This is simply one of my favorites. I think that's because, every time I "preach" it, the riveting drama of that scene in the wilderness arrests me all over again and what Jesus really means to the world (whether or not the world knows it) and, most of all, to God. The word "hero" comes to mind, but it can never suffice.
(Read Matthew 4:1-11)
Jesus is in the wilderness. There’s no food, no water, no friends, no shelter. There’s also no temple, no synagogue, not even a Bible.
But what is there? In the day there’s scorching heat, in the night, bitter cold. There’s rocky ground. There’s loneliness and silence. But there’s also something else. Waiting for Jesus there in the wilderness is an enemy who wishes Jesus only evil, who strives with all he’s got to destroy this Jesus, knowing the central role Jesus plays in this key moment of the world’s existence. And therefore, the devil mercilessly capitalizes on Jesus’ hunger and fatigue, trying to find his weak spot, his vulnerability, to get the upper hand on him and ultimately finish him off. This is the enemy Jesus talks about in the Gospel of John (read John 8:44).
In these temptations it’s clear how the devil launched his attacks at the most sensitive element of the human soul: self-knowledge. We use various terms for this concept: self-esteem, self-awareness, self-understanding, self-image. But we can sum it all up in one question: “Who am I?” I think we have all had the frightening experience of waking up in the middle of the night – maybe when you’re on a trip somewhere – and not knowing where you are. For a moment or two there’s a very unpleasant disorientation! But it all comes back quick enough. Now imagine how much worse it is to not know who you are – to really not know what your name is, where you come from, or anything that has ever happened to you – to have no idea what the word “I” means. If you’ve never experienced it, be very glad. Because it’s a terrible place to be. And this is the place the devil is trying to get Jesus to with the continual repetition of one word, “if”.
(Read Matthew 4:3,5)
In the utilization of that one word “if” echoes all of the devil’s hatred for Jesus, all the insidiousness with which he tried to plant doubt and fear in Jesus’ mind.
But take note: Jesus never even responded to the hint. He refused to even recognize the suggestion. He didn’t argue, saying, “What do you mean: ‘if’? How dare you! I am absolutely the Son of God!”
If Jesus had started arguing that way with the enemy, then the enemy would already have won, because he’d be dictating to Jesus the terms of the argument, he’d be deciding the meaning of this confrontation. In that case, Jesus would have been defending himself, talking about himself, focusing on himself, in the same way the devil’s questions were focused on Jesus. As awful as it sounds to even say it, Jesus would have been following the devil’s lead.
Unfortunately, this is precisely how Eve reacted to temptation. She allowed the devil to dictate the terms of the encounter, the “rules of the game”. The devil raised questions that exposed God’s express word to doubt – “Did God really say...? – and Eve decided to try and explicate, to elucidate the matter to the devil (as if he didn’t know), and that led to nothing but her finally caving in, and we know what that meant. And the devil knew very well how much more it would mean if he could pull it off again, this time, out there in the desert, with Jesus.
But the Savior of human souls’ response is on a different plane altogether. He never permits the devil to dictate terms. He doesn’t cave in to insinuations about his identity. In fact, he doesn’t even give them the time of day. Jesus wasn’t about to debate the issue with the enemy. Instead, he fixed his gaze on what I would call the “actuality of the truth”. That is, the truth that is not merely conceptually true, theoretically true, but the truth which is, in fact, what really is – the way things are. That is the truth that is real and defines us and can always be leaned on, because it is. It actually is. We can abandon ourselves to it because it is greater than we are. Ultimately, this truth is God.
Look at Jesus’ answers to the devil in verses 4, 7 and 10 (read). You’ve probably heard many sermons already where the preacher points out that Jesus always responded with the same words. And what were those words? (“It is written”). Yes, and the lesson is always identified as “We must use Scripture to overcome temptations”. Well, you have heard that lesson many times. So I want to point out something different that maybe you never noticed. In every one of Jesus’ answers there’s another word, too. What word is it? ...... (Yes) The word is “God”. Did you ever notice that before? Every time the devil attacks, saying “If you're the Son of God... thrown yourself off the temple... I’ll give you all these things... you, you, you”, Jesus answers saying, “God. God. GOD.” Jesus throws himself totally on the reality that surpasses, transcends, overcomes this particular situation. He is completely directed by the all-encompassing truth, the truth that is his shelter and refuge here in the wilderness, his bread and water, his comfort and strength, his all in a place where he has nothing.
And it is here precisely that we find an utterly profound lesson in this event. All of Jesus’ attention there in the wilderness was fixed on God alone. And the profound paradox of the profound lesson is that by fixing his attention on God, Jesus threw off every attack on his own self-image. Paying no attention to himself, he saved himself. Not worrying in the least about who he was, he proved who he was.
Let’s read what it says in Matthew 16:24 (read).
Jesus is not pronouncing empty theory here. Jesus is testifying from personal experience. He went through this in the wilderness, and not only there. And He came out the winner. This tells us that it can be done; it’s realistic and it’s do-able in life, even in our lives. Christ went through this and, living in us, will get us through it, too. The one who lives in us by grace is the one the apostle Paul says the following about (read Phil. 2:5-11).
Just as the reality of God transcended the devil’s attacks, so Jesus always transcends whatever situation we may find ourselves in. The truth of God is our shelter in the wilderness, our bread and water, our liberation from the enemy’s attacks and a sanctuary for our hearts. There we are never alone.
But if we depend on external things, if we lean on what’s tangible, then it’s hard to find and stay in that spiritual place of strength and freedom. And sometimes God allows us to find ourselves in the wilderness, where we don’t have, perhaps, the usual feelings, no spiritual comforts or even desires, and in such a spiritual wilderness a deep question arises: can I stay faithful, can I even remain a Christian, especially when the enemy shows up and says, “Are you really a Christian? Look, you’re in the wilderness. What makes you any different from anybody else? What does this ‘faith’ of yours mean? It’s not faith; it’s just... an opinion. Well, fine, everybody has opinions. So what? Why pretend your opinion makes you anybody special? Who do you think you are, really?” And in all those temptations the key words, yet again, are “you, you, you.” The devil’s attacks will always turn our attention on ourselves. But here’s the thing: we are not the Author of faith, we are not the eternal Creator, we are not the source of life, we are not the triumphant Savior, who is risen and returning. we are not the answer, but the ones who depend on the Answer – the Answer Who encompasses, embraces and keeps us now and into eternity itself. There is no other answer to the devil’s attacks but to fix our eyes on Christ, on his word of life, on the unshakeable expectation which he has won for us with his death and resurrection.
(Read Hebrews 12:2)
