Jesus went where the devil feared

Week 4 Public Meeting | Luke 4:1-13

One of my favourite things to do in my spare time is creating aquascapes (think landscaping but in an aquarium). I don’t consider myself particularly good at it, even though people have asked whether I’d consider doing it as a business. There are many reasons why I wouldn’t, but one reason is that I know how average I am at it. People are impressed only because they have nothing to compare it to. Put one of mine next to a professional’s, there’s no doubt at all.

That’s true for almost everything in life, isn’t it? You think you’re good at tennis? Wait till you play Roger Federer. Do you consider yourself pretty fit? Try going for a run with an AFL player. You might not think of yourself as an ugly-looking person, but how self conscious would you be if you were in a room with the cast of avengers? Next to Chris Hemsworth, we look like Mr. Bean after a car accident.

I suspect the same thing happens when it comes to God. It’s like the more we know of how holy and pure God is, the more we see how unholy and impure we are. How does religion work anyway? God is up there; we are down here. And if you want to go up there after you die, you’ll need to become a better person. And so Jesus becomes this ideal example that shows us how we should live. Isn’t that how a lot of people perceive Christianity?

This passage will show us how wrong that is.

Jesus went where the devil feared

4 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. 

We pick up the story after Jesus’ baptism, where a heavenly voice proclaims him the beloved Son of God. The first thing we are told is him going to war with the devil. Why is he there? It tells us “The Spirit led him into the wilderness.” There’s something to be said about our tendency to think God only ever gives us good things. I don’t know man. It was the Spirit who led him into the wilderness. God set him up. And we see the devil come after Jesus three times.

3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” 

We know why this is tempting – because Jesus is starving. Duh. He needs nourishment. And it’s not like you’re taking bread away from starving children in the third-world. There’s literally nobody around. Not only that, this is likely carbon neutral. It’s 100% environmentally friendly (maybe). That’s a good thing right? We know it’s tempting, but do you know why it would be wrong?

Because for Jesus to do so would be to go against the Spirit who led him there. It would be using his power to meet his own needs. It would be reaching out to take what God has not given him. Sound familiar? It’s exactly what happened to Adam and Eve, except they gave in. God said they weren’t allowed to eat from the fruit of the one tree in the garden of Eden. The devil comes along and whispers in their ear. They believed the devil, saw that the fruit was good, reached out and took it. They saw that it was good so they reached out and took it.

This is sin in its purest form. Consider for example, sexual sin. God has clearly set out the sacred union of marriage as the only realm whereby sex is to be enjoyed. To indulge in it outside of marriage is to reach out and take what God has said we can’t. Think about this! What are we doing every time we click on that video or swipe right on our phones? We’re turning stones into bread - that’s what.

5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written,

“‘You shall worship the Lord your God,
    and him only shall you serve.’”

Turning stones into bread when you’re hungry is tempting even if it’s not obvious why it would be wrong. But in this second temptation we get the opposite. It’s really easy to see why it would be wrong. But how is it tempting at all? It doesn’t take a genius to know that this is a bad idea. Worship the devil and all of this will be yours? The devil’s not being very subtle is he. It’s so obviously wrong so why would this even work?

Remember what Jesus has come to earth to do in the first place. He has come to establish the kingdom of God and to assume authority over the world. That’s exactly what the devil is offering him. The only difference between God’s plan and the devil’s plan is the way to get there. God intends for Jesus to become the king by becoming a servant. He’ll receive the crown after he bears the cross. The devil comes along and says you can have the crown without the cross. You can fulfil the mission and achieve your purpose in life without paying the price. The same outcome only without the nails or the blood.

My guess is we don’t understand how tempting this is for Jesus because we don’t know how horrible the cross actually is for him. It’s not the physical pain of crucifixion. It’s the weight of God’s wrath and the shattering of God’s own being. One person in the triune God torn away. We don’t even know how to imagine it. That’s why this is even a temptation to begin with.

9 And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written,

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    to guard you,’

11 and

“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
    lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 

Having failed twice, the devil comes at Jesus again. And this time he even quotes the Bible, which I do think is correct in its interpretation. This is from Psalm 91 and without going into it, only to say that I think it is true. God will command His angels to guard Jesus. The devil is not misquoting scripture, making it say something it doesn’t say. So why not do it?

Look at verse 12. Jesus says, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” Here’s the point. To have God make a promise is one thing, but to have God fulfil that promise is another. Why settle for blind faith when you can have concrete proof? That’s the test.

Whether we admit it or not, this is what we assume to be the case. If God does X, then I’ll know He’s real. If I can just see with my own eyes and hear with my own ears a manifestation of God, then my faith will soar. Isn’t that how it works?

Can’t you see that’s exactly what the devil wants Jesus to do? Get God to prove what He has already promised in His word. It’s not enough that God says I will command angels to guard you. Believe it only when you see it. That’s satanic!

Where’s the hope?

One way to look at this passage is to see Jesus as an example. Jesus quotes the Bible to the devil; we’ve got to be able to do that too. Jesus resists the devil’s temptations; we likewise must resist the devil in our own lives. That’s one way to look at it. But is that good news?

Who here feels like they can even come close? We’ll never be able to do this. Forget turning stones into bread, I won’t even be able to fast long enough to be tempted even if I had the power. Where is the hope?

There is hope only if we understand the passage correctly. Because these temptations have never been about setting an example for us. If that’s what the devil wanted to do, he’d come at it a different way. He would get Jesus to lie or to steal. That’s how you discredit an example. But the devil doesn’t. These temptations are unique and specific. They are designed to do one  thing and one thing only. Stop Jesus from going to the cross. Because Jesus hasn’t come to be an example. He’s come to be our saviour.

Each of the temptations target an aspect of the cross, to undermine Jesus as saviour. To turn stones into bread is to use his power to serve his own needs; the complete opposite of what the cross means. To obtain authority and glory by worshiping the devil is to take a shortcut bypassing the cross.

Don’t you see? That’s what the devil was working against. What else would scare the devil into such a concerted effort? Only the cross.

Here in the wilderness, Jesus faced down the devil. He went where the devil feared, all the way to the cross. Isn’t that way better than just being an example for us to follow?