NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER FOUR

Part I (con’t)

Now Satan makes one last attempt to derail our Lord’s commitment to the cross. And what was his first temptation? Bread, of course! The devil was appealing to the human part of the God/man, hoping to use bread as bait for Jesus’ physical hunger in order to tempt our Lord’s spiritual allegiance to His Father’s will, and to expose any weakness in His trust in the power of God to see Him through. That’s why Jesus puts His spiritual man in control over His physical man in order to survive. But one polemic writer is not impressed. He notes that Jesus only did this once, while Moses, Elijah, Elisha and Ezekiel did it more than once, so why don’t the Christians worship them for their accomplishment as they do Jesus? But he fails to go on and compare what these prophets did to that of what our Lord Jesus accomplished on the cross and His triumphant emergence from the tomb.¹

The devil’s question, “If you are the Son of God,” clearly shows that Satan knew who Jesus was, but wanted Him to prove it his way. Oft times the Jews were not so upset when terms were used that already existed in their writings, but only when they were ascribed to Jesus of Nazareth. For instance, an ancient Jewish religious work ascribed by tradition to Enoch the great-grandfather of Noah, and written around 300 BC states clearly: “In those days the Lord told them to call and testify to the children of earth concerning their wisdom: Show it to them; for you are their guides, and the proper influence over the whole earth. For I and My Son will be remain with them forever in the paths of right living; and you will have peace: rejoice, you who live right. Amen.”² This was in reference to God’s Son the Messiah.

Also, in apocryphal books the Jews had access to in those days it states: “For my Son the Messiah will be seen together with those who follow Him, and will rejoice with those that remain thirty years. And it shall be after these years my Son the Messiah will die, and all those in whom is human breath. And the world will return to its first silence seven days, as it was at the beginning, so that no man is left.”³ It is interesting that the King James Translators renders it this way: “For my son Jesus shall be revealed with those that be with Him, and they that remain shall rejoice within four hundred years. After these years shall my son Christ die, and all men that have life. And the world shall be turned into the old silence seven days, like as in the former judgments: so that no man shall remain.”⁴ There are also similar references to the Messiah as the Son of God in the King James Version.⁵

So Matthew tells us, “Jesus answered Satan, ‘The Scriptures say, “It is not just bread that keeps people alive. Their lives depend on what God says.”’” The Scripture Jesus was referring to is where Moses speaks to the people, encouraging them to remain faithful, saying, “He humbled you and let you be hungry. Then He fed you with manna – something you did not know about before. It was something your ancestors had never seen. Why did the Lord do this? Because He wanted you to know that it is not just bread that keeps people alive. People’s lives depend on what the Lord says.”⁶ If Satan could quote Scriptures to make a point, then so could the Living Word.

Verses 5-6: “Then the devil led Jesus to the holy city of Jerusalem and put Him on a high place at the edge of the Temple area. He said to Jesus, ‘If you are the Son of God, jump off, because the Scriptures say, God will command His angels to help You, and their hands will catch You, so that You will not stumble over a rock.’”

There is no hint that the devil physically led Jesus to Jerusalem. This is another way of using figurative speech to say that they were transported to Jerusalem in spirit. It is the same travel that is made during a dream or vision. Even today, if we are invited to some event but cannot physically make it, we say, “I’ll be there in spirit.” Furthermore, there was no reason to lead Jesus there physically because that would suggest that Jesus could be led by the devil. In the first two instances the devil asked Jesus to prove that He was the Son of God by fulfilling his request. This is clear from the devil’s dare, “If you are the Son of God.” Of course, Satan knew who Jesus was, but this temptation was designed to make our Lord prove it on the tempter’s terms. If Satan needed any proof, Jesus supplied it; not by performing the wonders requested, but by refusing to obey the devil and using Scripture in His rebuttal. If we are going to convince the devil that Christ is in us today, the same formula is still potent and effective. The devil knew the Scriptures, but he always used them in a negative way. Here he quotes from a Psalm attributed to Moses: “He will command His angels to protect you wherever you go. Their hands will catch you so that you will not hit your foot on a rock.”⁷ I can imagine that Jesus smiled, because He could have picked up where Satan left off and finished His rebuke of Satan by quoting the next verse in that Psalm: “You will have power to trample on lions and poisonous snakes.”⁸

But our Lord took a different route in order for believers to find strength if tempted in like manner. From what archaeologists and Jewish historians have told us, King Herod built three heavily fortified towers of the citadel upon a location that was already a very fortified position since the days of Solomon. Jerusalem’s citadel was the highest point of the city about 2500 feet above sea level. Herod built the citadel and towers to protect the western side of the city of Jerusalem and his ornate palace. These were fantastic towers, the largest was the Phasael Tower, standing some 145 feet high (about 14 stories). But the most beautiful was Mariamne Tower, rising to 75 feet. This may have been the place Satan had in mind. According to Eusebius, this may have also been the same pinnacle from which James, the brother of Jesus was thrown because he refused to denounce Jesus as the Messiah.⁹ Jewish historian Josephus, who describes the construction of Herod’s Temple, tells us: “…for while the valley was very deep, and its bottom could not be seen, if you looked down from above into the depth, this further vastly high elevation of the courtyard stood upon that height, insomuch that if any one looked down from the top of the battlements, or down from both those altitudes, he would be giddy, while he could not see clearly into such an immense depth.”¹⁰

In addition to that, it was a common belief among Jews that Jerusalem was the most beautiful and holy city on earth. This was because it housed the Ark of the Covenant in the holy tent, which later became a temple. It signified the presence of God. According to one Jewish commentary, this is what happened in the wilderness: “And on the day that the tabernacle was erected the cloud covered the tabernacle, even the tent of the testimony; and at evening time there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until morning. So it was always: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.”¹¹ This cloud became known as the “Shekinah” glory of God’s presence. That was also the opinion of another Jewish commentator: “Why do I say that the original consecration sanctified the Temple and Jerusalem for eternity . . . the original consecration did not sanctify it for eternity? Because the sanctity of the Temple and Jerusalem stems from the Shekinah, and the Shekinah can never be nullified. Therefore, it states: ‘I will lay waste to your Sanctuaries.”¹² The Sages declared: ‘Even though they have been devastated, their sanctity remains.”¹³ Now perhaps we can see why the Jews held the Temple in such high regard.

The key point here is that as long as the Shekinah glory was present, the sanctity of the Temple remained. No wonder when Jesus showed up later, He did not find any Shekinah at the front entrance, rather He found a commercial cloud of smoke, and it angered Him. That’s why Rabbis declared: “Jerusalem is holier than other walled cities.”¹⁴ The commentator then follows this with a list of restrictions on things that may be brought into and kept there.¹⁵ We are also told by numismatics that the inscription on one side of the Jewish shekel were the words, “Jerusalem, the holy city.” It is still somewhat of a mystery why the devil would pick a tower on Jerusalem’s wall as the place where this temptation took place. Certainly the mountain where all of this was taking place could provide a cliff or high place for such an attempt. No doubt Satan had something else in mind. The rule he offered our Lord over these kingdom was a spiritual rule. That they would all acknowledge Him as the Messiah and worship Him. So in the devil’s mind, what better place for the Messiah, who claimed to be one with God, to die, thereby rendering the phrase “God is dead”, as being appropriate long before it was ever uttered by an atheistic European philosopher.