Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
Abraham, Moses, Rahab, Joshua, Ruth, Isaiah, John the Baptist; what do these men and women have in common?
They are all heroes of the Bible—heroes of the faith.
But also men and women led by and/or filled with the Holy Spirit.
It’s easy to forget that the Bible tells us that faith is not something that we are born with, but is a gift from God.
It is he, by way of the Holy Spirit, who births and sustains faith within us.
So if we know of some hero of the faith, then we can be assured, that person is filled with and/or led by the Holy Spirit.
And it seems more often than not, when a person is filled with and led by the Spirit, trouble is just on the horizon.
Abraham wandering from place to place as a nomad, facing dangers and famine.
Moses had to free and lead ungrateful, rebellious Israelites.
Joshua leading the Israelites into multiple battles.
Rahab betraying her city and the possibility of dying in war.
Ruth living with a grieving, bitter mother-in-law, out in the hot son gleaning barley so they could survive.
Isaiah prophesying to people who would not listen and according to tradition was sawn in two with a wooden saw.
John the Baptist was arrested and beheaded.
And today, we see Jesus being led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted.
We say we want to be filled with the Spirit and led by the Spirit, but when we stop and think of what that might mean, we might be a bit more hesitant than we originally were.
As we are studying the text this morning, I want us to quickly notice three facts about this episode in Jesus’s life, but then also notice two truths about the temptation that he went through.
We’ll deal with the three facts: When, where, and why this happened.
But we’ll also deal more closely with How the devil’s temptation was presented and How Jesus dealt with it.
And my hope is that at the end of this sermon, we can take these facts and truths and leave here understanding that the slave is no greater than his Master.
The student is no better than his teacher.
The disciple no better than his Leader.
When, Where, and Why Did this Happen?
How Did the Devil Present His Temptation?
How Did Jesus Respond?
When, Where, and Why Did this Happen?
The first fact that I want us to quickly notice in this text is when this episode happened.
There are two answers that we need to give.
The first is seen directly in the text itself.
The second is there, but we need to put a little bit more thought into it.
First, we see that this happened right after Jesus’s baptism.
Remember how Luke presented Jesus’s baptism?
He said it happened when everyone was baptized that Jesus was also baptized.
So there was a crowd there.
And while praying, heaven opened and the Spirit came down for all to see! Then there was a voice that said, “This is my beloved Son in you I am well pleased.”
No mistaking where that voice came from and who it was that was speaking.
Those who were there to witness it, heard God say to Jesus that he was his Son and that he was pleased with him.
Now, the Son of God, full of the Spirit, goes into the wilderness.
And the devil continuously harasses him with the phrase, “If you are the Son of God. .
.”
Second, though takes a bit more thought because it really deals with the text not what’s in the text.
Notice that Luke divides these two episodes in Jesus’s life—the baptism and the temptation—with Jesus’s genealogy.
And at the end of this genealogy, Adam, the son of God.
Soon after Adam’s cultural mandate is given—be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and take dominion—he failed and fell and brought all creation with him.
Here is Jesus the eternal Son of God given his ministry—to redeem all creation—and about to start to actively do so, but first must do what Adam failed to do: withstand the father of lies and greatest tempter of all time.
Beloved, Jesus had been baptized not because of his own sins, but to identify with us.
We were those needing to be washed clean; not him.
Yet the moment he identified with us, he was faced with great temptations.
And the moment we identify with him as our Lord and Savior, we ought to expect the same.
The Christian life is not the life for the lazy; it’s not for the floundering; it’s not for those who just want to coast.
The moment we identify with Christ, we have every fallen angel as an active enemy against us.
We have this world which loves darkness and is part of that kingdom against us.
The second fact I want us to quickly notice in this text is where this episode happened.
It happened in the wilderness—a desert land.
Do you know why these types of places are called deserted lands?
It’s not because there are cupcakes and pies everywhere.
It’s because no one lives there and no one wants to live there.
These are places that make it difficult, if not impossible, to live.
If you lived in these kinds of places, you’d have to live off of locusts and wild honey!
You’re in constant danger of animals that can live out there for a time—preying on the weak.
Here is Jesus going into the wilderness.
NO!
Here is Jesus being led by the Spirit into the wilderness.
He’s going away from the crowds.
He’s entering into aloneness—but not loneliness.
Church family, when you are in Christ and indwelled with the Holy Spirit, you will have times in the wilderness.
He will lead you there himself.
And you will be alone.
There will be times when you must go through difficulties and hardships and afflictions and temptations alone.
The crowds will all be gone.
We’ll feel like Elijah who complained that only he had not bowed the knee to Baal in all Israel.
We’ll feel like Job sitting in ashes and having friends point and accuse and malign our character.
We’ll identify well with John exiled on the Island of Patmos.
But we need not feel the loneliness.
I know that it’s easier said than done.
But we must keep in mind and in heart that he or she who is in Christ is never alone.
He is with us always to the end of the age.
He will never leave us nor forsake us.
The third fact I want us to quickly notice in this text is why this episode happened.
It was so that he would be tempted.
Again, where the first Adam failed, the last Adam must succeed.
This episode in Jesus’s life was not an accident.
It was part of God’s providential, sovereign plan.
He would not protect his Son against the wiles and schemes of the devil.
He would send him in the wilderness to face him head-on.
All he had was his Father, the Spirit, and his intimate knowledge of the Word.
The Father knew what James so wonderfully would state later on:
The Father knew that.
The Son knew that.
Do we as his children know that?
We’ve heard it, sure!
We may have even quoted it.
But do we know it?
Do we believe it?
Is our faith based in who Jesus did, what Jesus did, and the Word of God?
You see God takes us to the wilderness, not to tempt us, but to try us.
He puts us in situations where we will be tempted, but he is not the one tempting.
He is the one refining our faith through the temptations that come our way.
There is a difference, you know.
God, in trying us, is doing it to strengthen our faith and make us more like Christ.
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