21 Feb 2010 – "The Temptations of Christ"

Diane Whittaker - St Mary's
Luke 4 v1-13

“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness.”

This is such a familiar passage that there is a temptation to think we know it all.

When I revisited this passage in preparation for the Lent Group session I took last week, and for preaching this morning, the fact that Jesus was full of the Spirit when he went into the wilderness struck me for the first time. I think I’ve always had the idea that Jesus was in some ‘super-human’ way struggling with these temptations on his own. On the contrary – he was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit. I think that begins to make a real difference to how you view this episode in Jesus life – just before he begins his public ministry.

So - I’d like to look at this account of Jesus’ temptations a little differently this morning – looking at the bible passage in more detail – to see where that leads us.

Firstly, there is the period of time that Luke records – 40 days.

40 days or 40 years is a significant time period in the bible – it is often mentioned as the necessary period for preparation.

So we have the 40 years that the Israelites spent in the wilderness getting to know God, and often failing before finally being allowed to enter the Promised Land.

Jesus spends 40 days in the wilderness and succeeds in doing what God, his Father wished – he chose the right path for his future ministry as God’s Messiah.

Later, Jesus spends 40 days after his resurrection preparing his disciples for the mission they had to take up after his ascension.

The church also sees 40 days as being important in the church life –

We spend 40 days each year at Lent – what are we doing with that time? Lent was originally a period of preparation before being admitted to the church as a Christian – baptisms often took place at Easter – after 40 days of fairly rigorous preparation.

40 days – for preparation to do God’s will….

Secondly, there is the way in which Jesus dealt with those 40 days in the wilderness. He had been led there by the Spirit to do some deep thinking in preparation for the work God had for him to do.

He had to make up his mind exactly what sort of Messiah he was going to be – and used his deep knowledge of his Father, God – gained through his study of Torah to make his decisions.

Yes – he was tempted, but I’d like to see it more in the context of making some serious decisions as to how God wanted him to behave as God’s Messiah – God’s chosen one.

All of the quotations Jesus uses in defence of his decisions were taken from Deuteronomy – the book in which Moses hands on his final teaching before the Israelites enter the Promised Land – at the end of their 40 years in the wilderness.

All of the temptations Jesus faces are also very human ones.

The sowing of doubt – ‘if you are the Son of God’ – did that mountain top experience at the baptism really happen?? Did God really speak? Is the Spirit really with me – here in this desert place where there is no comfort, no shelter and life is hard?

So – the temptations…

The temptation just to see if a miracle could be performed – and for one’s own satisfaction – turn stones into bread – I’m hungry.

The decision, in the midst of a barren landscape with few resources with which he could sustain himself, to rely on God alone reveals Jesus’ determination to stick to his experience of God’s goodness.

“one does not live by bread alone”

The temptation to do what people expect of him – to use his powers to found a mighty nation – and in the process let the devil into his life.

It would have been a very attractive vision. Jesus had the power and the charisma to found a mighty nation – to kick the Romans out and to force people to become the pure nation of Israel once more.

But - Jesus recognises the real threat that power corrupts – that even though he might start out with good intentions, it was likely that indeed he would begin to worship the devil, not God. His focus needs to stay on God.

“worship the Lord your God and serve only him”

Then the final temptation – to make a splash – to prove to the world in a showy way that he really is the Son of God – to take a short cut to getting his show on the road.

Again – Jesus recognises that show and bragging are not the way.

“do not put the Lord your God to the test”

In this picture of Jesus’ preparation in the wilderness for his future ministry we can see the seeds of his future actions. We can also see how he countered some very real human temptations to take shortcuts with his mission. Not only that, but this period of temptation was only one episode – the devil departed from him until a more opportune time. I suspect that the devil tempted him many times to change his mind, but this period must have laid the foundations that he could hold to in the future when things got tough.

But – he wasn’t without resources. God’s Spirit was with him. He had all the background of a life lived as an observant Jew – a deep knowledge of Torah and the prophets and a personal experience of God, his Father.

We probably won’t face the same temptations in our lives as Jesus did, but what can we take from this passage?

Firstly, that a calling from God for any sort of ministry needs to be thought through – being in the place God wants us to be doesn’t guarantee success in the job he wants us to do. This applies no matter what our calling may be – we are all called to do God’s work in this world – to further God’s Kingdom.

Secondly, we can also call upon the resources God gives us – the Holy Spirit in our lives, our knowledge of God gained through reading the bible, reflection and prayer. This period of time also invites us to deepen our knowledge of God – to spend more time doing just that.

So – this Lent, this preparation time, this time of testing, could be for us a time to reflect on our calling to be God’s people, to examine our lives to see if we have fallen for temptations on the way and to turn back to the God who loves us - refreshed and enabled again to fulfil our calling as citizens of God’s kingdom.

Amen