The Temptations of Christ

Rev Steve Murray

Matthew 4: 1-11

O Great Creator, cleanse our hearts of all stain from sin and brokenness that we may walk with you along the good road in your holy way.  Purify our minds that we may be guided by your Word.  Amen

Let’s look at first who is present or mentioned in this gospel reading from Matthew Chapter 4,  First and foremost we have Jesus.  Secondly we have the Spirit who leads Jesus into the wilderness.  Thirdly we have the Tempter also referred to as the Devil and Satan.  Fourthly we have the Angels who cared for Jesus after the Devil left him alone.  Finally God is mention by Jesus.

Let’s examine where this temptation or test took place.  It was in the wilderness.  The Old testament calls it Jeshimmon which means the  Devastation.  It is an area of yellow sand, of crumbling limestone and of scattered shingle.  It is an area of contorted strata where the ridges run in all directions as if they were warped and twisted.  It is extremely hot.  The limestone is  blistered and peeling and the rocks are bare and jagged. A horrible place, a desert, a place of solitude. A place to pray maybe ?A place certainly for testing and temptation.

Why would Jesus go to such a place?  He went there because the  Holy Spirit led him, guided him there to be temped by the devil.  For 40 days Jesus went without food.  I don‘t know about you, but as a young fit man I could go 40 hours without food and that was really hard.  We don’t know what Jesus did in this 40 days before the tempter came but I suspect he prayed and communicated with his Father. There wasn’t much else to do in that lonely place.

Then the evil one, described in Matthew’s Gospel as the Devil, the Tempter and Satan,  arrives.  After a mere  40 hours of fasting when young,  I can only guess how  hungry and tired Jesus was after 40 days of fasting.  God has allowed this time of testing but it is the Devil alone who tempts Jesus. Temptation is not sin. So what can we learn from the beginning of this passage.

We can deduce that temptation is real, we can deduce that the Devil is real and is our enemy, not our friend.  We can deduce that the battle is Spiritual. We can deduce that our flesh is weak.  We can however deduce that Temptation is not sin.  It only becomes sin where we agree with the devil to do his will and not God’s will.  We can deduce that both Jesus and the Devil know intimately the Old Testament and are able to quote from it  extensively.  We all face temptation.  The Christian life is often 3 steps forward and 2 steps back.  We all know what it is like to fall but we also know that the blood of    Jesus purifies us from every sin.  Know yourself know God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit)  Follow Jesus Christ. That is what makes us Christian.

Let’s look at the first temptation. Forty plus years ago  I was starving after 40 hours of fasting.  I struggle to know how hungry and starved Jesus was after 40 days.  He would have been extremely weak. He had a human body being the Son of Man as well as the Son of God.  Jesus was tired, alone, hungry and vulnerable. So the Devil took advantage of that hunger. Jesus’s need for food was understandably acute. I think Jesus  would have had an incredible physical craving for bread, so the Devil, the Tempter says “If you really are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread”.  Jesus knows he is God’s son. Even the Tempter knows that Jesus is the son of God. The temptation to       Jesus was to use his powers selfishly and for his own use.  Had not God given his people manna in the wilderness after fleeing from Egypt?  God knows that his people need bread. How much more would GOD KNOW THAT HIS BELOVED SON NEEDS BREAD TOO.  Jesus’s answer is brilliant  “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God”
 
This 1st Temptation deals with physical graving. In the Gospel reading it is bread/food , but it is similar to the graving for alcohol, drugs , gambling & sex

The second Temptation from the Devil is based on the words in Psalm 91:  11-12 and I quote

For he will give his angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways.  They will bear you up in their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone”

This temptation cleverly misapplied a wonderful promise from God.  God expects us to take risks in order to be true to him  (just consider all the martyrs) but God does not expect us to take risks to enhance our own prestige.    The Devil wanted Jesus to precipitate a crisis so that the  promise could be fulfilled.  Responding to that Jesus simply and clearly states “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test”   Deuteronomy 6 :16  We do need to pick up our cross and follow Jesus whatever that may be. We should not deliberately of our own will put ourselves in danger and expect God to save us e.g plunging one’s hand into a basket of snakes.

So the Devil tried his 3rd attempt to tempt Jesus.  It was the world and all it’s people that Jesus came to save.    So the Devil said in a tempting tone “Fall down and worship me and I will give you all the Kingdoms of this World” This was perhaps a lie and might have sounded like a quick easy solution to the King of Kings.  But NO came back via a firm answer from Jesus.  “The Lord your God you shall fear;  him you shall serve and by his name alone you shall swear (Deuteronomy 6: 13) Jesus was certain that we can never defeat evil by compromising with evil.  Christianity cannot stoop to the level of this world; it must lift the world to its own level. We cannot allow the Devil to bribe us with riches.

By resisting all 3 clever temptations Jesus chose to depend on God his Father firstly to satisfy his deepest hunger,   secondly to relate with others in an ordinary way and,  thirdly not to rely on reputation, power and possessions. Satan tries to tempt us through physical desire, he tries to tempt us by twisting God’s word and he tries to tempt us with the material things of this world.  Jesus however chose the way of the cross and to obey his Father so that all mankind might be saved. 

Hands up those who believe in Angels. I do. What a wonderful occasion when the angels come after Satan has left to look after & tend Jesus. Beautiful.
 
So we need to trust in Jesus we need to trust in God’s word.

It’s time to start beating temptation.  It is time to read the Bible.  It is time to love God.  It is time to love others. Amen.

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