WHAT WE CAN LEARN
FROM JESUS’ OWN STRUGGLE WITH TEMPTATION
Matthew 4:1-10
Rev. Paul Wrightman 10/17/21
FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OVER FORTY-SEVEN YEARS,
THE TUNA WERE RUNNING ONLY THIRTY MILES OFF CAPE COD.
AND THEY WERE BITING.
ALL YOU NEEDED TO CATCH ONE
WAS A SHARP HOOK AND SOME BAIT.
AND THE RUMOR WAS THAT JAPANESE BUYERS
WOULD PAY $50,000 FOR A NICE BLUEFIN.
MANY INEXPERIENCED FISHERMEN
IGNORED COAST GUARD WARNINGS
AND HEADED OUT TO SEA IN SMALL BOATS.
WHAT THEY DIDN’T REALIZE
WAS THAT THE PROBLEM WASN’T CATCHING THE FISH;
IT WAS REELING IN THE GIANT TUNA AND PULLING IT ABOARD.
THE CHRISTI ANNE, A NINETEEN-FOOT BOAT,
CAPSIZED WHILE DOING BATTLE WITH A TUNA.
THAT SAME DAY THE TWENTY-SEEVEN-FOOT BOAT BASIC INSTINCT
SUFFERED THE SAME FATE, WHILE OFFICIAL BUSINESS,
A TWENTY-EIGHT FOOTER, WAS SWAMPED
AFTER IT HOOKED A SIX-HUNDRED-POUND TUNA.
FISHERMEN ON THESE BOATS UNDERESTIMATED
THE POWER OF THE FISH THEY WERE TRYING TO CATCH.
THAT IS WHAT TEMPTATION DOES TO US.
ONLY AFTER WE LOOK INTO IT DO WE DISCOVER ITS STRENGTH.
(Kent Edwards)
JESUS HIMSELF NEVER UNDERESTIMATED
THE POWER OF TEMPTATION OR THE POWER OF EVIL.
WE CAN LEARN A LOT ABOUT HOW TO OVERCOME TEMPTATION
IN OUR OWN LIVES, BY LOOKING CLOSELY AT HOW JESUS
OVERCAME TEMPTATION IN HIS LIFE.
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING FOLLOWS IMMEDIATELY
AFTER THE BAPTISM OF JESUS.
THE TWO VERSES JUST BEFORE OUR TEXT READ:
“AS SOON AS JESUS WAS BAPTISED, HE WENT UP OUT OF THE WATER.
AT THAT MOMENT HEAVEN WAS OPENED,
AND HE SAW THE SPIRIT OF GOD DESCENDING LIKE A DOVE
AND ALIGHTING ON HIM.
AND A VOICE FROM HEAVEN SAID, ‘THIS IS MY SON, WHOM I LOVE;
WITH HIM I AM WELL PLEASED.’” (Matthew 3:16-17)
AN IMPORTANT PART OF WHAT CHRISTIANS MEAN
WHEN THEY TALK ABOUT THE INCARNATION OF JESUS,
THE AFFIRMATION THAT GOD BECAME A PERSON
IN THE PERSON OF JESUS,
IS THE REALITY THAT IF JESUS IS REALLY A PERSON,
THEN HE DID NOT KNOW EVERYTHING IN ADVANCE,
AND THAT, JUST LIKE US, HE HAD TO STRUGGLE
TO FIND HIS TRUEST AND DEEPEST IDENTITY.
MANY SEE THE DOVE DESCENDING AND THE VOICE SPEAKING
AT JESUS’ BAPTISM,
AS GOD’S “OFFICIAL” ENDORSEMENT OF HIS MINISTRY.
BUT JUST BECAUSE GOD HAS CALLED JESUS “SON,”
DOES NOT MEAN THAT AT THIS POINT
JESUS KNEW WHAT THAT WORD FULLY MEANT.
LIKE THE REST OF US, JESUS HAD TO GROW INTO
THE MEANING OF HIS LIFE.
PSYCHOLOGICALLY SPEAKING, THERE IS NOTHING MORE “NATURAL”
THAN THAT AFTER A POWERFUL EXPERIENCE
OF VOCATIONAL CALLING, ONE COMES FACE-TO-FACE
WITH THE CHALLENGE OF HOW ONE IS TO FULFILL THAT CALLING.
THIS IS WHAT OUR SCRIPTURE READING THIS MORNING –
WHICH IS TRADITIONALLY KNOWN AS “THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS” –
IS ALL ABOUT.
JESUS KNOWS THAT WITH HIS BAPTISM
HIS MINISTRY HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN.
GOD KNOWS THAT JESUS HAS SOME CRUCIAL DECISIONS TO MAKE
IN TERMS OF HOW HE IS GOING TO CARRY OUT HIS MINISTRY.
SO WE ARE TOLD IN THE VERY FIRST VERSE OF TODAY’S READING
THAT GOD’S SPIRIT WENT WITH JESUS INTO THE WILDERNESS.
USING THE BASIC INTERPRETIVE PRINCIPLE
THAT WE ARE ENCOURAGED TO APPLY
THE MOVEMENTS OF SCRIPTURE TO OUR OWN LIVES,
WE CAN MAKE THE CLAIM THAT JUST AS GOD’S SPIRIT
WENT WITH JESUS INTO THE WILDERNESS OF HIS LIFE,
SO TOO WILL GOD’S SPIRIT GO WITH US
INTO THE WILDERNESS OF OUR LIVES.
ALTHOUGH OUR TEMPTATIONS WILL, OF COURSE,
BE DIFFERENT THAN THOSE OF JESUS,
WE CAN KNOW THAT JUST AS JESUS GOT THE STRENGTH HE NEEDED
BY LEANING INTO GOD’S SPIRIT,
WE WILL GET THE STRENGTH WE NEED
BY LEANING INTO GOD’S SPIRIT, WHO IS ALWAYS WITH US.
MANY OF US STUMBLE OVER THE SECOND PART OF THIS VERSE,
THE PART ABOUT BEING TEMPTED BY THE DEVIL.
WHO IS THIS BEING CALLED THE “DEVIL?”
SOME CHRISTIANS ACKNOWLEDGE THE EXISTENCE
OF A BEING PERSONALLY OPPOSED TO GOD,
AND OUT TO DESTROY GOD’S PURPOSES.
OTHER CHRISTIANS SEE THE “DEVIL” AS THE INNER VOICE
OF OUR OWN BROKENNESS,
A VOICE WHICH TEMPTS US NOT TO GROW INTO THE PERSON
WHO GOD CREATED YOU AND ME TO BE.
WHETHER WE CHOOSE TO ACCEPT THE EXISTENCE
OF AN “OUTSIDE” FORCE OF EVIL,
OR AN INNER VOICE OF TEMPTATION,
WE ALL KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO BE TEMPTED,
WE ALL KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO HAVE OUR CHARACTER TESTED.
WE ALL KNOW WHAT IT MEANS
TO HAVE TO MAKE DECISIVE DECISIONS
ABOUT THE MEANS WE WILL USE TO ACHIEVE
WHAT WE PERCEIVE TO BE THE PURPOSE OF OUR LIVES.
WHEN THE UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD WAS UNDER CONSTRUCTION,
AN ELABORATE TRESTLE BRIDGE
WAS BUILT OVER A CERTAIN LARGE CANYON IN THE WEST
AS PART OF THE PLAN TO CONNECT ST. LOUIS AND CALIFORNIA.
BEFORE IT WAS OPEN FOR COMMERCIAL USE,
THE CONSTRUCTION ENGINEER WANTED TO TEST ITS STRENGTH.
HE LOADED A TRAIN WITH EXTRA CARS AND EQUIPMENT
TO DOUBLE ITS NORMAL PAYLOAD.
THE TRAIN WAS DRIVEN OUT TO THE MIDDLE OF THE BRIDGE,
WHERE IT WAS TO REMAIN FOR AN ENTIRE DAY.
ONE WORKER COMPLAINED,
“ARE YOU TRYING TO BREAK THIS BRIDGE?”
“NO,” SAID THE ENGINEER.
“I’M TRYING TO PROVE THAT THE BRIDGE IS UNBREAKABLE.”
SO, TOO, DOES TEMPTATION
PROVE OUR STRENGTH UNDER PRESSURE.”
ONE WAY OF LOOKING AT WHAT IS HAPPENING TO JESUS
IN TODAY’S SCRIPTURE TEXT IS TO SEE HIS TEMPTATIONS –
HIS TESTINGS – AS AN INTENSIVE FORTY DAY SILENT RETREAT,
IN WHICH JEUS IS CHALLENGED TO ACKNOWLEDGE
HIS IDENTITY AND VOCATION AS FROM GOD,
AND PUSHED TO DECIDE HOW HE WILL LIVE OUT
HIS IDENTITY AND VOCATION.
BIBLICAL SCHOLAR WILLIAM BARCLAY POINTS OUT HOW,
SINCE JESUS WAS ALONE WHEN HE HAD THIS EXPERIENCE,
THIS WAS AN EXPERIENCE WHICH,
SOMETIME DURING THE COURSE OF HIS MINISTRY,
JESUS HAD TO SHARE WITH HIS DISCIPLES,
WHO, IN TURN, REMEMBERED IT AND PASSED IT ON.
CONCERNING THE TEMPTATION, OR TESTING, OF JESUS,
BARCLAY WRITES:
“IT IS JESUS TELLING US HIS OWN SPIRITUAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY.”
I LIKE THE STATEMENT BY WILL WYLIE-KELLERMAN
IN A RECENT SOJOURNERS MAGAZINE ARTICLE:
“I TAKE THIS TO BE A REAL EVENT
AND NOT JUST A SCHEMATIZED LITERARY SUMMARY.
IT WAS A REAL TRIP TO THE DESERT,
A REAL FAST, EMPTYING OUT, AND STRIPPING DOWN.
HERE IN THE WILDERNESS,
SO VULNERABLE, SO FRAIL AND HUMAN,
JESUS IS ALONE WITH HIS IDENTITY AND CALLING.
(End Quote)
THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES DESIGNATE
THE PARTICULAR WILDERNESS WHERE JESUS WENT
AS “THE DEVASTATION.”
ONE OF THE PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THIS AREA
WAS THE PRESENCE OF NUMEROUS ROUND LIMESTONE ROCKS,
ROCKS WHICH LOOKED JUST LIKE THE ROUND LOAVES OF BREAD
WHICH WERE THE FOOD STAPLE OF JESUS’ DAY.
THE FIRST TEMPTATION HAS TWO ASPECTS;
IT CONTAINS BOTH A PRIVATE AND A PUBLIC DIMENSION.
IN TERMS OF THE PRIVATE, JEUS IS HUNGRY.
HE HAS THE POWER TO TURN THOSE LIMESTONE LOAVES INTO BREAD.
WHY NOT USE HIS POWER TO ALLEVIATE HIS HUNGER?
JESUS CHOOSES NOT TO USE HIS POWER IN SELFISH WAYS,
AND THIS PRIMAL CHOICE ECHOES
THROUGHOUT THE REST OF HIS MINISTRY.
IN TERMS OF THE PUBLIC DIMENSION,
JESUS IS STRUGGLING WITH THE TEMPTATION
TO WIN PEOPLE OVER BY GIVING THEM BREAD,
TO CREATE A MASSIVE FOLLOWING
BY PROVIDING FOR ALL THEIR MATERIAL NEEDS.
THIS WOULD BE BRIBERY BY BREAD,
AND JESUS REJECTS THIS OPTION,
REMINDING HIMSELF THAT “ONE DOES NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE,
BUT BY EVERY WORD THAT COMES FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD,”
A QUOTATION FROM THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY
IN THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES.
JESUS IS SETTING A CRUCIAL PRECEDENT
FOR HIS ENTIRE MINISTRY HERE,
THE PRECEDENT THAT TRUST IN GOD IS ABSOLUTELY PRIMARY,
THE PRECEDENT THAT HE WILL NOT TAKE AWAY
PEOPLE’S FREEDOM TO TRUST GOD BY GIVING THEM BREAD INSTEAD.
CONTRAST THE STANCE OF JESUS –
WHO REFUSES TO GIVE BREAD TO MANIPULATE PEOPLE –
WITH THE STANCE OF THE ROMAN EMPERORS –
WHO DISTRIBUTED FREE BREAD TO THE MASSES
TO KEEP THEM UNDER THEIR CONTROL.
IN THE SECOND TEMPTATION, JESUS ENVISIONS GOING
TO THE HIGHEST POINT OF THE JERUSALEM TEMPLE,
PROBABLY RIGHT AT THE TIME OF THE MORNING SACRIFICE
WHEN THE COURTYARD WOULD BE FILLED WITH BYSTANDERS,
LOUDLY CALLING ATTENTION TO HIMSELF,
THEN THROWING HIMSELF DOWN,
ASSUMING THAT GOD WOULD MIRACULOUSLY BREAK HIS FALL.
WHAT A SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE WAY TO WIN CONVERTS!
WHY GO TO ALL THE TROUBLE
OF LABORIOUS TEACHING AND PREACHING
WHEN ONE BIG UNDENIABLE MIRACLE WOULD DO THE TRICK?
I’VE HEARD PLENTY OF PEOPLE SAY THIS –
AND I HAVE TO ADMIT THAT I’VE THOUGHT IT MYSELF –
WHY DOESN’T GOD JUST SHOW UP AND MAKE A BIG IMPRESSION?
WHY DOESN’T GOD JUST DO SOMETHING SO BIG,
SO UNDENIABLE, THAT PEOPLE WILL HAVE TO BELIEVE?
YOU AND I ALREADY KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION.
WHAT KIND OF GOD WOULD USE THE MIRACULOUS
TO FORCE US INTO BELIEF?
--A MONSTER GOD.
EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY,
WHAT KIND OF RELATIONSHIP COULD WE HAVE WITH A GOD
WHO GAVE US NO CHOICE BUT TO BELIEVE?
IT WOULD BE THE RELATIONSHIP OF A PUPPET
TO HIS OR HER PUPPETEER,
NOT THE FREELY CHOSEN PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP
THAT THE GOD OF JESUS IS ALL ABOUT.
SO JESUS REJECTS THE TEMPTATION
TO WIN A MASSIVE FOLLOWING BY SHOWING OFF,
BY PROVIDING, IN EFFECT, “ENTERTAINMENT,”
ENTERTAINMENT WHICH IN THE CITY OF ROME
WENT BY THE NAME OF “CIRCUSES.”
HAVING REJECTED BOTH “BREAD” AND “CIRCUSES”
AS MEANS TO THE END OF MAKING DISCIPLES,
JESUS IS FACED WITH THE BIGGEST TEMPTATION OF ALL,
THE TEMPTATION TO GRAB ABSOLUTE POLITICAL POWER.
IN A VISION JESUS SEES ALL THE KINGDOMS OF THE WORLD,
AND KNOWS THAT IF HE CHOOSES THE WAY OF VIOLENT RULE
ALL WILL BE SUBJECT TO HIM.
AGAIN, WHAT A SIMPLE AND DIRECT SOLUTION
TO THE CHALLENGE OF ESTABLISHING GOD’S KINGDOM ON EARTH –
SIMPLY FORCE IT; MAKE PEOPLE OBEY; DESTROY THOSE WHO DON’T;
ESTABLISH A TOTALITARIAN DICTATORSHIP
WHERE GOD’S RULE WOULD FINALLY TRIUMPH.
FORTUNATELY FOR GOD AND FOR US,
JESUS REALIZES THAT TO SUCCUMB TO THIS TEMPTATION
WOULD BE THE ULTIMATE SELL-OUT,
FOR IT WOULD BE TO CREATE A KINGDOM OF SLAVES
AND TO CALL THAT THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
IF JESUS HAD CHOSEN TO GO IN THIS DIRECTION,
HE WOULD HAVE ABANDONED THE IMAGE OF GOD IN HIM,
AND REMADE HIMSELF INTO THE IMAGE IF THE ROMAN EMPEROR,
ONLY BIGGER AND BETTER.
THUS, ALONG WITH HIS REPUDIATION OF “BREAD” AND “CIRCUSES,”
JESUS RENOUNCES VIOLENCE
TO BRING ABOUT GOD’S KINGDOM ON EARTH.
IN REJECTING THE THREE MAIN ELEMENTS
OF THE MIGHTIEST POWER ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH
IN HIS DAY, THE ROMAN EMPIRE,
JESUS POSITS IN THEIR PLACE THE ALTERNATIVE EMPIRE
OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD,
A KINGDOM WHERE PEOPLE ARE INVITED TO EXPERIENCE
GOD’S UNCONDITIONAL LOVE,
COMMITMENT TO JUSTICE,
RELENTLESS COMPASSION,
NON-VIOLENT PEACEMAKING,
EXTRAVAGANT HOSPITALITY,
AND NEVER-ENDING FORGIVENESS.
ON THIS INTENSE VOCATIONAL “RETREAT,”
WHICH WE KNOW AS HIS “TEMPTATION,”
JESUS COMES TO THE REALIZATION
THAT HE IS BEING CALLED TO EMBODY,
TO MAKE REAL IN HIMSELF AND IN HIS MINISTRY,
THIS ALTERNATIVE KINGDOM,
A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE CAN FREELY CHOOSE TO GROW INTO
THE LOVING, JUSTICE-EMBRACING, COMPASSIONATE, PEACEMAKING,
HOSPITABLE, AND FORGIVING IMAGES OF GOD
THAT THEY WERE CREATED TO BECOME AND TO BE.
THIS KINGDOM, THE KINGDOM OF GOD,
IS NOT FORCED ON PEOPLE, BUT IS SIMPLY ON OFFER
TO ANYONE WHO WANTS IT.
AND JESUS FIRMLY BELIEVES,
THAT LIKE A MEASURE OF YEAST IN A TUBFULL OF FLOUR,
GOD’S KINGDOM WILL FINALLY WIN-OUT.
WHY?
--BECAUSE JESUS TRUSTS GOD’S PROMISE
THAT AFTER ALL IS SAID AND DONE
THE REALITY IS THAT LOVE WINS.
SO HOW DO WE GROW TO BE MORE LIKE JESUS
IN BEING ABLE TO OVERCOME TEMPTATION?
THE ANSWER IS SLOWLY, BUT SURELY.
PORTIA NELSON HAS WRITTEN A PIECE TITLED:
AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN FIVE SHORT CHAPTERS. IT READS:
CHAPTER 1 – I WALK DOWN THE STREET.
THERE IS A DEEP HOLE IN THE SIDEWALK.
I FALL IN. I AM LOST. . . .I AM HELPLESS.
IT ISN’T MY FAULT.
IT TAKES FOREVER TO FIND A WAY OUT.
CHAPTER 2 – I WALK DOWN THE SAME STREET.
THERE IS A DEEP HOLE IN THE SIDEWALK.
I PRETEND I DON’T SEE IT.
I FALL IN AGAIN.
I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M IN THE SAME PLACE,
BUT IT ISN’T MY FAULT.
IT STILL TAKES A LONG TIME TO GET OUT.
CHAPTER 3 – I WALK DOWN THE SAME STREET.
THERE IS A DEEP HOLE IN THE SIDEWALK.
I SEE IT IS THERE.
I STILL FALL IN. . . .IT’S A HABIT.
MY EYES ARE OPEN. I KNOW WHERE I AM. IT IS MY FAULT.
I GET OUT IMMEDIATELY.
CHAPTER 4 – I WALK DOWN THE SAME STEET.
THERE IS A DEEP HOLE IN THE SIDEWALK.
I WALK AROUND IT.
CHAPTER 5 – I WALK DOWN ANOTHER STREET.
(End Quote)
MY HOPE IS THAT EACH OF US WOULD NOT JUST ALLOW,
BUT ACTIVELY ENCOURAGE GOD’S SPIRIT
TO EMPOWER US TO PROGRESS THROUGH ALL FIVE CHAPTERS
IN TERMS OF GROWING MORE AND MORE ABLE
TO OVERCOME TEMPTATION.
GOD WANTS TO EMPOWER US
TO NOT SPEND OUR LIVES WALKING DOWN THE SAME STREET
OVER AND OVER AGAIN,
BUT TO FOLLOW THE SPIRIT’S GUIDANCE
IN WALKING DOWN OTHER STREETS.
AMEN.