3. Preparation

πειράζω, (from πειρά sharp point)

1. make proof or trial of
   • attempt to do; make trial of; make an attempt
   • Passive, are tried, proved; to be experienced
2. try, tempt a person, put him to the test
   • in bad sense, seek to seduce, tempt
   • Passive, to be sorely tried; to be attacked

Matthew 16:1

And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven.

Matthew 19:3

And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?"

Matthew 22:35

And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.

1 Corinthians 10:13

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Hebrews 2:17-18

Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Hebrews 4:15

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

James 1:12-16

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

The Greek for "devil" (διάβολος) comes from a verb meaning "to toss."

διαβάλλω

1. throw or carry over or across, as in wrestling
2. set at variance; set against; bring into discredit; Passive, to be filled with suspicion and resentment against another; to be brought into discredit
3. put off with evasions
4. attack a man's character, calumniate; accuse, complain of
   • misrepresent; speak or state slanderously; give hostile information
   • lay the blame for a thing on ...
   • disprove a scientific or philosophical doctrine
   • declare it spurious
5. deceive by false accounts, impose upon, mislead
6. divert from a course of action

The number 40 appears often in Scripture and indicates a long time; specifically, this passage is referring to Israel's 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.

Satan always questions the reality of what God has told us.

Genesis 3:4-5

But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

Jesus gives a complete answer in a single verse. The passage it comes from addresses the second generation from Egypt, explaining why they were undergoing trials in the wilderness. Pointedly, the devil's challenge to Jesus's sonship is answered, "As a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you."

In the larger scheme, the wandering in the wilderness is our life on earth, sometimes triumphant and other times tragic. But, despite any scarcity of resources or fear of threats now, we know the Lord is bringing us into something much better than this in the end.

Deuteronomy 8:1-7

The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers. And you shall remember the whole way that 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. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you. So you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land....

The devil parrots the Lord and quotes scripture. So do his servants in this world. By using scripture, the devil and his servants falsely claim to seek and to have divine approval for their assertions.

Like any successful lie, the devil's use of scripture is true in part. These passages are indeed about the Lord, and promise him providential protection. But that's all the truth there is in what the devil said. There's a big difference between accidentally stubbing your toe and wilfully jumping from a tall tower.

2 Corinthians 11:12-15

What I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.

This is not the first time someone has questioned whether God is really involved in our lives. Jesus gives another complete answer by referring again to the same address to the people in Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 6:13-16

It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you--for the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God--lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth. You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.

Exodus 17:1-3, 7

All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water to drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?" But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?"
And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the LORD by saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?"

Numbers 20:2-5, 13

Now there was no water for the congregation. And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the LORD! Why have you brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink."
These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the LORD, and through them he showed himself holy.

Psalm 95:1-2, 7-9

Oh come, let us sing to the LORD;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
...
Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
when your fathers put me to the test
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.

Hebrews 3:12-13

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Compare also:

Matthew 22:15-18

Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone's opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why put me to the test, you hypocrites?"

The devil here presents a way for Jesus to become King of the World without suffering.

The Greek rendered "be gone" here (ὑπάγω) is commonly translated, "Go."

As Satan presents a shortcut that purports to involve no suffering, compare Peter's objection to the Lord dying--and the Lord's response:

Matthew 16:21-23

From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you." But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man."

The Bible uses many names for the devil. Among them:

• the devil,
• Satan,
• the deceiver,
• the tempter,
• the serpent,
• the dragon,

and others.

Revelation 12:9

And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world....

Genesis 3:1, 13

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'...?"
Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

1 Chronicles 21:1, 7

Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel.
But God was displeased with this thing, and he struck Israel.

Job 1:6

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them....

Zechariah 3:1-2, 6-9

Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, O Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire...?"
And the angel of the LORD solemnly assured Joshua, "Thus says the LORD of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here. Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring my servant the Branch. For behold, on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its inscription, declares the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day."

See Deuteronomy 6:13-16 at Matthew 4:7.

Joshua 24:2-5, 14-16

And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods. Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac. And to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. And I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in the midst of it, and afterward I brought you out....'
Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." Then the people answered, "Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods...."

Matthew 25:41-45

Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?' Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.'

Matthew 4:1 indicates the Spirit led him up into the wilderness, likening him to Moses at Sinai. The Greek (ἐκβάλλω) here in Mark is often rendered, "cast out."

The bottom line is this: He lives as an outcast for a time.

Mark 1:39

And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Hebrews 11:37-38

They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated--of whom the world was not worthy--wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

The wild animal poses an unpredictable threat.

Acts 28:3-5

When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, "No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live." He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm.

Titus 1:12

One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said,
"Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons."

Wild animals were forbidden from joining Moses during his 40 days on the mount.

Hebrews 12:20

They could not endure the order that was given, "If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned."

Luke's wording follows that of Matthew and Mark in evoking the ancient Israelites' wandering in the wilderness.

We shouldn't think Jesus was only tested three times during his time in the wilderness. He was being tested throughout the entire 40 days. The three final tests are related in this account.

The devil always imitates God.

Matthew 4:1

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

There are no other uses of this term in the New Testament; the Septuagint translation uses it in Isaiah 29:5, "in an instant." Compare Matthew 4:8, where he took him to a very high mountain from which we suppose he could see many kingdoms simultaneously.

The Luke account gives more detail than Matthew's. As noted earlier (see the comments on Matthew 4:6), a successful lie is a half-truth. It's true in a manner of speaking that the world has been delivered to Satan; the rest of his claim is clearly false.

Satan is called "the ruler of this world" in John 12:31, 14:30, and 16:11. John also boldly says, "We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one" (1 John 5:19). In this sense, there is some truth in the first part of the devil's lie.

The devil's claim to have the authority to grant authority and glory on others is an attempt to imitate God. Contrast our Lord's humble obedience to the Father on the one hand, and on the other his own authority granted from the Father.

Mark 10:37, 40

And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory."
[Jesus said to them...,] "To sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared."

John 10:17-18

"For this reason the Father loves me: I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father."

The devil never goes away completely--just until next time.

In the parable of the sower, there is a time of faith and there is a time of falling away. The Bible assures us we can resist the devil through God's grace.

Luke 8:13

And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.

James 4:7

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

1 Peter 5:8-9

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.