Journey to Joy
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 12 viewsNotes
Transcript
Handout
Jesus’ Journey to Joy
Jesus’ Journey to Joy
Some years after Jesus’ resurrection a group of believers received a letter with this strong encouragement:
keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne.
March 5, this past Wednesday was observed by many believers around the world as Ash Wednesday, recognized as the beginning of Lent.
Lent, among Christians originally the period of prebaptismal preparation, later of public penance. Finally it became a forty-day devotional preparation for Easter traditionally based on Jesus’ wilderness fast (
Easter is only six weeks away! The beautiful spring like weather we’ve enjoyed the past few days hints at what is yet to come.
When our kids were younger and living at home getting ready for Easter focused on new outfits (that they would quickly outgrow) and coloring eggs, purchasing a few new items for their Easter Baskets.
Lent was a season of preparation for new believers.New believers were expected to study, to learn the basics of the faith, and to examine their lives for evidence of following Jesus.
As we draw near to Easter this year I want to follow Jesus through some of the experiences He had on the way to the ‘joy set before Him;’ as ‘He despised the shame’ in order to experience death, resurrection, and ascension.
First Stop on the Journey
First Stop on the Journey
One of those crucial stops on the journey is recorded in Luke 4 (as well as Matthew and an abbreviated version in Mark’s gospel).
Then Jesus returned from the Jordan, full of the Holy Spirit, and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for 40 days to be tempted by the Devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over, He was hungry.
After His baptism you might think that after such a public event as His baptism, the dove descending and a voice from heaven it might be wise for Jesus to start teaching.
Instead, He is led by the Spirit into the wilderness.
Instead, He is led by the Spirit into the wilderness.
For Jews the wilderness was a common theme. Since the choice of Adam and Eve to disobey God in the Garden God’s people have been in and out of wilderness wanderings most of their history.
Moses spent 40 years as a sheep herder - in a wilderness. After he led the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob from Egypt God’s people spent 40 years in the wilderness.
After Saul had been anointed as king by Samuel, Saul found himself losing his kingdom. Samuel designated David, the son of Jesse as king prior to Saul’s death.
David then spent a number of years - you guessed it - in the wilderness.
After many generations had drifted further and further from God His people were taken captive. Though Assyria and Babylon are not wilderness areas, those exiles were alienated from their homeland, living in a wilderness of sorts.
For a brief time God’s people had re-established themselves as rulers of their homeland but it was short lived. The Greeks and then the Romans came sweeping through Palestine taking control. Again God’s people - though living in their homeland - felt alienated from their traditions and their patterns of life.
God raised up a cousin of Jesus’ named John and spoke to John “in the wilderness” (Luke 4:2).
Why would God lead His Son into the wilderness? What could Jesus need to learn that could only be learned in a desolate and lonely place? How does this stop on the journey lead to ‘the joy set before Him?’
“One who has been tested in every way…”
“One who has been tested in every way…”
At this time Jesus was unknown. People were flocking to John who spoke about the ‘One to come.’ John was pestered with questions about his own identity -
This is John’s testimony when the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?” He did not refuse to answer, but he declared: “I am not the Messiah.” “What then?” they asked him. “Are you Elijah?” “I am not,” he said. “Are you the Prophet?” “No,” he answered. “Who are you, then?” they asked. “We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What can you tell us about yourself?” He said, “I am a voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord —just as Isaiah the prophet said.”
Obviously John is NOT the Messiah.
The Jews had a clear and unrealistic expectation of the coming Messiah. After generations of being oppressed by foreign powers, they anticipated a mighty military ruler who would rally God’s people and drive the Romans straight out of the Promised Land.
Listen the the three temptations:
…and when they [the 40 days[ were over, He was hungry. The Devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” But Jesus answered him, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone.”
In Israel’s experience in the wilderness with Moses was God’s plan for creating a people that would fully depend on Him. Jesus’ response to the enemy’s taunt is from Deuteronomy. In that passage, Moses is reminding the generation of those born in the wilderness of the lessons God had taught them:
He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then He gave you manna to eat, which you and your fathers had not known, so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
Further in that passage Moses reminds that generation that they lacked absolutely nothing in their journey.
So he took Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. The Devil said to Him, “I will give You their splendor and all this authority, because it has been given over to me, and I can give it to anyone I want. If You, then, will worship me, all will be Yours.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.”
In the books of Leviticus and Numbers Moses reminds readers of a number of times when God’s people were seduced by idols. Even in the wilderness, away from most outside nations, God’s people created their own idols, remembered some of the idols of their past - all in an effort to create some sort of peace.
Jesus’ quotation from Deuteronomy (the second of three quotes, suggesting He may have memorized all 34 chapters!) highlights a key lesson God was trying to impress on His people: There can only be One God!
So he took Him to Jerusalem, had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. For it is written: He will give His angels orders concerning you, to protect you, and they will support you with their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” And Jesus answered him, “It is said: Do not test the Lord your God.”
Once more, Jesus responds with a quote from Deuteronomy. In that section Moses had reminded God’s people of the very foundation of life:
“Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One.
Later in that passage Moses asserts
Do not test the Lord your God as you tested Him at Massah. Carefully observe the commands of the Lord your God, the decrees and statutes He has commanded you.
Yet, without sin. Hebrews 4:15
Yet, without sin. Hebrews 4:15
This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.
Jesus, in the wilderness, apart from family, friends, any level of support, exercises a faith that we still recognize as amazing.
Israel, led by God, protected by God, provided for by God, and being led every step by God, failed again and again in their wilderness experience.
Jesus succeeded where Israel failed.
REFLECT AND RESPOND
REFLECT AND RESPOND
keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, so that you won’t grow weary and lose heart.
This look at one of the stops on Jesus’ Journey to Joy reminds us that
a. Some places along the journey are challenging.
40 days without food, without the essentials necessary for life would be challenging for any of us. But remember who directed Jesus into this experience:
Then Jesus returned from the Jordan, full of the Holy Spirit, and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness
Sometimes God leads us into difficult places that display His power and promise.
b. In the midst of difficult places, focus not on the moment but on the truth of God’s love.
In the now classic book, My Utmost for His Highest Oswald Chambers writes
The surf that distresses the ordinary swimmer produces in the surf-rider the super joy of going clean through it. Apply that to our own circumstances, these very things—tribulation, distress, persecution, produce in us the super joy; they are not things to fight. We are more than conquerors through Him in all these things, not in spite of them, but in the midst of them. The saint never knows the joy of the Lord in spite of tribulation, but because of it. “I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation,” says Paul.
Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest: Classic Language (A Daily Devotional with 366 Bible-Based Readings) (p. 88). (Function). Kindle Edition.
Joy is not rooted in our ‘feelings’ but in our relationship with Jesus. Apart from a daily walk with the Lord happiness may occur, joy might be experienced. Lasting joy, lasting more than ‘in the moment’ requires a perspective much like Jesus Himself displays. Without a commitment to God as Father, protector, provider, Jesus could never have survived those 40 days.
How is your relationship with Jesus?
On a scale of 1 - 10 take a moment and rate your relationship:
1 = NONE
10 = Best in the world!
I doubt there are any 10’s in the room. If there are, please share with me your secret!
You can have a relationship
acknowledge that you are a sinner
believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sin, that he was raised on the 3rd day
confess Him before others
following in believers baptism
identifying with a local group of believers…like ours
Maybe you already have a relationship - can it be strengthened? Can you grow?
What practices/habits in my life feed/nourish this relationship? Are there practices I need to add? To eliminate?
How do I use the time God has given me to look and listen for Him - am I regularly reading God’s Word? Am I connecting to other believers? Am I slowing down enough to notice all God is doing?
