Matthew 4:1: “Then was Jesus led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”
Every modern translation I read renders the Greek word peirazo as tempt as well they should as that is what it means. But in the ancient Greek, as used in the Septuagint it was also used to mean try or test. In the Septuagint the word peirazo is used for the Hebrew word nesah which means to try, test or tempt. The Aramaic Bible uses the Aramaic word nesa which has a little different spin on the word. It has been discovered in the Old Galilean dialect of Aramaic that Jesus and the disciples spoke that nesa is used when a man is purchasing an ox. Before he actually purchases the ox, he will nesa or try it out. He will use it in his fields to see how it performs. In other words, he will take it for a test drive. In other words the enemy was tempting Jesus by saying: “Hey, sure your human, but you are still divine, why not take your divinity for a nesa or test drive.
The other day during my lunch hour I stopped at the local auto dealership to look over their used cars. Almost immediately I was met by Sam, a smiling, friendly guy with a sports jacket and tie asking if I needed any help. I advised I was just looking (dreaming actually) so Sam changed the subject and started talking about birds, Hawks actually, that were Black and were looking for some sort of cup that was called Stanley. I was so intrigued by this dissertation that I failed to realize I was being led out of the used car lot into the new car lot and before I realized it I standing before a brand new, shining Ford Focus with Sam admiring it like it was his first born son. He even asked me to take his baby for a test drive. Being the good Hebrew and Aramaic teacher that I am, I immediately thought of the word nesa and almost said: “Get thee behind me; man shall not drive a brand new Ford Focus’s alone. My 13 year old Focus will do me just fine, thank you.”
After escaping Sam’s evangelistic efforts to convert me from my 13 year old Focus to a new one, I began to think about his offer to test drive. I have to admit I was tempted. But why would I bother? The car was brand new, just out of the factory and it was already test driven by skilled experts and technicians who would have spotted any flaws or defects. I certain did need to test drive it to determine if it had any problems. I’ve been driving a Ford Focus for six years, I know how they drive and feel. What was Sam tempting me with after all? Old Sam knew that if I would just get behind that wheel and smell the newness of the car, see how clean it was with unsmeared windows that you could see through and floors that were not sticky from two week old spilled soda and drive a car where everything worked, even the air conditioner, I would be hooked. I would do something absolutely crazy like sign away $350.00 a month for the next six years.
I couId not help but wonder if this is what Jesus faced in the wilderness with His Sam by his side offering Jesus a chance totest drive his divinity. Jesus had fasted for 40 days. I once did that. I was not hungry, in fact had I not realized I reached my limit, I would not have broken the fast. I really enjoyed feasting on the Word of God. Jesus did not have to prove anything to Satan. He knew He was the Son of God; Satan knew He was the Son of God, what was there to prove. Actually, in the Aramaic the word for if is an. An doesn’t necessarily mean if in a conditional sense, but more like even if this is true or since this is the case. So the enemy was not saying: “if you are the Son of God change these rocks into bread” but “Since you are the Son of God change these stones into bread.” Sort of like my friend Sam saying: “Since you need a new car, why not try this one out.” Satan was merely saying to Jesus: “Hey, 40 days without eating, that is pretty much the limit for a human body to endure, since you’re the Son of God why not break your fast, change these stones to rock and let’s chow down.”
So what was so wrong with this? It was time for Jesus to eat, He was the Son of God, He could change the stones to bread and eat it and thus save the time and effort of walking back to town and finding bread like any other human being. He was, after all the Son of God, why not use his powers to indulge in some personal satisfaction, no one would begrudge that, I sure won’t, He is God, He is the Savior, He deserves to enjoy the fruits of His divinity, let Him enjoy.
Why did I not test drive that car, it was being offered, I deserved a little pleasure after 6 years in a broken down Focus that has no air conditioning, hey live a little. Then too, why not buy the thing, I can afford the payments, I work hard, who could begrudge me a little luxury. Yet, here’s the kicker, the money I would use for those payments has been consecrated to the Lord’s work, I earn that money for one purpose and one purpose alone, to help finance God’s message of love. I would sure have to stretch things to say that driving a brand new Ford Focus would be helping to spread the love of God. In truth, it would be satisfying the desires of my flesh and would be sending the wrong message about the love of God. But more than that, I am making this sacrifice as a gesture of love to the God that I love. Would He begrudge me for buying a new Ford Focus? I don’t know, all I know is that if I took the funds I reserved as a gift to Him to show in some tangible way my love for Him, it would wound His heart if I used it for some selfish desire.
Perhaps that is what the enemy wanted to accomplish, to show that Jesus as a human being would give in to the desires of the flesh to use his powers of divinity for selfish motives. Somehow, Jesus turning to the enemy and saying, “No, I am in this human form to understand what it is like to be a human. If I use my divinity to satisfy any human desire, then I would not really prove to those I love that I sincerely want to understand their pain and suffering, to fully understand what it is like to be human, to be that high priest who knows and understands.
No, I would not begrudge Jesus for using his divinity to satisfy some fleshly desire, but like you I think my heart would be a bit wounded that his love for me was not complete, that there was some personal agenda attached to His love, that He did fudge a little on his commitment to know what it is like to be human. If He would have done that, perhaps I would have said: “Lord, maybe I can fudge on my gift to you and indulge in a little selfish desire and use that money I was going to use to spread your message of love and buy myself a brand new candy apple red Ford Focus.
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