Text Used to Create the Splice “40 Days in the Desert”

Matthew 4:1-11 (Greek Text Analysis starting with Matthew 4:1)

Mark 1:12-13 (Greek Text Analysis starting with Mark 1:12)

Luke 4:1-13 (Greek Text Analysis starting with Luke 4:1)

 

Hebrews 4:15

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

 

THE SPLICE

Jesus, ¹abounding in the Holy Spirit, ²returned from the Jordan and immediately the Spirit ³impelled Him to go out into the ⁴wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And He was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days and nights, being tempted by ⁵Satan. And in those forty days and nights, He was with ⁶wild beasts. Also, while in the wilderness, He had eaten nothing and after Jesus had ⁷fasted for the forty days and nights, He became hungry. And the tempter, the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread; tell this stone to become bread.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘⁸MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.’” And the devil ⁹took Him to the holy city Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here; for it is written, ‘¹⁰HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU TO GUARD YOU,’ and, ‘¹¹ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.’” And Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written and it is said, ‘¹²YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.’” Again, the devil took Him up to a very high mountain and showed Him all the ¹³kingdoms of the world and their glory in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; all these things will I give You; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore if You worship before me, if You fall down and worship me, it shall all be Yours.” Then Jesus answered him, “Go Satan! For it is written, ‘¹⁴YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’” When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an ¹⁵opportune time and ¹⁶behold, angels went to Jesus and began to ¹⁷minister to Him and were ministering to Him.

1. abounding in the Holy Spirit: The Greek word used here for abounding or full is plérés and means to be completely occupied with or completely full, to be completely covered. ↩︎
2. returned from the Jordan: Jesus had just finished His baptism with John the Baptist. To read about the Baptism of Jesus, see Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-22, and John 1:32-34 for John’s testimony concerning the event. Click to read the Splice “The Baptism of Jesus”. ↩︎
3. impelled: See Mark 1:12. The Greek word used for impelled in Mark 1:12 is ekballo which means “to drive out” or “throw out” or “cast out”. ↩︎
4. wilderness: The Greek word used for wilderness is erémos and means “solitary” or “desolate”. ↩︎
5. Satan: the name Satan means “adversary”. ↩︎
6. wild beasts: I looked up what “wild beasts” live in the Palestinian desert/Judean desert and although I’m sure there have been changes over the past 2000 years, it gives an idea of what could have been living there at the time, including the Syrian brown bear which is now sadly extinct in Israel. ↩︎
7. fasted forty days and nights: As far as we can tell by the Bible, Jesus fasted from food, but He was still drinking water. Moses fasted 40 days from both water and food while he was in the presence of God, writing the Ten Commandments. Elijah also fasted from both food and water for 40 days and nights while hiding out on the same mountain that the Ten Commandments were written on: Mount Sinai/Horeb. He had been fed by an angel right before that fast began. We should consider these fasts as supernatural miracles, and therefore no one should be attempting to fast from food and water for 40 days in today’s era. ↩︎
8. MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE: Jesus is quoting Deuteronomy 8:3. ↩︎
9. took: The Greek word used for took in Matthew 4:5, 8 is paralambanó and it means “to take” but with a strong interpersonal and active connotation Also see the Greek word lambanó. Luke uses a different word in Luke 4:5, 9. The word he uses is agó and it means “to lead”. ↩︎
10. HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS: Satan is referencing Psalm 91:11. ↩︎
11. ON their HANDS THEY WILL: A reference to Psalm 91:12. ↩︎
12. YOU SHALL NOT PUT: Deuteronomy 6:16. ↩︎
13. kingdoms of the world: The Greek word for world used here is oikoumené and means the “inhabited world”. ↩︎
14. YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD: Deuteronomy 6:13 and 10:20 both make this command clear. ↩︎
15. opportune time: There were lots of opportune times during Jesus’s ministry that the devil could have been around, but two times in particular come to mind. There was the time Peter told Jesus that He would never be killed in Jerusalem in Matthew 16:23. We can assume here that Satan has influenced Peter’s words by what Jesus says. Another time would be when Satan enters Judas to begin the crucifixion process (see John 13:2, 27). ↩︎
16. behold: The Greek word for behold is horaó and it means “to see” or “look”. Behold is a bit of an old-fashioned word for modern English speakers, but it is equivalent to saying “look here/see here” or “understand”. ↩︎
17. minister: The Greek word for minister is diakoneó and it means “to serve” in general. But it also means to “wait at table”. I think the angels did serve Jesus in general, but I think we can safely assume that they also brought Him some food. ↩︎