Scripture: Matt 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13;
The temptation for Christ has been the subject of many debates among Christians. First and foremost is the peccability or impeccability of Christ. In other words, could he sin or not. Another of these debates is that this is a model for overcoming temptation to Christians. Yet another discussion arises about the nature of the temptation that Satan provides and his range of authority. These are all very excellent philosophical viewpoints, but they are all isolated and lack a global viewpoint...that is, they sort of ignore the whole context of the passage.
I am not even going to get into the argument of whether or not Christ could have sinned as that is irrelevant. He didn't. That should be good enough for all of us.
What I will consider is why we find a discussion of Jesus' temptation in 3 of the 4 gospels (Matt 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, & Luke 4:1-13) and the main points of that discussion. After all, let's look straight at the Word and see what God speaks to us about.
In all three accounts of this part of Jesus' life Jesus was first led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit for the sole purpose of facing this temptation...alone. That is an interesting point to me, since most pastors that I know will tell you that the best way to face temptation is with help from another. In fact, I find that many people promote accountability as the most effective method for dealing with temptation. Some of the passages that are used to support these thoughts are Eccl. 4:9-12 and Gal. 6:1-2. So why does God lead Jesus into the wilderness to face temptation alone? My suggestion is simple...God can enable us to overcome temptation using His Spirit and the Word as support alone. It really supports the concept of God and me is the majority.
Next look at the specific nature of temptations and the specific Word of God that was used to refute them. We will consider the list of worldly aspects as presented in 1 John 2:16: Lust of the Flesh, Lust of the Eyes, Pride of Life. First, Satan presents Jesus with the temptation to use his power to cure the hunger that has grown from his awesome fast (lust of the flesh). Jesus responded by quoting Moses (Deut 8:3). What is important to note is that Jesus does not refute the fact that eating would bring him satisfaction. Otherwise, he would have said, " I have no need of Bread, but of the Word of God only." This is important to understand I think, because sometimes temptation will come in an area that will gratify and satisfy the flesh...for a time. Jesus shows us, though, that there is something more satisfying. Read John 4 and you will find that Jesus promotes the more satisfying sustenance to a Samaritan woman. Jesus basically said, "yeah I'm hungry, but I'd rather eat what God tells me to."
Following that, Satan challenges Jesus's birthright (if you are the Son of God...). He was just saying to Jesus, come on...prove yourself (Pride of Life). Jesus sidesteps that temptation with a quote from from Moses (Deut 6:16). Jesus simply responds to this with a...God has nothing to prove. This is important for us to remember when this temptation flares in our lives...If you were a good Christian, you would... We have nothing to prove to anyone, that is God's job. Our biggest responsibilities are to live as he commands us to (Matt 22:37-40).
Finally, Satan tempts Jesus with a lucrative offer, King of the World. He is really telling Jesus a lie...worship me and I will let you have more authority than me in the world. Now this one seems like a no-brainer to us, but think more importantly what Satan was aiming at. He knew that Jesus was God in the flesh and had submitted himself to following God's will totally. Jesus set aside his right to express his higher upness to the world to become part of the world. Satan was telling Jesus, he could play it by his own rules if he wanted to. Jesus responds to this one most interestingly with a quote from Dueteronomy 6:13. He challenges the action being asked of him, not the tempting result. Really, I think Jesus was saying to Satan, "Worshipping God is worth more than anything this world has to offer."
At the end, angels ministered to Jesus. Perhaps this is an indication to us that when we have to face temptation on our own, God will send angels to attend to us. Think about these things and let me know if you have any thoughts or questions.
God Bless you all.
Mar 27, 2009
Mar 6, 2009
The Importance of Christ - March 6, 2009
As I was studying the Bible I came across a very interesting fact. Did you realize that in all four gospels, Christ is proclaimed as God before we are told of his ministry and teachings? Matt 1:23 presents Jesus as being Immanuel (God with us); Mark 1:1 calls Him the Son of God; Luke 3:22 describes the voice proclaiming Jesus as the "Beloved Son"; and John 1:1 literally calls him God. There are other references to Christ's relationship to Almighty God. The thought that comes to me is this: If the Word of God takes great care to assert that Christ is God become flesh to bring salvation to man, why do so many Christians minimize the need to be Christ-like?
I was troubled by a discussion a pastor's gathering a few weeks ago when the discussion turned to the difficulties being faced by the church. The answer, as they presented, was to develop a mission objective for the church. They were greatly impressed by the book The Purpose Driven Church and talked about how they could and should use it in their ministries.
Why did this bother me you might ask: there was very little attendance to the Word of God. They talked about what the book said and what we should be doing in the church, and sometimes they were right on with the Word of God. After all, the Bible does tell us that where there is no vision, the people perish. I am just worried that we get so caught up in the perspective one person gives to the Word of God that we lose the Word of God as living, breathing, and valid to our everyday lives (2 Tim 3:16-17).
Do not misunderstand the purpose of this discussion, I don't think that these Christian writers are invalid or necessarily wrong in their presentation of a Biblical concept. What I am trying to say is that we need to rely on the Word of God first and use books like The Purpose Driven Life/Church, The Prayer of Jabez, The Battlefield of the Mind, etc. to supplement our understanding of the Bible. I am sure that we all agree that we should never replace the Bible with these other books. Still, that is what is happening when you sit around and discuss how to apply a book to your life and/or church without discussing why it is the Biblically correct thing to do. If you ignore the Word, you walk on dangerous ground.
So how does this relate to the topic of Christ's Deity? Being imitators of Christ is the purpose of spiritual growth. Every book that we use to help us grow should be Biblically based first of all. This means that it should be read critically and matched up to what the Bible says. Second, it should emphasize Christ since that is the focus that we need to have as Christians (Col 3:1, 17). Finally, I believe that some books are not for everyone and should not be used as such. Even though Christlikeness is the goal for every Christian, we must realize that the process will be different for each person. That's because we are all different. Some of us will face persecution for our faith while others will be spiritually oppressed. We all may have different sins that easily beset us, or struggle with different types of personality. This means that God needs to work on us according to His method and His design. This is why it is important to keep the importance of Christ as presented in the Scriptures in focus.
What are your thoughts?
I was troubled by a discussion a pastor's gathering a few weeks ago when the discussion turned to the difficulties being faced by the church. The answer, as they presented, was to develop a mission objective for the church. They were greatly impressed by the book The Purpose Driven Church and talked about how they could and should use it in their ministries.
Why did this bother me you might ask: there was very little attendance to the Word of God. They talked about what the book said and what we should be doing in the church, and sometimes they were right on with the Word of God. After all, the Bible does tell us that where there is no vision, the people perish. I am just worried that we get so caught up in the perspective one person gives to the Word of God that we lose the Word of God as living, breathing, and valid to our everyday lives (2 Tim 3:16-17).
Do not misunderstand the purpose of this discussion, I don't think that these Christian writers are invalid or necessarily wrong in their presentation of a Biblical concept. What I am trying to say is that we need to rely on the Word of God first and use books like The Purpose Driven Life/Church, The Prayer of Jabez, The Battlefield of the Mind, etc. to supplement our understanding of the Bible. I am sure that we all agree that we should never replace the Bible with these other books. Still, that is what is happening when you sit around and discuss how to apply a book to your life and/or church without discussing why it is the Biblically correct thing to do. If you ignore the Word, you walk on dangerous ground.
So how does this relate to the topic of Christ's Deity? Being imitators of Christ is the purpose of spiritual growth. Every book that we use to help us grow should be Biblically based first of all. This means that it should be read critically and matched up to what the Bible says. Second, it should emphasize Christ since that is the focus that we need to have as Christians (Col 3:1, 17). Finally, I believe that some books are not for everyone and should not be used as such. Even though Christlikeness is the goal for every Christian, we must realize that the process will be different for each person. That's because we are all different. Some of us will face persecution for our faith while others will be spiritually oppressed. We all may have different sins that easily beset us, or struggle with different types of personality. This means that God needs to work on us according to His method and His design. This is why it is important to keep the importance of Christ as presented in the Scriptures in focus.
What are your thoughts?
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