Sunday, February 25, 2007

Luke 4:1-13 (TNIV)
Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness
1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."
4 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'People do not live on bread alone.'"
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours."
8 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'"
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written: " 'He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully;
11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"
12 Jesus answered, "It is said: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

When Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit came upon him and filled him. After being baptized, the same Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. Jesus was in the wilderness forty days and he was tempted all forty of those days by the devil.

The devil tempts Jesus in three ways. He wants Jesus to use his power as God’s Son to create food for himself (Jesus did not eat for the forty days he was in the wilderness.) And the devil tempts Jesus to take authority over all the world. Jesus will be given this authority, but the road to get it is his death on the cross, it is not by worshiping the devil. Finally, the devil tempts Jesus to prove that God will protect him, by jumping off the temple and letting the angels catch him. The devil even quotes Psalm 91, which we read yesterday!

What is so hard about all of these temptations is that they are temptations to accomplish something good. Jesus is hungry, what would be the harm in making bread his own way? Jesus is going to be king over the earth eventually, why not take a short cut to getting to rule? Certainly Jesus, of all people dwells with God. Of course God will let no harm overtake him.

Even though these temptations sound so good, Jesus resists all of them. He does not use his own power to meet his own need for food. Nor does he compromise his path to becoming king. And Jesus knows he does not have to prove God will protect him.

What about us in our own lives? How many temptations do we face that sound good, that will actually give us what we want and what we believe God wants? Do we ever fall to temptations even when we know God has a different path for us?