We just heard the reading from Matthew 4. When Matthew wrote his book, he had no idea that there was going to be a chapter break right at that point of his book. So I suggest we take a look at a few verses before Matthew 4 to get a sense of Matthew’s thought pattern. At the end of Chapter 3, we find Jesus dripping wet from his baptism in the river Jordan, basking in the knowledge that he is God’s beloved son and the Father is well pleased with him, and the whole experience has been sealed by the Holy Spirit who descends on him like a dove.
What a moment of great possibility. Jesus is putting behind him his quiet private obscure life as a village carpenter and is, instead, embarking on a public and, ultimately, costly mission. It is in this context that Matthew continues the account with what we call Matthew 4. He has just finished saying, "This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life," and immediately adds, “Next Jesus was taken into the wild by the Spirit for the Test.”
I am always amazed by the Bible’s clear position on what it is like to live under God’s guidance. At the high point of his life, Jesus steps from the Jordan into the wilderness, not because he was daft, or because he had lost his way, or because he was deliberately masochistic. He went into the wilderness because God’s spirit led him there. When we find ourselves in the wilderness we can wonder if we are far from God. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that it is God’s divine guidance that takes us there.
What sorts of choices are available to us as Christians? What does the way of the cross mean for us? Are there easy choices we are missing out on? Is being a Christian always about choosing the hard way, the slow road? This morning I intend to find with you how we can live out our calling by rejecting the easy choices and seeking, not just a good way, but a better way.
1. What is life like under divine leadership?
Jesus coming out of the Jordan and heading into the wilderness is a picture that must have been pregnant with meaning for Jews reading Matthew’s account because it might have reminded them of their own exodus from Egypt, which we studied last year in St Stephen’s. At that time in history, the people of Israel were headed into a new life as God’s chosen people, having been brought out of captivity in Egypt by God’s miraculous actions on their behalf.
Jesus in the wilderness must have known exactly what the Exodus pilgrimage was like because he was deeply immersed in the Scriptures while going through his 40 days of fasting. Over and over again, the Exodus pilgrim path led to thirst, hunger, and exhaustion. Walking the pilgrim path was not easy for those Israelites. And it was just as demanding for Jesus.
Just as God led the Israelites into the desert, so the Spirit led Jesus in to the wilderness. Jesus was not protected from the wilderness but deliberately exposed to it. “This is my Son in whom I am well pleased.” Would this knowledge turn Jesus’ head?
The Bible tells us that there were no angels around to minister to Jesus during his testing. He was in the wilderness to demonstrate God’s leadership in his life, not so that he could make his own easy choices. Later when faced with death, this experience stood him in good stead. In Matthew 26, we read that Jesus, when in the garden of Gethsemane, fell on his face, praying, "My Father, if there is any way, get me out of this. But please, not what I want. You, what do you want?" Again he prayed, "My Father, if there is no other way than this, drinking this cup to the dregs, I’m ready. Do it your way."
So what is life like under divine guidance? For us, the lesson from this is clear: don’t shy away from the wilderness – it could be the making of you. It is God working in us so that we can say, “not my will, Lord, but yours.”
2. What is life like when faced with devilish temptation?
Temptation, it must be said, would not be temptation if it were not tempting. Jesus’ temptations in Matthew 4 are all the more fascinating for giving us insight on what tempts Jesus.
I used to think the first temptation the devil put before Jesus was to satisfy his hunger. It probably comes from looking at all the chocolate fasts and fat-reduction programmes around me that are presented as Lent fasts. When we give up something for Lent are we thinking of the weight benefits or are we basking in God’s love?
I don’t think the devil thought he could tempt Jesus that way. Instead, he was rather more sophisticated, “If you are the Son of God, then turn these stones into bread.” “Jesus, are you sure about your identity? I know God just said that you are his beloved son. Well, if you believe that, why don’t you try it out and check your powers?” Now this is a temptation that Jesus could go for.
It is interesting that all three of Jesus’ replies to the devil were drawn from just one section in Deuteronomy, chapters 6 through 8. This is the part of the Bible where the Israelites, after forty years of testing in the wilderness, heard Moses’ rousing sermons on their need for uncompromising loyalty to God.
Listen to Deuteronomy 8 vv2-5:
Deu 8:2 Remember every road that GOD led you on for those forty years in the wilderness, pushing you to your limits, testing you so that he would know what you were made of, whether you would keep his commandments or not.
Deu 8:3 He put you through hard times. He made you go hungry. Then he fed you with manna, something neither you nor your parents knew anything about, so you would learn that men and women don’t live by bread only; we live by every word that comes from GOD’s mouth.
Deu 8:4 Your clothes didn’t wear out and your feet didn’t blister those forty years.
Deu 8:5 You learned deep in your heart that GOD disciplines you in the same ways a father disciplines his child.
That’s what Jesus was in the wilderness for – to be tested if he would keep God commands, to be disciplined in the way a father disciplines his child. How much this must have meant to Jesus, in his own wilderness experience! How much it must have pushed away the anxieties and fears!
But not all temptations happen in the wilderness. They can happen in the holy city as well, where we might feel we are the strongest. The devil takes Jesus to the top of the temple. And what is the temptation? Not to be a trapeze artist or stunt man. But to take the miracle option in presenting the kingdom to the people of Israel. Jump from the temple top, where God is and where there are loads of people. Imagine the adulation as you descend from the top, complete with God’s protection. Need a verse? Try Psalm 91 vv11-12. Soft landings guaranteed.
Again, Jesus exposes the superficiality of the devil’s suggestion. Psalm 91’s promise of God’s protection was for the humble worshipper not for the stunt man, or the unbeliever checking to see if God really means what he says.
Do you sometimes find yourself praying, “You are the Sovereign Lord, just make this thing happen?” I do. Its our taking promises out of context that prevent us from seeing God’s sovereignty in our lives.
In the third temptation we find Jesus on the mountain-top. Really, we can be tempted anywhere, even when we are on a high. What really tempts Jesus? It wasn’t feeding his face, or jumping off a high wall. In this temptation I doubt that the prospect of satanic worship tempts him, nor does it tempt me. But look at the rest: everything you might ever want: splendour, wealth, more money, more things, the opportunity to be more secure, to be more powerful. These are proper temptations.
“You want the nations as your inheritance, Jesus? The world is your mission? Why take the slow road, the hard road, the Father’s road? You can have it all now. The crowds will love you for it. Don’t you want to be loved?”
Tom Jones sang, “It’s not unusual to be loved by anyone.” We all want to be loved, to be accepted. Jesus too may have been tempted by this.
We need to recognise the temptations we face. We need to unmask the idols that stand between us and God – he is a jealous God who will not tolerate shared affection. In the same Deuteronomy sermons, we read: “Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and all your strength.” Jesus was committed to choosing God’s way above his own way in all things.
Lessons
Jesus says, “If anyone will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” One man who knew the truth of this was Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was martyred by Hitler’s Third Reich. Bonhoeffer worried about the church which was succumbing to what he called cheap grace. How can grace be cheap when it is free: the free gift of God to us is eternal life. Grace which is free can also be cheap when it is grace without discipleship. Grace without the cross, grace without Jesus, alive in us.
Instead Bonhoeffer calls us to costly grace: the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.
In this world of instant gratification, this could be the worst news you have ever had. I urge you to think it is the best news ever: the best things take time but God is prepared to take the time to supervise the choices you make starting now. Will you let him do that today?
