The Devil Tempts Jesus

Jesus was tempted by the Devil. He was tempted in every way that we are. Remember, that Jesus was not with the Apostles at the time of temptation. He was alone in the wilderness. Jesus showed us how to depend on God when temptation comes. He was tired and hungry as he had been fasting for forty days and nights. It is important to recognise that Satan attacks God’s people when they are weak and vulnerable. Just like Christ, we will be tempted by the devil. Christ did not yield to the lure of the devil. Christ had victory over sin, and He will also give us the victory over temptation. In 1 Corinthians. 10:13 the Bible says, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

This is how the enemy of the church works, he will tempt God’s people with sin and all manner of evil. The devil tempted Adam and Eve with false promises. He told Eve she would become like God. The seed of pride was planted in the heart of Eve. A desire to gain without God was at the heart of the temptation. Independence from God is one of the favorite vices of the devil. Ever since the fall of man, we have had a strong desire to live separately from God. We were never designed nor made to exist without God. Sinful mankind now has a desire to live an unnatural life, different from the plans of God, the will of God, and the blessings of God. Sin to the unconverted man is natural and comfortable. The unnatural is natural to those outside of Christ.

Causing men and women to question God’s Word is the intention of the devil. He did this with Eve, “Has God really said”, “you don’t need God”, “you can have so much more without God”, and “a relationship with God will only hinder your full potential”. These are examples of the many lies the devil whispers in the ear of men and women. Alas, many have fallen prey to the voice of foolishness. Satan tempts with falsehoods mixed with truth, fulfillment outside of God’s design, and stirs it up with passions, lusts, and a whole manner of worthless idols.

Verses 3-4

Matthew chapter 4 is a time of great testing for Jesus. Our Lord overcame everything that the evil one threw at him, thus Christ proved He is indeed the Son of God and worthy of our trust and worship. The tempter who is the devil tested Jesus to the limit. He said if you are who you claim then turn these stones into bread for food to feed yourself. The devil often tempts God’s people with physical things. He may tempt us in the same way as Christ by appealing to our physical body and satisfaction with natural things. Satan certainly will go after our weakness. In the case of Jesus in verse 3 he used the fact that Jesus had been without food for a long time. The stones turned to bread would have satisfied the hunger that Christ felt. Hence why this was a real temptation.

It is profitable to bear in mind that Jesus used Scripture in the face of temptation. In the Psalms, the Bible teaches us to hold Scripture in our hearts, so we are prepared for the turmoil of testing times. Remember, that being tempted is not sin, giving in to the temptation is sin. We fall into sin when we follow the desires of sin and do that which is contrary to God’s holy law. No one can bear ignorance of the law of God, for when God created mankind, he placed His moral standards and expectations on our hearts. Our conscience testifies to the curse of sin. No one told us that lying, cheating, stealing, and murder is wrong. We know this to be true because we are created by God and with His moral standard in our hearts.

The man of God lives by the Word of God. The Bible is a powerful defense against the soul-destroying attacks of the devil. Scripture protects us and proclaims the truth. We ought to memorise Scripture and meditate on it daily. Scripture is the sword of the Spirit. However, merely knowing Scripture is not enough, we must apply it correctly. The devil knows Scripture and can use Scripture to deceive the children of God. The devil used Scripture against Christ. This is one of many differences between the Christian who uses Scripture wisely, by obeying it and believing God’s promises and the devil who twists Scripture and causes doubt. To the Christian, the Bible is heart-warming, soul-searching, and mind-transforming. The ungodly misuse Scripture for their gain. The wicked will change the meaning of God’s truth to fit their purpose, and above all will mock the Bible as they hold Scripture in the utmost contempt.

Mankind needs food for the body to live and to be healthy. True life and living is by believing, trusting, and living in agreement with God’s Word and will. We need Scripture to live a healthy spiritual life. Here Jesus is saying there is more to life than the physical body, and the here and now. We are not mere flesh and bones; we have a soul that needs care. Christ has come to give our souls the care and salvation we need.

Verses 5-6

Jesus rebukes Satan, “you shall not put God to the test”. It is not iniquitous to ask God to show himself to us and to give us cause to trust him, but the devil, on the other hand, was provoking Christ to wrath. If Jesus followed the temptation of the devil, it would have been more than possible for God to spare his life. However, by not giving in to the temptation Christ proved a very important truth of God over all creation. God is sovereign, not Satan, not man, and not so-called “mother nature”. Be aware of the devices of the devil. He can transform into an angel of light. The devil appears in many ways, a trusted friend could well be an agent of the enemy. Sadly, many of the workers of iniquity stand in the pulpit. They are the wolves in sheep’s clothing. For this reason, God’s people must understand the Bible and have a good grasp of biblical truths and correct doctrine. Do not make the mistake of thinking that doctrine does not matter. Doctrine does matter.

Verses 8-11

Satan showed Christ the glory and splendour of earthly kingdoms and vowed to give them all to Christ in return for worship to him. There can be no deal or compromise made with the Devil. It is important to answer the question of Satan’s power over these kingdoms. Satan is the god of this world, that is the system of the world that the Bible calls worldliness. God is the ruler and Lord over all creation. The devil offers this to every fallen sinner. Satan says, “if you bow down and worship me, I will give you everything you need and desire. All the material things, power, position, wealth, and whatever your heart craves for.” Many people have accepted the offer and bent the knee in worship to sinful delights of the flesh and the world. When Satan offers you this, and be sure he will, we can say the same as Jesus and resist the temptation. Worship the one who alone is worthy of worship. Worship the Lord your God and Him only serve, for what shall it profit you to gain all that this world can offer and then lose your soul in everlasting punishment and separation from eternal joy, happiness, and peace? This world and all its wealth and privileges are nothing in the light of the glorious and gracious Gospel of God.

Christ resisted every evil advance of the devil. He overcame temptation and remained faithful and sinless. The Scriptures teach that the Christian is a new creation in Christ and has the power to overcome sinful desires and temptations (See James 1.12 & 1 Corinthians 10.13). We can take much comfort and peace from Matthew 4. Jesus was tested, tempted, and tried in every way that we are, and yet remained faithful even to the end. The Holy Spirit that dwells in all authentic believers testifies to the victory over a life controlled by sin. Daily the Spirit edifies us, changes us, convicts us, protects us, and provokes us to repent of sin. The blessing of the Holy Spirit is a godly zeal to live for holiness, righteousness, and truth.

Verses 12-25
Jesus fulfills another Old Testament prophecy


The opening message of Christ’s ministry in Matthew’s Gospel was one of repentance. The message of the Gospel has not changed. Men and women are still called to place their faith and trust in God. Men and women are still sinful at heart and still in need of a personal Lord and Saviour. Christ began His ministry with people in spiritual darkness. He chose his apostles and cured people of many diseases by divine miracles. Many started to follow him and become his disciples.

God is a God of means. He has chosen the means of preaching the Gospel for the saving of souls. God does not need a man to work out and complete His plans, but God has chosen to use men in His plan. Preaching is the chief means of salvation and blessings.

The first doctrine we learn about in the earthly ministry of Christ is repentance. It is fair to say that repentance is the greatest doctrine of Christ’s ministry as it is the foundation of true Christianity. The men that Christ selected to be His apostles were not mighty men of great earthly wealth or power. They were not men of great intellect. They were among the poorest and lowest rank of society. Simon Peter, James, Andrew, and John were all fishermen. They were all unlikely figures to be chosen as apostles to the Lord of heaven and earth. Christ had a much higher and nobler position for them. Instead of being fishers of fish, they became fishers of men’s souls.

This clearly shows that the message of Christ is for all classes and types of people, for the poor as well as the rich, the lowest and the highest, the learned and the simple, the Jew and the non-Jew. The only requirement that men and women must meet is a genuine acknowledgment of sin, a heart that desires to repent, and faith in the finished work of Christ. Look at these twelve very ordinary poor and lowly men that were Christ’s apostles. They had no earthly power, no vast wealth nor anything to offer to profit themselves, yet they turned the world upside down.


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2 responses to “Commentary on Matthew 4”

  1. patriciamctaggart391 Avatar
    patriciamctaggart391

    Yes Nathan this is so true at our weakest satan will slip around like a snake and try his best to corupt your faith . Hold fast pray for strength . The Amour wear it fully

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  2. How John 13:34 perverts and justifies homosexuality

    Intermarriage with the specific of Canaanites – equally applies to all Goyim who do not accept the revelation of the Torah at Sinai. I bring the Book of Ezra as proof. Many early Church Fathers used John 13:34 to claim a supersessionist “new law”, replacing the Torah’s commandments with a simplified ethic of love. Yet ironically, the very idea of loving one’s neighbor—and even one’s enemy. An utter perversion of the oath brit alliance among the chosen Cohen people who accept the revelation of the Torah at Sinai. Ezra 9–10, post-exile, shows the seriousness of intermarriage with foreign women—because it represents a breach of kedushah and brit, meaning: spiritual allegiance and oath brit fidelity. The Church Fathers (e.g., Justin Martyr, Origen, Chrysostom) weaponized verses like John 13:34 to argue that a new “spiritual” law of love had replaced the “old legalistic” Torah—especially the halakhic boundaries that safeguarded Jewish identity and fidelity to the brit.

    Jesus introduced, according to these vile animals, “Love is enough!” A Greek ideal—abstract, universal, de-politicized—divorced from the concrete legal-communal substitutional theology. Love, defined by Torah, defined through the Torah precedent of marriage requires that a man love his wife by acquiring title to her world to come souls. Meaning the children, the product of this union. Based upon the precedent of the brit cut between the pieces whereby Avram had no children and cut a brit over the first born chosen Cohen people. This concept of the chosen Cohen people understands the intent of the prohibition to marry with Goyim who do not accept the revelation of the Torah at Sinai.

    Xtian supersessionist theology gutted the concept of brit: Shalom became personal inner peace, not oath alliance to pursue fair justice – compensation of damages inflicted by Party A to Party B among our chosen Cohen people within the borders of the oath sworn promised land.
    The Xtian pervert theologians corrupted emunah unto belief in Jesus as the son of God and belief in God as a triune mystery of Monotheism. The Torah defines emunah as the righteous pursuit of justice among our people. The Xtian pervert theologians corrupted ‘ahavah’ unto generic love, rather than the Torah brit-bound hesed based upon the oath brit foundation precedent of the oath cut between the pieces.

    The Xtian pervert theologians know absolutely nothing of Torah common law which stands upon the foundation of Torah precedents – both positive and negative commandments.
    In doing so, the Church replaced the Torah’s vision of a holy people bound in legal, ethical, and national allegiance to Hashem, with a mystical, universalized ethic that denied the enduring chosenness of Israel and the centrality of Sinai. John 13:34, obliterated the Torah common law faith to pursue justice among and between the chosen Cohen people who accept the revelation of the Torah at Sinai in the face of the Goyim “darkness” who reject this light unto the nations.

    The Xtian theologian perverts abhor the oath-bound brit alliance which forever discerns between emotional short term vows from remembering from generation to generation the oaths sworn by the Avot by which they cut the brit which permanently established the oath brit Cohen people. Hence the mitzva precedent of the captured woman through war. Whereby the Torah commands that she cut off all her hair and par her nails etc for no less than one month before the Israeli permitted to marry her! Why? Torah marriage cuts an oath brit alliance between man and wife and not a emotional vow which can be easily annulled based upon the Torah precedent which permits the Father or Husband to annul the vows made by either young daughters or wives!

    John 13:34 not just evil theology, it perverts marriage unto the metaphor of permitted homosexuality. The chosen Am-segulah (treasured nation) refers directly to the Sinai first-born Cohen people. The Goyim reject to this day the revelation of Torah common law!

    The Xtian theologian perverts sought power, hence they slept in the same bed as the Governments which ruled Xtian lands. The American and French Revolutions separated Church from State and cast these Xtian whores to the dogs to sleep with. All agricultural based economies require slave labor. This has absolutely nothing to do with the bankrupt theology of the church great whore of Babylon.

    When categories established by Torah law—male/female, Israel/goy, slave/free—are collapsed by when new testament replacement theology which abhors Torah common law and specific Torah abominations such as homosexuality and men and women confusion of genders and clothes. Galatians 3:28 doesn’t just dissolve the legal structure of the Torah, but opens the door to ideological chaos—Same-sex marriage (“There is no male and female”); Gender fluidity and trans ideology; Erasure of Jewish national identity (e.g. no “Jew or Greek”); Social anarchy in place of legal status (no “slave or free”). In many liberal Christian and post-Christian circles, Galatians 3:28 has become the banner verse for LGBTQ+ inclusion, often cited directly to undermine Torah prohibitions in Leviticus 18 and 20. Paul’s statement is interpreted as saying: All categories are now irrelevant in Christ.

    Paul’s doctrine, and the super-sessionist theology it spawned, does not merely disagree with Torah—it declares war on Torah categories. Shalom perverted into inner peace, not the righteous pursuit of judicial justice which strives to make fair restitution of damages inflicted by Party A upon Party B. His replacement theology abhors the post Gold Calf Day of Atonement where HaShem first revealed the revelation of the Oral Torah – which the church rejects. Galatians 3:28 is not just heresy—it is the theological root of modern moral collapse.

    It dismantles the sacred distinctions that uphold holiness, family, justice, and national brit identity. It replaces Torah law with a boundaryless mysticism that justifies everything from homosexuality to gender nihilism to the erasure of Jewish nationhood.

    This verse is often cited to support a universalist theology—that all human beings are one, created by God, and therefore equal and interchangeable. Viewed in the context of Paul’s theology, especially in Acts and Galatians, this verse becomes part of a larger Pauline strategy to undermine: Israel’s distinct chosen Cohen oath brit status, the chosenness of the Jewish people. The Torah’s territorial inheritance laws, and the culture and customs established by halakhic and the idea that only within the borders of the Promised lands to Jews possess the wisdom to keep and remember the oaths sworn by the Avot לשמה, from generation to generation.

    Paul’s replacement theology perverts the oath brit alliance to that of a temporary vow, which his perverted theology attempts to annul through the new testament. The Torah establishes the vision that the nations inherit distinct national cultural and customs inheritances. Distinct languages, lands and destinies (Genesis 10-11). The essential concept of Israel’s national identity as a people relies upon and defined by the promised lands which Arab nationalism absolutely rejects. Deuteronomy 32:8 (LXX): “When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.” Deuteronomy 7:6: “You are a people holy to Hashem… a chosen people from all the peoples on the face of the earth.” Paul’s replacement theology, like Arab hatred of Zionism which bases itself upon the 1917 Balfour Declaration wherein first Britain and later 2\3rd of all UN member states recognized Jewish equal rights to achieve self-determination within the borders of a distinct Middle Eastern nation.

    His replacement theology abomination of shared human origin which collapses national distinctions cultures and customs, like modern Arab racist nationalism rejects Jewish national sanctity. Paul’s Acts 17:26 (universal origin) with Galatians 3:28 (category collapse) replacement theology destroys the chosen Cohen people of Israel; dissolves the laws of inheritance and land; undermines the Oral Torah halakhic requirements concerning intermarriage with Goyim and promotes modern Wokeism that emphasize awareness of social injustices and systemic inequalities, particularly related to race and identity. It is often viewed critically by some as being overly doctrinaire or insincere in its approach to social issues. Acts 17:26 is the philosophical foundation for Christian universalism.

    It sounds innocent—but in Pauline context, it’s a soft prelude to the hard abolition of Israel’s unique brit. It paves the way for the erasure of identity, the rejection of Oral Torah Talmudic common law judicial lateral courts.

    Paul’s 1 Corinthians 7:39 (KJV): Formula: “Only in the Lord” — Coded Supersessionist Halakhah? Paul doesn’t outright reject the binding nature of marriage—but it’s loaded with subtle replacement theology logic. Torah marriage flatly not just a temporary transitional vow–but rather an oath brit, contractual alliance with family generations and national implications. Governed by halakhic precedent, rooted in Exodus 22, Deuteronomy 24, and the Oral Torah. Validated by witnesses, contract (ketubah), and understood as part of a nation’s framework of kedushah and inheritance. Paul substitutes this with a subjective spiritual criterion: his “Only in the Lord.”, directly implies – Marry a fellow believer in Christ. It’s not about cutting an oath brit alliance—rather replaced by a shared belief in Xtian faith that declares Jesus as God.

    This “Only in the Lord” phrase, exist as the key supersessionist pivot of Pauling propaganda. It nullifies the Torah -brit based marital framework model, replaces halakhic structure with doctrinal allegiance to the church abomination. And renders Torah marmital law as obsolete for “believers”. Ewwwwww! It detaches marriage from the promised land, nation, and halackhic authority. Sets the foundation for spiritual intermarriage theology – a direct violation of Torah common law; leading to full Goyim-Xtian identity formation apart from Israel. If one can marry “in the Lord”, then one need not marry “in the nation”. If faith in the belief of Jesus as God replaces Israel as the chosen Cohen nation, then the new covenant has replaced the oath brit cut between the pieces with Avram.

    Paul’s “Only in the Lord” is not a neutral phrase. It functions as a Trojan horse for an entire redefinition of marriage: no longer a national covenant rooted in generational Torah obligations, but a private, spiritualized union under Church doctrine.

    Xtianity, especially in its Pauline and post-Constantinian forms, intentionally dissolves ethnic, legal, and national distinctions. This is central to its theology. Galatians 3:28 – “There is neither Jew nor Greek… male and female… all are one in Christ.” This replacement theology erased halakhic distinctions, promotes spiritual unity over ethnic/national differences. Recasts marriage as a personal vow like sacrament, which replaces the oath sworn to remember dedication which any and all brit alliances fundamentally requires.

    Liberal Protestant thoughts concerning marriage emphasize: romantic love and personal choice; Xtian values of inclusivity; detachment from ancestry, tribe, nation, or land. The Torah oath NOT vow, brit relationship cut between man and wife binds Jews to Torah Constitutional Law, tohorat ha’beit requirements for the woman to visit a mikveh prior to sexual activity; and the standards of keeping tohor & tuma distinctions like kosher foods etc. A man commits that he will educate his future born children in the oath brit faith – not to worship other Gods through intermarriage and assimilation which embraces Goyim cultures and customs.

    Xtianity’s doctrine of spiritual unity and its deconstruction of Torah-based national distinctions directly laid the groundwork for both the theological legitimation and cultural normalization of interracial marriage. It treats distinctions—whether between Israel and the nations, or male and female—as obstacles to spiritual truth, not as sacred boundaries tied to divine law and oath brit consciously remembered dedications passed down from generation to generations just as DNA. From Augustine to modern liberal Protestants, modern issues like Wokeism and identity dissolution directly consequential to the Pauline doctrines of utter abomination.

    “Only in the lard” totally unique to Xtianity. “Only in the lard” totally unique to Xtianity. It’s a theological phrase that doesn’t exist in Torah, halakhah, or any Jewish learning on the Torah. 1 Corinthians 7:39 a total Xtian new testament new religion of avoda zarah Av tuma. This phrase is nowhere in Tanakh. Paul creates a new criterion: shared belief in “the Lord” (i.e., Jesus).

    The Xtian church does not define faith compliance any more than the Nicene Creed defines Monotheism. Monotheism rapes the 2nd Sinai commandment. This new testament perversion marks a supersessionist turn: marriage is no longer a national-legal act, but a spiritual-sacramental one. “Only in the Lord” = Trojan Horse. It reflects a super-sessionist marriage ethics; it perverts the negative commandment of “cross-dressing” between Males and Females; it lies totally outside of the customs and cultures of the Jewish people.

    Furthermore, it establishes a faith-based “intermarriage” theology. A spiritual identity, which replaces ethnic-national boundaries as the Torah fundamentally and absolutely commands. Prior to the establishment of the Jewish Republic of the 12 Tribes the Torah commanded the negative commandment not to marry between Jewish Tribes! This horrid abomination serves as justification for assimilation unto universalist Xtian structures. From “Only in the Lord” to Modern Abominations … Xtian approval of interfaith/interracial marriages; same-sex marriage under the banner of “shared love in the Lord”; trans marriages and gender deconstruction as “inclusive theology”.

    From ghetto walls to gas chambers, “By their fruits you shall know them”— Jesus’ own words condemns the tree that claimed to grow from the root of the chosen Cohen nation which Paul declared Xtians as a graft to this Tree. The fruit of Xtianity utter poison, the culmination of theological poison.

    Germany was a Lutheran nation. The Vatican signed a Concordat with Hitler. The Catholic Church blessed Nazi flags, and baptized perpetrators. The Protestant churches in Germany developed a theology of “Dejudaizing” Xtianity. Xtian anti-Judaism became racial antisemitism—but it started in pulpits, not politics.

    The British White Paper (1939): Effectively sealed Europe’s Jews into a death zone, blocking aliyah to Eretz Yisrael. Not one major church authority condemned it. FDR’s administration turned away ships carrying Jewish refugees. Where were the bishops? The pastors? The popes? Silent. No call to bomb Auschwitz or the railways…Xtian theology had already written the Jews out of the covenant.

    Today’s South African legal attack on Israel at the Hague is a blood libel with a UN suit and tie. Yet again, the churches are silent, or worse—supportive of the lie. World Council of Churches? Silent. Mainline Protestantism? Often openly anti-Israel. Catholic voices? Muted or muddled, more concerned with interfaith optics than justice. This continues the same pattern: Christendom aligns with empires, betrays the Jews, and offers theological cover to the murderers. Revelation’s image of the Great Whore riding the beast—but this time it’s Rome on the back of political empire, intoxicated with the blood of the saints and martyrs of the Torah. Xtianity slept with kings—and their offspring were inquisitions, expulsions, and Auschwitz.

    This Ephesians 5:25–28 passage—on the surface poetic, lofty, and seemingly elevating marriage—is in fact deeply super-sessionist, and functionally replaces the Torah mitzva of kiddushin. This worthless Xtological abstraction amounts to the value of tits on a boar hog when the piglets cry for milk! Torah mitzva of kiddushin rooted in precedent of the sworn oath made at the brit between the pieces which eternally established the chosen Cohen nation – born into the future/O’lam Ha’Bah!

    Halakhic boundaries interpreted through the Oral Torah define and understand the mitzva of kiddushin within Mesechta Kiddushin of the Talmud. The Torah requires mikveh, which is about ritual purity in relation to the woman’s cycle and the marital household—a national law rooted in Genesis–Deuteronomy. Paul’s version? No mikveh, no Torah. The cleansing comes by “the word”—meaning his gospel, his doctrine—a mystical metaphor that supplants halakhah with belief. “…that he might present it to himself a glorious church… holy and without blemish.” … Temple language, stolen and re-applied to “the Church”, as if she were now the bride, the Temple, the chosen.

    It uproots Jeremiah 31:31. Torah marriage simply not about emotion or romantic identification—this mitzva cuts a brit, a legal alliance with concrete halakhic duties, inheritance laws, and national continuation. Paul dilutes this into a private spiritual metaphor: love your wife because she is you—a move away from oath sworn alliance obligations that live on throughout the generations, perverted and change unto worthless abstract emotionalism. The Church now pictured as the bride, not Israel. Faith in Christ, not halakhic brit, serves as the glue. Love and purity merely symbolic, not legal categories tied to Torah. Just as Galatians 3:28 dissolves categories, and Acts 17:26 universalizes origin, so too does Ephesians 5:25–28 spiritualize and replace Torah marriage—making it subordinate to Christ, not the Torah Constitution of Israel.

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