Much of Christ’s life was exemplary,
in the old sense of that word. That is to say, it forms an example for us.
More than that, it is also symbolic of our experiences. A very good example of
that principle is found in today’s Scripture, the Temptation in the Wilderness.
|
(Mat 4:1-11 NIV) Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into
the desert to be tempted by the devil. {2} After fasting forty days and forty
nights, he was hungry. {3} The tempter came to him and said, "If you are
the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." {4} Jesus answered,
"It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word
that comes from the mouth of God.'" {5} Then the devil took him to the
holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. {6} "If
you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is
written: "'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift
you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a
stone.'" {7} Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put
the Lord your God to the test.'" {8} Again, the devil took him to a very
high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their
splendor. {9} "All this I will give you," he said, "if you
will bow down and worship me." {10} Jesus said to him, "Away from
me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him
only.'" {11} Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
|
(Mark 1:12-13 NIV) At once the Spirit sent him out into
the desert, {13} and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan.
He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.
|
(Luke 4:1-12 NIV) Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit,
returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, {2} where
for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days,
and at the end of them he was hungry. {3} The devil said to him, "If you
are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread." {4} Jesus
answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone.'" {5}
The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the
kingdoms of the world. {6} And he said to him, "I will give you all
their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it
to anyone I want to. {7} So if you worship me, it will all be yours."
{8} Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve
him only.'" {9} The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the
highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said,
"throw yourself down from here. {10} For it is written: "'He will
command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; {11} they will lift
you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a
stone.'" {12} Jesus answered, "It says: 'Do not put the Lord your
God to the test.'"
|
(Note some common characteristics of the
Gospels:
·
John’s
account, written some years later, omits this incident. This is probably
because he knew that the others included it.
·
Mark’s
account begins with “at once” --- Mark was always in a hurry, and it is the
most abbreviated of the three.
·
Matthew
and Luke disagree as to the order of temptations. Remember that the quotation
mark is a recent invention.)
Three types of temptation
Since the early days of the church this
passage has been used to classify the basic types of temptation. These
temptations are the flesh, the world and the spirit (or the devil). The key
idea in this is that such temptations are progressive. Satan will start with
the flesh, work through the world and end with the spirit -- whatever it takes
to snare you. It is also quite certain that this is the same order in which
repentance is easiest. Great things have been accomplished by those redeemed
from alcohol, drugs and prostitution. It is harder to deal with those beset by
the world. Those afflicted with pride are almost -- but not quite --
untreatable.
The Flesh
The “flesh” -- generally taken to mean sins
of the body -- includes such items as drug addiction, sexual sin and
(interestingly enough in our society of plenty and want) gluttony. {Discussion
point} It is the first of the temptations for a number of reasons:
·
In
matters sexual, it most affects the young (hormones, naturally). It comes
first chronologically to the adult.
·
The
“damage spiral” from this is the quickest and deepest, and it produces a
lasting despair that is very throbbing -- am I ever going to be sober again?
Will I ever find the right man/woman? {Discussion point: does Prince Charming
ever go into the Silver Bullet Saloon, Sunny?}
·
It’s
also the easiest and cheapest; it produces no virtue along the way. No one
ever developed the habits of patience and hard work picking up one night
stands.
The World
The “world” covers a little more territory.
It’s not just the temptation to keep up with the Joneses in material things,
though that is the basic temptation. That limits its usefulness to Satan, for
some of us are just not capable of “making it” in a materialistic society.
(Though, if you notice it, we cluster in social layers to make keeping up a
little easier. Who would like to try to keep up with J. Paul Getty?) It also
includes the matter of power and influence. We have noted lately that the
President (Mr. Clinton) is accused of having sexual affairs. A common thread
in this is that the woman wants to be next to the man of power, to be
“influential.” How good it feels to be able to say to your friend, “I’ll just
call the mayor and tell him.....”
It’s also a longer lasting temptation. The
hairline may recede while the waist expands, thus ending lust and gluttony at
the same time -- but the lure of the BMW continues forever.
Envy (the sin of the have-nots against the
haves) and greed (the sin of the haves against the have-nots) are its two basic
forms. {Discussion point: when does “capitalist enterprise” become greed?
When does “government compassion” become envy?}
The Spirit
Pride -- the sin of the spirit -- is the
least tractable of all sins. It is, as one author (C. S. Lewis) put it, “the
complete anti-God state of mind.” The essential point of the matter is that
“I’m better than you are -- and I’m going to stick it in your ear, too.” Note
that “I’m taller” or “I’m fatter” are neither pride nor (necessarily)
falsehood, but “I’m better” is pride. Its essence is competitiveness, that god
of modern America.
For indeed, America today counts pride -- in
the Biblical, sinful sense -- as a virtue. It is the sticking point in the
conflict between humanism and Christianity. In humanism, man makes the moral
rules of the universe. He therefore is the highest creature in it -- and we
worship the highest. That is pride.
The defense of the Christian
In this passage Christ shows us the basic
methods of defeating temptation and sin. The first and most key point is:
Scripture. None of us can be so wise in and of ourselves as to see all ends
and know all answers. Turning to God for guidance is not only humility, it is
wisdom.
Regrettably, some Christians don’t see it.
They say, “I’ll be all right when the time comes.” {You wouldn’t think this
way in any other of life’s endeavors; why the most important one?} Think of
it this way: every time a policeman pulls someone over for a routine traffic
stop, he takes his life into his hands. The man could be an escaped and
dangerous felon. It doesn’t happen very often -- but the policeman trains
constantly for such a situation. His precautions seem excessive when pulling
over the solid citizen; There is, however, a reason. Reading and memorizing
the Scripture are to the Christian in mortal combat with Satan what practice on
the gun range is to the police officer.
There is an interesting symbolism to the
Scriptures which Christ quotes. All three of them come from the experience of
Israel in the wilderness. All three of them are symbolic of Israel’s failures
there. We often think, “if only I could see a miracle, my faith would be so
strong.” The evidence is to the contrary. Israel saw them by the car load,
and its faith was pathetically weak. All three of these Scriptures are
reminders of failure. It is highly important to note that Christ takes these
failures and turns them into success. Let’s see how:
The Flesh
The first thing is this: what is the flesh
anyway? Is it really all that important? It seems so at the time of
temptation, but a longer view tells us that “man does not live by bread
alone.” Christ puts the flesh in its place: subject to God.
There is a second point. Christ does not
turn stone into bread for a very good reason. It is written: the Son does
only what the Father shows Him to do. There is a divine style. Water becomes
wine, stones do not become bread. Sin is, in the artistic sense, poor style.
It is the misuse of what God has given you. When in doubt, one of the great
questions to ask is, “God has given me this; what is its proper use?”
The World
Christ takes Satan’s words as the key point,
and the key word is this: “worship.” The sins of the world constitute the
worship of the world, for we worship what we hold higher than ourselves.
Materialism, worldliness -- these are essentially blasphemy, for they take
worship from God and give it to Satan. Worship is essentially personal.
You think this is not worship? I’m just
saving up for the down payment on the Mercedes? Consider our public worship,
and let me translate it into materialistic terms:
We sing the praises of God.
“Boy, let me tell how great that
new Mercedes of mine is! ...”
We expound on the characteristics of God
(preaching).
“The five point wishbone
suspension is a definite improvement over....”
We give sacrificially of our time and
especially money
“It took me seventy hours a week
and dozens of sales calls, but I finally...”
We worship in symbolic ways (Communion).
What did you think the Christmas
rush is about anyway?
The Spirit
This passage seems at first confusing. The
flesh and the world having been conquered, what kind of temptation is this?
The point is this: with the flesh and the world, you at least worship
something outside yourself. The wrong something, but at least outside. With
pride, you worship yourself.
The solution, for any human being (and Christ
is human, do recall), is to worship God alone. But Christ’s answer shows how
this worship is to be done: it is a personal love of God.
Think about it. Do you love your wife? Then
would you insult her by experimenting with her faithfulness to you? Do you
love God? Then why would you ever experiment with His faithfulness to you?
To do so carries disastrous implications. It
means that you don’t trust the one you love (which is a twisted love indeed).
It also means that you have failed to truly recognize the character of your
beloved.
Finally, on this, there is one last point.
Satan himself has testified to the character of Jesus. Satan does not waste
such temptations on me; a much smaller temptation will do nicely for my
troubles. Such temptations as this are fit only for the Son of God. And only
the Son of God can resist them. But by God’s grace, Satan is never allowed to
tempt us beyond our means. (Miss America does not take fat, bald married
charity cases.)
Aftermath
There are three points to make “after the
battle.”
·
Satan,
when resisted, flees.
·
After
the temptation comes the ministry. Righteousness is encouraged; God draws
near again. It just may not seem like it at the time. {Discussion point}
·
Satan
does not leave forever, just a “more opportune time.”