Shepastor: "Lessons From the 

Wilderness..."

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 1^st 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 was appealing to Jesus’ human side, hoping that somehow, the prospect of having fame and fortune on earth would cause him to bow down and worship him. But Jesus summed up the answer for us, for all time – “worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.”  The old saying goes, “if you dance to the music, you’ve got to pay the piper.” My mother always said, “ill-gotten gain will never serve you well.” You cannot accept the trinkets, the material things, the position and the power, the fame and the fortune offered by the devil and think that there is no price to pay.

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