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The Wilderness and Temptation
Preached February 17, 2010 at a Mission in Downtown Birmingham, AL by Jake Hanson.
Today marks 40 days until we celebrate Easter—the celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. As we will read in our passage for tonight, this is the amount of time Jesus would be in the wilderness, fasting without food as He was tempted by the devil. When Easter comes in 40 days, I want you to look back on tonight and recall this night as a distant memory, and recall that that was the amount of time Jesus went without food or water.
Read with me Luke 4:1-13.
"1Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness 2for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry. 3And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread." 4And Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE.'" 5And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6And the devil said to Him, "I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7"Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours." 8Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'" 9And he led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here; 10for it is written, 'HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU TO GUARD YOU,' 11and, 'ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.'" 12And Jesus answered and said to him, "It is said, 'YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.'" 13When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time."
Wilderness and Temptation. Wilderness and Temptation. These are two hugely significant themes which we find in the Scriptures leading up to the life of Jesus.
Wilderness. The wilderness is a place where there is no food or water—no people or civilization. It is a place to travel through, not to live within. It is in the wilderness, however, that the people of God wandered in for 40 years after their miraculous deliverance from the hand of the Egyptians. It was supposed to be a place where they passed through on their way to the Promised Land—not a place to remain for 40 years. But they remained there, because they tested the Lord their God. They only survived the wilderness because of the Lord’s miraculous provision of sweet bread from heaven—manna. The people of God had been tested in the wilderness, and they failed the test.
Temptation. From the very beginning of creation, temptation by the devil has been very painfully real. In the Garden of Eden—the very opposite of the wilderness—in this lush garden, the serpent, Satan, whispered in Eve’s ear lies and distortions about God’s words and promises. And Adam and Eve believed Satan, and his twisted lies, rather than the marvelous promises and blessings which were theirs only in the Lord their God. Adam and Even failed this test and set this world on a disastrous course of sin and evil which we see and feel so strongly in this world today.
Jesus came to the wilderness to do what the people of God could not do on their own, to face the temptation which the first Adam and all of the human race could not bear up under on their own. And He did this in order to give hope and strength for those of us who are tempted, and to bring redemption and forgiveness to those of us who have fallen to temptation.
Tonight, I want to look at these three temptations, and we will see that these particular temptations are for Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and for Him alone, in a great cosmic battle between the Lord Jesus Christ and Satan. But even while the temptations are unique to Jesus, the method of temptation by Satan, or the way in which he tempts is similar to the way in which he tempts you and I daily.
Before we look at the temptations, I want to make a few observations about temptation.
First, it is important to see that any way besides God’s way is Satan’s way. Satan’s temptations are to do things in a way not according to God’s way. Along with this, any time besides God’s time, is Satan’s time. We will see that many of the temptations of Jesus were based on promises to Jesus, the Messiah to be fulfilled at a later time. So, any way besides God’s way is Satan’s way. Any time besides God’s time is Satan’s time, and any place outside of God’s chosen place is outside of the will of God and therefore is Satan’s place and therefore will lead to ruin and destruction.
Second, Satan often uses our fleshly weaknesses and desires in order to try to destroy us spiritually, and therefore he tries to destroy us, or others, eternally. He uses our hunger, our sexual desire, our desires for comfort and shelter, and emotional well-being—all good things in themselves in their appropriate places—in order to destroy us spiritually.
Third, Satan uses God’s Word and promises incompletely and out of its context and intended meaning in order to mislead us. We saw this in the Garden of Eden—Satan said, “You surely will not die!” If no one has finished that story for you, by the way, Genesis 5:5 tells us that Adam died. As we see in our passage tonight, Satan distorts, and twists the promises and the Word of God in order to tempt us to abuse those very promises.
Fourth, falling to temptation—that is, sinning—has consequences, not only for us, but also has consequences and results which impact others. As we will see, if Jesus had failed these tests, our hope and redemption from sin would be lost. Likewise, when we sin, we quench the work of the Spirit in our lives, and fail to be a light to this dark world, and therefore fail to bring others into fellowship with him. There is no such thing as private, personal sin.
Finally, the Lord uses temptation—He does not tempt, but He leads us to the places where temptation happens, as He led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. The Lord does this, not as some cruel joke, but He does this, according to Deuteronomy 8:2, in order to humble us, and in order to test us so that we might know what is truly in our hearts. God already knows our hearts. Trials and temptations reveal to us what is in our hearts, and gives us opportunity to repent and purge ourselves of our wickedness as we cast ourselves upon the Lord Jesus Christ.
As we look at these three temptations, I want to make one final observation that might be helpful to you as it is to me. And that is the circumstance we find Jesus in. I have been told that I need to be on guard against temptation, particularly when I am Hungry, when I am Angry, when I am Lonely, and when I am Tired. That spells an acronym, HALT—Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired. They are times we are particularly susceptible to temptation, and must be on our guard. Now I do not know if Jesus was Angry, but I am confident that He was Hungry, lonely and tired. At His physically, and emotionally weakest point is where Satan comes to tempt Him.
Let’s look at the first temptation. Satan says, in verse 3, “If you are the Son of God, turn these stones to bread.” The term, ‘Son of God’ is a title for the Messiah, the promised and anointed Savior. Satan is telling Jesus to prove that He is the Messiah by turning rocks into bread.
There are a few problems with this. First, Jesus was led by the Spirit to fast for forty days. It would only be in obedience to the Spirit that He could break that fast. Second, the miraculous was not to be led by Satan for self-indulgence, but by the Holy Spirit for self-sacrifice.
It is interesting, isn’t it, that Satan was telling Jesus, the One who created the world from nothing, to change creation into something else—a stone into bread. And this is who Satan is. Satan can only pervert what already exists. Evil does not exist on its own. Evil is merely the distortion of what is good. But Jesus, in His own power, could have raised up bread from nothing. Jesus is right in quoting Deuteronomy 8, “Man does not live by bread alone.” Man lives by, through and in Jesus Christ, the Word Who proceeds from the mouth of God. Indeed, He is the Bread of Life who brings nourishment to our souls. He is the One by which we live and consist. If Jesus failed this test, He would be spoiled bread. But He did not fail the test.
The second temptation, in verse 5-8, Jesus was given a glimpse of all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil promises to Jesus authority over all the kingdoms, if He would just bow down to worship him.
Here, Satan is playing on the promises of God for the Messiah. Isaiah 9:6-7 tells us, “The government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, …from then on and forevermore.” And there are many other passages which tell us that the Messiah will reign over all the earth—but His path to this Kingdom was not Satan’s path. This promise would be accomplished through suffering and death, and His fulfillment of it is still to come at His Second Coming. But it never would have been possible if Jesus snatched at what Satan tried to give Him. You see, Satan used the promises of God for the Messiah in order to make Jesus take the blessings in a time that was not God’s time. It was Satan’s time. But Isaiah 11:3 tells us, and this story confirms, that the Messiah “will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear.” Indeed, He would patiently wait for His Father’s timing. You see, the Messiah was not to be a King under the Prince of this world, Satan. Jesus, the Messiah is to be the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, and every knee will bow, not to Satan, but to Him who has all dominion and authority, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The final temptation in verse 9-12 plays on another promise to the Messiah. Satan tries to make Jesus demonstrate to the people that He is the Messiah in a way that is not God’s way, in a time that is not God’s time, and in a place that is not God’s place.
You see, Satan took Jesus up to the Temple, and had Him look down some 400 feet to the ground filled with crowds of people. “Surely,” Satan seems to be saying, “if you, Jesus, are the Messiah, the Son of God, if you jump, angels will catch you and the people will praise You.” And Satan quotes Scripture to confirm the point. He quotes Psalm 91. But he quotes it incompletely. Let’s open up Psalm 91 and see what Satan left out.
Verse 11: “For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways.” Satan was saying, “If you jump, Jesus, the angels will guard you. It’s a promise.” Then the Psalm continues, “They will bear you up in their hands, that you do not strike your foot against a stone.” And then look at what Satan conveniently leaves out: “You will tread upon the lion.” Who is the lion? [Silence.] 1 Peter 5:8 tells us, “the devil prowls around like a roaring lion.” And You will tread on the cobra, the serpent. Who is the serpent? Satan. But the devil conveniently leaves this part off—and when he feeds you and I lies with quotes from the Bible, he leaves important things off as well. The only way that Jesus would tread upon the serpent and the lion would be to endure this test. It was not God’s time, and it was not God’s way to reveal the Messiah to the world. His time would come. And His way would be through the Cross where He would finally crush the serpent’s head forever.
Let me ask a question. What if Jesus had not resisted the temptation?
Firstly, and most importantly, if Jesus had fallen to temptation, you and I could have no forgiveness of sins. Scripture teaches that the payment for sin is a perfect, sinless, unblemished sacrifice. In His obedience, He was reversing the curse of sin which has come upon us. Jesus resisted the temptation, not just for Himself, but for you and me.
But there are other things that we would lose if Christ lost this cosmic battle. Hebrews 2:18 says, “For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.” And then in Hebrews 4:15-16, we read, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” If He had failed this test, He could not come to the aid of those of us who are tempted. We would not be able to draw near to the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. But praise be to God, Jesus did not consider the temporary and fleeting pleasures of this world as more important than our souls; but He endured temptation to the point of shedding of blood. And now we have the promise, that “No temptation has overtaken us, but only such as is common to other people, but God is faithful who will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able to endure, but with the temptation will provide a way of escape also, that you might be able to stand up under it.”
But what about us? What if we do not resist temptation and we commit sin? Scripture teaches that the wages of sin is death for those who do not put their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. But what of those who have put their trust in Jesus Christ and our sins are unconditionally forgiven? Sin in our lives quenches the Holy Spirit from controlling, directing and empowering our lives for His service. Quenching the Spirit, in our sin, quenches the fruit of the Spirit—the love, the joy, the peace, the patience, the kindness, the goodness, the faithfulness and the gentleness which exudes from one controlled by the Holy Spirit. In our sin, we lose our saltiness in this bland, tasteless world. In our sin, we cover that brilliant light of the glory of Christ to a darkened world. When we live lives of sin, we render ourselves useless for the work of the kingdom, useless to use the gifts which the Holy Spirit imparts to us. And therefore, our sin hinders the work of finding the lost, of redeeming the prisoners, and of bringing sight to the blind. In short, the souls of our family, friends and strangers are at stake as believers in Jesus Christ continue on in lives of sin.
We have heard what Satan says to Christ. But what does Satan say to us today? Perhaps he says to you, “If you are a child of God, then your sins are forgiven—even the sin I want you to commit right now.” Don’t believe his lies. Christ did not die that you might continue in sin, but that you might have victory over it. Or perhaps Satan is whispering lies of guilt for sin which you have committed. Guilt comes from Satan, Conviction of sin from the Holy Spirit which should lead to repentance and freedom from all guilt. Or perhaps Satan is whispering in your ear, “This sinful habit is the way God has made you.” I heard someone just today say that he indulges in a sexual magazine as a God-given gift. That gift is not from God but from Satan himself! There are millions of ways Satan lies and distorts God’s Word. There are many ways in which a man or woman can fall, but there is but one way in which he can stand—and that is in obedience to the righteous and loving God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
What is the going rate for your soul? What offer can Satan give to you to sell your soul? Satan wanted to give Jesus some bread, the kingdoms of this world, and fame in exchange for the souls of the entire world. Jesus saw it as it clearly is—an unfair trade. “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?” Every single offer of temptation that Satan offers us, we should consider as dung, as rubbish as trash that we may gain Christ. Choose Jesus and His righteousness. As the hymn goes:
I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold;
I’d rather be His than have riches untold;
I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands;
I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hand
I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause;
I’d rather be faithful to His dear cause;
I’d rather have Jesus than worldwide fame;
I’d rather be true to His holy name
Than to be the king of a vast domain,
Or be held in sin’s dread sway;
I’d rather have Jesus than anything
This world affords today.