1^st Sabbath in Lent

February 8/10, 2008

Victor H. Nixon

IN THE WILDERNESS: OVERCOMING TEMPTATION

Matthew 4:1-11

Faith is a journey. Christian Faith is a journey with Jesus and other disciples. During the season of Lent we’ll be traveling with Jesus and the disciples in this sermon series as they make their way from one place, person or experience to another, learning how to follow Jesus and grow our faith. Our first stop on this faith journey is the wilderness.

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Life can be a wilderness. There’s little question about that because almost everywhere we turn we are challenged by choices between good and evil: unethical practices in the marketplace, war, casual sex and pornography, drugs and alcohol, dishonesty, unkindness, conflict, hate and greed are always options because, well, because we do have a choice about how we live and the kind of person we want to be.

Jesus experienced life as wilderness at the beginning of his ministry. Located in Israel between Jerusalem and the Jordan River, the wilderness was desolate country, mostly rocks, shrubs, and wild animals. Into this wilderness the Spirit of God led Jesus where he was tempted by the devil. Matthew’s word also means "testing." Here principle was tested against power, value against expediency, faithfulness against idolatry, commitment against compromise. In the wilderness Jesus was confronted by the seductive voice of evil.

It’s very important that we place this story in its scriptural context. John baptized Jesus immediately before the wilderness testing. The heavens opened, Matthew says, and the Spirit of God descended like a dove upon him, and a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I well pleased."(3:16-17) The very next statement begins our text, "Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil."(4:1) From baptism and God’s affirmation the same Spirit immediately led Jesus into the wilderness for temptation. Wow! Not much time to enjoy and bask in God’s grace. Next step, testing in the wilderness!

Followers of Jesus are not excluded from testing—no matter how close you are to God, or how strong your faith. Furthermore, it isn’t just the wilderness out there; it’s a wilderness inside us—feelings, desires, self-image, stuff we carry around with us all the time. Life itself is a wilderness where faith is tested on a daily basis. You should anticipate and expect that your faith, values, and integrity will be tested. If Jesus, the Son of God, doesn’t get a free pass on testing and temptation, neither will you.

However, note that Jesus was led up by the Spirit in the wilderness. Are you led by the Spirit in times of testing? Or is something else guiding your life? That’s an unspoken question in this text. The One whom we call Savior and Messiah depended upon the Spirit of God to direct him in this critical moment of testing and it’s important to follow his example because in the wilderness you need all the help you can get. I should say: the best help you can have—the power of God. Whatever else this story is about, it’s about following the example of Jesus in the wilderness. Let the Spirit lead you in times of moral crisis.

Perhaps that’s the reason Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights. Fasting is not just refraining from eating desserts, drinking alcohol or your favorite sodas, smoking, shopping, or whatever feels good. Fasting can be good for you physically or emotionally, but basically fasting is a spiritual exercise for the purpose of strengthening your relationship with God. I’ve never been very good at just giving up something for Lent. I need a larger purpose in mind, something that makes a difference in my life or my faith, something that I really want to do that can make me a better person, or, at least, make me feel better about myself, like skipping a meal and contributing to a humanitarian cause, like the Tornado Relief Fund and Youth Mission Fund. Over forty days that accumulates to a nice sum. It’s also a great exercise in generosity.

Jesus’ forty-day fast was a period in which he did not eat food but during which he was strengthened in faith and resolve. Doubtless, it included the disciplines of prayer and meditation upon his faith, ministry and how he wanted to live and serve. Obviously, our forty-day season of Lent is patterned after Jesus fast in the wilderness, which also reflects the ancient forty-day flood story when it rained for forty days, and the forty years of Israel’s wandering in the wilderness toward the Promised Land.

The Israelites didn’t intentionally fast in the wilderness; they just ran out of food. God provided manna from heaven. In Hebrew, manna means, "What is it?" They awakened one morning to find the ground and trees covered with this unusual substance, picked some up and asked, "Manna?" What is it? It was good to eat and sustained them in the wilderness. What fasting is about is God’s grace that strengthens us for those times in the wilderness when we are tested. The fast was Jesus’ spiritual exercise that prepared him for the confrontation with evil.

What is it that we are up against? Matthew says it is "the devil."(4:1) Who is this devil, sometimes referred to as Satan in the Bible? The Bible variously characterizes the power of evil: sometimes as "tendencies within ourselves; sometimes as a personal being outside ourselves, apparently a power angel gone astray; sometimes as a great cosmic power or organized forces arrayed against the will of God for the world. In whatever images or concepts, the Bible agrees with experience that there is in us and among us strong opposition to love, health, wholeness, peace and faith."(1) In this text, the devil is portrayed as a personification of evil.

The tempter said to Jesus, "If you are the Son off God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."(4:3) What could be worse than being terribly hungry after a fast and being tempted with food? When we are at our most vulnerable is the very moment in which we are most likely to fail, to do something wrong or inappropriate. I really want this job, so what if I fib on the application! Jesus replied, "It is written: ‘One does live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’" (Deut. 8:3)

To the holy city on the pinnacle of the temple. "If you are the son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’"(Ps. 91:11-12) Jesus: "It is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’"(Deut. 6:16)

High mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world. Said, "All these I will give to you , if you will fall down and worship me." Jesus: "It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’"(Deut. 6:13)

Do you have words of God for times of crisis and temptation? Do unto others, Love you enemies, Pray for those who persecute you. Do not be afraid. I am will be with you.

Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

Follow the example of Jesus—and you too will overcome evil and God will care for you.