Saturday, 29 February Seeking the Messiah. Matthew 4:1–11
Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. I usually ask the Holy Spirit not to lead me into temptation, and to lead me into green pastures, not deserts. I'm suddenly ashamed; why should I demand an easier life than Jesus had? I’m called to follow him, not to find an easy way around the mountain.
Nevertheless, by his grace, I am encouraged that Jesus told me to pray that way, and it is his Shepherd’s Psalm that encourages me to accept his grace in leading me into green pastures, by still waters. Why does he do this? Because he knows the sheer horrors, the terrifying evil that a face-to-face encounter with the devil involves. He wants to spare us from this, and so he advises us to pray for deliverance from it. Lead me not into temptation… Let’s not underestimate the grim darkness hiding within this short passage.
There are three big names mentioned in this short introductory sentence: Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the devil. We had better not imagine that only two of them are real. Do I believe in the devil? If I don’t, then I have to imagine that Jesus suffered from schizophrenia. Of course I believe in the devil. But I believe on Jesus – and that makes all the difference! The terrible fact is that the devil was seeking Jesus, too! This chapter is the story of how that quest failed.
The first test: Turning stones into bread.
Our Christian ministry is never to be self-serving. I've been a lay preacher all my life, but I’ve always refused payment for preaching, because I’ve had a day job from which I earnt my money. I don’t mean that ministers should not be paid. Of course they should! That is their paid job. But it is reasonable to be suspicious when we see big money consorting with the preaching of the Gospel. Preachers have too often been found to be guilty in this regard.
Ministry should be for the enriching of the people not for the enrichment of the preacher. Jesus knew that he was in the desert to contemplate God’s holy Word, not mine it for profit.
The second test: Leaping from the Temple.
Why did Satan suggest the Temple in Jerusalem as a jumping point? We cannot be certain, but no doubt it would have made a great public statement.
If you go to Jerusalem, you may stand at the bottom of the south-west corner of the temple, and look up to a very high wall above. You will only be looking at the foundation wall – the temple used to stretch high above that. This was the highest corner of the temple. There is a huge granite block thrown down from that point by the armies of the Roman general, Titus, in 70AD; it remains on the ground to this day. A sign nearby informs the tourist that twice each week, a priest would mount this highest point of the temple and blow a trumpet: once to announce the beginning of the Sabbath, and again to announce the ending of the Sabbath.
The Sabbath marked out the sacred day from the other six profane days of the week. The devil was tempting Jesus to mix the sacred and profane by going there himself, and daring God to save him from a suicidal leap. Perhaps – and only perhaps; it’s just my conjecture – this stone has been preserved to help us understand this test.
Jesus is the fulfilment of the Sabbath. He is our eternal rest. To allow himself to be made a spectacle of, just at that moment when the trumpet was sounding and people were looking up, would be to muddy this distinction. Holiness is essentially distinctiveness. It is being separate from that which is of the world. God is holy and we, in our natural selves, are not. But we are called to be holy. The devil was counselling Jesus to mingle the Holy with human pride and ego. It is a test that all Christian leaders have to face.
The third test: Worship the devil and receive all material advantage.
This is surely the most transparent of all the temptations. The trappings of Power and Control are subtle and powerful. I sometimes teach classes on leadership. One of the things that I focus on is the three great risks for leaders: Money, Sex and Power.
The offer that the devil made is a fascinating one. He offered to give Jesus all the kingdoms of the world. Jesus did not respond that they were not his to give. A couple of days ago, I wrote that the devil had more power before the crucifixion and resurrection than he held after those two events. This story builds on that picture. Since Jesus did not refute the devil’s capacity to give what he promised, we must assume that it was indeed, his to give.
The devil offered Jesus the fast route to power and Kingship. Avoid the pain and suffering of the cross – just worship me! But Jesus knew that the only road to true Kingship was through suffering. The only path to defeat evil was through the death of God himself. This was his calling. He was not going to shirk it.
Had he accepted the devil’s terms, perhaps the man Jesus may still have become King of the world – but evil and death would not have been conquered. Any tyrant may command the world before him or her for a time – but only the King of Righteousness may claim the true title of Lordship. The way to greatness is through humility, pain and suffering. To go up, you have to go down. It sounds counter-intuitive, but it is the way that the world is. We ignore its fabric at our peril.
In the West, we seek to avoid suffering almost at any cost. We abort babies to protect our financial status. We kill old people to avoid pain. We create life artificially to negate our disorders. We compromise our values to avoid conflict. We break our vows to gain our selfish desires.
Suffering is a deep mystery – but despite its deep and painful effects, it is not without its spiritual gains. One of my dearest friends wrote to me recently: All suffering holds inestimable value in Jesus who knows and experienced/experiences our pain. We are to fuse our own pains and those of all who suffer into the precious Heart of Jesus. (Read Col. 1:24; Hebrews 2:10 and 10:32–34.)
It was truly for us that Jesus endured the cross, suffering its shame, so that we might be free. Jesus defeated the devil on the cross, but he delivered his ultimatum in this encounter in the desert.
Prayer: I thank you, Lord Jesus Christ, that you have suffered for me. I also thank you that you have taught me how to suffer – not to see it only as something from which to be delivered – but as something through which I can bring you glory, and grow in patience and hope. Amen.
