Why did Satan even bother to tempt Jesus?

[BornAgain490]

On 10/24/2024 at 7:13 PM, Mihrof said:

Matthew 4:5-10. Satan knows who Jesus is and that He is God's Son. Then why tempt Him at all? Especially, why try to tempt him with the kingdoms of the world, when He is the master of the universe? 

Hebrews 2:7 tells us that Jesus was, for a while, a little lower than the angels.  It's likely that Satan knew this.  So, knowing this, Satan thought if he could get Jesus at his weakest moment (hungry after fasting forty days), that he could do to Jesus what he was able to do to Eve in the garden (charm and deceive her), and what he was able to do to a third of all angels that were cast out of God's presence when Satan rebelled against God. 

What Satan did not calculate into his scheme was, even though Jesus was truly flesh, Jesus was also truly God in the flesh. 

[Retrobyter]

On 10/24/2024 at 7:13 PM, Mihrof said:

Matthew 4:5-10. Satan knows who Jesus is and that He is God's Son. Then why tempt Him at all? Especially, why try to tempt him with the kingdoms of the world, when He is the master of the universe? 

Shalom, @Mihrof.

I believe the answer is simpler than that. Yeeshuwa` ("Jesus") was NOT well-known at the time, not even by haSatan! When the Word of God was made flesh, He became HUMAN; so, haSatan was "testing the waters" by testing HIM! The New Testament obviously had NOT yet been written; so, he had no knowledge of John 1:1-12 nor even the full ramifications of what it meant to be "the Son of God." The Word had never been called that before, and the Davidic Covenant sounded like it was fulfilled in the kingship of Shlomoh ("Solomon"). (But, it WASN'T!)

The Word, by the way, was NEVER called "God the Son" until the matter of the Trinity was being discussed by the churches and a decision was made in 325 A.D, although some began to form the idea of the Trinity as early as the mid-2nd Century. It was then that they solidified the statement "God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit" using that balanced formula to describe the Trinity.

Somebody was probably keeping the record of Miryam's (Mary's) encounter with GaVriy'Eel ("Gabriel") propagated by word-of-mouth until Lukas ("Luke") finally took the initiative to write it down around 80 to 90 A.D. (I don't know if Lukas could have spoken with Yeeshuwa`s mother Miryam directly, although it's not entirely impossible.) And, if he heard the record of GaVriy'Eel's announcment to Miryam, he might have pieced together the fact that Yeeshuwa` would be the World Emperor after He took David's throne.

Oh, and by the way, Yeeshuwa` is NOT "master of the universe." He shall be "King of the World," as His Kingdom grows. YHWH God, His Father, is "Master of the universe." Two Persons doing the same thing would be redundant. His mission was to be "the Mediator between God and men," and His legacy is said to be "the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." So, there are three passages of Scripture from the OT that the devil might have known about: the second psalm, Psalm 2:1-12; 2 Samuel 7:5-16; and 1 Chronicles 17:4-14, these last two being records of the Davidic Covenant that YHWH God promised David concerning his "seed," the Messiah, the "Son of God." 

He WAS God the Word, but "the Word BECAME FLESH!" (John 1:14.) When YHWH God the Father resurrected His Son, He brought Him - the body - back to life, and the Son, Yeeshuwa`, said of Himself,

Luke 24:39 (KJV)

39 "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not FLESH AND BONES, as ye see me have."

Now, what are the attributes of God? Dr. Emery H. Bancroft said in Christian Theology: Systematic and Biblical,

"Classification of the Attributes

"The attributes may be divided into great classes: Absolute or Immanent, and Relative or Transitive.

"By Absolute or Immanent Attributes we mean attributes which respect the inner being of God, which are involved in God's relations in Himself, and which belong to His nature independently of His connection with the universe.

"By Relative or Transitive Attributes we mean attributes which respect the outward relations of God's being, which are involved in God's relations to the creation, and which are exercised in consequence of the existence of the universe and its dependence upon Him.

"Under the heading of Absolute or Immanent Attributes, we make a threefold division into Spirituality, with the attributes therein involved, namely, Life and Personality, Infinity, with the attributes therein involved, namely, Self-Existence, Immutabulity [sic], and Unity; and Perfection, with the attributes therein involved, namely, Truth, Love, and Holiness.

"Under the heading of Relative or Transitive Attributes, we make a threefold division, according to the order of their revelation, into attributes having relation to Time and Space, as Eternity and Immensity; attributes having relation to Creation, as Omnipresence, Omniscience, and Omnipotence; and attributes having relation to Moral Beings, as Veracity and Faithfulness, or Transtive Truth, Mercy, and Goodness, or Transitive Love; and Justice and righteousness, or Transitive Holiness." (Bancroft, Christian Theology, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1976, p. 69.)

The Word that became flesh and was named "Yeeshuwa`" (meaning "He shall save") did not keep all of these attributes when He became flesh. Most notably, He did not keep Immensity, Omnipresence, or Omniscience. He was now LOCALIZED to being a body of flesh, being neither immense nor omnipresent! He is also quoted as saying,

Mark 13:32 (KJV)

32 "But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels whichare in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father."

Now, it is possible that Omniscience was restored to Yeeshuwa`, once He returned to His Father, but He is FOREVER LOCALIZED to being a body of flesh! This is why He could leave the earth in the ascension and shall return at His Second Coming. It also makes the sending of the Holy Spirit - the Comforter - imperative.

[Mihrof]

Thank you all very much for the replies! I learned so much. 

As BornAgain490 mentioned, and some other people as well, Satan might not know that Jesus was fully God at that time. I am afraid I could not agree with this view, as Mark 1:34 and Luke 8:26-28 clearly show that even demons knew who Jesus was. 

Tempting a human that is also fully God, seems futile. 

[Indentured Servant]

On 10/24/2024 at 7:13 PM, Mihrof said:

Matthew 4:5-10. Satan knows who Jesus is and that He is God's Son. Then why tempt Him at all? Especially, why try to tempt him with the kingdoms of the world, when He is the master of the universe? 

Satan was given the right to grant those things to Jesus that it controlled.

It was all going to belong to Jesus anyway, and He could have circumvented being crucified by accepting satan's offer. But, by doing it the "easy way" meant that He would have to bow to the one who gave it all to Him, causing Him to be ineligible to continue as our Savior.

He had to overcome these temptations as a human, by exercising the Spirit within Him for strength to persevere until death. 

 

 

[Mihrof]

On 11/5/2024 at 5:17 AM, Indentured Servant said:

Satan was given the right to grant those things to Jesus that it controlled.

It was all going to belong to Jesus anyway, and He could have circumvented being crucified by accepting satan's offer. But, by doing it the "easy way" meant that He would have to bow to the one who gave it all to Him, causing Him to be ineligible to continue as our Savior.

He had to overcome these temptations as a human, by exercising the Spirit within Him for strength to persevere until death. 

 

 

2 Peter 3 and Rev 21 indicate that whatever Satan contols now, will be destroyed, so I still cannot see the point of tempting Jesus with them. I am sorry if I am being stubborn. 

[Wayne222]

On 11/3/2024 at 8:06 PM, Mihrof said:

Thank you all very much for the replies! I learned so much. 

As BornAgain490 mentioned, and some other people as well, Satan might not know that Jesus was fully God at that time. I am afraid I could not agree with this view, as Mark 1:34 and Luke 8:26-28 clearly show that even demons knew who Jesus was. 

Tempting a human that is also fully God, seems futile. 

He was fully human too. The second Adam. Satan would not have tried unless he believed he could tempt Jesus. Satan tried to kill baby Jesus and they fled to Egypt. It’s all possible to Satan to caused Jesus to sin as a fully Humsn being  being. But Jesus was upheld by God. And that’s the reason he didn’t sin. 

[Tristen]

To qualify as the Savior of humanity, Jesus had to live a perfect human life - demonstrating that it was possible for a human to live a sinless life. Therefore, Jesus was not (by His own volition) permitted to access His divinity. Jesus had to live a fully human life, with the same weaknesses as Adam - including being subject to various temptations.

Satan first used the fleshly weakness of hunger to tempt Jesus to access His divinity (i.e. to turn a stone into bread - which is not a sin, but which is something that can only be done with the power of God).

Then satan tempted Jesus to disrespect God by testing the legitimacy of God's Word. This parallels the test by which satan ensnared Adam and Eve.

Finally, Jesus was tempted with pride - the same sin satan himself had succumbed to.

 

[other one]

I just had a thought.   Maybe it was to fulfill prophecy.

[Indentured Servant]

19 hours ago, Mihrof said:

2 Peter 3 and Rev 21 indicate that whatever Satan contols now, will be destroyed, so I still cannot see the point of tempting Jesus with them. I am sorry if I am being stubborn. 

I don't perceive any stubbornness... 

It does seem to be a needless temptation from the perspective that Satan's rule will end; but, Jesus, the human, still had to overcome- 

Remember that He even asked if He could have the Father "take this cup from me," even though He knew what had to happen to Him. He was human flesh, which is inherently weak and prone to the temptation of self-preservation and success.

He also taught us in this series of temptations about what should or shouldn't be important to us. 

No matter what Satan offers, one must know the struggle between temptation and willingness to suffer/die for something greater.

In Jesus' case, Satan was an authority over all this. He could resist and conquer or save Himself to gain the world without having to die for it. Satan had the authority to give this to Jesus without a fight. But Jesus would have still been under Satan.

[Mihrof]

I guess it comes down to the meaning of Jesus being fully human and fully God at the same time. He 'emptied himself' yet he still has his powers to commend demons and perform miracles......