By Captain Michael Ramsay
Today we are going to be speaking about Jesus’ preparation for ministry. I have a couple of comics here about preparation.
[1]Our times of preparation in life are very important. There is preparation for everyday events getting the kids ready for school, getting oneself ready for work, getting dinner ready, etc. There is also preparation that God provides for each of us – whether we notice it or not – before we make major transitions in life. I know that there are a few people in the congregation who have times of major transition before them very soon, either from school into the work force or university as some of our teens will be facing before they know it, or preparation to move to a new community, or preparation for retirement, or preparation for when our kids are old enough to go to school or responsible enough to move away from home, or even preparation for a new job or a new ministry opportunity.
Today we are looking at the section in Matthew's Gospel where God is preparing Jesus for a major transition, when he is about to start his full-time ministry. We read from Matthew 4 earlier where God, the Holy Spirit leads Jesus into the desert for 40 days.
This is right when Jesus is about to be released into ministry. And just before this happens – in 3:13-17– Jesus is baptised along with a number of other people (Luke 3:21,22; cf. Matthew 3:5,6; Luke 3:7) and the Holy Spirit himself descends upon Jesus like a dove. God says to him, ‘you are my Son’ (Luke 3:22); He says, ‘this is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16,17; cf. Luke 4:22). Jesus is beginning a new stage in his life and ministry and his father, God, is happy and like any proud papa he announces it here to any who can hear it.
God is like a proud parent here when His child wins an award; graduates from school; or -as is the case here- is baptised. But what happens next? As soon as Jesus has been baptised, as soon as he graduates to his next stage in life, the Holy Spirit descends upon Him and leads Jesus into the desert to fast for 40 days and then Jesus… is tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1-2; cf. Mark 1:11-12, Luke 4:1). This is quite the graduation present: the Holy Spirit sends him to desert with no food to be tempted by the devil.
Now, I should explain something here that is very important. Looking quickly at James 1:13, it says there, “No one, when tempted should say, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one.” Jesus cannot be tempted by evil and God tempts no one.
The temptations that happen in our life like the tempting that is happing in the text here, it isn’t by God. He doesn’t do it. The devil does it (cf. for ex. Job 1:6-2:7; 2 Samuel 24:1; 1 Chronicles 21:1). And Jesus never gives into the temptation. Jesus never actual considers following the satan’s advice for God does not tempt and God cannot be tempted.
What God, the Holy Spirit, does in our text here is to lead Jesus into the desert to fast (Matthew 4:1; cf. Luke 4:2), to worship God and to prove himself (to us who read this story as well as to the people he told this story as well as to the satan). This is important also because of the symbolism of the other people that God has encouraged in the desert like this: there’s Elijah (1 Kings 19:4-8) and Moses, (Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 9:9) we remember, who both fast for 40 days – Moses, does this when he receives the 10 Commandments; Elijah after all the prophets of Baal have been killed; There is also rain for forty days and nights after God saves Noah and when God is preparing Noah for the next stage in his life (cf. Genesis 6-9; 1 Corinthians 10:1-10); the Israelites, as soon as they are released from captivity in Egypt, spend their first 40 years in the desert in preparation to enter the land God promised them.[2] And now God is giving this very same opportunity to Jesus, His son – and in the process God is letting everyone know that Jesus is at least the same calibre as all these people - and we know he’s even more…
Jesus’ forty days could be like the last 40 days one counts down before retirement or the time when one is waiting for his house to sell so he can move or even the time between when they announce that Officers are going to move and the actual move date. Before God moved Susan the kids and I from Vancouver to Winnipeg, we had about 40 days when we were camping -more or less- in the wilderness. It is in the wilderness that the devil tries to tempt Jesus.
Now it is interesting, I think that many of us have probably noticed that the devil often attacks us when things are going well. He attacks right after big successes or important events (cf. Kings 19-20) – like Jesus’ baptism here by John. The devil attacks in a number of different ways too. He tries to tempt Jesus the same way he tries to get us. Jesus in his life faces every temptation that is common to people (Hebrews 2:18).
The first way the Devil tries to trick Jesus is through a social temptation. Jesus is hungry. He’s been fasting for forty days - remember. And, verse 3: “The devil said to him ‘if you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.’” Now in doing this the devil is saying a couple of things, 1) you call yourself the Son of God? I don’t believe you.[3] Prove it. You’re hungry. Feed yourself. And 2) he also knows that Israel wasn’t the richest country in the world and there were starving people then (just like there are starving people in the world now). If he is the Son of God, he should be able to take care of society, of people, of his friends, of his family, & of himself. Jesus, Satan says, feed yourself, if you care about people - if you can; Turn this rock into bread, if you can (cf. John 6:26, 30-31).
The devil tries to tempt us the same way doesn’t he? We all can fall prey to social temptations and ‘peer pressure’ can’t we? I heard of one lady recently who bought a certain pair of shoes just because ‘everyone her age had a similar pair of shoes’. Can we ever be tempted away from what God wants us to do by pressure from friends or society in general? What do you do when the accuser uses your family, your colleagues, your spouse, your friends to tempt you into doing something you wouldn’t otherwise? How do you answer their attempts to tempt you?
How does Jesus answer when the devil tries to tempt him? He answers by quoting the Bible. This is always a good idea. It is a good reason to come to Bible study and to keep reading the scriptures too. Jesus doesn’t need to turn the rock into bread as the devil is suggesting and Jesus says, vs. 4, that ‘man does not live by bread alone.’
Jesus in saying this is quoting from Deuteronomy 8. Deuteronomy 8 is when Israel was finishing its forty years in the desert, just like Jesus is finishing his forty days in the desert. God let the Israelites be hungry when they were in the desert then (Deuteronomy 8:3) just like God is letting Jesus be hungry in the desert now and God took care of them like he is taking care of Jesus and like He will take care of us. ‘Man does not live by bread alone (Deuteronomy 8:3).’
The devil doesn’t give up so easily though. He tries first with this social temptation. He tries next in the Lukan account (the third temptation in Matthew’s account) with a political temptation: you can be great, he says. Matthew 4:8-9: the devil shows Jesus all the nations of the world and "All this I will give you," he says, "if you will bow down and worship me." I will give you all of the power, all countries –all of the kingdoms- in the world. I will give you all this authority. Luke tells us more about what the devil says. He says to Jesus about this authority over the nations, for “it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I please. If you then worship me it will be yours” (Luke 4:6).
This seems to be a pretty good offer. After all, the devil is right - sort of - he has been given authority on earth (John 12:30-32, 14:29-31, 16:11)– you don’t have to look so far with all the wars, violence, and starving people around (even though God has given us more than enough to solve all of these problems). You don’t have to look to far to see the trouble that we the people are causing because the devil truly is the ‘prince of this world.’
In our passage, the devil is tempting Jesus with power. He is saying, look, just work for me, and you can be in charge of this world. You say you are the Messiah, the king of kings (cf. 1 Timothy 6:15). ‘You can have all this political power in the world; just come work for me.’
We have seen in our country and our world what happens when politicians serve themselves, money, popular opinion, or other such manifestations or instruments of the devil but you know what? We may face this temptation too. Some of us here may be looking at retirement, or volunteer work, or new careers in new cities, or new schools, or new classes. Whenever we are preparing for something new in life, the devil can be there with a political temptation and it may sound like this: 'You’re better than that person, aren’t you?' He will say, 'that person can’t do this or that as well as you can. You should complain. You should let people know that you can do a better job than them. You can take control yourself.' This political temptation, it often rears its ugly head in the form of pride, impatience with others, and negative comments. You have been around people who often don’t seem to have anything nice about others. When we are like this, we are easy prey for the devil’s political temptations to exalt ourselves at the expense of others. So what do we do when we notice that we are complaining too much about things or what do we do when we notice that we are starting to think that the things we do: the meals we cook, the classes we teach, the houses we keep clean, the jobs we do are so much better than anyone else’s? What do we do?
What does Jesus do? Jesus turns to God’s word and disarms the devil. He quotes scripture again. And –this is interesting- he quotes from the same part of scripture: when the Israelites are just finishing up their time in the desert (Deuteronomy 6: 13-15) that the Devil quoted earlier. He says, verse 10, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’ This makes sense really if we think about it. Sure the devil has been given a certain amount of authority on earth, but it really is God who is the King of kings. Satan is just a rebellious prince. He’s a bad manager while the boss is away. And you know what happens to a bad manager when the boss comes back…he gets fired. Jesus knows this. Jesus knows that ultimately all authority on heaven and earth is really his anyway because he is God’s son (cf. Matthew 12:25-28; Luke 10:18; 1 Corinthians 15:25-26).
We should know this too. God is real. His Spirit is leading us in our lives (its just a matter of if we choose to follow) and Jesus is coming back. And when he does, do you want to be working Satan who is a rebellious prince and a bad manager or would you rather be working for God! God is the real authority and Jesus is coming back. Don’t be tempted to serve anyone else – you can’t serve two masters; and if we try to, it won’t go well. Jesus tells the devil and he reminds us to ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’ (It is after this temptation in Matthew’s account that the devil flees him – Matthew 4:11.) There is one more temptation that we skipped over, however. We will return to this now – in Luke’s account it is the third of the three temptations.[4]
The Devil doesn’t give up easily when Jesus is standing up to him. The Spirit led Jesus to the desert. Jesus has been remaining in the Spirit and quoting Scripture. So you know what Satan does? He quotes scripture too. And he knows it pretty well. He takes Jesus to the top of the massive temple in Jerusalem and says –Verses 5-6– “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you, and on their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone (Psalm 91:11-21).” This is a religious temptation.[5] The Devil quotes the Bible and it says that God’s angel will protect Jesus. Don’t worry you’ll be okay. God will protect you. You’ll be fine.
How many times do we hear this in our lives: 'it’s just a white lie: you’ll be fine if you do this; you won’t go to hell. You’re just speeding, its not hurting anybody. Just once, God’s not going to cast you away for doing something wrong just once. Look no one really cares about that anyway. It says that God will never leave you nor forsake you. We all sin all the time anyway.' These are tricks the devil can use to lead us astray and…
This is it. This is the culminating attempt at temptation and this is one lie that can get us all if we don’t rely heavily on God’s Spirit and God’s Scripture: ‘your not hurting anyone…and why bother? Since we all sin all the time anyway’.
It’s not true. We don’t need to sin so don’t believe it when you hear it. We don’t need to sin. We do need not to sin. Be holy (1 Peter 1:15, Leviticus 11:44,45; 19:2; 20:7). Be perfect (Matthew 5:48; 2 Corinthians 13; Colossians 1:28; Hebrews 11,12). We can’t do it ourselves but the Lord will help us. He will do it (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24). We need to rely on God and on His scriptures like Jesus did. Turn to the Spirit who lets us endure any temptation. Its like Jesus says, quoting Deuteronomy again, ‘don’t put the Lord your God to the test’…don’t Sin! Don’t listen to Nike’s ‘JUST DO IT’. Listen to God and Just DON’T do it!
So when the Holy Spirit released Jesus into His ministry, the devil tried tempting Jesus with everything he had. Jesus was in the Spirit, he relied on God and he relied on the Bible, and in so doing he resisted the devil and the devil fled from him (James 1:13). Like it says in James 1:12, ‘Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.’
Don’t give up, remain in the spirit, even if you slip up, remain in the spirit and as you do you will find that you read the scriptures, trust in God, endure the temptations, and persevere. Remember what it says in Matthew 4:11: “Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.” And Luke 4:13-14: “When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him –until an opportune time- Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee.” And it will be the same with us.
Let us pray. This prayer for us is from 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, ‘May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you (us) through and through. May your (our) whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you (us) is faithful and he will do it.’ Amen.
So then, we need to remember when we leave here and are faced with temptations from the devil himself, to just remain in the Spirit, like Jesus and the devil will flee us.
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[1] Jim Davis, “Garfield”, Available on-line at http://garfield.nfshost.com
[2] Cf. R.T. France, Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary, (TNTC3: Downers Grove, Il.: InterVarsity Press, 1985), note on Matthew 4:1-11, Disc: Tyndale Old and New Testament Commentaries (US) (3.0f) version 2009-10-09T22:50:34Z.
[3] Douglas R.A. Hare, Matthew (Interpretation: Louisville, Kentucky: John Know Press, 1993), 23: The devil in saying this – of course – is most certainly well aware of who Jesus is.
[4] D.A. Carson, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Matthew/Exposition of Matthew/II. The Gospel of the Kingdom (3:1-7:29)/A. Narrative (3:1-4:25)/1. Foundational steps (3:1-4:11)/c. The temptation of Jesus (4:1-11), Book Version: 4.0.2 argues that Luke reverses the order of the last two temptations for topographical reasons and that Matthew's order is the original (Schweizer, Walvoord).
[5] D.A. Carson, Expositor's Bible Commentary, The, Pradis CD-ROM:Matthew/Exposition of Matthew/II. The Gospel of the Kingdom (3:1-7:29)/A. Narrative (3:1-4:25)/1. Foundational steps (3:1-4:11)/c. The temptation of Jesus (4:1-11), Book Version: 4.0.2: Late Jewish midrash says that Messiah would prove himself by leaping from the temple pinnacle; but apart from its lateness, it mentions no spectators. So it is unlikely that this was a temptation for Jesus to prove himself to the people as a new "David" who will again rid Jerusalem of the "Jebusites" (i.e., Romans—contra Kirk, "Messianic Role," pp. 91-95).”
[2] Cf. R.T. France, Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary, (TNTC3: Downers Grove, Il.: InterVarsity Press, 1985), note on Matthew 4:1-11, Disc: Tyndale Old and New Testament Commentaries (US) (3.0f) version 2009-10-09T22:50:34Z.
[3] Douglas R.A. Hare, Matthew (Interpretation: Louisville, Kentucky: John Know Press, 1993), 23: The devil in saying this – of course – is most certainly well aware of who Jesus is.
[4] D.A. Carson, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Matthew/Exposition of Matthew/II. The Gospel of the Kingdom (3:1-7:29)/A. Narrative (3:1-4:25)/1. Foundational steps (3:1-4:11)/c. The temptation of Jesus (4:1-11), Book Version: 4.0.2 argues that Luke reverses the order of the last two temptations for topographical reasons and that Matthew's order is the original (Schweizer, Walvoord).
[5] D.A. Carson, Expositor's Bible Commentary, The, Pradis CD-ROM:Matthew/Exposition of Matthew/II. The Gospel of the Kingdom (3:1-7:29)/A. Narrative (3:1-4:25)/1. Foundational steps (3:1-4:11)/c. The temptation of Jesus (4:1-11), Book Version: 4.0.2: Late Jewish midrash says that Messiah would prove himself by leaping from the temple pinnacle; but apart from its lateness, it mentions no spectators. So it is unlikely that this was a temptation for Jesus to prove himself to the people as a new "David" who will again rid Jerusalem of the "Jebusites" (i.e., Romans—contra Kirk, "Messianic Role," pp. 91-95).”
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