The Temptation of Jesus1

Matthew 4:1-11  S2 Mark 1:12-13 Luke 4:1-13
4:1 Then Jesus 
was led by the Spirit into the wilderness
to be tempted by the devil. 4:2 And he fasted forty days and forty nights3 and afterwards he was hungry.
 		 1 1:12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 1:13 and he was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts;
 
 
 
 		 4:1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan,and was led by the Spirit 4:2 for forty days in the wilderness, tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing in those days; and when they were ended, he was hungry.
4:3 And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." 4:4 But he answered, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"4  2 <==STONES TO BREAD==> 4:3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." 4:4 And Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone.'"4
 
 
 
 
4:5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, 4:6 and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, 'He will give his angels charge of you,'5 and 'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'"5

4:7 Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'"6 
 

 3     <===TEMPLE===>   cf. vv. 9-12
4:8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them; 4:9 and he said to him, "All these I will give you if you will fall down and worship me." 

4:10 Then Jesus said to him "Begone, Satan! for it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.'"7
 
 

 4        <===KINGDOMS===> 4:5 And the devil took him up, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 4:6 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. 4:7 If you, then, will worship me, it shall all be yours." 

4:8 And Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'You shall worship the Lord you God, and him only shall you serve.'"7

  cf. vv. 5-7
 

 5       <===TEMPLE===> 4:9 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; 4:10 for it is written, 'He will give his angels charge of you, to guard you,'5 4:11 and 'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'"5 

4:12 And Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'"6
4:11 Then the devil left him, and behold angels came and ministered to him.
 
 		 6

and angels ministered to him.

 4:13 and when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.
Learning Activities:8
  1. Identify the overall structure of the temptation narratives, noting which gospel account includes which narrative detail in each of the six scenes. Which gospel contains what?
  2. Identify the variations between Matthew and Luke in sequence of scenes 3-5. Attempt to find an answer for these variations. What role does Q play here?
  3. Identify the triple tradition elements in each scene, as they may occur in the black or red bold color code.
  4. Identify the double tradition elements in each scene including the specific gospels, as they may occur in the blue underlined color code.
  5. Identify the elements in each scene unique to each gospel in the regular black print, as they may occur.
  6. Compare the use of Hebrew Bible references by each gospel writer, noting places where the same passage is treated differently.
  7. Summarize your observations in the above activities for each gospel account, noting patterns, dependency upon one another especially Mark etc.
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Notes:
1Color Code System: 2The numbers below in this column represent the various literary scenes comprised in the narrative.

3Taken from Exodus 24:18 (NRSV), "Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights."

4Taken from Deuteronomy 8:3 (NRSV), "He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nore your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord."

5Taken from Psalm 91:11-12 (NRSV), "(11) For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. (12) On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone."

6Taken from Deuteronomy 6:16 (NRSV), "Do not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah."

7Taken Deuteronomy 5:9 (NRSV), "You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me," Deut. 6:13 (NRSV), "The Lord your God you shall fear; him you shall serve, and by his name alone you shall swear," Deut. 10:20 (NRSV), "You shall fear the Lord your God; him alone you shall worship; to him you shall hold fast, and by his name you shall swear."

8These learning activities will be the basis of test questions both for quizzes and exams.