The Kingdom Movement

A Literary & Pastoral Study Guide to the Gospel of Matthew

The Inspiration of Matthew,

by Caravaggio

On the King's Errand

Devotional Reflections on Matthew's Gospel

The Devil’s Strategy, Part One:  Mt.4:1 – 11

^4:3 And the tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God…

          Pat thought that God had called him to be a doctor – perhaps, he thought, to serve poor communities overseas.  After he struggled through college, he wasn’t accepted by any medical schools.  Wracked by disappointment, he went through a faith crisis.  Was he really a son of God?  Was God still good?  Was God still real at all?  He emerged through it only by releasing his idea of ‘specific calling’ from his identity in Christ.  He had to come to grips with the fact that God was still good, still loved him, and could still use him in a plethora of other ways.  With a great deal more freedom and happiness, he became a health clinic administrator and community organizer in a rural community in Honduras.  (Name and details changed from the real story.)

          The confrontation between Jesus and the devil in the wilderness is one of the most fascinating passages in the New Testament.  Exactly what was the devil’s strategy?  Perhaps the most profound level of temptation was proof-seeking.  Satan taunts Jesus to prove his identity.  Twice the devil suggests, ‘If you are the Son of God,’ do this or that.  On the third taunt, the devil asks Jesus to bow down to him, and if Jesus did this, he would have ceased being the Son of God and become the son of the devil.  But the first and second taunts were more insidious because they were subtler.  Satan baited Jesus to prove his identity according to a proof he defined.  He said to Jesus, ‘Do not trust the voice at your baptism declaring your identity.  Prove it again.  Here is a test for you to use to tell…’

          How often do we test God, or our relation to Him, by asking for some false confirmation of our identity, something we want:  good grades, first place in the contest, healing of a sickness, peace with our parents, finding the one to marry, getting the right job, etc.  If God is love, then surely He would give me this?  If God calls me His child, then surely He would… 

And if He does not give us this thing we want, then what?  Do we become furious with God?  Do we accuse Him of endangering our well-being?  Do we say that He has lied, or must not exist?  Do we become unable to talk about His love with others?

Jesus resisted this.  ‘You shall not put the LORD your God to the test.’  God is absolutely good and loving regardless of the circumstances we encounter, and regardless of whether or not we ‘understand’ what happens around us.  The identity God bestows on us in Christ holds regardless of all circumstances.  And the identity God bestows on us in Christ will one day carry us into a life far richer and wondrous than anything we could ask or imagine.

          It is dangerous to want evil things.  It is equally dangerous to want good things for evil reasons.  Testing God is from the devil.