Matthew 4: 3-11, NIV The
Temptation of Jesus in the Wilderness
3 The tempter came to him and
said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written:
‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth
of God.’[a]”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy
city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “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.’[b]”
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also
written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’[c]”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very
high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their
splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said,
“if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from
me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him
only.’[d]”
11 Then the devil left him, and
angels came and attended him.
The wilderness…that place where we imagine solitude, the
sounds of nature, running brooks, tall trees, cool breeze, and “roughing it.”
That’s one image. The wilderness can also refer to a mental, emotional or
physical place of isolation, weariness, concerns about the present and future,
vulnerability. In this passage of scripture, we find Jesus in both the physical
and mental wilderness. After having fasted forty days and nights, and in
preparation for his earthly ministry, Jesus is confronted by Satan himself.
Humanly speaking, Jesus is at his lowest point…tired, hungry, alone and facing
major tasks and responsibilities ahead. The weight, no doubt, is heavy, hard
and harrowing! But Jesus went through this process to teach us how to
overcome the enemy’s tactics, and stand victorious through the wilderness.
Jesus’ victory over temptation teaches us how to resist Satan
and reign victorious as we experience the wilderness. As we read verses 3-11,
we should not look simply at “bread, suicide or worshipping the devil,” but
rather, we should see these as representations of categories for life. The
writer in 1st John puts it like this, “For all that
is in the world, the lust of the flesh,
and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the
Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:16, KJV).
When the enemy came to Jesus, tempting him to turn the stones
into bread, he was appealing to Jesus’ human sensation of hunger. To understand
this more fully, consider what happens to a person when they fast for extended
periods of time. “With no carbohydrates coming in, the body creates its own
glucose using mainly fat. Eventually, the body runs out of these energy sources
as well. Fasting mode then becomes the more serious starvation
mode. At this point, a person's metabolism slows down, and their body begins
burning muscle tissue for energy” (Medical News Today, online).
Your muscles begin to weaken. Starvation begins to set in.
When a person is in this state, they are extremely vulnerable. This describes
physical hunger, but there are many kinds of hunger that can weaken,
debilitate, and break down a person. When the devil told Jesus to turn stones
into bread, it didn’t sound like such a bad idea. I mean, why not? He was
starving, he was weak, he was tired. He had the power to do it. Why not?
Here’s
lesson 1: Just because you can do it, doesn’t mean you should. Jesus
was on a mission. He was in preparation mode and needed all of the spiritual
strength as a human being that he could garner. Although he was God in the
flesh, when Jesus came to earth, he came as a human being, to teach us how to
walk, how to live, how to serve, how to forgive, how to have faith, how to love
and how to make it through our wilderness experiences. Had Jesus used his super
natural gifts, which we don’t have, then he would have lost the
influence to show us how to overcome when we are hungry.
When Jesus faced hunger, he stood upon God’s word… “But he
answered and said, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by
every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” We all get hungry
physically. But we also get hungry in other ways…hunger for love, hunger for
physical touch, hunger for affirmation and encouragement, hunger for
fulfillment…hunger for relationship…hungry for fellowship, etc. None of these
things in and of themselves are wrong. But if they are fulfilled in the wrong
way, we will lose our authority to witness, to be an example, to show others a
more excellent way. We can ruin not only our testimony, but our life’s work,
our life mission, our life as we know it if we seek to fulfill hunger in
unhealthy and immoral ways.
Just because you can go where ever you want to go, doesn’t
mean that you should. Just because you can attract or get involved with a
particular person, doesn’t mean that you should. Just because you can enter
into a particular business venture, doesn’t mean that you should. Pray, weigh
the consequences, ask yourself is it really worth it? Think about who will be
impacted by the decision that you are about to make to satisfy some passing
hunger. Understand that once you yield to the temptation that the devil dangles
before you, he leaves you to deal with the fall out, stands back to the side
and laughs.
Lesson #2: Don’t throw yourself down unnecessarily. The devil next tells Jesus to jump
off of a cliff, suggesting that if he does, the Father would send angels to
come and rescue him. Listen again to how Jesus responds…
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also
written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’[c]”
The devil loves to take scripture out of context. The devil
quoted Psalm 91:11-12 out of context…
11 For he shall give his angels charge
over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
12 They shall bear thee up in their
hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Within context of this passage, these verses refer to accidents
or harm coming to a godly person unaware of a danger. This DOES NOT suggest
that God’s people can take on foolish dares, deliberately put themselves in
unnecessary harm, handle snakes, drink poison, jump in front of cars as a stunt
and expect “angels to lift you up.” This is a trick, a trap and involves
foolish pride. Sometimes people will knowingly get themselves involved in
foolish, ill advised, even sinful situations and then say, “the Lord will
protect me.”
The Lord may have mercy and keep you from death, but
that is not guaranteed. Don’t fall for the devil’s trick. Jesus said, “do not
put the Lord your God to the test.” In other words, don’t do foolish, stupid,
ill advised, immoral things and then EXPECT that God will protect you. “Be not
deceived, God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soeth, that shall he also reap.”
We all make mistakes. We all make ill-advised choices from
time to time. But understand that when such things happen, if we are
spared, it’s because of God’s mercy, not because God is obligated to spare
us. When we choose to step out from under the arc of God’s safety, God’s
Word, God’s guidance, we open ourselves up to unnecessary pain, sometimes
life-long anguish and scars. Don’t put God to the test…don’t do whatever you
want and expect that God will rescue you from the consequences.
The final trick and trap Satan offers Jesus is to “give him
all of the kingdoms of the world, if he would fall down and worship
him.” Lesson #3: “Don’t fall for the ‘Okidoke! Worship God alone.’”
Listen to how Jesus responds…
8 Again, the devil took him to a very
high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their
splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said,
“if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from
me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him
only.’[d]”
11 Then the devil left him, and
angels came and attended him.
Of all of the tricks and traps,
temptations Satan offers Jesus, I always thought this one was the most
ridiculous. Satan knows that Jesus is the Son of God. Satan knows that Jesus is
God- the Word made flesh. He knows that Jesus is a part of the God-head and
that God owns all – “the earth is the Lord and the fulness thereof, the world
and they that dwell therein…” (Psalm 24:1, KJV). What was he up to? Was he
appealing to Jesus’ self-worth and pride? Did he think that because Jesus was
adorned in human flesh that he would forget who he was, who the Father is?
The devil knew that Jesus was doing
this for us. He knew that Jesus, although fully divine, had taken on the
feelings, emotions, fears, struggles, hopes, desires, etc., of humanity, so
that he could relate to us completely. Therefore, the devil was appealing to his
human tendencies. Jesus knew that we would be faced with these same
temptations… “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of
life.”
Jesus knew that there would be times
when we wanted something…we wanted a position, or some power, or some material
things, some relationships, some opportunities etc., that appeared to be out of
our reach. And while the devil is not like God – the devil IS NOT omniscient.
In other words, the devil does not know everything. Only God knows all. But the
devil is ancient. In other words, the devil has been around a very long
time and he has learned the weaknesses of human beings. He also remembers what made him fall – the
spirit of pride. Proverbs declares that pride goes before the fall.
Satan has NOTHING to offer you except
destruction, death and hell. No matter how good it looks, no matter how sweet
it sounds, no matter how much of an “opportunity” it appears to be, it is an
illusion, a trick, a trap, a fleeting moment of pleasure that turns bitter in
your mouth, sour in your stomach and send you on a trip to the proverbial
emergency room with a massive bill! Satan is a loser. You cannot win on his
team. Stay with God! Worship and serve the Lord who is worthy of all of our
praise! God has all power in His hand. God is the giver and the sustainer of
life. God is able to keep you from falling. God is able to lift you up in the
presence of your enemies. God will supply all of your needs according to his
riches in glory. But most of all, God is the giver and the sustainer of your
life, not only here, but in eternity through Jesus Christ.
Don’t fall for the Okiedoke! Learn
from Jesus’ examples and lessons from the wilderness. Resist the devil and he
will flee from you. Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you. Follow the
Lord Jesus and daily, he will teach you how to avoid, resist and beware of the
tricks of the devil!
Until next Wednesday,
In Faith, Hope and Perseverance,
Pastor Chris
www.shepastorchris.org
