Board index ‹ Specific Bible verses, texts, and passages ‹ Matthew

[Lost in Space]

Matthew 4:8 describes Satan taking Jesus to a mountain tall enough to see all the kingdoms of the world. Did the author of Matthew think there was a literal mountain this tall? If so, which mountain was he thinking of?

[jimwalton]

A.T. Robertson says that it had to be at least partially mental and imaginative. R.T. France, in his commentary on Matthew, argues that the physical impossibility of a mountain commanding a worldwide view may suggest it was a vision (cf. Ezekiel’s visionary “visit” to the temple while he was in Babylon; Ezk. 8.1-3; 11.24). There may also be, as France also says, an allusion to God bringing both Moses and Elijah to a mountain, in which case (my comment) it may be that Satan is taking the position and status of deity in this temptation.

Nicholas Lunn argues that following allusions to the Temple in the temptation, it could suggest a correlation between the high places and the Temple (Ezk. 40.2; Rev. 21.10, et al.). Lunn says, "Having been brought there, the expectation is that worship will now take place. Similarly, viewing the location as an allusive realization of the most holy place, the sanctum that contained the ultimate earthly focus of Israel’s divine service, there is likewise the anticipation of an act of worship. But worship of whom? That is the very issue. Would Jesus fall into the same idolatrous practices conducted in the high places by Israel of old and bow to the supreme false God, or would he be faithful to the true God so as to render this high mountain a place of genuine worship. His response is direct and definitive. As the incipient new Israel, it was imperative that Jesus chose rightly, and so he was seen to do." (Nicholas Lunn, “The Temple in the Wilderness…”, JETS [59/4] December 2016 pp. 712,715)

[the Squid]

What are your thoughts on Buddha tempted by Mara vs Jesus tempted by Satan? Did one predate the other?

[jimwalton]

I think it's safe to say the temptation of Buddha by Mara predated Jesus by about 500 years. Though both stories fall under the category and theme of temptation and therefore share the temptation motif, they are completely different in every other way. Mara tempted Siddhartha with a seductive goddess, filling him with fear with visions of destruction and death, and accusing him of pride. Shortly after, then, Mara attacked him again, arguing that he (Siddhartha) should keep his newfound wisdom to himself rather than sharing it.

The nature of these two are too diverse for Christianity to have copied from Buddhism. There is no warrant to think the Gospel writers derived their narrative from Buddhist sources.