Finding Jesus (a Lenten Series): In the Test

Matthew 4:1-11

“Jesus was lead into the desert by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted,” This has always bothered me on some level. The works of satan, are never the purposeful actions of God. The text is clear satan, the devil, the tempter are at work in this passage. God is not. Why does the text say that Jesus was led into the desert “By the Spirit to be tempted?” Temptation is not the work of God, or the Spirit.

When something bothers me in a text, I look into it. So, this is what I did this week. And I actually did not have to look far to come to a satisfactory understanding of what it means for Jesus to be “led by the Spirit . . .to be tempted.” The answer begins to unravel, when you look no further than the Greek behind the text. The word can also be translated “tested.” Tested not as in tried, but as in, “proved to be true.”

This passage serves as a sort of “proof” of Jesus’ Son of God-ness. Proof, as in a mathematical proof or a logical proof; a proof is a deductive argument of a statement, which is reliant upon self-evident or assumed statements along with accepted rules of inference. A proof shows us that something is indeed true. This incident in Jesus’ life follows directly after Jesus’ baptism. The statement, which is being “proofed,” in this case, is the one we hear coming from the heavens, “This is my Son.” Jesus goes into the wilderness and over the course of this “test,” Jesus is proved to indeed be the “Son of God.” In fact those are the words we find repeatedly on the devil’s lips, “If you are the Son of God. . .”

The irony found in these words is something that should be noted. The devil approaches Jesus twice saying, “If you are the Son of God . . .” What we miss in English is the subtle nuance of the word, “if.” The word and the grammatical structure here give the phrase the meaning; “If you are the Son of God, which of course you are . . .” The assumption in the “if” is that of course Jesus is. But what the devil is asking of Jesus, is that Jesus do the very things that, if he was indeed the Son of God, (which of course we all know him to be) he would not do.  So, Satan is asking Jesus to do something un-Son of Godly to prove to him that Jesus is the Son of God. But, then Jesus in the process of refusing to do these things, proves to us that he is indeed the Son of God.

Matthew includes his incident in Jesus’ life because we, the readers of Matthew, potential followers, of Christ need to know that Jesus truly is the Son of God, so we see his “son of God-ness tested and proved to be true.” Everything else in the Gospel is dependent upon, us, as the readers of Matthew coming to believe this is indeed true here at the beginning of his book.

In this passage we come to find that Jesus is indeed the Son of God. The test shows us the true nature of Jesus, is that he is no less than the Son of God.  This is done by showing us Jesus is the Son of God, in every way, Israel failed to be, throughout their desert journey. In this passage, Jesus goes into the desert for 40 days, and the people of Israel went into the wilderness for 40 years. The temptations Jesus faces in the wilderness mirror similar things, which the Israelites faced during their sojourn in the desert.

The first temptation Jesus faces is that of turning rocks into bread. The issue of lack of bread is one of the very first things over which the Israelites grumble against God. When they were hungry they whined, complained, and sent Moses to rail against God on their behalf. When Jesus is hungry, he refuses to turn the stones, which surround him, into bread.

All throughout their time in the wilderness, the people of Israel questioned God’s faithfulness, on some occasions they were positive that God had led them into the desert to die and at other times they were positive that God had led them to where they were to be defeated by their enemies.  God’s faithfulness was continually questioned as the people traveled through the desert. But where the people of Israel questioned God’s faithfulness, Jesus refuses to put it to the test. Jesus will not put God in a situation where God has to prove God’s own faithfulness.

The last temptation is a temptation of authority. At every turn the people doubted God’s authority, God’s very ability to do things, move the waters, provide food, take care of them, turn back their enemies, or create a path where one cannot be found. God’s authority over the sun, the weather, the stars, the night, the forces of nature, as well as, those of human origin are questioned at every turn. But, Jesus on the other hand when asked to question God’s authority here on earth, by being promised that very authority, refuses to take the bait.

If the Israel/Jesus comparison cannot be any clearer, whenever Jesus refutes the temptations of the devil, he uses passages from Deuteronomy, from the time period of Israel’s desert wanderings, to turn back satan, at every turn. Jesus is shown to be the Son of God by being tried, being tested, in the same ways as Israel is tempted. But, whereas in each instance Israel failed, questioned, tried, doubted and railed against God, Jesus proves that he is true, he does not doubt God’s provision, faithfulness or authority. Matthew has in many ways given a good “proof” of the Son of God-ness of Jesus. We can go on reading his Gospel having seen Jesus’ true nature. In these temptations, we can see that Jesus tests to be the one and only true Son of God.

But, this is not something that you or I really ever doubted, is it? I mean, I could be making an assumption here, but can I assume that since you have chosen to gather here this morning, on some level you already have come to terms with the concept that Jesus is really truly the Son of God. So although it is really neat that we find the true nature of Jesus, that is the Son of God, here in this test, it does not get us much further than strengthening our already, firmly held beliefs.

But, other than strengthening our already firmly held beliefs in the Son of God-ness of Jesus, we can also see Jesus’ triumph over sin and temptation here in this passage. By comparing Jesus’s ability to succeed where Israel failed. We can find ourselves. We can see ourselves in Israel, the children of God who time and time again find that it is easier give in to temptation and sin. But, we can also find ourselves in Christ, because we do not find our identity in solely being children of God, in the same way as Israel, but we also find our identity, as followers of Jesus. As Christians who find our identity in Christ, as we work to live our lives according to Christ’s example. And Christ’s example here is one of triumph and success. We can in being made over in the image of Christ succeed where we may otherwise fail. This is not about seeing how small and frail we are when compared to Christ but this is about seeing that we can, when we allow our lives to be molded and shaped into the image Christ, succeed where he succeeded, triumph where he triumphed, to too can be victorious in the face of temptation.

And we know this because we know that Jesus was tempted in all the ways that we as humans are tempted. Jesus did not know any temptation except the very same kind of temptations we too find ourselves facing. I think this means that the temptations Jesus faced require another closer examination. Jesus was tempted in all the ways we so often are tempted.

The first temptation is that of provision. I have already mentioned that Israel questioned God’s provision at every turn. The idea that God will, can provide, but it is more than that, it is the temptation for the easy way out, and Jesus is tempted to use his power to find the easy way of out being hungry. Although we may find that at times we questions God’s ability to take care of us, to provide. That is not as concrete or as the easy way out.

There is always an easy way. It is easier to just lose your temper with your spouse after a long day at work, over something that has nothing to do with the real reason you are exasperated, than it is to take a deep breath and respond calmly and lovingly. It is easier to pretend you did not do something than it is to go back and set it right, or to admit your failings and ask for forgiveness. It is easier when we are faced with the injustice in the world to turn a blind eye and go about our business than it is to work to do something about it. The temptations to do the “easy” thing; to turn stones into bread; are all around us, Jesus shows us that the easy way out is not the Jesus way out. Doing the hard thing, is hard, but often times it is right, it is good, it is ‘godly.’ It is our call as Christians to choose the hard way over the easy way every time.

The second temptation is that of doubting God’s faithfulness, whether God will do what God says God will do. Again, this is something we often times doubt and it is a temptation to disbelieve that God is always faithful to us in all things. But what Jesus is asked to do is throw himself off the highest point of the temple. The temptation is not merely about God’s faithfulness, but it is the temptation of the spectacle. There would be no need for Matthew to have a “proof” of the nature of Jesus Christ, if he had thrown himself down off the temple and God’s angels had come and saved him from death with all to see. Everyone would have known in the most spectacular way possible who Jesus is. I know none of us are tempted to do something like that. Well, I guess I cannot speak for you, but I can tell you that at no point have I ever been up in the belfry of this church or at any other extremely high place and been tempted to throw myself. I have am also generally not tempted to do anything that would draw attention to myself in a spectacular way. But none-the-less I think the temptation to make a spectacle of ourselves is something that all of us wish for on some level. That desire we have when we post something to Facebook to get “likes” or on imgur to get “up votes.” When you sit there after you post something and continually refresh so that you can see who has seen and who has paid attention to what you have posted.  This is the voice within us that calls out for is to not fall into obscurity, for someone to remember us, to be known, for others to praise us, to recognize us, to see the good we have done, are all a part of this temptation. Our call is to resist this desire to be known for ourselves, for our talents, good deeds, our righteousness to be seen, and find our identity in that recognition, in that notoriety, no matter how small, but instead to find our identity in Christ. That for which others remember us should not be for ourselves, for what we have done, but for Christ, because they have seen Christ with in us, that when they encountered us they encountered Christ, that in us they have come to know the vast nature of the love of God.

The very last temptation is that of authority, that of power. The devil tempts Jesus with nothing less than the authority and power over all creation that belongs to God and to God alone, the power of the earth, is not even a power the devil has to give, but none—he-less he offers if up to Jesus. The promise in this temptation is not one to which the devil is unfamiliar. This is the primal temptation; the first temptation, to be like God, to know that which God knows. This is the same promise satan gives to the first humans, should they choose to eat from the forbidden tree. We all want to be like God, after all that is to which we strive as Christians, to be like God, to reflect the image of God. But just as the devil is offering Jesus something which the devil cannot give, but is something which Jesus on some level already possesses. We are also often tempted to want to be like God, but the fact of the matter is that we are made in the image of God, we as Christians are called to be like God, to reflect who God is in this world. But that does not mean we cannot be tempted with the desire to be like God. Although we may be possessors of God’s image, reflections of God’s character that is not enough for us, we want the power, the authority, the control. We want to be the one to knows what is what, we want to be able to make people be like we want them to be, to be the driving force that moves people in the ways we want to them to go. We all want to be “gods” of our own little realms, whether that be at home, or at work, in the public arena or among our group of friends. We want others to bend to our will, to do what we want them to do. In many ways we are all toddlers, the rulers of own games, calling for those around us to act the way we think they should, to do the things we want them to do.  Our call is to be like God, to reflect the nature, the love of God, it is not to wield the authority of God, to hold the power of God, or to mold others into the persons we desire them to be.

These temptations are our temptations, but temptations are not the last word. We are followers of Christ, we are those who are called to live as Christ lived, in fact the good news of the gospel is that we CAN live as Christ lived. We too can turn back the temptations we face, we can choose the right and the good. We can be tested and tried and found to be true Children of God, disciples of Jesus, bearers of God’s image, followers of Christ.

We have just embarked upon the season of Lent. This season, more than any other season of the Church year, calls for us to examine our fallenness, our failures, and calls us to triumph. This is the season to pay attention to how easy it is to fall to the many temptations of life, to miss the mark, to be a marred reflection of God. As Nazarenes, in our call to triumph over sin, we cannot just ignore its allure, how easy it can be to find ourselves on that dark road. But we know, also, that through Christ we can succeed, we can resist the devil, pull back from life’s pitfalls. We are more than our fallen nature, but it something we cannot ignore.

During this season we pause. We slow down. We do our best to pay attention to the pull, the allure, the trial, the temptation, to see the nature of our falleness. But we are not to stop there. It is not a rest area where we want to wander, but instead we are to remember whose we are and in whose image we are created. We are called to be like Christ, not just in his death, but also in his life, we like him we can turn from that which will trap and ensnare us.