Tag Archives: The wilderness

LUKE’S GOSPEL…TESTED – 6

Bible Study, ,

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry….When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬-‭2‬, ‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭

The events between verses 2 and 14 in this story are hugely significant, highlighting the move from potential to actual in Jesus’ life and ministry. The Father gave His blessing to His Son…His love, His approval, and His affirmation…and set Him aside for His earthly ministry by anointing Him with the Holy Spirit. This was the crucial moment when Jesus entered His office as the Messiah. 

Luke described Jesus, when He came out of the Jordan River, as “full of the Holy Spirit”. This description implies, not a substance filling a container but a person under the full control of the Holy Spirit. 

Paul used the same imagery to urge Ephesians believers to allow the Holy Spirit to control their lives, leading to godly living, just liquor controls an alcoholic, leading to debauchery (…in the Bible, debauchery means excessive indulgence in sinful, sensual pleasures like drunkenness, sexual immorality, gluttony, and unrestrained revelry – Google AI). 

“Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit,”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭5‬:‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Anointed by the Holy Spirit, after His baptism as an act of obedience, Jesus was  equipped to begin His public ministry, which was revealing the true nature of the Father, in submission and obedience to the Father’s will, up to His death on the cross…

…or was He?

We have learned, especially, for example, from Joseph’s life that, just as he was subjected to rigorous testing before he became the second ruler in Egypt…

“He called down famine on the land and destroyed all their supplies of food; and he sent a man before them— Joseph, sold as a slave. They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons, till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the Lord proved him true.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭105‬:‭16‬-‭19‬ ‭NIV‬‬

…so also, Jesus had to be tested before He could be trusted with a great responsibility. 

So, the Holy Spirit shepherded Jesus into the wilderness, away from all human contact and creature comforts, for the final phase of His training. Did Jesus know why He was being driven into absolute isolation? Did He understand this unusual and unexpected separation from civilisation? 

I don’t think so. 

What were His thoughts during forty days of “solitary confinement”, held there by an invisible restraint, in the heat, cold, and misery of hunger and thirst. Were His thoughts concentrated on His uncomfortable circumstances or was He using the situation to commune with the Father, to listen to Him and to prepare Himself for His entry into a serious and seriously challenging mission?   

We don’t know! Let’s see what happens. 

Finally, after forty days…six weeks of silence… nothing happening…gazing at a sterile, barren landscape…the action begins. Was Jesus contemplating, during those long, lonely, uncomfortable days, how He was going to carry out His Father’s will on earth? After all, as much as He was the Son of God, He was also a man who had to live from moment to moment in an uncertain world with the next moment unknown. 

Suddenly, all hell broke loose…literally! The devil himself entered the scene, the “serpent” that he was, egging Jesus on with sssubtle sssuggestions! “You must be very hungry! Why don’t you just use your power to make some bread?” Why not! No one would know. 

Jesus caught that thought before it entered His soul. No! Doing that would cut right across His Father’s will. His choice? The Father’s word above Satan’s word.  Despite His gnawing hunger, He would not fall into the trap that ensnared the first man, Adam. 

His response was simple and uncompromising…”It is written…” 

And so, as the tests got closer to the bone…His mission…His submission to the Word… His union with the Father…so His resolve grew. He would do everything in His life, His public ministry, His choice and training of His disciples, His connection with people, friends and enemies, in union with the Father and in obedience to His Word.  

For Jesus, the Father’s word, not to manipulate but to trust and submit to in its truest context, took precedence in every situation. He took time, often many hours before dawn, to keep in touch with the Father, and to receive His instructions for each situation.

So, Jesus could declare with no fear of contradiction…

“For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.””

‭‭John‬ ‭12‬:‭49‬-‭50‬ ‭NIV‬‬

How significant for Jesus, then, to set in concrete His resolve and His chosen method of operation, to speak the word of God as His everything. God’s word was His weapon of attack in conflict with His enemies, as well as His meat and drink, His protection and defence, the reason for His presence and calling on earth, and His appeal to the Father’s prophetic word as His blueprint for being who He was, the Son of Man… 

If the Word of God was everything for Jesus, what of us, His followers? Should not God’s Word be to us what it was to Jesus, the power we need, appropriate for every situation, provided by the Holy Spirit as we trust in Him?

To be continued…

MARK’S GOSPEL… THE PREPARATION -4

Bible Study, ,

To do His work efficiently and effectively, the Servant of the Lord needed training and equipment, and He needed to choose to whose authority He would bow. No servant is thrown into an important task without knowing what to do.

Luke 2:51-52 NLT
[51] Then he returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. And his mother stored all these things in her heart. [52] Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people.

His training lasted for 30 years under the watchful eye of His heavenly Father. Mark said nothing about those years but the Father did…. In His verbal and audible affirmation at His Son’s baptism, the Father owned His Son with love and pleasure.

Mark 1:11 NIV
[11] “And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

To fulfill His commission, Jesus needed a motive and a modus operandi.

There couid be no greater preparation for so enormous a task than the Father’s threefold blessing…providing His Son with the motivation to carry out His mission faithfully with the Father’s approval. No matter how difficult the task, how much opposition He faced, and how severe the temptation to compromise, quit, or act on His own, Jesus never faltered in His purpose because the Father trusted Him and accompanied Him throughout every moment of His journey. Even though His human companions would forsake Him, He was assured that the Father would never abandon Him.

John 16:32 NIV
[32] “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.”

Without this assurance, Jesus could easily have given up and gone home…but He did not! Knowing that He was not alone, that He was loved, affirmed, and trusted to finish what He came to do, He endured the suffering and the cross for the reward the Father had promised Him.

His motive was clear. Love and loyalty to the Father would steady and steer Him though every obstacle, both His own humanity and the ferocious opposition of He enemies, to and through the cross, to ultimate victory.

His modus operandi was equally tested and determined before He ever set out on His public ministry. Without this pre-planned and tested method, He would have been driven by circumstances rather than by principles.

The test was severe. He was pitted against His most lethal adversary to defend His most sacred relationship, in the most unforgiving terrain, during His most vulnerable human condition, to test His unwavering commitment to unity with His Father.

The first Adam’s test was child’s play, in the most comfortable and conducive of environments, the Garden of Eden, compared with what Jesus, the last Adam, was up against…and he failed. Jesus, was tested, at the limit of His endurance after forty days of deprivation…and He passed the test with flying colours!

So, what was the test?

Under what authority, would He do the work the Father had assigned Him? Whose word would He obey?

Again, the first Adam was given the same option…whose word would he follow? He chose to follow the deceiver, and the outcome was chaos. Jesus, the last Adam, was offered the same choice.

First test…

Matthew 4:3 NIV
[3] “The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

Since you are the Son of God, test YOUR word to see if it works.

How real was this test?

Satan started with the physical, the “flesh”, Jesus’ weakest point at that moment. He was starving…forty days without food! “Check the power of your own word.” How easy it would have been to do a little miracle with no one watching…

… but what was the real issue?

Whose word will you heed, Jesus, mine or God’s? To do the little thing, the obscure, unimportant thing like making a little bread to ease your hunger without the Father’s approval, or to do the big thing, protect your unity with the Father despite gnawing hunger, no matter the cost!

The bottom line…who is in charge…who is Lord? Whose word counts? Satan’s word or God’s word?

Jesus made His choice.

Matthew 4:4 NIV
[4] “Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

” It is written… ” How simple yet how decisive!

Second test…

Matthew 4:5-6 NIV
[5] “Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. [6] “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

With what defiance the devil mimiced Jesus’ stance! “So… It is written! Now test it. You have chosen God’s Word, now use it!”

Luke 4:12 NIV
[12] Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Satan taunted, “You test God’s Word.” What arrogance! Jesus responded, “It is not my place to test God’s Word but to obey it!” What humility!

Third test…

Luke 4:5-7 NLT
[5] Then the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. [6] “I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,” the devil said, “because they are mine to give to anyone I please. [7] I will give it all to you if you will worship me.”

Satan threw down the gauntlet. “I will give you everything you want if you give me what I want most…worship.” So, that’s what these tests were really about. “If you do what I say, you will show me who is really Lord and who will take ownership of the universe.”

The first Adam conceded to the devil his God-given right to manage the earth. Jesus, the last Adam, did not!

Luke 4:8 NIV
[8] “Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.”

Armed with His victory, His modus operandi… to do the Father’s will no matter what the cost… Jesus returned from forty gruelling days in the wilderness, as Luke records, “… In the power of the Holy Spirit,” to function under divine protection, divine authority, and divine power, to usher in God’s kingdom and to make possible the reconciliation of God and man by His own blood.

JESUS, THE GOD-MAN – 5

Bible Study, ,

THE GOD-MAN, TESTED

One more test to pass before the God-man could step onto the public stage. Already equipped with the Father’s blessing after a peerless thirty years, Jesus had to decide His strategy… under whose authority would the God-man carry out His mission?

Would the Father, who loved His Son, choose to set the test? Not Himself or the Holy Spirit! None other than the devil, His most formidable opponent! Why the devil? Why not the religious leaders…those who would be in His face to the full extent of His endurance? The devil it was who masterminded Jesus’ opposition, challenging, like he did Job, not only His actions but the very core of His relationship with the Father. Was is not the same gauntlet he threw down before the first Adam…”You don’t need God. You can be God!”

“If you are the Son of God…!”

Where would He take the test? In the most inaccessible terrain, the wilderness of Judea, deserted and in total isolation! No food, no water, no creature comforts, no shelter, no human company, no support system, no cellphone, no Wifi, no 911, no possibility of calling for help… just utter desolation and silence!

And so He waited…day after day…and nothing happened! Ten days…nothing, silence! Twenty days…nothing, silence, not even a bird call to break the monotony! Thirty days…still nothing, still silence! Forty days…empty stomach writhing in pain, lips cracked and bleeding from thirst! Then, like a caged animal released, the devil burst on the scene! Had he been waiting in the shadows, straining at the leash, watching his opponent grow weaker by the day? Visible? We don’t know, but real, yes, horribly real! Why now, when Jesus was drained to the dregs? Why not forty days ago when He was fresh and up to the challenge?

Who was the referee in this struggle for position…power… authority…ultimately Lordship, in this monumental battle?

Matthew 4:1 NIV
[1] “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”

The Holy Spirit was there, all the time, keeping score, silent, invisible, uninvolved but vigilant. This was Jesus’ fight. He could not intervene.

What was the issue? What was the prize?

The devil had once challenged God for the highest position in heaven… and lost.

Isaiah 14:12-14 NLT
[12] “How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world. [13] For you said to yourself, ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north. [14] I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.’

Since he had already lost to God, the same devil challenged the first Adam, and won. The only obstacle between him and the coveted prize was the last Adam. He still wanted the title, office, and role of Lord of the universe. Beat Him, and the title and role was his! He saw his opportunity through God’s offspring, this “Adam”, this righteous but untested God-man, now weak and vulnerable.

To gain the throne from Jesus Himself, the last Adam, Satan would need to win it by cunning and stealth.

It was showdown time. Step by step, Satan went for the jugular, the God-man’s unity with the Father through the Spirit. To prise Him loose from His union with the Father, he tried a sneak attack…act by your own power. “You don’t need God. You are God.”

The devil knew he could not attack His deity, so he tried Jesus’ vulnerable humanity through the front door…extreme physical hunger! Jesus refused to take the bait. As hungry as He was, He still left the choice, the initiative to the Father. His strategy unveiled, little by little, as the tests were hurled at Him. Point one…

Matthew 4:4 NIV
[4] “Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

God’s Word would always be His modus operandi, His guiding light, His method of attack and defence, His weapon of choice. Obedience to God’s Word would be His supreme and only way to go.

Round one: Jesus – 1, Satan – 0.

John 8:29 NIV
[29] “The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.”

“Okay, if that’s your strategy, Jesus, how are you going to apply it?”

The devil’s tactic became more subtle. If you are choosing to live only by God’s Word, use it to get what you are after! What do you can to get what you want, Jesus, you God-man? You want what I want…supreme authority over your people, your world…to be, once and for all, Lord! Show your people your power by defying gravity in public! Jump from the highest point on the temple so that everyone can see you. God’s angels will catch you. He won’t let you fall. That’s His Word! That will convince the people who you are!

Jesus gave the devil a withering look. “You fool! Do you think I don’t know the truth? Do you think I’m stupid enough to fall for your scheme?”

Matthew 4:7 NIV
[7] Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Score: Jesus – 2, Satan – 0

Angry and raging, not willing to give up, the devil strips off his cover and fires his final round with guns blazing. “It’s so easy! Worship me, and I’ll give you everything you want. You want the world? I’ll give it to you if you just give me what I want…to be Lord!”

Matthew 4:8-9 NIV
[8] “Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. [9] “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

How subtle was that!

Jesus slapped him down with one final strike! “First, devil, they are not yours to give.”

Psalms 24:1 NIV
[1] “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it… “

Second, devil,

Matthew 4:10 NIV
[10] Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

Final score: Jesus – 3, Satan – 0

Raging and beaten, the devil retreats for a season but, under his breath he fumes, “I’ll be back!”

Luke 4:13 NLT
[13] When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came.

This encounter was crucial. The God-man had cemented His modus operandi, His strategy for securing what was rightfully His, the title, office, and throne as Lord. It would take years of fierce defence of His claim, lived out daily, choice by choice, decision by decision, always going the way of absolute obedience and submission to the Father, always living as a man under God’s authority, always resting under the canopy of truth, to gain the prize.

“It is written,” was His weapon of choice, unassailable truth by which He would reveal his strategy, win the war, reign as king, and vanquish His enemy forever.

To be continued…