Sally A Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary
Jesus’ forty-day experience of hunger and testing in the wilderness, following his baptism and before his ministry begins, is the subject of today’s Gospel reading. Matthew’s language aligns closely with Luke’s (Lk 4:1-13); the major difference is that Luke transposes the ordering of the second and third tests. Both Matthew and Luke attest that this ordeal is no accident. At Jesus’ baptism, the divine Voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased” (3:17). And now, astonishingly, the Spirit quite purposefully leads Jesus into the wilderness “to be tested.” Amid a forty-day fast and under pressure from the Tempter (Gr. diabolos; Heb.Satan), Jesus must discern what being the beloved Divine Son means, and what it does not mean. In three scenes, the Tempter seeks to persuade Jesus to deliver himself from three of our deepest human fears: 1) desperate scarcity; 2) vulnerability to failure; and 3) lack of leverage over powers that shape our lives. Yet, quoting texts from Deuteronomy, Jesus entrusts himself to the will of God, refuses to perform “tricks” to sustain or exalt himself, and refuses to bow to Satan in exchange for world dominance.
Interpreters note that, here and elsewhere, Matthew presents Jesus as “the new Moses.” Indeed, Jesus’ forty days of testing in the wilderness evoke Israel’s forty-year wilderness trial, as well as Moses’ forty days on the mountaintop. At times, God called Israel “my son” (see Exodus 4:22). Mt evokes these resonances to help us discern parallels between Israel’s wilderness journey and Jesus’ experience. However, traditional interpretations making Jesus the “one who got it right” while Israel and Moses “got it wrong” drift toward anti-Semitism. The NT witness does not support a denigration of Judaism. Mt wrote his gospel against a backdrop of conflict between Jewish Jesus-followers and the Jewish synagogue leadership. Mt seeks to demonstrate that Jesus’ mission and ministry stand in continuity with the Law and Prophets. In today’s text, far from denying the Law’s relevance, Jesus affirms it, quoting Deuteronomy. The God who sustained Israel in the wilderness is trustworthy still.
A fruitful way to preach from this text is to explore with the congregation its message for the church in our time. Modern Western cultures are fascinated by precisely the three forms of “security” that the Tempter dangles in front of Jesus: bottomless abundance and wealth (stones turned to bread), dazzling celebrity (a daredevil leap into the arms of swooping angels), and a level of control that is no less than world domination (ruling all the kingdoms of the world). Again and again, over centuries and in varied cultural settings, the church has tried to attract converts and hold the attention of the culture by grasping precisely these levers of influence. Too often, the price the church pays is the loss of its true calling and identity. In recent decades, the Vatican has undertaken to redirect the church–away from the pursuit of wealth, celebrity, and political power, and toward greater and more humble service in the name and in the manner of Jesus Christ. For decades, churches have resorted to bribery to get people inside their doors, claiming God promises them wealth, success, and power. Jesus promised his followers precisely the opposite. Perhaps we need to walk out our church doors into the world’s wilderness places, for the world’s sake, but also our own. Vulnerable, we may yet recover the truth that Jesus knew: the God who sustained God’s own in the past, can sustain us still.
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 