The Temptation Narratives & the 3fold Use Of The Law
In an earlier article, we looked at the Temptation Narratives as teaching modules that are useful for outlining the text of the Gospels in which they reside. They probably aren’t intended to teach us that after Yeshua was baptized He went into the wilderness for a literal 40 days & nights. I think they are probably intended as a segway from His baptism to His itinerant ministry. They are summaries of His ministry & tell us something about the spiritual warfare that was going on all around Him during that period.
In Matthew, Yeshua is depicted as a Hebrew Prophet who delivers a covenantal lawsuit. This lawsuit indicts, judges, conquers, & re-covenants Israel, and since Israel is intended to be a priestly, prophetic nation in & through which God rules the world, by & through these actions God initiates an administration of the Covenant of Grace that conquers the nations.
The order of the temptations is somewhat different in Matthew & Luke, I believe that the differences have something to do with the 3fold use of the Law & Gospel. The clues lie in the setting of each temptation within the sequence of events.
Matthew’s order, in keeping with the Jewish character of his perspective, is Individual, Ecclesiastical/Pedagogical, & Civil. Luke, whose audience tilts toward Gentiles, is Individual, Civil, & Ecclesiastical/Pedagogical.
Matthew 4:1 - 11
Temptation 1
And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,
“ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
The Tempter comes to Yeshua on dry land, as if He is on a plain, not a mountain nor in the temple atop Mount Moriah. He is here delivering His lawsuit to everyday people doing everyday things. He is speaking to the masses. These are the people to whom the Zealots had appeal. They also include the sick & infirm, the slave & free, the prisoners, the widows, & others from every walk of life. This is very much the Individual/Prophetic/Everyman perspective on the Law & Gospel & its application.
Temptation 2: Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 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.’ ”
Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
Matthew bypasses the mountain for the Temple itself, as if he, in his own lawsuit (his Gospel), is going for the jugular. The temple was the center of Jewish religious life for all Jews everywhere. This is the home of the Sanhedrin, the lawyers & priests to whom the people looked as teachers, priests, & advocates. Many would listen to these men before Herod, Rome, & the Zealots. This temptation has a distinct Priestly/Ecclesiastical/Pedagogical cast to it.
These words look very like what went on at the foot of the cross in Matthew 27:39 - 44. They also look very like what the Sanhedrin had to say about Yeshua’s statements in John in Chapters 5 - 7 & how they reacted to it.
Temptation 3
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 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.’ ”
Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
In Matthew, the 3rd Temptation takes place on a mountain, as if in heaven itself, overlooking “all the kingdoms of the world & their glory.” Thus, the narrative has an all-encompassing cosmic dimension to it.
It also has a kingly cast to it. The Tempter is offering Yeshua kingly power & authority not only over the Jews, but also in & over the whole world.
This is very much the Kingly/Civil/Ceasarly use of the Law & Gospel.
Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
That time came here:
Matthew 28:16 - 20
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Luke 4:1 - 13
And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’ ”
The Tempter comes to Yeshua on dry land, as if He is on a plain, not a mountain nor in the temple atop Mount Moriah. He is here delivering His lawsuit to everyday people doing everyday things. He is speaking to the masses. These are the people to whom the Zealots had appeal. They also include the sick & infirm, the slave & free, the prisoners, the widows, & others from every walk of life. This is very much the Prophetic/Individual/Everyman perspective on the Law & Gospel & its application.
And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written,
“ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God,
and him only shall you serve.’ ”
This temptation takes place on a mountain, as if in heaven itself, overlooking “all the kingdoms of the world & their glory.” Thus, the narrative has an all-encompassing cosmic dimension to it.
It also has a kingly cast to it. The Tempter is offering Yeshua kingly power & authority not only over the Jews, but also in & over the whole world. This is very much the Kingly/Caesarly/Civiluse of the Law.
And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written,
“ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,
to guard you,’
and
“ ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”
And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
The temple was the center of Jewish religious life for all Jews everywhere. This is the home of the Sanhedrin, the lawyers & priests to whom the people looked as teachers, priests, & advocates. Many would listen to these men before Herod, Rome, & the Zealots. This temptation has a distinct Ecclesiastical/Priestly/Pedagogical cast to it.
These words look very like what went on at the foot of the cross in Matthew 27:39 - 44. They also look very like what the Sanhedrin had to say about Yeshua’s statements in John in Chapters 5 - 7 & how they reacted to it.
Keeping in mind that Luke is the author of Acts, & Acts chronicles the conquest of the Greco-Roman pantheon as the gospel spreads from Judea & Galilee into Samaria, & then to then into the Nations, this Pedagogical/Priestly/Ecclesiastical temptation takes on a cosmic cast to it as the LORD evicts the pagan pseudodeities from the Earth & thus the Cosmos.
And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.
This is when that time came:
Luke 24:44 - 53
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.
Acts 1:7 - 8
He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
posted by David M. Bradburn @ November 29, 2024
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