So
from the banks of the Jordan River and his baptism, Jesus immediately traveled
to a very different location – the wilderness.
Here in the wilds of PA
we think of wilderness as being wooded and wet.
Half way up the mountain
there is a cave where Jesus could have spent his nights and today you can see there
is a monastery built over the opening and visitors can go in and see where
Jesus may have slept and prayed during this time.
Jesus
was not led into the wilderness to just get away from the crowds so he could
listen to God; time in the wilderness was always an important and formative time
for God’s people. The people of Israel
travelled in this kind of wilderness for 40 years and it was during that time God
led them from being slaves to free people.
It was a time of transformation, growth and development for God’s
people. When David was persecuted and felt
alone he ran into the wilderness and lived in these kind of caves and it is
from these kind of locations that he wrote psalms like this: Psalm 142:1-2, 5-6. When the prophet Elijah ran from Queen
Jezebel who wanted to kill him, he also ran into the wilderness where he cried
out to God for help. So the wilderness had
special significance for God’s people. It
was a place of testing and struggle, it was a place of formation and growth and
it was a place of refuge. While all these
wilderness stories may be different, there is one constant, when people traveled
into the wilderness - God was there.
I
want us to take a look at one of the very first people in the Bible who ran
into the wilderness and that was the maid servant to Abraham and Sarah, a woman
named Hagar. Abraham and Sarah had been
told by God that they were going to have a child, but they were already old when
they got this news and after waiting years without any signs of this promised
child coming, they decided to take matters into their own hands. They decided that Abraham should at least
have a son, so Sarah gave him permission to have a child with her maidservant –
Hagar. Hagar got pregnant and just as
you might imagine, jealousy arose between Sarah and Hagar. In fear and frustration, Hagar ran into the
wilderness. Hagar was not just trying to
run way from Abraham and Sarah but from God as well, but God found her in the
wilderness. Genesis 16:7-10, 13.
This
is an amazing story; first of all, it is the only time a woman gives God a
name. While so many people see the Judeo-Christian
faith as just a patriarchal male dominated system (which at times it was), stories
like this show us that God has always honored and lifted up and valued women. Hagar calls God, El Roi, which means the God who sees, because God not only saw her hiding
in the wilderness but he saw her problems and reached out to help her. Hagar’s story shows us that when we run into
the wilderness, when we are overcome with problems and just want to run away
from it all God will always be there.
God was for Hagar and God was there for David and Elijah and God was
there with His people as they travelled through the wilderness for 40 years. God was there.
If
nothing else, that is what we need to remember today, that God is with us
during our own wilderness experience. We
all go through times of testing and turmoil and times of darkness and
depression and it is important for us to remember that when we walk through these
barren and dry times – God is there. For
about three years after college I struggled in my own kind of wilderness. Because I worked many nights and every
weekend, it was hard to get connected to a church so I didn’t attend worship on
a regular basis and my faith felt dry and desolate and at times I wondered if
God was still there. Looking back I can
see that God did not abandon me during that time, He was right there, and that
is what we need to remember. God is with
us even when we don’t hear him or sense his presence. God is here.
This
was an important message that Jesus wanted to make sure his disciples
understood which is why I think he shared this story with them. Think about it, how do we even know this
story of Jesus in the wilderness? There
was no one there to record what was being said and done which means that we
only know this story because Jesus told it to his disciples and Jesus told his
disciples because he wanted them to know that when we go through difficult or
dry times – God is there – God is always there.
So
God was with Jesus when he was tempted by the devil and as we look at each of
the three temptations Jesus faced, we see that these were not temptations that
Jesus just faced in the wilderness; these were the ongoing temptations of His
life. Every day Jesus was faced with choices
that would define his life and because he made faithful choices here in the
wilderness, it gave him the strength to keep going when these temptations came
up again. So let’s look at these three
temptations because the truth is, we face them in our own wilderness. We find them in Matthew and the first
temptation was for Jesus to turn stones to bread, Matthew 4:3-4.
Remember,
Jesus had been fasting for a long period of time so he was hungry when he faced
this test. In an instant, Jesus could
have met his basic physical need with as much food as he wanted. Think about all the stones Jesus saw in the
wilderness – they were everywhere, so Jesus could have as much food as he
wanted in an instant. Instant
gratification with food, it’s one of the
greatest temptations we face, in fact it was part of the very first
temptation. In the Garden of Eden, Adam
and Eve were told by God not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil,
but they didn’t trust that word of God, they wanted the instant gratification
of knowing all things so they gave in to the devil who encouraged them eat. So
think about it, Adam and Eve denied the word of God, listened to the devil gave
into temptation and went for instant gratification and ate the fruit. The exact opposite was true with Jesus. Where
Adam and Eve gave in and ate – Jesus did not.
Where Adam and Eve disregarded the word of God, Jesus trusted it. Adam and Eve were faithless – Jesus remained
faithful.
It’s
interesting that the very first thing that Jesus did after his baptism was to
begin to reverse the failures of Adam and Eve and show us that there is a very different
way we can live our lives. We don’t have
to continue to live out the failures of Adam and Eve. We don’t have to live a life that is focused
on instant gratification and living for ourselves first, last and always, we
can turn things around and start listening to and living for God. By standing strong in this temptation Jesus
is showing us a different and better way to live our lives.
The
second temptation for Jesus was to jump off the pinnacle of the temple and
allow the angels to catch him, Matthew
4:5-7. I see this as the
temptation Jesus faced to use his power and position to gain instant fame and
glory. If Jesus had jumped and the
angels caught him before he hit the ground – even without a youtube video of it
going viral – Jesus would have become an overnight sensation. People would have flocked to him and not
because they saw in him the grace and love of God but because of his
spectacular ability. But this was not
the way Jesus was going to live his life.
Just as Jesus rejected instant gratification, he also rejected instant
fame and popularity and chose a very different way. Instead of worldwide fame coming from feats
of daring, Jesus submitted to God and lived out a life of humility, service and
sacrifice and in the end we see that the way of Jesus is the better way. Fame is fleeting (after all, who can name the
American Idol from season 4 or the winner of dancing with the stars season 2)
but the legacy of Jesus life has changed our world.
Today
we face this same temptation. People do all
kinds of sensational stunts to post on youtube in hopes that it will go viral
and make a name for themselves. People
are lining up to be on reality TV in order to experience instant fame in hopes
that it will bring a sense of meaning and purpose to their lives. Again, Jesus rejected this kind of fame and
invested himself in a different way of living.
The way Jesus lived and the way Jesus calls us to live is a way of long term
relationships which include service, sacrifice and love and it is this way, Jesus
says, that will lead us to the kind of meaning and fulfillment that lasts more
than an instant. I think that’s what
Jesus meant when he said, those who lose
their life in this world will find it.
Those who don’t try to make a name for themselves in this world will
find the true meaning of life both in this world and in the kingdom to
come.
The
third temptation for Jesus was also one that we are familiar with, and that is
the temptation of money. Jesus was
offered all the wealth of this world if he would worship Satan. What’s interesting for us to see here is the
response of Jesus. Matthew 4:8-11 The
first two times Jesus is tempted, he responds by saying, “it is written…” and then he
quotes a passage from Deuteronomy, but to this temptation Jesus begins his
response by saying, “Away with you Satan!” There is more emotion here, maybe even some anger
and it could be that the anger is coming from Jesus’ knowing that this
temptation is powerful and affects us all.
Jesus
talked a lot about the danger of money and in Matthew 6:24 Jesus said, you
can’t serve both God and money. If
we are going to give in to this temptation and trust in our own wealth and
resources then we are not living for, serving or trusting in God. Jesus knew that this temptation was going to
be difficult for us to overcome which is why he talked about it so much. He warned us about this because it is a
serious. We look for our money to bring safety,
security and significance but the truth is that it is not money that brings us
any of these things. Look at Jesus, he
didn’t have any money – he had nothing and yet he felt secure about his future
and he lived the most significant life anyone has ever lived and it was all because
he trusted in and worshipped God alone.
So
Jesus’ time in the wilderness was important because it helped define the way he
was going to live. Jesus was not going
to choose the path of instant gratification, fame and fortune, he was going to
walk in the way of sacrifice, service and faithfulness to God. But let’s be clear – this was not an easy way. Choosing to live this way, choosing to be
faithful and trust God in all things was hard for Jesus and he knows it will be
hard for us as well. Jesus knows we will
go through our own struggles in the wilderness which is why he shares with us this
wilderness experience.
So
what does Jesus teach us about making it through our own times in the
wilderness? Well, the first thing we
need to remember is that God is always with us, but beyond that he shows us
that we need to draw upon the power God gives us. Jesus draws from the power of God by using the
word of God. With each temptation Jesus
used the word of God to help him fight off the devil, but let’s be clear – the
word of God is magic – it’s not like we read it or quote it and our problems go
away and the devil is defeated. I would
suggest that the scripture Jesus quoted he quoted for himself. Jesus needed to hear the word of God give
direction for his life. When Jesus said,
“man does not live by bread alone” it
was to remind Jesus that there was more to life than meeting his own basic
needs and when Jesus said “we should not
put the Lord God to the test” it was to remind him to remain humble and when
he said he needed to “worship God alone”
it wasn’t for the devil to hear but to remind him that he didn’t the things of
this world but the God who created this world.
So
what helps us make it through our times in the wilderness isn’t just quoting
God’s word its hearing it ourselves and trusting God enough to live it
out. That was the real difference in the
wilderness. Jesus loved God and desired
to live in a way that honored and pleased God so when he heard the word of God,
he trusted what it said and followed it.
That’s the way to live. It’s not
enough to read the word or listen to it, we need to live it out – that’s where
the power comes from. That’s where life
comes from.
We
will all experience times in the wilderness.
We will all go through times when our faith will be tested and we will
struggle to remain faithful to God. It
is during those times we need to remember that God is not only with us, but
through his word and through his love He gives us the power to overcome all
things and stand strong. If you are
experiencing life in a dry place and a faith that is struggling – don’t give in
to the devil who would want us to give up.
Stand strong and draw strength from the presence and power of God.
Next Steps
The Way ~ The Wilderness
1. Take some time to learn from others who
walked through the wilderness:
- · Hagar: Genesis 16
- · Moses: Exodus 19
- · David: 1 Samuel 22-24, Psalm 57, 63, 142
- · Elijah: 1 Kings 19
- · Jesus: Matthew 4:1-11
2. In the wilderness, Jesus faced three
temptations. In what ways do we face the
same temptations today?
- · Instant Gratification: Matthew 4:1-4.
- · Instant Fame and Popularity: Matthew 4:5-7
- · Instant Wealth and Money: Matthew 4:8-11
3. What temptations do you face today? What resources has God given you to help you
resist these temptations?
4. Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness. What similarities do you see with Noah
spending 40 days in the rain, Moses spending 40 days on Mt. Sinai and Elijah
spending 40 days in prayer?
5. Commit to spending the next 40 days walking
in the footsteps of Jesus?
