From Jim McGuiggan... Matthew 4: Showdown in the wilderness

Matthew 4: Showdown in the wilderness

There is so much to see in the records of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness. One way of looking at them is to see in all of them that Jesus rests in complete trust and dependence on his Father's will. Milton's Satan says at one point that it's better to reign in hell than serve in heaven. Jesus takes the opposite approach.

Despite the fact that he must now be conscious of his capacity as Messiah and the anointing of the Spirit to work miracles he won't feed himself and so ease his crying need. His power is real, his hunger is real but so is his Father's purpose for him at this time; a purpose made clear by the fact that the Holy Spirit drove him into the wilderness (Mark 1:12). Jesus, the Son of God, recapitulates the experience of Israel, the son of God (Exodus 4:22-23) and is brought into the wilderness that he might learn to depend wholly on his Father's will (see Deuteronomy 8:2-3 and Hebrews 5:8-9 and note Isaiah 63:10-14 and Luke 4:1 with its imperfect verb "led").

Israel's temptation in the wilderness was real but since they were incapable of changing stones into bread their temptation was of a different order than that of Christ's. Here's someone who has creative power—who can feed thousands with bread that isn't there until he wills it to be there—and even in his extreme need won't exercise it because his Father wills him to be in extreme need. He will not exercise even God-given power contrary to what he perceives to be his Holy Father's will.

Yes, but if (since) he is God's Son should he not claim executive privilege, the world-spirit wants to know. In refusing life-giving bread at that point Jesus insists that he wants life only on his Father's terms; he will live only if the Father says so and not by bread alone (Matthew 4:4).

To the powerless temptation is real and agonizing but it is no less real to those with power; those who can rationalize their way to ease and out of suffering; those who can rationalize with words such as Satan used, "Surely if…" Powerlessness can corrupt—of course! Bitterness, despair, resentment, envy and violence are its fruit but power corrupts and we need no lessons on how it shows itself. What Jesus refused to do for himself he did for thousands of others and in doing it for them in his personal ministry here he was telling the entire human race that one day there will be a new heaven and earth and the curse will have been entirely removed.

As Matthew 4 has it the second temptation is for Jesus to fling himself from the pinnacle of the temple. The boundless trust that's seen in refusing to ease his hunger now becomes the very thing that is the source of temptation. Here's a critical temptation for those who have deep faith in God—force God's hand. Do it because you trust him!

Again, the Son of God treads the ground where Israel, the son of God, trod and while in both cases the temptation deals with faith in God, in Israel's case the issue was a lack of it and Jesus' case it was the profound presence of it. "Is God with us or not?" the people peevishly demanded to know— the people God had just rescued from centuries of slavery (Exodus 17:1-7; Deuteronomy 6:16). The source of their trial was their lack of trust in God and Jesus' trial was that because he trusted so implicitly that Satan urged him to exercise that faith by forcing God's hand. "Throw yourself into the arms of God's protecting angels," is the satanic thought, "and prove your faith and make God respond marvellously to match a person of your calibre. Faith like yours must put God to the test!" Here Jesus makes it clear that using your trust to put God to the test, to force his hand to keep us from "harm" or "failure" is every bit as unworthy as not trusting him—it is, in truth, an even more subtle form of distrust. He would not turn his trust in God into a test of God—he would have none of it! Here indeed T.S Eliot's lines are seen well illustrated.

The last temptation is the greatest treason:
To do the right deed for the wrong reason.

While I'm sure that is true perhaps I need to nuance it more carefully than that. "If you're truly the Son of God not only should you not be going hungry, you have the right to know that God is with you and here in this wilderness, can you be sure of that? The wilderness speaks its blunt message and it looks like God is not with you so it's hardly unreasonable if you put him to the test."

And in the third temptation, we have the Son and heir of all things on his way to glory and dominion, to the fulfillment of God's promises. How will he gain it? What he is shown is the kingdoms of the world! Isn't that what he wants—universal dominion? Here it is for the taking if only he will go the way of the world to get them. But if he would take them from some hand other than his Father's (see Psalm 2:7-8), that's all they would be—kingdoms "of the world". Another empire like Rome's! But he later told Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world!" For him there could only be "a new heaven and a new earth." The only dominion he wanted—and if he couldn't get it he would have none at all—was the dominion his Father had promised him and it was by becoming obedient even to death on a Roman cross that he would gain a name above every name—Lord!

"If I live," he said, "it's because the Father says so!"

"I will not corrupt my faith and make a test of my Father," he said.

"Better to serve my Father than reign with you," he said

No wonder Christians glory in Jesus! No wonder they call themselves Christians! Who else is worthy?

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.