With Jesus in the Wilderness. Matthew 4:1-4; 1Samuel 17:32-51 Old Testament Characters & Themes Temptation Sub-Series

Transcription

1 With Jesus in the Wilderness Matthew 4:1-4; 1Samuel 17:32-51 Old Testament Characters & Themes Temptation Sub-Series Dr. Greg Anderson January 22, 2017 Epiphany 3 Riverdale Baptist Church Whitehorse, Yukon

2 1 Introduction The link between these two dramatic stories Facing Goliath, facing the devil Is to be found in the shepherd boy s words to the fearsome warrior... and the whole world will know... that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord s. The David and Goliath story, which our children are learning about today, has some interesting parallels with Jesus temptation in the wilderness. Both David and Jesus are anointed with the Holy Spirit In both cases the anointing signifies God s choice of his king over the people of God In David s case the immediate sign of the anointing is expressed in his artistic making of beautiful music; In Jesus case, it is the artistic descent of the dove and the beautiful sound of God s voice. Both David and Jesus have their public debut in a fight-to-the-finish with a fearsome enemy And for both David and Jesus the secret to their success is a radical alliance with the living God, even against what seems to be common sense. Wherein: Not only will the forces aligned against the good God be shamed But even more so the beauty and wisdom of the ways of God will be revealed. This is the challenge of the people of God. The Kings show the way. You could say it is the way of faith in God. David had faith when he remembered God s power with the lion and bear and refused the protecting armor and weapons Jesus displayed faith relying on the Word of God rather than a piece of bread Do we see this principle alive in our lives? Can we think of an example where; like David, like Jesus, we have an opportunity in the battles we face to take a radical stand with the living God and witness His power? I tell you the truth, such a stand brings about beauty and goodness in our world.

3 2 Text This morning I want to focus with you on our Matthew reading: Jesus tested in the wilderness. In the large scope of the Biblical narrative what does this episode say to us? There are numerous options, for example, Jesus in the wilderness 40 days and Moses on the mountain 40 days However, I believe, the greatest significance of Jesus tested in the wilderness is the setting to right what Adam set wrong in the Garden of Eden. In a world fraught with questions about the reality or reliability of God In a world fraught with the power of the devil corrupting everything In Luke s version the devil says to Jesus about the kingdoms of the world: I will give you all their authority and splendour; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.. In such a world, Jesus leads the way, as a king, for the people of God to live into the goodness and beauty that God intends. Consider the parallels between Genesis 3 and Matthew 4: Both settings are in pristine wilderness the uncultivated beauty of the earth Both settings have God putting the protagonist in place In Genesis God took the man he made and put him in Eden In Matthew, the Holy Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness Both settings have natural and supernatural attributes In Eden, wild animals, a talking upright snake and angels In the wilderness, wild animals, angels and a devil who can transport Jesus here and there like the transporter on Star Trek. Both settings have as their focus a test. What is a test: The means of determining the existence or genuineness of anything; In the Garden the snake says to the woman:

4 Did God really say, You must not eat from any tree in the garden? 3 In the wilderness, the devil says: If you are Son of God, tell these stones to become bread. In both cases the practical existence, genuineness and goodness of God is at question. For these reasons, I believe the greatest significance of Jesus tested in the wilderness is the setting to right what Adam set wrong in the Garden of Eden. Setting to right the living God s intention for planet Earth to be an Eden wherein all the beauty of God s creation flourishes in harmony and fruitfulness and perfection. Setting to right the living God s intention for all people to live in the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, gentleness and self-control. Setting to right the living God s intention for all people and nations to live in the image of God and to work and care for God s creation to its and God s glory. For this to happen, Jesus, king of the people of God, first, overwhelms the power of that old Goliath. As the Book of Revelation puts it:... that ancient snake called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. In the large scope of the Biblical narrative this episode is the beginning of the setting to right what Adam set wrong in the Garden of Eden. We are going to spend several weeks with Jesus in the wilderness. The themes here expose where the ancient kings of the people of God went wrong and provide a template for how the devil continues to tempt the people of God in our days. The testing in the wilderness continues because it continues that the whole world is led astray. It is the calling of the people of God to joyfully demonstrate right ways from wrong. Our reading this morning raises two preliminary questions: Does God tempt us to evil? (The issue: can we trust God is not responsible for the evil) Is the devil real? Here is James, the brother of Jesus: Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance... having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life... When tempted, no one should say, God is tempting me. For God... does not tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. The commentators put it well: the verb tested/tempted has a double connotation; Jesus is at the same time being tested by God and tempted by the devil. God does not tempt us to do wrong, never! God does test us to mature our relationship with Him.

5 Next week we will look closer at what happens in the temptation dynamic. 4 Is the devil real? Certainly! Listen to Frederick Bruner from his Matthew commentary: The devil is not physically described. We are permitted by our text to believe that the devil operates mainly with words (and, I add, images), thus by suggestion and argument, by introducing ideas, thoughts, and possibilities into the mind.... In the NT there is simply the conviction that an anti-god force, most often conceived personally, exists and works in history, especially against the purposes and people of God, with the special aim of splitting people off from God. (To split is the root meaning of the verb diaballein, the root in turn, of the Greek noun diabolos, the main NT word for the devil the Splitter!) In the weeks to come we will consider devilish influences continuing to split us from the living God Application Split us off from: worship; our church; prayer & study; other believers; the Gospel. As we continue to walk with Jesus into the wilderness of testing and temptation how do we find the resources to resist and thrive? First, be led in the same way Jesus was led. What does it say: Jesus was led by the Spirit. Last week the sermon ended with a tremendous challenge: Pastor Michelle commented on when she was a young adult the focus was on how much of the Holy Spirit she could have. Being raised in the Pentecostal Church, her grandfather a Pentecostal minister, there was some searching for the power of the Spirit in her life. However, after a few life experiences, after some serious searching of the Word of God, Pastor Michelle changed her perspective: It reminded me of Galatians 3:27 from how much of the Holy Spirit can I have to how much of me does the Holy Spirit have? For all of you who have been baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ In our life experiences we decide what kind of clothes to put on. Through the worship of God, through the fellowship of the church, through prayer and searching the word of God; will we allow the Holy Spirit to dress us in the attributes of Christ? That is how the power of the Spirit comes upon the children of God. Second, focus on our King who leads into the good, the beautiful, the truthful not on the evil.

6 5 I find in life, there can be 99 good things happening and 1 evil thing. The evil is a powerful magnet. It pulls me into it and possesses me as if it were the only reality that mattered. Not only that, when I look at Christian media, so much seems to focus on what Christians are against rather than what we are for! A primary discipline of the Christian life is to focus on our King and the good, the beautiful, the truthful he leads us towards. The Gospel is good news! Build up the perspectives in life that focus there. Finally, actively resist the evil impulse and thereby enjoy the King s power. After writing three large volumes on the devil as portrayed in Scripture and in Jewish and Christian thought, the scholar Jeffrey Russell said this: A real force is actively present in the cosmos, urging to evil. This evil force has a purposive center that actively hates good, the cosmos, and every individual in the cosmos. It urges us too to hate good, the cosmos, other individuals and ourselves. It has terrible and immense effects, but it is ultimately futile, every individual can defeat in himself or herself by drawing upon the loving power of God. This is the constant testimony of the Bible, Jesus in his public ministry and in his authority delegated to those who follow him, overcomes the power of evil. In fact, there is no other power in the universe to deal effectively with evil. Again, James, the brother of Jesus: Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Amen.