The Wilderness - Matthew 4:1-11

Introduction

My favorite show is Alone, where they drop off ten people with only ten items in the arctic, some other forsaken place, and whoever outlasts everyone else gets $500k. They’re completely alone without a film crew or anything. And, when you meet them, you see all of the skills that they have and the training that they have. But, what’s interesting is that it’s virtually never the ones that you think are going to win that actually win. In your mind, and in the minds of most of the competitors, it’s the person with the most skills and the greatest physical ability that wins. In reality, it’s the one who suffers best and is most willing to eat rats who wins.

So, what’s fascinating is how living alone in the wilderness rips these strong, competent, virile competitors down to bare metal. It reveals weaknesses they didn’t know they had, and for some of them, they reflect back on how it rebuilds them into different types of people.

This is a metaphor for our lives, isn’t it? We are all living in the wilderness, and this wilderness seems to be tearing us down to bear metal, revealing weaknesses and vulnerabilities that we didn’t even know we had. Much of life is learning how to suffer well, isn’t it?

God’s Word

And, the glory of the gospel is that our God has joined us in this wilderness experience, and we’re going to see that in its clearest form this morning. But, what I want us to see this morning is that Jesus’ wilderness experience helps us to understand ours and to flourish through it. We’re going to ask Two Questions About the Wilderness (Headline) and see how Jesus answers them.

How did we “get” here?

Is God really “good?”

Matthew 4:1–3 “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.””

If Matthew were writing today, he’d probably just print a picture book. He always has an image in mind, and he’s writing in such a way that we will intentionally see Jesus against the backdrop of these pictures. And, the first image that should come to our mind in Jesus’ temptation is that of Adam and Eve in their temptation.

And, it’s striking how different the settings are, isn’t it? Adam and Eve are tempted when conditions are optimal. They’re living in paradise. Every need has been met. They are really set up for success in every way. Well, with Jesus, the opposite is true. He hasn’t eaten for 40 days, and He’s depleted. He’s in the wilderness, and He’s vulnerable. He’s in a weakened state, and He seems set up for failure in every way. There’s a clear contrast that’s going on here.

So, think of the first temptation that comes. Jesus is hungry, weak, and vulnerable. And, the temptation is for him to eat something by ill-gotten means, something that would be forbidden. Does that ring any bells? And, what is the temptation really? Well, it’s the same one that faced Adam and Eve. Satan is tempting Jesus to believe that God isn’t taking good enough care of him. He’s tempting Jesus to prioritize the appetites of the flesh over the word of God. “Don’t you want to be like God?” He asked Adam and Eve? “Don’t you want to be full and strong and satisfied?” He asks Jesus. So, Satan is pointing to how God is apparently keeping something good from them, something their bodies would have wanted, and asking: Is God really good? The temptation is for them to believe their appetites instead of God.

And, that’s your temptation, isn’t it? Your temptation toward jealousy when you see someone else’s job or someone else’s car or someone else’s family is to wonder: Is God really good to me, or is He slighting me? Your temptation when your sexual appetites are opposed by God’s instruction is to wonder: Is God really good to me, or is He oppressing me? Your temptation toward stinginess and greed is to wonder: Is God really good to me, or will He fail to provide for me?

Is God really “trustworthy?”

Matthew 4:5–6 “Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ””

Jesus’ second temptation draws a similar contrast with Adam. Satan takes him to the pinnacle of the Temple, the very symbol of religious fervor in Israel, and he quotes scripture — Psalm 91:11-12 — to him. Satan isn’t afraid to engage with the word of God, and He’s a case study on how the Bible can be abused and misused for malicious purposes. You’ll remember the first thing he says to Adam and Eve is: “Did God really say?” And, in that interaction and this one, Satan is tempting first Adam and here Jesus to wonder: Is God really trustworthy?

You see, in both accounts, Satan is tempting, first God’s image bearers and then God’s Son, to try to back God into a corner and compel him to do what they want him to do. He’s tempting Adam and Eve to force God to give them equal standing with Him, and He’s tempting Jesus to put God in a position so that He’s manipulated by his own word to give some kind of superstitious sign. In both cases, it’s an attempt to place their will over God’s will, and the only reason that you place your will over God’s will, the only reason you think you need to have the same knowledge that He has, the only reason you try to manipulate him into sign showing, is because you don’t think He’s actually trustworthy on his own.

In a thousand different ways and from a thousand different angles, the wilderness constantly asks: Do you really trust God? Do you trust God when your dreams don’t come true and your job feels dead end? Do you trust God when your bills are bigger than your income? Do you trust God when your kids walk away from the Lord or when your spouse drops a bombshell on you? Do you trust God when you want something that He has forbidden? Over and over, we’re being asked what Adam was asked and what Jesus was asked: Do you trust the Lord?

Is God really “worth it?”

Matthew 4:8–9 “Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.””

Satan essentially makes the same offer to both Adam and to Jesus: You can have all of God’s gifts apart from God himself. You can have the gifts without having any responsibility to the Giver. It’s a striking that “glory” is used to describe the Kingdoms of the world, isn’t it? The kingdoms of the world and the ways of the world and the philosophies of the world — substitute any phrase you please — are beautiful, attractive, and desirable to us. The offer pleasure without sacrifice, reward without obedience, and freedom without boundaries. And, they are all asking the same question: Is God really worth it?

That is, the real temptation here is to choose self-indulgence — self-centered love — over the love of God. And, that’s the offer that’s being made to you by our culture. You can have whatever you want without the headache of God. You can do whatever you want without the worry of accountability. You have to ask yourself: Is God really good? Is God really trustworthy? Is God really worth it?

Sara is an easy kid to raise. Megan and I joke that her conscience is so sensitive and she’s so naturally driven that she could probably raise herself. But, she recently found herself on the other side of the Law on a relatively minor infraction. Her response was to burst into tears and say, “I just wish Adam hadn’t eaten the fruit from that snake!” And, that’s almost good theology. You see, the reason we’re in the wilderness is because Adam failed and death entered through one man. But, that’s not the only reason. We’re also in the wilderness because we have failed, and we have sinned intentionally and willfully. But, where Adam failed and where you failed, Jesus succeeds and overcomes. He’s the new Adam that has come to bring life where Adam brought death. That’s what Matthew wants you to see.

And, you can see how Jesus succeeds where we fail in his responses. And, we’ll look at those successes and responses more clearly as we ask the second question about the wilderness.

What do we “do” here?

Adam isn’t the only chapter in Matthew’s picture book, and it isn’t the only picture here. Think of how Matthew’s gospel gets to this point. Jesus has to leave Bethlehem and flee to Egypt with us parents to escape the slaughter of innocents. The next picture shows him being baptized in the Jordan — passing through the water. And, where does He end up next? The wilderness. Hmmm, bringing any images of the Exodus to your mind. God’s delivers his people from Egypt, passes them through the water, and then they go into the wilderness. It’s striking, isn’t it?

“Discover” true “life.”

Matthew 4:4 “But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ””

Deuteronomy 8:3 “And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

It’s also striking that the wilderness follows Jesus’ baptism. That’s not what you’d expect. It seems like the next step would be to begin enjoying his celebration as the Messiah. The picture was similar for Israel. They are triumphantly and miraculously delivered by passing through the Red Sea, and you’d expect for them to simply move to the next spiritual high. But, what happens? They end up in the wilderness where food is scarce and life is hard and threats are imminent. I bet your experience after baptism was similar. You thought life would get easier, but it got harder instead.

You see, the wilderness is the green house that produces fruit in our lives. Jesus is quoting in his responses to Satan exclusively from Deuteronomy 6-8, and those verses were written to generation that had been raised in the wilderness so they could know why they were there, and what they should do as a result. And, Deuteronomy 8:2 says that the wilderness reveals your heart, and God is revealing heart in order to reshape your life. Just like those contestants on Alone, you’ll remember.

So, when Jesus says, “Man shall not live by bread alone,” He’s saying the opposite of what Israel said when they grumbled, and said, “Egypt was better to us than God is.” Jesus is saying, “There’s more to life than the needs and wants of my body. Food is the smallest part. True life comes, not from what I eat, but from who I know.”

Oh, that’s the discovery God intends for you to make in the wilderness. The wilderness teaches you that a drink of water is just a mirage. True hope comes from knowing the well. You aren’t just a body, and you don’t just need what the body needs or wants. You are an immortal in the image of almighty God, and you cannot live apart from rest in him. He is good, and apart from him, you never will be.

“Express” true “faith.”

Matthew 4:7 “Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ””

Deuteronomy 6:16 ““You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.”

So, you see, as hard as the wilderness is, as much as we’re tempted to resent it, as much as we’re tempted to grumble like Israel did, the wilderness is really an opportunity. It’s an opportunity for us to discover that true life doesn’t come from an easy life of Red Sea crossing and Pharaoh crushing. True life comes from knowing God and trusting God regardless of whether we’re triumphally walking through the sea or terrifyingly languishing in the wilderness. That is, the wilderness provides us with the proper context to express our that our true faith is in God alone, not in a life that’s going according to plan.

That’s why when Satan tempted Jesus to prove that God was good by putting Psalm 91 to the test that Jesus responded by saying, “You shall not put the Lord your God the the test.” He wasn’t going to try to manipulate God into doing what He wanted him to do. He was going to just take God at his word and trust him. That’s true faith. And, that’s the opposite of what Israel did. God gives them manna from heaven, and their immediate response was to say: “But, we don’t have anything to drink!” And, do you remember what Moses asked them: “Why do you test the Lord?” Are you seeing the parallels here?

Oh yes, in a thousand different ways and from a thousand different angles, you’re always being asked: Do you trust the Lord? Where are you being asked that right now? Well, those questions are going to reveal the opportunities you have to express faith in the wilderness. Will you trust God with the uncertainty that your kids face in an age of disruption? They live in the wilderness too, don’t they? Will you trust him? Will you trust God with the election in November? You’re one vote. You feel powerless. Will you trust him? Will you trust God in the midst of rampant inflation and dwindling salaries? It looks like the money will run out, doesn’t it? Will you trust him? I could keep going, but the point is clear enough: We’re languishing in the wilderness, and the wilderness seems to be filled with endless threats. But, it’s there that you have the opportunity to express true faith in the promises of God.

“Love” true “glory.”

Matthew 4:10–12 “Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Deuteronomy 6:13 “It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.” “It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.”

Israel’s great sin that begins to show itself in the wilderness is that they’re always open to trades. They were always looking for a better deal than the one they had with God. They were always on the look out for another god, another way, another perspective that would give them more of what they wanted without any of the responsibility. That’s why there’s a Golden Calf. This was the trap that Adam fail into, and this is what Jesus is offered. But, Jesus responds with the Great Commandment. He’s the first and only person in history to actually live by it. Jesus says, “You can have the world. You can have the glory. You can have the money. You can have the power. All I want is the Lord.” Jesus loved true glory, not the imitation stuff.

That is, Jesus wasn’t starstruck by fools gold. Jesus saw through the faux glory of the world to the true glory of the Lord. And so, I wonder: Are you open for trades? What if you could have the house you wanted and the spouse you wanted and the kids you wanted and the job you wanted and the salary you wanted and the reputation you wanted and the influence you wanted, but you couldn’t have a relationship with God? Would you take the deal?

Adam said: “Give me the world.” Israel said: “Give us the kingdoms and the prosperity.” We say: “Give us the freedom to do as we please.” Jesus said: “Give me the cross.”

You see, like Alone, those who end up winning in the wilderness aren’t those who are the most gifted, competent, or virile. Those who end up winning in the wilderness are those who discover that they aren’t actually alone any way. There may be a time of testing, but one day soon Satan will be gone, the promises of God will be kept, and the angels will feed you from their own hand. Why? Because Jesus said: “Give me the cross.”