As we
continue with our sermon series “Beyond the Manger”, looking at the early life
of Jesus, we pick up right where we left off last week. Jesus has just
been baptized by John. The Spirit of God descends and alights on him.
A voice from heaven says, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am
well pleased.”
And then, we’re told, Jesus went off
into the wilderness and fasted for forty days. I’m sure at least part of
that time was spent in prayer, but I think Jesus was also trying to figure out what he was supposed to
do next. Yes, he knew he was the divine Son of God sent to earth to save
the world, but just exactly how was he going to do that? What’s the next
step? How does he proceed from here? I would think he spent a lot
of time in prayer trying to work that out.
And while he’s doing that, the devil
comes and tempts him. Now Jesus is really hungry, obviously--he has not
eaten for forty days. But he’s also--well, not confused exactly, but
uncertain. He’s trying to figure out how he’s supposed to do what he’s
supposed to do. And it’s just then, when he’s both physically weak and
uncertain about what to do next, that the devil comes and tempts him.
So there’s a lesson for us right
there. It is when we’re weak that temptation hits us the strongest.
It’s when we’re uncertain about what to do that temptation is the hardest
to resist.
And this is true no matter where the
temptation comes from. I do believe that temptation can come from Satan
or from demons, but temptation can come from other places, too.
Temptation can come from other people. Temptation can come from
inside of us, from our own sinful nature. But wherever it comes from,
this is when temptation hits us the hardest--when we’re physically weak and
when we’re struggling mentally or emotionally. That’s when temptation is
hardest to resist. And that’s when the devil came to Jesus to tempt him.
But Jesus was ready. Jesus was
ready because the Spirit of God had come to him. He was ready because he
had spent those forty days praying and seeking God’s will. He may have
been physically weak. He may have been uncertain about what to do next.
But he was spiritually strong. He had opened himself up to the Holy
Spirit. He was determined to go where God the Father wanted him to go and
to do what God the Father wanted him to do. And so, no matter what his
condition was, he was able to resist the temptations of the devil.
And that’s what you and I need to
do. Because we have times when we’re physically weak. Sometimes
we’ve been working hard and we’re tired. Sometimes we get sick, and
sometimes the illness is something really serious. Sometimes we get older
and our bodies start to break down. And sometimes we struggle mentally or
emotionally. That can happen for all kinds of reasons. Life throws
a lot of stuff at us, and we would not be human if it did not get to us
sometimes.
And that’s the time when temptation
is likely to hit us the hardest. But if we’re ready, we can resist.
And we’ll be ready if we’ve opened ourselves up to the Holy Spirit.
If we’re determined to go where God wants us to go and to do what God
wants us to do, even if we don’t understand what’s going on or why, we can
resist those temptations, just like Jesus did.
But it can be hard sometimes.
Because temptations sometimes can be things that seem like they’d be
really good things to do. They just are not the way God wants things to
be done.
Here’s what I mean. Look at
what Jesus was tempted to do. The first one is “tell these stones to
become bread.”
Nothing wrong with that, is there?
Jesus was hungry. Why not make some bread? It would not hurt
anybody. In fact, why not take this to a larger scale? Why not make
stones all over the place turn into bread? Think of all the people Jesus
could’ve fed that way. I mean, we have the one time in the gospels where
Jesus fed five thousand, but turning rocks into bread? He could’ve fed
five hundred thousand. He could’ve fed five million. He could’ve
fed five billion! I mean, just think of all the rocks there are in the
world. There’d be an almost unlimited supply of bread. Why not do
it?
It had to be really tempting for
Jesus. After all, he knew how many hungry, even starving people there are
in the world. He must’ve wished he could feed all of them. But what
does Jesus answer? He quotes Deuteronomy and says, “People do not live on
bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
Jesus could’ve fed everyone in the
world. It’s seems like that would be a good plan. But it was not
God’s plan. It was not the reason Jesus came to earth. Jesus did
not come to earth to feed the world. He came to earth to save the world
from its sins. There’d have been nothing wrong with feeding people, but
it would’ve distracted him from his mission. Jesus’ main purpose was not
to take care of our physical needs, even though he sometimes did that.
Jesus’ main purposes were to teach us how to live and to save us from our
sins. Turning rocks into bread, while it might seem like a good thing to
do, was not what Jesus was sent here to do. And so, as tempting as it
must have been, Jesus refused to do it.
The second thing Jesus was tempted
to do was to jump off the highest point of the temple and let the angels save
him. Think of how cool that would’ve been. The temple, from what
I’ve read, was about a hundred fifty feet high. Picture that. Jesus
jumps down from a hundred fifty feet. He lands beautifully, gracefully,
totally unharmed, guided down by angels. You think that would’ve gotten
people’s attention? Lots of people would’ve seen it, and they’d have
spread the word far and wide. Pretty soon everyone would’ve heard what
Jesus did.
Think of how many people would’ve
come to believe in Jesus after that. How could they not? Anyone who
could do that, and be surrounded by angels doing it, would have to be the
Savior. Think of all the time and effort Jesus could’ve saved. He
would not have had to go around teaching and preaching and working miracles.
They’d have believed in him right then and there.
It had to be really tempting for
Jesus. But he refused. Because if people had believed in him then,
what would they have believed in? A showman. Someone who did things
to call attention to himself. Someone who all flash and hype.
They’d might have believed in him, but they would not have been listening
to what he said. They just would’ve come for the show, for the spectacle.
And to keep their attention, Jesus would’ve had to keep topping himself,
to put on more shows, more spectacles, to keep people from getting bored and
wandering off.
Jesus could’ve attracted lots of
followers with a spectacle. It seems like that would’ve been a good plan.
But it was not God’s plan. Jesus did not want people who were just
there to see the show. Jesus wanted people who were dedicated to loving
God and loving others. He wanted people who were willing to surrender
their lives to God. And so, as tempting as it must have been to attract
people in this way, Jesus refused to do it.
And finally, the third temptation.
The devil shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world. He says they
can all belong to Jesus, if Jesus will just worship Satan.
We read that, and we think, “Well,
of course Jesus won’t worship Satan.” But think about this. You’re
Jesus. The divine Son of God. You can rule all the kingdoms of the
world. Think of all the good you could do for people. You could end
slavery. You could end oppression. You could end poverty. You
could end unfairness and inequality. You could, almost literally, create
heaven on earth for people. And not just for now, but for thousands of
years to come. You could make life on earth better than anyone ever
dreamed for billions and billions of people.
That had to be so tempting.
Because, after all, Jesus had great compassion for the poor. Jesus
had great compassion for the oppressed. Jesus had great compassion for
those who were treated unfairly. He could’ve put that all to an end.
Yes, he’d have had to worship Satan, but hey, if worshiping Satan meant
helping all these people, how bad could it be?
Well, pretty bad, actually.
Because what it would’ve shown was a lack of faith in God’s plan.
God had a plan for the salvation of the world. God still has a plan
for the salvation of the world. It’s a long-term plan. You and I
don’t understand it. We don’t understand how God’s plan for the salvation
of the world can include so much poverty and oppression and unfairness.
It seems like ending all that right now would be a better plan.
But it’s not God’s plan. Satan gave Jesus a chance to end all that
poverty and oppression and unfairness right now. But Satan’s plan is not
a plan for the salvation of the world. Satan’s plan is for the oppression
of the world. Satan’s plan is for the slavery of the world, in this life
and in the next one. Jesus knew that. So even though Satan’s plan
had to be really tempting, Jesus followed God’s plan instead.
God’s plan is a long-term plan. And when you think about it,
what Jesus was really being tempted to do is take short-cuts. Don’t let
people stay hungry. Feed them all right now. Don’t take years to
gather followers. Get lots of them right now. Don’t wait until
someday to end slavery and oppression and poverty. End it all right now.
And so many times, that’s what we’re tempted to do: take
short-cuts. I need more money right now. I need someone in my life
right now. I need a more fulfilling job right now. I need a better
car or a better house right now.
It’s not always things for ourselves, either. It can be all
kinds of things. I fall victim to it for our church. I want more
people to come to church right now. I want more kids in Sunday
School/Faith Builders right now. I want more money to come in so we can
do more things right now.
The things we want are not necessarily bad things. And they
may even be things God wants, too. But if they are, God has a plan for
making them come about. And it’s a long-term plan. If we try to
force things to happen before God wants them to happen, we’re going to fail.
If we’re going to succeed, we need to follow God’s long-term plan and not
take short-cuts. And the only way we can follow God’s long-term plan is
to do what Jesus did: let God’s Holy Spirit come into our lives.
Allow ourselves to be led by God’s Holy Spirit.
Jesus refused to take short-cuts. God’s Holy Spirit was with
him, he allowed himself to be led by the Holy Spirit, and he followed God’s
plan. If we open ourselves up to God, if we surrender ourselves to God,
God’s Holy Spirit will lead us, too. And then, we’ll follow God’s plan,
with no short-cuts. It takes time. It takes effort. It takes
patience. But when God’s plan comes together, the results are pretty
awesome.
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