Part Five:
The Temptation of Jesus in the Wilderness
This series is about the true identity of the man,
Jesus of Nazareth: of his human weakness, temptations, and obedience to Yahweh his
Father, as he was perfected through suffering.
Jesus is Tempted
The
Appropriate Translation and Harmony of Matthew 4:1-11, Luke 3:23; 4:1-13, and
Mark 1:12-13
The Appropriate
Translation combines all three-gospel records carefully sequenced to accurately
portray his ordeal and give the reader a deeper appreciation and love for the
son of man. Special care was given to be
true to the tense, voice, and mood of the Greek in the translation
process. Each of the three, independent
gospel authors is allowed to fully express the inspired writ. I feel confident that once you’ve read thru
it deliberately and with time to meditate, you will have a deeper appreciation
for Jesus. My prayerful hope is that you
see him as Lord, but also as your brother in Yahweh. Working on this retranslation of the gospel
records of Jesus’ temptation in the desert wilderness helped me to understand
him as a human example. It has given me
the incentive to emulate and pattern my life after his own walk with God and
his obedient response to the will and word of God. It deepened insights about Jesus of Nazareth,
the man I know as the Author and Finisher of our faith!
As
John the apostle describes in his shorter epistles, it is the anointing that
teaches us all things. Once you
understand by the spirit that every word of scripture is written by divine
inspiration, the text becomes so tangible, so touchable, and so alive. In the mind of your born-again human spirit,
you will experience Jesus of Nazareth having a shoulder level view of his
victory over the devil’s temptations.
Luke 3:23 And when he was inaugurated, Jesus himself was nearly
thirty years of age, regarded as Joseph’s son (under the Law)… Luke 4:1 having
completed (the cycle of) a morally blameless life, Jesus returned from {being
water baptized by John the Baptist in the river called} the Jordan and was
guided in his mental disposition into a place, which he perceived by the senses
to be lonely and desolate.
Matthew 4:1A At that {same} time Jesus was driven up
into the desert; Mark 1:12 At once, this (evil) spirit threw him out
with violence into the desert, {all the} while, he is remaining under the
purpose and direction of the spirit, in order to be scrutinized and thoroughly
tested in character, while being subjected to solicitation by the traducer
(i.e. – the devil; the one who willingly misrepresents another by propagating
defamation of character).
Mark 1:13 He {Jesus} was remaining in the wilderness and being
tempted by Satan for forty days; and he was amid the venomous vipers and
dangerous animals, and the angels were attending to and serving him. Matthew 4:2 And he abstained from food
for forty days and forty nights, and eventually he was famished, feeling hunger
pangs.
Luke 4:2 Forty days he remained under the scrutiny and
enticement of the devil. And he did not
eat even one thing during those days, and when they were completely ended, he
felt famished and craved food.
Matthew 4:3 And the tempter came near to him and said,
“If you exist as God’s son, speak with the aim that these small stones here,
come into existence as loaves of bread.”
Matthew 4:4 But he {Jesus} answered with discretion, having
concluded to himself, “It has been written (engraved), ‘Mankind shall not live
solely on loaves of bread, but upheld and sustained by every utterance that
comes forth through God’s mouth.’”
Luke 4:3 Then the devil said to Him, “If, you exist
conditionally as God’s son, order this little stone to turn into a loaf of
bread.”
Luke 4:4 And Jesus answered with discretion toward him, “It is
written (engraved), therefore substantiated, ‘not on bread solely shall man
live.’”
Matthew 4:5-11 Then, at that time the slanderer (Satan) took hold of
and brought him {Jesus} near to the sacred habitation (i.e. – God’s dwelling
place) and placed him on the winglet (i.e. – the extremity; referring to a
place of flight) of the sacred position.
Matthew 4:6 And he (the devil) connected words together, joining
one word to the next and laying them forth said, “If you exist (conditionally) as
God’s son, throw yourself downward; because for this reason it is written
(engraved), ‘He will direct His messengers around you, and upon hands lift up
and take you away lest at some time you ever trip up your foot against a
stumbling stone.’ (Psalm 91:11,12)
Matthew 4:7 Once again Jesus made his thoughts known to him (the
devil), saying, “It is written, ‘you shall not pierce yourself through by
experimenting with the origin of your God’s authority.” (Deuteronomy 6:16)
Matthew 4:8 Once more the devil associated himself with him
{Jesus} thru use of a familiar affection, by lifting him emotionally, mentally,
and spiritually up in a lofty place in the spirit realm, causing him to feel
the experience of being in this elevated and lofty position, (including the
degree of dignity & recognition), to experience what it is like to have the
ruling dominion over all of the moral affairs of the inhabitants of the world
and the resulting honor of them.
Matthew 4:9 And he {the devil} said to him {Jesus},
“All these things, taken together, I will give to you, if You will prostrate
yourself before me and do homage and worship me.
Matthew 4:10 Then Jesus said to him, “Get away, Satan! For it has been written, ‘You shall worship
the Yahweh your Elohiym, and Him alone shall you serve.’” (Deuteronomy 6:13)
Matthew 4:11Then the devil departed from Him, and behold, angels
came and ministered to Him.
Luke 4:5-8 And inducing him upward (like sailing away in a
vision), thereby exposing to the eyes of his {Jesus’} understanding, the entire
rule & foundation of power of the Roman Empire, {doing so} in an instant,
interval of time. Luke 4:6
And {then} the devil said to him, “To you I will give the power of choice over
all, quite literally, all of this, including the universal power of both
judicial & governmental authority, with the liberty to do with it as you
please, so that it {the Roman Empire} is entirely subject to your {Jesus’} rule
as a human magistrate, plus to you as the kingly majesty & supreme ruler,
for its authority has been surrendered into my hands and control {by Adam, who
had complete dominion}, for me {the devil} to use and manage {as I please}, and
I give it to whomsoever my impulsive inclination or to whomsoever I have
determined. Luke 4:7 Accordingly,
these things, being such as I have explained them to you {Jesus} and if you are
so inclined to show homage to me {the devil}, in my presence, as a man, that by
this, you recognize me as being superior in rank to you, then it shall all be
yours.”
Luke 4:8 And Jesus, first separating thru {the devil’s
rhetoric} with careful discernment and deliberation, {by separating} his own
thoughts from those of his losing opponent, {Jesus} responded back to him, “It
is written, ‘The Mighty One your Master is Superior, and you shall fall
prostrate before Him {Yahweh} as one {the devil} who is much inferior {to Him},
fall to your knees {Satan}, and touch your forehead to the ground, throwing
kisses at the same time toward Yahweh God, as your superior! And, to Him alone shall you serve as a hired
servant.” (Deuteronomy 6:13; 10:20)
Luke 4:9 Then he {the devil} induced and led him {Jesus} away
to stand upon the temple; and then, as if to teach him the correct way to fly,
extended his arm by pointing it like an arrow aimed to depict the feathered tip
of a wing, he {the devil} said to Him {Jesus}, “If You are God’s Son, throw
yourself down from here, Luke 4:10 for it is written, ‘His messengers
are commanded to be around you and be guarding around you, {right up} until the
very end, Luke 4:11 upholding and preserving you all around, wherever
you are, to raise and elevate yourself from the ground, lest ever you happen
get tripped up on a stone while running {to take flight}.’” (Psalms 91:11,12).
Luke 4:12 And Jesus, {again, by} first separating thru {the use
of} careful discernment and deliberation, his own thoughts from those of his
losing opponent {the devil}, responded back to him, “It is exactly quoted, when
spoken, “You shall not be putting the Master of Strength to the test, refusing
to believe Him or His Word, until or unless He has manifested His power.” (Deuteronomy
6:16)
Luke 4:13 And when the devil had ended every attempt to make
trial of his character, by trying to tempt him and put {his mind & heart}
to the test, for the purpose of causing Jesus to fall, the devil stood aloof
from him and withdrew until another more opportune and favorable time.
In Luke 3:23, when Jesus
was inaugurated, at about thirty years of age, he was still regarded as
Joseph’s son (under the Law). Thru his
mother Mary, Jesus was descended from the fleshly bloodline of Aaron, who was
descended from Levi, along with Moses.
We know this to be the case, because Luke’s gospel describes her as a
blood relative of Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, who was descended from
the daughters of Aaron.
& Luke 1:5-8
It came to pass, in the days of Herod, king of Judea, that there was a certain
priest, by name Zacharias, of the daily course of Abijah; and that he had
a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and, her name, was Elizabeth. 6 Now they were both righteous
before God, walking in all the commandments and righteous appointments of the
Lord, blameless; 7 and they had no child, inasmuch as Elizabeth
was barren, and, both, had become, advanced in their days. 8 But it came to pass, as he was
doing priestly service in the order of his daily course, before God, 9
according to the custom of his priesthood, it fell to his lot to
offer incense, entering into the Temple of the Lord.”
Most Christians get
confused over the blood lineage of Jesus because of the Old Testament
prophecies say that the Messiah comes from the tribe of Judah according to the
flesh. They do not realize just how very
literal ‘the flesh’ is meant to be! The
only ‘flesh’ that Jesus’ bloodline is genetically traceable to Judah thru comes
from Joseph, his earthly stepfather.
Mary is a bloodline relative of Elizabeth, the mother of John the
Baptist. We read in Luke 1:5-8,
that a certain priest, by name Zacharias, of the daily course of priests back
to the priestly line of Abijah; and that he had a wife of the daughters
of Aaron, and, her name, was Elizabeth.
& Luke 1:23-27
Later, when his days of duty were over, he went back home, 24 and soon
afterwards his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and kept herself secluded for
five months. 25 “How good the Lord is to me,” she would say,
“now that he has taken away the shame that I have suffered.” 26 Then, in
the sixth month, the angel
Gabriel was sent from God to a Galilean town, Nazareth by name, 27
to a young woman who was engaged to a man called Joseph (a descendant of
David). The girl’s name was Mary.
Mary, the mother of
Jesus, who is Joseph’s wife, is the only traceable bloodline lineage that Jesus
has, and she is related by heredity to Elizabeth, who as mentioned earlier, is
of the ‘daughters of Aaron.’ After the
angel Gabriel delivered from Yahweh a promise to Zacharias the Levitical
priest, that his wife would bear a son named John, Elizabeth secluded herself
from the neighbors watchful eyes until the end of her fifth month of
pregnancy. No explanation is given for
why she hid or concealed her pregnancy, but it was not revealed to anyone but
Zacharias, until after Elizabeth received an unexpected visit from her cousin
Mary, in her fifth-going-on-sixth moth of pregnancy.
Meanwhile, in a portion
of the angel Gabriel’s message from Yahweh God to Mary, he told her that her
‘relative Elizabeth’ is also pregnant with a son (read verses below):
& Luke 1:34-40
Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” 35 And the angel answered and said to
her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will
overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called
the Son of God. 36 Now
indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also
conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her
who was called barren. 37 For
with God nothing will be impossible.” 38
Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according
to your word.” And the angel departed
from her. 39 Now Mary arose
in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah,
40 and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth.
New King James Version
& Relative = OT:4773
suggenes; a relative (by
blood); by extension, a fellow
countryman: cousin, kin
(kinsfolk, kinsman); congenital,
hence akin to, a kinsman, relative. suggenes
is a compounded word from sun
OT:4862.a primary preposition and genos
OT:1085 (see individual word definitions below):
A. sun OT:4862.a primary preposition denoting union;
with or i.e. by association,
companionship, process, resemblance,
possession.
B. genos OT:1085 of the same
kin, akin to, related by blood; in a wider sense, of the same nation, a fellow
countryman; from OT:1096 (see 1-5 below):
1) Kindred.
2) Offspring
3) Family
4) Stock, tribe,
nation i.e. nationality
or descent from a
particular people
5) The aggregate
of many individuals of the same nature, kind,
sort
Jesus was from the tribe
of Judah according to mankind’s fleshly requirements thru his stepfather
Joseph, and he was from the Levitical order of priests thru the bloodline of
Mary his mother, herself related to Elizabeth, one of the descendents of the
daughters of Aaron. Thru Joseph and
Judah, Jesus fulfills Yahweh’s promise to king David, that 0one of his
descendents would ascend to the throne of Israel, ruling in justice and
righteousness to the ages. The oath of
promise that Yahweh made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Israel) and Moses concerning
the righteous seed and an eternal covenant of priests is fulfilled in Jesus
legally thru his mother Mary’s bloodline, but spiritually thru being made
perfect by obedience inj that which he suffered, having been made subject in
weakness by virtue of the wilderness experience and the cross. This is where we will pick up in Part 6. I hope you’re enjoying the series, and
learning more about Jesus of Nazareth, the truly sympathetic High Priest we
love.
& Hebrews 4:14-15 Seeing then that we have a great
High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus
the Son of God, let us
hold fast our confession. 15 For we
do not have a High Priest
who cannot sympathize with
our weaknesses, but was in all
points tempted as we are, yet without (Literally = apart
from dependence upon) sin.
New King James Version
In Luke 3:23, Jesus was
about thirty years of age when he was “inaugurated”; the choice of words to
describe this inauguration is derived from the Greek meaning of “archómenos,”
is translated as, “public ministry,” in some Bible versions. This Greek word is constructed in the middle
voice form of archomai, which is a verbal adjective that can function as a noun. The literal meaning of archomai is,
“commencement (in order of time).”
Archomai also shows precedence because it is a compound of archo and
meno; archo means, “to be first in political rank or power” and meno means, “to
continue (as).” Jesus the man is first
in rank as the Apostle and High Priest of our confession. God the Father appointed Jesus as the Head of
His spiritual house, the church, comprised of Jew and Gentile alike.
& Hebrews 3:1-2, 6-9 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus,
2 who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful
in all His house… 6 but Christ as a Son over His own
house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence
and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear
His voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day
of trial in the wilderness, 9 where your fathers tested Me, tried Me,
and saw My works forty years.” (See also Psalms 95:7-11) New King James
Version
More than any book in
the New Testament, the Book of Hebrews gives us detailed insight about the role
of the man Jesus Christ as God’s appointed High Priest. Yahweh God appointed Jesus of Nazareth into a
new order of priesthood called to be a priest to God Most High, according to
the order of Melchizedek, (meaning ‘order of Righteousness’).
Jesus had to grow and
mature into his messianic role; it took 30 years of refining, and learning
human regard for absolute compliance with his Father’s will and authority
through obedience to the scriptures.
Very little is known about his childhood, adolescence and young
adulthood of Jesus; just the same, the scripture says he was tested and tried
in all ways, just as his fellow brethren.
We need only to reflect on our own years growing in wisdom and stature,
and in favor with God and men to put together a composite picture of Jesus’
maturation process.
& Hebrews 2:17-18
Therefore, in all things He {Jesus} had to be made like His brethren, that He
might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to
make propitiation for the sins of the people.
18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid
those who are tempted. New King James
Version
Melchizedek is briefly
described in Genesis 14:18 and once more we see him described in Hebrews
7:1-2. Melchizedek is called the ‘king
of Salem’ and also called ‘priest of God, Most High.’ In some Bible versions, Melchizedek is called
‘priest of the most high God.’ The
former of the two is more accurate to the original language, primarily because
the Hebrew text omits the definite article.
The name Melchizedek
means ‘righteousness’ and so he is a fitting type of Christ, in that his unique
priesthood is the only means by which Yahweh’s ‘right standing’ or ‘righteous’
is provided. Jesus is the way to God
(John 14) and also, Melchizedek as ‘king of Salem’ is literally meaning ‘king
of peace.’
The Book of Hebrews
contains several key and important scriptures that identify Jesus as our
mediator and High Priest, according to the order of Melchizedek.
Always keep in mind that
when the Old and New Testaments were originally penned, they did not include
the typical chapter and verse numbers that we find ion all modern Bibles. The scriptures in the New Testament were
primarily written for three purposes by the apostles and leading, credible
witnesses, such as Luke the physician: 1) Historical record 2) letters to
churches 3) affirm & interpret Old Testament scriptures & related
prophecies.
The spirit of the
glorified son of God is the only one that can truly identify with and
sympathize with you personally in your daily struggles, hurts, confusion,
anxiety, and fear. God the Father is He
that provides you with the spiritual grace (i.e. the influence upon your
spirit, also known as your ‘heart’) to calm, and give you that space in time
where it means the difference between your umpteenth failure and your first
real victory over sin, the flesh, and the devil.
Ask Yahweh God, the
Father, to guide and teach you thru the spirit of His glorified Jesus. Thru the Father’s spiritual strength, Jesus
will imbue your life with a morally pure and blameless spirit, as you confess
your sins and weaknesses to him and then just begin to pray in other tongues,
as the spirit gives you the utterance.
& Acts 2:2 And unexpectedly there came out of the sky a loud noise exactly like
the moving, forcible wind and it filled the whole house where they were
sitting. 3 And they gazed at
languages in distribution {among them} as though it were {like} fire {so
unusual was it}, and it settled around each one of them. 4 And they were all wholly drenched in
an undefiled, spiritual life (Pneúmatos Hagíou), and, as the first in
order, {in the church}, {they} commenced uttering (at random) words of a
different kind {of} language, just as the spirit was giving them {the ability}
to enunciate clearly. The Appropriate
Translation
& Acts 2:33, 38-39 "Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of Yahweh God,
and having received from the Father the promise of living as His consecrated
one, He has poured forth this {form of} spiritual life,(toú
Pneúmatos toú Hagíou), which you both see and hear…” 38 Then again
Peter made known his thoughts, saying to them {to the Jews}, “Exercise your
minds to think differently, having sorrow and a change of heart toward God, and
each one of you {Jews}, will be immersed (submerged; baptized) in the authority
& character of the name of Yahweh’s Anointed, the one {man Jesus, whom} He
consecrated to serve & save you; for his {Jesus’} intent {while among you},
was that you be pardoned for your sins, so that your purpose {as God’s
elect} would be to take hold of Yah’s gratuity (a gift given of one’s own
free will), thereby enabling you to live the morally blameless life (toú
Hagíou Pneúmatos).” The Appropriate
Translation
The
Bible Answer Stand Ministry
1 Peter 3:15 Always
be ready to give reasonable justification to anyone who asks you for an
explanation of the hope that is within you,
but do it considerately and courteously.
SELAH…Pause and reflect
Go directly to these parts of the “Jesus…Our Sympathetic High Priest” Study:
Part 1: Jesus the Anointed One
Part 2: Deity of Christ Doctrine Refuted
Part 3: John the Baptist Prepares the Way
Part 4: Jesus GAVE His Human Soul as an Offering for Guilt
Part 5: The Temptation of Jesus in the Wilderness
Part 6: Was it "Divine Blood" that Jesus Offered in Sacrifice on the Cross?
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