Scripture · Matthew 25:1-13
Matthew 4:1-11
The Temptation of Christ (detail)
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. The tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took Him to the holy city and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple. “If You are the Son of God,” he said, “throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command His angels concerning You, and they will lift You up in their hands, so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’” Jesus replied, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “All this I will give You,” he said, “if You will fall down and worship me.” “Away from Me, Satan!” Jesus told him. “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’” Then the devil left Him, and angels came and ministered to Him.
The tempter spreads both hands toward a world outside the frame. Christ answers with one raised hand, refusing the bargain without following the gesture down.
About the artwork
The winged figure twists toward Christ, watching His face while presenting the offer with both arms. Christ remains upright; one hand rises against the clear sky while the other rests against His white mantle. The contrast gives the exchange its pressure. The offer takes an expansive movement to make; the answer holds its ground.
This gallery image is a detail of the Louvre’s much larger canvas, which is 3.45 meters high. Commissioned in 1849, the painting was still in Scheffer’s studio when he died in 1858. The crop concentrates a monumental subject into faces and hands, leaving the promised kingdoms beyond our view. We encounter the negotiation through the tempter’s insistence and Christ’s response, rather than through a catalogue of desirable possessions.
Featured in: Luke 4 in Art: The Temptation, the Hometown Sermon, and the Verses Worth Remembering
What does Matthew 4:1-11 mean?
Matthew 4:8–10 makes this the final temptation, after the challenges concerning bread and the temple. The devil offers the kingdoms of the world on one condition: Jesus must fall down and worship him. The price is the decisive part of the proposal. Scheffer’s upright Christ makes the refusal visible in a scene whose words ask Him to bow.
Jesus answers from Deuteronomy 6:13. In its original setting, Moses warns Israel that the good land, full houses, and plentiful food must not make them forget the God who freed them from slavery. Remembering that context gives the offer of abundance a sharper edge: receiving the world would be ruinous if it required transferring worship. The quiet firmness of Christ’s gesture belongs to that distinction between a gift and the allegiance demanded for it.
The opposed gestures concentrate Matthew’s final temptation into the offer of power and Christ’s refusal of its condition.
Sources
Matthew 4 — Berean Standard Bible. Context for Matthew 4:1-11.
Deuteronomy 6 — Berean Standard Bible. Verses 10–14 give the setting of the command Jesus cites in Matthew 4:10.
Also from Matthew:Marriage of the VirginThe Dream of Saint Joseph