Sword of the Spirit - Pt. 2

Conflict with the coming of God’s Kingdom in Jesus’s ministry.

Matthew 12:28–29“But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.”

It is evident with the breaking in of the rule of God that Satan was not going down without a fight utilizing all of his tricks and schemes.

The strong man was tied up and his house is being plundered.

When was the strong man bound?

The Testing of the Son of God:

Temptation - go contrary to God’s will.

We will see both, the schemes of the enemy and his 3 temptations that are common to all and see how Jesus wields the sword of the Spirit to victory.

1) Jesus’ testing recalls that of Israel in the wilderness; whatever God commanded Israel his child in the wilderness, much more he would require of his Son the Messiah. (2) Jesus provides a model for tested believers. (3) The narrative affirms a correct understanding of Jesus’ messiahship as against contemporary political or militaristic interpretations.

Matthew 4:1–11 (NIV)

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, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Jesus’ response establishes the primacy of God’s Words as necessary food.

Like a father disciplining his children, God humbled Israel in the wilderness, teaching his people that he would provide their bread while they were unemployed if they would just look to him (Deut 8:1–5). Jesus accepts his father’s call in the wilderness and waits for his father to act for him (Mt 4:11).

The principle applies equally well to Jesus’ situation and to any other context in which people are tempted to give physical needs priority over spiritual needs.

In this age we are tempted for instant gratification over waiting and focusing on physical possessions and status over our Spiritual health of feeding on God’s Word.

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “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.’” Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

This narrative of the temptation also emphasizes that we can use Scripture for righteous or unrighteous causes. Jesus and the devil argue Scripture, and both are adept in it, though the devil quotes Scripture out of context and so values its wording over its meaning.

Notice, Jesus’s response was not simply quoting a verse but with that verse came the entire contextual meaning and understanding of how it applied in His life.

Jesus uses Scripture to teach him God’s will, the devil presents it merely as promises to be exploited for one’s own purposes.

And the allusion to not putting God to the test was alluding to Israel’s dissastisfaction in the wilderness with what God had provided. Even though God had graciously supplied their needs, they demanded more, forgetting how much God had delivered them from.

The temptation we face is to presume on our relationship with God and His grace towards us that can lead to us having God serve us rather than us serve God. Using the word arbitrarily for my own purposes rather than training me and transforming me for His purposes.

Even the religious leaders fell prey to this as they shouted to Jesus on the cross, “If you are God’s Son, let God rescue you from the cross.” When we think we have God all figured out, He fits into our neat little box, we can easily miss God’s true purpose and become satan’s mouthpiece.

We like Israel, serve a living God and must be prepared to do his will whether it is immediately liked or not.

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

The devil offered Jesus the kingdom without the cross, a temptation that has never lost its appeal

Upon facing this temptation, not Jesus’ opponents but his own star disciple Peter echoes Satan’s theology exactly: the messianic kingdom without the cross (Mt 16:22). Jesus thus pushes away Peter in disgust as he had Satan—even to the point of calling Peter Satan (16:23; compare 4:10). Jesus’ mission involved the cross (26:54), and whether we like it or not, so does our mission (16:23–26).

Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

But the devil’s abuse of Scripture should not lead us to neglect Scripture’s real power when rightly interpreted and applied. Our Lord himself submitted his life to its claims (compare 3:15) and calls us to do the same (5:17–20). Jesus’ three responses in this testing narrative share the phrase It is written (NIV) or “It has been written” (4:4, 7, 10). It comes as no surprise that Jesus’ first citation declares the primacy of God’s words, on which we his people should feed as on necessary food (4:4; compare Jer 15:16). Not worldly categories but God’s will revealed in Scripture defined the character of Jesus’ call.

Jesus’ specific Spirit-led behavior in this model is significant: he already knew God’s commands and their context, and for him to know was to obey. He adds no reasoning to God’s simple commands. “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Ps 119:11). We must learn Scripture well and, empowered by the Spirit, choose to obey it rather than flirting with temptation. We can overcome temptation in any given case; hence no matter how great we feel our temptations are, there is no temptation too great to endure (1 Cor 10:13). As many modern authors emphasize, we need to be honest about temptation and not say, “I can’t help it”; if we are tempted, we must be honest and say, “I won’t.” Jesus’ victory for us has taken away our excuse; he has provided us the power to overcome if we dare to believe him.