Thursday, May 24, 2012

Tempting Jesus: Matthew 4


jesus night crucifix

Matthew 4

The Temptation of Jesus

Have you ever had and obligation to see someone you didn't want to? Perhaps a strained relation from your past: a past coworker, an ex-lover, an estranged relative? The meeting likely put a strain on you before either of you met. Now imagine having to meet them for a boxing match, at your complete physical lowest. Unfathomable, but Jesus willing to endure these types of battles for us.

Jesus was fully God, but fully human: he felt the light-headedness of not having eaten for over a month. He experienced the extreme weight loss and a near-death faintness. At this point, catabolysis, or the breakdown of muscle tissue for energy, would have occurred. The vitamin deficiency could have easily caused anemia or scurvy—Jesus was in a bad way. Heaven's king on the way to his first earthly, stumbling over himself. But God shows He is master over all circumstances.

Two early symptoms of starvation are submissiveness and apathy, but Jesus demonstrates neither when Satan meets up with Him. By the way, notice one of Satan's favorite tactics is to devour people at their weakest, and for human beings this state is brought on easily, just remove something significant from us. However, in spite of his humanity, Christ did not squeal, He took control of the situation.

“If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
Are not moved by similar thoughts? “If God was real, He'd miraculously fill my wallets with cash, or save me from the consequences of my actions.” Without eyes set upon the cross of Jesus and ears tuned into the Word of God, we are easily led astray. “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” We think its the things we earn and receive in life that sustain, when, in actuality, its God.

Questions:

  1. If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down ...”
    How do you know that God cares for you when things get crappy?
  2. And he [Satan] said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Can you spot the lie in that statement?
  3. Satan, in this passage, demonstrated an ability to take Scripture (the Bible) out of context. Think of Jesus' responses to him. How can we guard against using Scripture wrongly?

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