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IN THE WILDERNESS WITH JESUS
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Matthew 4:1-11 (New International Version) The Temptation of Jesus
1Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." 4Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. 5Then 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. 7Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test. 8Again, 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." 10Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only. 11Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
IN THE WILDERNESS WITH JESUS
The copyright line in Scot McKnight’s book, The Jesus Creed, reads 2004. Which means the book was finished early that year or late in 2003. McKnight tells the story of his son, Lukas, who was drafted as a catcher by the Chicago Cubs, one of the storied teams of Major League Baseball. Lukas thought it was his vocation to play baseball and once he was drafted, friends of the family began to ask when they could see him playing at Wrigley Field.
The best answer was never. As McKnight says, drafted players begin climbing a ladder and only 7% of them ever make it to what baseball players call “the show.” Lukas McKnight was picked in the 21st round of the 2000 draft, 613th overall. He started his climb up the ladder; or to put it another way, he began his test in the wilderness. The first season he played rookie ball. In 2001, he joined a “low A” team. In 2002 he was with a “high A” team until just before the season ended when he played one game with a “AA” team in West Tennessee. He stayed with them through the 2003 season but in 42 games only batted .196. In 2004 it was down one level to “A” ball and in February 2005 Lukas was released.
Scot McKnight puts it this way. “Put simply, to be drafted means a young man sets out on a series of severe tests” (p. 249). Our text today is the story of the tests endured by Jesus in the wilderness. Before we go any further, I learned a long time ago I need to add a comment about the temptations of Jesus. You need to know I consider them to be real. I tossed off that comment during a Bible Study almost 30 years ago and one of the great saints of the church where I was at the time challenged me. It was impossible for Jesus to have given in to Satan’s temptations, he said. I argued the other direction. How then could the temptations be real? We agreed to disagree, but you need to know these were real choices that Jesus made in the wilderness.
Today then I want to talk about those real choices, what they meant to Jesus and what they mean to us as those who follow the creed to love God and love others.
The story of the testing of Jesus in the wilderness is told immediately after the story of his baptism at the hands of John in the Jordan. Here is where we will begin. The gospel of John, as it often does, adds a small but significant detail to the story by telling us that John conducted his baptisms on the far side of the Jordan River (1:28). In other words, anyone who came out to be baptized, crossed over the Jordan and after being baptized traveled back in the direction of the land of promise—anyone except Jesus, that is. Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.
What is Matthew telling us? Before we can answer that question, let’s look at the details carefully. Jesus is sent into the wilderness for forty days. The key words are wilderness and forty. God’s people, after they had been rescued from Egypt, were in the wilderness and it ended up lasting forty years. Matthew intends for us to hear that and make a connection—this will have something to do with a new wilderness experience and entry into a new promised land.
The first temptation hits Jesus right where it hurts. “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” Jesus had been fasting. He had spent time considering what it meant to take up his vocation which is to announce the coming of God’s kingdom or rule to the world. We are meant to assume that Jesus is spiritually full and physically empty at this point. Satan begins, “If you are the Son of God… Jesus knows exactly who he is at this point. These days in the wilderness have confirmed for him the call that is upon his life. I believe Jesus knew at this point that in some manner the power of God had been invested in him. Turning stones into bread would have been simple and who could deny that after such a long fast he deserved some nourishment.
The second of the tests asks Jesus to take charge of his ministry. Earlier this year the Apple corporation announced the launch of the I-pad. I am a recent convert to the Apple family of users and am quite thankful the church agreed to the purchase of a Macbook when I needed a new laptop a couple of years ago. And like most men, I am a sucker for the latest gadget for which I have no real need.
Having said that, Apple has honed this business of launching new products to a fine art. By the time the hints had been dropped and the rumours had been spread, everyone from the technologically sophisticated to Apple’s competitors were figuratively and sometimes literally drooling to see this new product. If you’re doing something new you want to create a buzz.
Give Satan his due—what could possibly create more buzz about Jesus and the coming rule of God than the sight of someone falling from the pinnacle of the Temple to the valley below only to be rescued from certain death by angels coming to the rescue just before impact?
Then the third temptation which suggests to Jesus there is more than one way to accomplish God’s plan. Jesus has come, as I have said, to announce the kingdom or rule of God. Surely this would be accomplished if Jesus were the earthly ruler of all the kingdoms within his gaze. Of course, I think what this meant at this time and place was that Satan was inviting Jesus to become Caesar.
I am not sure exactly how we are meant to take the phrases a very high mountain and all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour, but if in fact Jesus was taken to a place from which he could see to the far horizon on every side, what he would have seen was all the provinces of the Roman Empire. I have told our children that I am so old that I grew up in an era of such political incorrectness that I can remember maps in classrooms where all the nations that belonged to the British Commonwealth were shaded with pink. Without doubt we were reminded this was once the British Empire. Jesus you can rule like Caesar. Isn’t this truly what you want and what the world needs?
What are the tests then? Let’s take a minute for a mini Bible study. Here are one sentence descriptions of the tests—fill in the blanks.
Will Jesus _ _ _ _ _ God to provide for his physical needs?
Will Jesus wait for God’s _ _ _ _ to announce his _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ?
Will Jesus _ _ _ _ _ _ _ God alone? (answers at end)
I would remind you of the key words that begin this story, wilderness and forty, intended to bring to mind the wilderness wandering of God’s people between their rescue from Egypt and coming into the Promised Land. There God’s people were also tested in three central issues of life. Would they trust God for their provisions? Would they obey patiently through trials? Would they worship God alone? Three tests for Israel and three tests that Israel failed. Three tests for Jesus and three tests that Jesus passes with flying colours! But the question is why, to what purpose?
Let me get at that by reminding you of the Jesus Creed and asking you a question. The Jesus Creed is Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. Love your neighbour as yourself.
Here’s the question: how is it going for you in keeping that creed? Is it a case of three steps forward and two steps back? Or some days, two forward and three back? That would be the measure of my progress. Is there a way in which you could define those failures? Are there some categories into which they would fit? How about
I have not trusted in God’s provision for my needs;
I have not been willing to wait on God’s timing in my life;
I have not given my ultimate loyalty to God alone.
Admittedly, it’s simplistic, but are we getting close to defining most of the ways in which you and I fail in our journey to the promised land of mature and faithful discipleship? I think so. What help and hope is there for us?
In the letter to the Hebrews, the author describes the priestly role of Jesus. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). When I accept Jesus as my Saviour and Lord, one of the things that I am accepting with great joy is that Jesus has done for us what we cannot do for ourselves and invites us to embrace the freedom of knowing that we have entered the new promised land by virtue of his obedience, leaving behind regret and able to give all of our energy to the great task of growing in our love for God with heart, soul, mind and strength.
Can I tell you exactly how this happens? No, I can’t. But that does not mean it isn’t true. It does mean that it is a spiritual reality which cannot be defined with mathematical precision. It seems to me that what happens is something like this. Jesus has made an offering of his life on my behalf, and on your behalf. Part of that offering was to wrestle with the temptations of Satan, defeating them through his perfect obedience and opening the way for you and me to enter the new promised land of salvation.
Imagine you are going on a future mission trip to Bolivia. You try to focus your attention on the tasks associated with the trip, but it’s hard. There are the inoculations and making sure you have proof of those inoculations. There is your Passport and other travel documents. There is always the worry that you’ll have forgotten something and a border agent who got up on the wrong side of the bed is going to turn you away.
We will fail to trust; we will fail to wait; our worship will sometimes be half-hearted at best. But leave your concerns behind. Do not give guilt one ounce of your spiritual energy. Jesus has cleared customs for us. The new promised land of salvation is ready to welcome us. We will not always love God as we should, but thanks to Jesus, loving God with a little more faith today and a little more grace tomorrow is the only thing that needs to concern us.
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