My Big Fat Greek Article...
How Matthew and Luke Portray the Temptation of Jesus Pt. 3
In the previous post, we observed Matthew’s portrayal of the story of Jesus’ temptation. He employed the strange but fascinating device called the Historical Present. This linguistic tool causes suspense and highlights certain aspects of the story. Luke, as we’ll see, takes a different approach.
Luke’s Use of the Aorist Tense
What dominates Luke’s portrayal of the story is the aorist tense. Our passage has four present tenses, five future tenses, seven perfect tenses, and twenty-three aorist tenses. This is the default tense that indicates past time or a holistic action. But one ought not to interpret the aorist in a vacuum. Other linguistic features will aid any reader in discerning the choice of a certain tense. The surrounding context will often determine the specific use of the aorist, showing how the author portrays his story. It’s worth exploring the uses of the aorist in this passage, examples of which include the ingressive, constative, and consummative aorist.
After introducing the narrative and setting up the context, Luke writes in verse 2, “καὶ συντελεσθεισῶν αὐτῶν ἐπείνασεν.” The aorist verb ἐπείνασεν (“He was hungry”) seems to be used in an ingressive or inceptive manner. In other words, Luke describes a state that Jesus enters into– a state of hunger. This becomes clear from the context.
Before this statement, Luke clarifies that Jesus had not eaten for forty days. No one of a sound mind would believe that Jesus would be anything other than hungry. Luke, being a doctor, well knows that this phrase can appear superfluous. So why the clarification? The reader gets a clue from the participle συντελεσθεισῶν. This is an aorist adverbial circumstantial participle that is functioning temporally, indicating that the verb (συντελεσθεισῶν) is after the forty days ending. The prepositional prefix συν should give the reader pause, as it informs him that it’s at the end of these forty days that Jesus enters into this state of hunger. In other words, He would’ve been hungry after three days, but Luke clarifies this to show the inception of a new state of hunger such that if Jesus does not eat, he’ll die. Luke also makes use of the constative aorist.
A constative aorist is used for a “past action unspecified by the context as to its kind of action.” In verse 5, Luke writes, Καὶ ἀναγαγὼν αὐτὸν ἔδειξεν αὐτῷ πάσας τὰς βασιλείας τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐν στιγμῇ χρόνου… (“And he, taking Him up, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.”) The verb ἔδειξεν is an example of the constative aorist. It’s the default way the aorist is used in narrative. It communicates very little about time and the progress of the action. Even when combined with other linguistic features, it will describe an action using the least amount of information possible.
By using this here, Luke portrays this action holistically without reference to the beginning or end. It’s as if the reader is getting the full summary of this action. How long did it take for the devil to show him all these kingdoms? Was it simply this vision of the full panorama of the kingdoms of the world? How long was he up there seeing this before the devil tempted him? That information isn’t given. Luke intends to show the reader a minimal summary, thus emphasizing the temptation rather than the kingdoms of the world. It’s why when someone reads this in English, what is remembered is the fact that Satan owns these kingdoms and is offering them to Jesus, not how he showed him these things. The last use of the aorist is consummative.
The consummative aorist (also known as the culminative aorist) is used in contexts where the action is completed and has lasting effects or implications. Luke ends his narrative this way: Καὶ συντελέσας πάντα πειρασμὸν ὁ διάβολος ἀπέστη ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ ἄχρι καιροῦ (“And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.”) As the name suggests, the aorist participle συντελέσας points to the culmination of the devil’s actions and the narrative as a whole.
The consummation of this passage is found when the devil ends all of his temptations and departs from Christ. Luke, by employing this use of the temporal aorist participle, is letting the reader in on the fact that the whole narrative has been building to this moment: when Christ Jesus wins His initial victory over satan. The temptations didn’t last forever– they ended. And when they end, the saints stand and applaud in amazement that this isn’t a mere human; he is the God-man.
Conclusion
Verbal aspect is crucial to one’s understanding of any passage of scripture. The more the Bible student grasps the aspect or portrayal of a verb, the closer they are to finding the intent of the Biblical author and consequently, the message of God’s Word. Matthew and Luke serve as test cases. To understand how both Matthew and Luke portray the temptation of Christ, one must understand verbal aspect in Koine Greek, Matthew’s use of the Historical Present, and Luke’s abundant use of the aorist tense.
Matthew’s use of the HP is a masterful way of slowing down the narrative to point forward to the surprising actions of Satan and, most of all, the victory of Christ over them. The HP points away from itself to establish prominence in the text, which aids the reader in understanding the great thematic elements emphasized by Matthew throughout his entire gospel.
When examining Luke’s use of the aorist, one finds that, along with all the other linguistic features, there’s something more happening than just employing the aorist to move the narrative along quickly with very little information. Understanding the aorist along with the surrounding context, the prepositional prefixes, and participial clauses helps the reader understand that Luke’s portrayal of the story establishes a meaningful relationship between the verbs and a thoughtful progression of each action. Interestingly, Luke has no HP’s in his narrative, which shows that he decided to portray the story without highlighting anything, whereas Matthew decided to draw attention to and highlight specific aspects of the story.
Everyone has incredible stories to tell. Sometimes two people will tell the same story with different perspectives. What often makes the difference is the way the story is told. Matthew and Luke tell the story of Christ’s temptation with creativity and intentionality, pointing each reader to the victory and sufficiency of the Savior.