire to “prove” divine love and support. The signs and wonders that Yeshua used later were not used to compel faith in His followers. He consistently refused to use them for that purpose (Matthew 16:1-4). Yeshua refused to test His faith by putting YAHVEH to the test.

III.) The final scene in this drama is staged on a high mountain where the tempter has taken Yeshua and shown Him all the kingdom of the world. “You have come to save this world” the tempter asserts “and look, here it is before You. Worship me and I will see that You get to rule it all.” Satan knew how well that allure worked. Had not many great leaders followed evil, forceful avenues to achieve their conquest? “Be the militant Messiah that the Jewish people want. No one wants a hurting, suffering Messiah. They prefer a victorious, conquering figure who will overthrow their enemies. Compromise Your principles and let me show You an easier and less demanding way that still will lead You to Your desired end.” Did he suggest that Yeshua might be another David or Judas Maccabeus or the new Zealot leader? Yeshua confronted His dilemma: Would He be a political Messiah or the Suffering Servant Messiah? That was His choice now and throughout His ministry. He confronted that struggle in trying to get His own disciples to see that His ministry ultimately led to the cross. Words similar to what He would utter to the tempter in a few moments were used to address Peter and the other disciples when they tried to dissuade Him from His sacrificial way of the cross. “Get behind Me, Satan” (Matthew 16:22-23). Before He was arrested, Yeshua struggled in prayerful agony in the garden of Gethsemane about this same decision and prayed for strength to do His Father’s will. The allure to make a deal with the devil has captured our imagination in the story of Faust, for example, who sells his soul for magical powers. Yeshua knew the costly nature of this compromise. He also was aware that evil was not defeated by compromise or by accepting facsimiles of YAHVEH’s created world or by making an alliance with evil itself. “Away with you, Satan!” Yeshua asserts. “For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and Him only you shall serve” (Deuteronomy 6:13). Yeshua refuses to compromise, use sensationalism, use His powers selfishly or bow His knee at the altar of the evil one. He knew that this decision would lead ultimately to the cross and the path of the suffering servant. He chose it with confidence and the assurance of YAHVEH’s presence. I believe that the response of Yeshua to these temptations can offer us guidance in confronting our own battle with temptation. Yeshua’s response is a model for us. He of course, was battling to determine His Messianic direction and whether He would succumb to “shortcuts” to reach His desired goal. We too, face our temptations in a similar way and have to decide whether we will choose a path that is lesser than the way Yeshua has given us in our journey through life.