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Two Takes on the Three Tests of Jesus

Sidebar to: Triumph over Temptation


The most extensive descriptions of Satan’s three tests of Jesus appear in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. While the essence of the three tests is essentially the same in both books, the order of Matthew’s last two tests is reversed in Luke. An 11th-century illumination (above) of the three tests opts for Matthew’s sequence: At left, a black devil points at a pile of stones as he challenges Jesus to turn them into bread; at center, Jesus and the devil meet on the roof of the Jerusalem Temple; and at far right, Jesus, on a mountaintop, gazes out across all the kingdoms of the world. The scene appears in the Codex Aureus, produced at the Abbey of Echternach (now in Luxembourg) for the emperor Henry III in about 1055.

The Three Tests According to Matthew 4:1–11

(4:1) Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the desert to be tested by the devil.

First Test

(2) He fasted 40 days and 40 nights and after he hungered. (3) And the tester came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God tell these stones to become loaves!” (4) But he answering said, “It has been written. ‘No one shall live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God!’”

Second Test

(5) Then the devil takes him to the Holy City, and set him on the wing of the Temple. (6) And says to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it has been written, ‘He will give his angels charge of you, and on (their) hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone!’” (7) Jesus said to him, “Again it has been written, ‘You shall not test the Lord your God!’”

Third Test

(8) Again the devil takes him to a very high mountain, and shows him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. (9) And he said to him, “All these things I will give you if, falling down, you will worship me!” (10) Then Jesus says to him, “Begone, Satan! for it has been written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him alone shall you serve!’”

Conclusion

(11) Then the devil leaves him. And behold, angels came and ministered to him.

The Three Tests According to Luke (4:1–13)

(4:1) Jesus full of the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert, (2) for 40 days being tested by the devil.

First Test

And he ate nothing in those days and when they were ended he hungered. (3) And the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God tell this stone to become a loaf!” (4) And Jesus answered him, “It has been written, ‘No one shall live on bread alone!’”

Second Test

(5) And leading him up he showed him all the kingdoms of the inhabited earth in a moment of time. (6) And the devil said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been given to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. (7) If you will worship before me, it will all be yours!” (8) And answering Jesus said to him, “It has been written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him alone shall you serve!’”

Third Test

(9) He led him to Jerusalem, and set him on the wing of the Temple. And said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, (10) for it has been written, ‘He will give his angels charge of you, to preserve you!’ (11) And ‘On (their) hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone!’” (12) And answering Jesus said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not test the Lord your God!’”

Conclusion

(13) And having finished every test, the devil left him for a time.