Following after Jesus #31

As we've noticed before, John's gospel is unique in introducing the incaranation and earthly ministry of Christ:

 19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

After introducing Jesus as the Word of God, and light and life of the world, John turns his attention to the preparatory work of John the Baptist. We've already talked about his message from the perspective of the other Gospel writers, but John alone records this discussion with the representatives of the religious elite with John the Baptist. In this discussion, he emphasized who he was not. He was not the Christ. He was not Elijah reincarnated, though his ministry did have a lot of parallels with his. He was not the Prophet mentioned by Moses, who would be greater than any prophet before. "Well, John, who are you then?" He was the great announcer and pronouncer pointing the way toward the Prophet, the Christ, the Savior of the world.  John the Gospel writer here is laying a different track for us to follow to Jesus - one not from the manger, or the genealogical lines of Mary or Joseph, or the shadows of Nazareth in Galilee, but straight from eternity past in heaven. He was, and is, inviting people to join him on that path, so when the time was right, he could point the way and say "there He is; follow Him." Are you are on that path?

Following after Jesus #30

Today we read the final paragraph in Luke's account of the Temptation of Christ by Satan: 

9 And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written,

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,

    to guard you,’ 11 and

“‘On their hands they will bear you up,

    lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.
14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. 15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

As we have seen, every temptation really is about who or what we worship, be it our own abilities, our own comfort and safety, other people or powers, or the life of least resistance. Satan kept pushing Jesus to do things to make God prove that He really is loving and powerful, to "put Him to the test". But God is all of that by His very nature. Our testing God is a prideful perspective that we can dethrone God if we want to - and maybe even be our own gods. What we do not want to miss in this passage is the conclusion: Satan did flee; he did back off. Yes, he did come back over and over, but the important thing is that it is possible, with Christ's grace and power, to say "no" to him. When we do, we too, will live in the "power of the Spirit," and see God glorifying Himself through us.  He will do in us what He has always wanted to do.  

Following after Jesus #29

Today we look at the second temptation of Christ by Satan in Luke's gospel:

  5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God,
    and him only shall you serve.’”

Temptation often comes quickly and with overwhelming power.  Luke notes that Satan showed Jesus this full panorama of power - all the kingdoms of the world - in a moment of time. He then promises all this authority and their glory - there is a rush of imagination - you could rule over it all. Everyone wants to be in charge of something. We so easily feel helpless in this world, we all wish we could be in charge of something. It is said that the church at times has some of the worst leaders, because there is nowhere else anyone will let them lead, and they want to be the boss somewhere.  The thing is, everything already did belong to Jesus, and all authority will be His, in God's timing; there usually is some truth intertwined with any temptation.  It's just twisted around some lie.  The lie here is that Satan could give the kingdoms and their authority to whoever he wanted, as if it were his to give. Jesus is no dummy or fool; He spots the lie, and sees the core of the matter. Satan wants worship, and that is exactly what we give him whenever we fall for his temptations. What is your temptation to power? Who or what is it you want to control? Whom do you think and act like has that control whom you try to please and appease? Choose today whom you will serve and worship: not Satan, not some worldly power, not your own desire for control, but God alone.

Following after Jesus #28

 

We've looked at Matthew and Mark's accounts of Jesus' temptation. Now let's take a glance at Luke 4:
And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’”

All three Gospel writers talk about the Holy Spirit leading Jesus out to the wilderness, but Luke alone lets us know that Jesus was "full of the Holy Spirit", fully submissive to His guidance, comfort, and empowering.  That tell us something about being ready to face temptation: it is nothing to attempt to do in our own strength, with only our own wisdom, and, it's not going to be easy: it is going to hurt to say "no." This experience Jesus had was intense and relentless and inescapable. We need to keep in mind that He was doing it as our Representative, on our behalf. But He was also doing it as an example. As long as we live in this world, temptation will be relentless and inescapable, and seemingly at times, relentless. Paul says in I Corinthians 10:13:No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. The question is: "how will we see the way of escape?" The Holy Spirit will show us, guide us. We also must never get the idea that on our own we can resist: we will always need the power of Christ and His Spirit to say "no." Finally, temptation hurts and saying "no" can also.  We need the comforter. As Jesus went through this He had the Holy Spirit and his angels to comfort. He will be there for us too. 

Following after Jesus #27

Like with many events in the Gospel, Mark's account of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness is quite brief:

 12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

Mark, presenting the details from Peter's perspective, does not even tell about the three main temptations described by Matthew and Luke. He sounds like me when I get off a fifteen minute telephone conversation and when my wife asks what it was about, I summarize in one sentence.  But he does add in some details. First, the Spirit not only led Jesus out there; he drove Him.  The Son of God was not used to being subject to living in territory steeped in sin; He had seen all around him the effects of sin in people's lives, and it's not very appealing. The Holy Spirit not only helped Him through it; He led Him to it, because all three of the members of the Godhead were working on the plan of salvation. Secondly, he was with the wild animals. Not many of us are wilderness survivors. There was not much food available in this barren desert area, so seeing another moving object could be a fearful thing. Besides being hungry, tired, and lonely, the mind games that everything around you was out to get you would be very real. And Satan never let up. Mark does not paint a picture of temptation, or even a scrapbook of photos; it's more like a documentary video; "being tempted" indicates a constant motion. What Jesus faced was much more intense, much more extensive in forty days than any of us experience in forty years, yet He came through it and more without sin.

Following after Jesus #26

Today we come to the last listed temptation of Jesus by Satan in Matthew 4:

 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
    and him only shall you serve.’”
11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

When it comes to facing temptation, we can often feel like helpless victims. To be sure we do not have the infinite power of Christ by ourselves, but we are not as helpless as we would like to proclaim.  First of all, we have the same truth available to us. The most basic commandment of all is "You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve." Violating that commandment was part of this temptation - Satan wanted worship as part of this package deal.  Whenever we face temptation, we need to seriously ask: Is any part of this proposal contrary to God's word?? - even the slightest detail.  Secondly, we are not as alone as we might think or proclaim.  The picture we get is that those angels were there this whole time, and the Holy Spirit was already upon Jesus at His baptism. For those of us who have trusted in Christ as Savior, we have Him, and His indwelling Spirit, to guide, convict, convince and empower us. We are not left alone.  Finally, we have been forewarned that Satan is waiting for opportunity to attack us. Ever since the garden, Cain and Abel, and throughout scripture we are warned that Satan is crouching in the background, ready to pounce like a roaring lion or slither in like a sneaky snake. Let's not act like helpless victims. 

Following after Jesus #25

We are looking at Matthew's account of the temptation of Christ by Satan in the wilderness: 

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
and
“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
    lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

God's Word is full of promises to care for His people.  This promise from Psalm 91 was a favorite of God's people. Satan wanted Jesus, and he wants us, to question God's care, and he makes it into a dare: Make God prove that He loves you. Forget everything He has done for you to this point; look all around you right now and find everything wrong. He wants us to test God instead of trust God, to doubt both His goodness and His greatness. In all of this, Satan's hope is that we will not only forget how much God loves and cares for us, but we will ignore His commandments and disobey them to accept some substitute for Him.  Not only is God Himself good and wanting what is best for us; His commandments are for our good.  Whenever we begin to think or act otherwise, you can be sure the tempter is at work. Just say no.