Victory in the Wilderness: Jesus' Triumph Over Temptation
Notes
Transcript
A. Rapport for the time
McArthur Wheeler and Clifton Earl Johnson in 1995 in Pittsburgh and was in desperate need of money. Lacking Criminal skills, weapons, or proper getaway plan, he wanted to rob a bank. However, he knew security cameras were everywhere, and he was terrified of his face ending up on the evening news. He needed a disguise, but masks felt to obvious and suspicious.
Desperate for a solution to his bank robbery scheme he remembered that Lemon juice could be used as invisible ink. If you write on paper with lemon juice, the text is invisible until exposed to a heat source. He would plan this to perfection. Taking Lemon juice and covering his face he would plan the perfect crime. Testing it before going live he put lemon juice all over his face and took a polaroid camera picture. The test worked, the picture was completely blank. (in reality, he had just aimed poorly)
On January 6th 1995, wheeler would walk into two different banks in broad daylight, squinting through burning, lemon-juice filled eyes, and successfully rob them at gunpoint. Even Smiling directly into the security cameras on his way out.
The police would catch them and when they showed them the video footage of the bank Mr Wheeler expressed shock and stated ...“But I wore the juice”
Desperation leads us as humans to not make the wisest of decisions.
Desperation—a state of hopelessness and extreme distress that drives a person to take bold, rash, or high risk actions because they fell they have no other options left.
B. Reading of the text
12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.
13 And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.
C. Review of the text
We began the journey last week with the greatest to man to ever lived John the Baptist. He would have many disciples follow him but only as he point the way to the Christ. As a servant of God, filled with the Spirit of God, John would understand his purpose in life was to lead people to Jesus.
Also, the text last week marked the beginning of the ministry of Jesus Christ as the Trinity would all be present as his baptism to announce to the world that God’s son had come down to redeem a people for his own name sake.
D. Relevance of the text
The passage we will reflect upon this morning is one in which the perfect Son of God will show each of us how we are to handle the world around us and trials when they arrive.
I. Spirit-Led into Solitude
I. Spirit-Led into Solitude
12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.
13 And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.
There are a few points to look at that will help our understanding of the full text of the Trial of Christ in the wilderness. The first, being that this entire event was led by the Spirit of God. The triune God had shown himself fully at the baptism of Christ with the Spirit descending like a dove upon Jesus bringing about the ministry of the Son of God amongst the people of God. Satan is the one that is doing the tempting but it is all being done under the sovereign hand of the maker of the world.
Secondly, the idea of 40 days in wilderness is not a new theme in scripture.
Moses had his 40 days
18 Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
28 So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
9 When I went up the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord made with you, I remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water.
Moses has been before God to receive the laws and statutes for he people of God an would not eat or drink while on the mountain.
In what is an amazing story about Elijah does something similar
1 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.”
3 Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
5 And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.”
6 And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again.
7 And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.”
8 And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.
In desperation Elijah goes to the wilderness and ultimately to die. But the Lord provides for him.
Lastly, we have the wild animals and the angels were ministering to him. It is debating on what the mention of the wild beasts has to do with the wilderness trip but the one that makes the most sense, especially with the brevity of this temptation account, is this would spoken to the heart of what the gentiles were experiencing in Rome at this time.
The Gospel according to Mark God’s Son Meets God’s Adversary (1:12–13)
Tacitus spoke of Nero’s savagery toward Christians in the sixties of the first century in these words: “they were covered with the hides of wild beasts and torn to pieces by dogs” (Ann. 15.44). Given the ravaging of Christians by ferocious animals during Nero’s reign, it is not difficult to imagine Mark including the unusual phrase “with the wild beasts” in order to remind his Roman readers that Christ, too, was thrown to wild beasts, and as the angels ministered to him, so, too, will they minister to Roman readers facing martyrdom
Mark then tells the readers that in the middle of the wilderness with the wild animals Jesus was not left alone, he was being ministered to by the angels in the midst of the trial. The Spirit led the Son of God out into the wilderness but did not push him out their without going with him.
5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Our hearts need to be reminded that no matter what trials or temptations may come he never leaves us.
T.S. Spirit-led Solitude to Scripture over sustenance.
II. Scripture Over Sustenance
II. Scripture Over Sustenance
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
Notice the difference in Matthew and Mark’s account at the very beginning. One uses “led up” and the other the Spirit “drove” christ to the wilderness immediately.
Matthew—Anago in the Greek means “was led up”—purposeful, dignified guidance.
Mark—Ekballo— “to throw out from within, to cast out, to drive out.” Rather than gentle leading, this word emphasizes forceful expulsion.
“The choice of verb thus shapes how readers understand the temptation narrative: not as a calm spiritual exercise, but as a dramatic, Spirit-driven encounter with cosmic significance.”
Mark is more intense than Matthew which makes sense because he is writing to a people that are feeling the intensity of life around them at this very moment and Mark’s desire if for them to know that their Jesus understands and is the victor.
3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
The tempter— the role that satan takes on in the wilderness as he comes to Jesus Christ the second Adam just like he did the first Adam. This is not an accident. Led by the Spirit to the wilderness our Savior would be tempted just like you and I but would withstand that test doing the will of the Father. Understand, Christ is in the wilderness for us! He will have victory over sin in a way that you and I have not. There is no other reason for this other than we have failed and not walked in the will of the Father. God had to send his son to win the victory for us that gives us the ability to walk in victory by his power.
If you are the Son of God—-prove yourself...command the stones to become bread.
11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Make no mistake that Jesus absolutely had the power to do exactly that but it would not been according to God’s will but to his own stomach. Jesus would have been doing it for himself. What will the Son of God choose? Self? or God’s will? I have failed miserably at this far to often. Pursuing my own desires or felt needs vs. seeking the will of God in my life. But my Jesus answers with the word of God. (just like he does every time when confronted with Temptation)
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.’ ”
This is a direct quote from:
1 “The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers.
2 And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.
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.
Matthew 3. Jesus Alone: The Messiah’s Temptation (4:1–11)
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.
We are to rely upon God’s word, his truth, and not our own desires.
T.S.
III. Trust Without Testing
III. Trust Without Testing
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple
6 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.’ ”
The Devil takes the Lord to the pinnacle of the temple and then quotes Psalm 91:11-12
11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.
Understand, Satan did not fall because of a lack of knowledge of who God is or because of the action of God in any way. The devil knows fully well who God is because he has been in his presence. He was created to be the most beautiful of the angels and to be in the thrown room of heaven itself. Satan know the scripture he just wanted to be GOD. He spouts off scripture to Jesus the very author of scripture as if that will accomplish what the devil wants, which is to see the son not walk in the will of the father.
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
Quote comes from
16 “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.
This verse speaks to a failure of the people of Israel but Jesus would not fail to put his faith in God.
Matthew 3. Jesus Alone: The Messiah’s Temptation (4:1–11)
We must not test God’s faithfulness to his word by manufacturing situations in which we try to force him to act in certain ways.
WE ARE NOT GOD!!!
T.S. After having tempted Jesus to satisfy a legitimate bodily appetite in a illegitimate way and then to use his supernatural power to rebel against God even while seeming to demonstrate great faith, Satan will not make the most braze offer of all...Sovereignty in Service.
IV. Sovereignty in Service
IV. Sovereignty in Service
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”
The devil attempts to provide a short cut for Jesus. Christ has come into this world to be ransom for the souls of many. God put on flesh, the Son of God left the fullness of his Glory in the heavens, to come and die a horrible death paying for our sins. This sacrificial death would provide life for you and I and the resurrection of Christ and ascension would place his name above all other names.
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Satan is offering a short cut.
10 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.’ ”
11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
The Lord uses Scripture once again.
13 It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.
Matthew 3. Jesus Alone: The Messiah’s Temptation (4:1–11)
Only one is worthy of worship, the One who redeemed Israel from Egypt, the Lord God Yahweh himself. Jesus’ insistence on worshiping God alone makes the characteristic Matthean theme of worshiping Jesus (e.g., 2:2; 8:2; 9:18; 14:33; 15:25; 20:20; 28:17) all the more significant as evidence for his divinity.
Matthew 3. Jesus Alone: The Messiah’s Temptation (4:1–11)
We are tempted to gauge life by human comforts and consumerism, to misuse spiritual gifts and power for our own glory and benefit rather than serving others, and to seize power by shortcuts, such as equating a particular political agenda with God’s will.
Application: This is What Jesus did for you and I that we might have both an example and victory over Sin!
