Exile, Temptation and Reliance on God (Matthew 4:1-11) It should be of no surprise to us to find Jesus exiled and tempted in the wilderness, regardless of whether this is the hundredth or first time you have heard this story. The very nature of Christ s ministry and life was one of self-exile; one of facing human temptation and one of relying utterly on God. These are the three lenses through which we shall reflect on this text today and through which we shall seek to apply it to our lives. Exile So to start off, I draw your attention to Matthew 4 verse 1: Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said Now hang on a second did we just totally brush over the fact that He spent 40 DAYS FASTING IN THE WILD? This is way beyond Bear Grylls stuff here and it barely makes 2 sentences? How did this happen? Most likely this was a small part of a well-known narrative retold many times in full and not considered urgently necessary as a written recollection But we shouldn t brush over it too hastily lest we miss something of the urgency of our follow-ship our discipleship our proclamation of being the body of Christ: 1
Jesus exiled himself His Spirit led Him into the desert. But even before that His divinity knew humanity in full - he was the ultimate exile. Thinking equality with God a thing not to be grasped after, he humbled himself and allowed himself to be made an exile in this flesh and blood and all the trappings that come with it without giving himself over to it completely. And so, He headed into the desert. The 40 days echoes of the 40 years the Israelites had spent so many years before. There Moses recalls how the Lord led the Israelites to humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. The image of being an exile is even more potent when you consider just how much of an outcast He and His followers were making themselves. He, the ultimate religious leader came and, through his actions of forgiveness, Grace and humility of eating with the broken and segregated the unclean and the unworthy made himself even more of an exile in the eyes of those most likely to be able to assist His cause. So what does He do? He surrounds himself with unlikely followers who, in Peter s words in Matthew chapter 19 have given up everything to follow Jesus and by virtue have exiled themselves from family, community everything and everyone Fasting 40 days in the wilderness an exile - And so, my friends so early in the piece I ask you: When was the last time you felt an exile amongst your community? Amongst your family? Amongst your friends? When was the last time they looked oddly at you rejected you left you at arms length because of your faith? When has your faith drawn interest from them because of the difference in you that it makes? Or is it just for show or just for behind the closed door? 2
These questions lead us into the second focus of our text: that of temptation: Temptation The tempter, the evil one, whatever name you choose to use was present almost from the beginning. Adam and Eve too were invited to mistrust God. The serpent called into question God's trustworthiness by suggesting that there was more to the story than God let on. The tempter along with the temptation to seek independence or separation from God is smeared throughout the history of Israel as a nation and the individual characters within it. And so, in Matthew chapter 4 verse 3 as a hungry famished even starving Jesus encounters the tempter, these 3 questions and responses continue a time of trial for the Son of God. [screen: q&a Matthew 4:3-11] The evil one continues what we know will be an ultimately futile campaign by asking Jesus: "If you are the Son of God " If In other words, "How do you know you are God's Son?" Wouldn't it be better to know for certain? That stone over there, turn it to bread. You re suffering unnecessarily feed yourself. 3
This temple which they built again phhh when are they going to give up. Why not call on God at this point you won t feed yourself but nor did He so why not have God help you out now just jump. God will do His bit I think God will do His bit what do you think? Shouldn t we be sure? And lastly: Worship me...and you will never know doubt again. You will forever be separated from God you will be sufficient on your own and all this could be entirely yours. God the Father no no no - You will need no other God if you just bow down before me. The temptation is the same; the snake the fruit; the seductive beauty of the woman bathing on the rooftop the palace greater than the temple the tower to the heavens the kingdom of Jerusalem not the Kingdom of God the Israelites tripped over themselves so many times but Jesus responds by refusing to establish his own worth and identity on his own terms but instead remains dependent on God. Jesus knows who he is by remembering whose he is. IT should be no surprise to us friends that Jesus rebukes the evil one with Scripture. These God-breathed words had been pitted with success by the tempter over time but Jesus draws from the strength of them and frustrates Satan with failure. Is there a lesson here for us? Temptation is prolific in our world friends. Ask any red blooded man whether temptation has ever stalked him and I don t know a single one who could say no 4
I can only speak for those who may have a similar character to me but have I ever been tempted by wealth? Have I failed in this regard? Maybe. While the Gospels may not explicitly record any such event, I imagine that Jesus ate at the table of more than one religious leader; more than one tax-collector more than one Roman officer. How many do you imagine might have tried to buy their way into Heaven? And what of the religious sects (of which there were many much like there are today). You don t even need to stray outside of Anglicanism let alone Christianity to find a comforting, feel-good message one that requires little or no action or faith from you. Do you doubt that it was any different in Christ s day? How many times did He or His disciples sit down with religious leaders or followers - much like ourselves and, as the movement swelled and grew; the Pharisee pouring the tea or calling for the meal says this thing you say it is too hard for our simple people it is too unpopular I barely need to mention the spiritual temptations of our day-to-day life to not pray; to not greet one another with a sense peace to not put God first to not rely on God. Which brings us to our final point friends: Relying utterly on God In just a couple of chapters, as a part of his sermon on the mount Jesus reminds us all to look, not the temple, not to the apostles - not to the children, but simply to the birds of the air as our example regarding our life and our living. How reliant are you on God? Jesus knows who He is and whose He is but do we? Scholar Ravi Zacharias passed comment once, that, in a multitude of forums and 5
formats, scholars and simpletons alike explore what it means to be human no other thing does this. Dogs don t get together and explore how doggy they are! I ve never seen a forum of crossdenominational birds gather and twitter out their denominational difference for the sake of discovery in their common identity as birds! We are born with greatness above the animals and birds but in our greatness perhaps in our fall we too easily forget whose we are and as we do so, we rely less and less on God and more and more on ourselves. What likelihood is there that angels will attend to our needs if we demand it not out of necessity but out of our lack of certainty that they will come or even that they exist at all?! Why in heavens name would the tempter the evil one think that Christ would test His Father well, because Jesus was human and we are too we stumble, we are proud we are self- reliant rarely turning to God perhaps, only once a week perhaps only on a Sunday morning do we even consider God or consider God to be present? Do you believe Christ to be more present here than in your home? Do you believe Christ to be more present in a piece of bread than in your heart and mind and mouth throughout the week? In the end it is not Satan who has power over Jesus, but Jesus who issues commands that Satan obeys. To be sure, Satan will return, but that near final scene depicts the truth of it when Jesus rejects the invitation to serve two masters by citing Deut. 6:13 and saying: Away with you, Satan! And the text reads, Then the devil left him. 6
He relied on God. He didn t depend on him to save him from the trial he didn t ask God to deliver him from the temptation he commanded the tempter to be gone once the temptation was over. He endured. So too can we friends. But will we? Will we modify out behavior and actions in such a way that we are clearly exiles waiting for the promised land? Will we learn to rely on God so much that when temptation stalks, we too shall know and cite scriptures of strength that will help us endure the temptation. And surely as I am standing here, shall come our day when, temptation endured, difference perceived, shall the angels too wait upon us as we wait for the Glory of God. 7