Now in those days, when all the people were baptized, Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee to John to be baptized by him in the Jordan River. But John tried to prevent him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?” So Jesus replied to him, “Let it happen now, for it is right for us to fulfill all righteousness.”[1] Then John yielded to him. After Jesus was baptized, just as he was coming up out of the water and praying, the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son; in him I am well pleased.”[2] So Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years old.
Why did Jesus need to get baptized? I think Jesus is honoring the system God has in place for humanity. If Jesus would have dismissed it as unimportant, and we are to follow the model of Jesus, well…. So he is first following the pattern God gave to his people. Second, I think he entering into the symbolism of or foreshadowing his death and resurrection.
“His immersion typified His baptism in the waters of God’s judgment at Calvary. His emergence from the water foreshadowed His resurrection. By death, burial, and resurrection, He would satisfy the demands of divine justice and provide a righteous basis by which sinners could be justified.” (Believers Bible Commentary)
When we take communion, we talk about how it a) ‘remembers Christ’ and b) reminds us of our participation in the story in the sense that we, too, should be ‘broken and spilled’ out for others to point toward the Savior who gave His life so we could live. Baptism is similar. We commemorate what Jesus did for us, and we show our commitment to dying to the old us and rising into the new us, which is made possible through Jesus’ work.
Temptation of Jesus (Mt 4:1-11; Lk 4:1-15; Mk 1:12-13)
Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River and was led—driven[3]—by the Spirit into the wilderness with wild animals[4] to be tempted/tested[5]. After he fasted forty days and forty nights[6], eating nothing, Jesus was famished.The devil, the tempter, came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread.” But Jesus answered, “It is written, ‘Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’“[7]
Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, had him stand on the highest point[8] of the temple[9], and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here. For it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘with their hands they will lift you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ [10]” Jesus said to him, “Once again it is written: ‘You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
Then the devil led him up to a very high mountain and showed him in a flash all the kingdoms of the world and their grandeur.[11] And he said to him, “To you I will grant this whole realm—and the glory that goes along with it, for it has been relinquished to me, and I can give it to anyone I wish.[12] I will give you all these things if you throw yourself to the ground and worship me.”[13]
Then Jesus said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: ‘You are to worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’” So when the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from Jesus until a more opportune time. Then angels came and began ministering[14] to his needs.[15]
Three points of note, like every good sermon :)
First, Jesus triumphed in the test. That’s a necessary characteristic for God to deserve our worship and allegiance. In fact, there’s good reason to believe that what Jesus successfully resisted is meant to highlight his ability to do what Israel could never do. Jesus' numerous quotes from Deuteronomy in response to these wilderness temptations recall another time and place where God's chosen people met testing in the wilderness and failed.
Israel (called “son” in Exodus 4:23) was led into the wilderness after its “baptism” in the Red Sea.
Forty years vs. forty days (a time of testing)
Israel demanded physical bread in the wilderness; Jesus offers bread for the souls of those in life’s wilderness.
The Israelite’s worshipped a nation’s idol for help; Jesus rejects the allure of nations as his worship and service remained true.
They had tested God at Massah (Ex 17:1-7). Jesus refuses to demand God's protection on his own terms.[16]
As the New Covenant people of God, we will journey into the wilderness of this fallen world after baptism as we struggle towards the Kingdom. We should expect to face what Israel and Jesus faced, but we have the power of the one who overcame the test to strengthen us.
Second, Jesus dominates Satan. It’s not a narrative full of tension. They aren’t dualistic universal powers evenly matched. When Jesus says, “Alright, time for you to go,” Satan goes. The angels weren’t letting out their breath: “Whew! That was a close one! ” It’s a good reminder for us about where the powers of evil rank in the universe. This is not to say Satan is to be taken lightly. Satan claims to in some sense own the nations, and both Jesus[17] and writers of Scripture refer to Satan[18] and other princes[19] who do indeed have some kind of power in the nations[20] (didn’t Revelation make that clear)? But a prince is not a King.
Immediately after his trial in the wilderness, Jesus begins to proclaim that the kingdom of God is at hand, and He begins casting out demons, the servants of Satan. You can already visibly start to see Satan’s power coming undone in spite of his claim to the kingdoms of the world.
Third, Jesus was tempted as we will be. [21] Because I am working on the assumption that this 40 days mirrors Israel’s 40 years in the wilderness, I am looking to read the temptations through that lenses.
The Stones/Bread incident has something to do with the importance of valuing God’s spiritual nourishment over physical provision.
The Temple ‘testing of God’ has something to do with wanting the signs more than the Giver of the signs.
The Ruling The Nations incident has something to do with what god we turn to when the going gets tough, and because what we worship dictates how we worship, this is going to look at ends and means.
Now, let’s chat. Evil is what happens when Satan (who does not create anything) takes a good thing God created and distorts it. That’s all he can do. He seeks to disorder what God ordered. When we are tempted, we are usually tempted to take a good thing God created and use it in a way that distorts its purpose in us or in the world. Let’s look at these temptation one at a time to see how this works.
Turn Stones To Bread Test
Pleasure is from God; wanting to be free of pain is normal; wanting to be comfortable rather than uncomfortable is understandable. Pleasure isn’t the problem – we are going to have it relentlessly in eternity.[22] I think God’s original intent absolutely included the space for us to simply enjoy His good creation. It’s the disordered love of pleasure, the worship of pleasure, the gnawing fear that I might not be as comfortable as I want to be and so I will do ANYTHING to keep my comfort, even stop doing a spiritually important thing for a physically pleasant thing such that I am choosing happiness over holiness.
Controlling circumstances can be a good thing if we are talking about having agency as people with free will. We can choose good friends; get out of bad situations; be responsible. That’s all good. That kind of agency is a gift from God. It’s the desperate need to control and manipulate so everything around us is always on our terms that becomes the problem.
Rule The Nations Test
Power is not a bad thing. God has power, and that doesn’t count against him. In fact, gentleness is only possible for those who have power. We are told to be gentle, not to become powerless. Having self-control (power over self) is a fruit-of-the-spirit power. Being able to lead is a good thing. If you are a righteous person, having clout in the world gives you opportunity to do amazing things. Think of what Daniel and Joseph and Esther accomplished. Power is not the problem. The problem is when it begins to corrupt – and unless we are God, in inevitably does. Study after study has shown that our brains literally change when we have power: It damages our prefrontal cortex (so we lack empathy), leads toward rule-breaking (“This doesn’t apply to me”); it stifles generosity.[23] What God gave us to steward the world becomes the thing that hurts the world.
Controlling others even has its place (#parents #law enforcement #referees). Anytime we draw boundaries in our lives that determine how people can interact with us, it’s a form of control, and is often very healthy. Proverbs, for example, is full of descriptions of wise rulers.[24] But when that control manifests in our family and friends as bullying, unhealthy coercion, a demand that others ALWAYS SHOW UP ON OUR TERMS and only do things like we want them done – well, now our power has a problem. Jesus called this “lording over others.” [25]
Dive From The Temple Test
As for controlling God – well, there’s not two sides to that coin. Satan’s temptation here was, “Force God to act to prove He’s watching and He cares.” Yeah, that’s not how it works. “Don’t tempt God.” God obviously does miracles. We know this from the Bible, and many of you can testify as to some way in which it has been clear that God has moved miraculously in your life. But these are gifts, not obligations.
Job shows us: “You give and take away; blessed be your name.”[26]
Jesus shows us: “Let this cup pass, but not my will, but yours be done.”[27]
Paul begged for a thorn in the flesh to be gone, but God’s response was, “Check out my grace,” and Paul said he would gladly glory in his infirmities to the power of God grace could rest upon him.[28]
We pray boldly for God to intervene in the world, but if God never what we think should be done, He would still be God, worthy of our worship.
Anytime we want to test God to make Him prove Himself on our terms, we are in trouble. Anytime we demand the God keep showing up in spectacle, we are missing the point. Israel had miracle after miracle, and it did not strengthen their faith. They just wanted more signs and wonders, as if God had to continuously earn their admiration and loyalty. At some point, the awe of seeing God at work turned into a demand to see God at work in ways that benefitted them – and now we tie back into the sinful flex of power (trying to control God) and the inordinate love of pleasure (to make my life easier).
* * * * *
I think we have to ask a key question whenever we are tempted or tested: “What will it cost to get and keep what I want?” With Jesus, the cost was obviously right in front of him: he had to acknowledge Satan as the one from whom all blessing flow:
“I will give you all these things if you throw yourself to the ground and worship me.”
Jesus' reply rejects the offer totally:
"Worship the Lord your God and serve him only."
Jesus is certain that only One deserves his service: God. By putting worship and service together in the verse, Jesus makes it clear that our allegiance and our actions are inevitably intertwined, and both are meant to honor God. So let’s go over the three temptations.
If it costs holiness to get happiness, it’s too much. “I just want to be happy.” I get it. I, too, want to be happy. At what cost? If you have to stop doing a spiritually important thing for a physically pleasant thing, it’s too much. And…will I really be happy if I am pursuing happiness outside of God’s design? Happiness is a hard taskmaster, giving what C.S. Lewis called “ever increasing craving for an ever diminishing pleasure.” Holiness is demanding also, no doubt about it, but the rewards are real, eternal, and lasting.
If it costs good means to achieve good ends, it’s too much. I noted earlier that the Ruling The Nations incident has something to do with what god we turn to when the going gets tough, and because:
what we worship (ends) dictates how we worship (means)
the means will determine who we are in the end.
We can’t separate where we end up from how we get there. (Perhaps Moses striking the rock to get water is a good example here. He accomplished God’s end goal with disobedient means – and God did not separate those two things. It was an act of disobedience.[29])
“[George] Barrett characterizes this "the old but ever new temptation to do evil that good may come; to justify the illegitimacy of the means by the greatness of the end.”[30]
In Christian circles, there has been a lot of discussion in recent history of a “third way,” which is really just a refocus on 1 Peter 3:15, “Always be ready to offer a defense, humbly and respectfully, when someone asks why you live in hope. Keep your conscience clear so that those who ridicule your good conduct in the Anointed and say bad things about you will be put to shame.” This “third way” has focused on presenting a winsome, engaging faith that stresses the core of the gospel as it walks between political and social polarities. This approach engages and speaks truth, but really tries hard to not throw extra road blocks into the road on the way to the cross. You don’t call names; you don’t insult; you don’t misrepresent others (because you don’t want to be misrepresented); you love and pray for your enemies instead of vilify them.
Recently, a new movement has challenged this because (as the argument goes) the other side it making it really hard to play nice, so it’s time FOR CHRISTIANS to take the gloves off and play mean. It’s too much. We could win a cultural battle and lose a spiritual war. It’s too much.
If it costs the humility and service of the cross to get the glory of the spectacle, it’s too much. Jesus came to serve. When Jesus said he would draw all people to him when He was lifted up, this was about his crucifixion. Jesus told his followers to ‘compel’ people into the kingdom through sacrificial love, not coercive power. We are supposed to be ambassadors who show the richness of a kingdom where everybody totes around a cross, wears a yoke, washes each other’s feet, gives a coat to those who steal our sweatshirt, and ‘esteems others better than themselves.”[31] Christianity was always meant to change cultures the same way God changes people: from the inside out, through radical love and service to “the least of these,” not through lights and glitter from the stage of a church or in the halls of power.
Israelites demanded signs over and over[32]; the disciples wanted Jesus to call down fire on the Samaritans[33]; the Jewish people expected a Messiah who would overthrow Rome and put them in control. All of these were rebuked. Revelation showed us that the power of the Lion shows up in the sacrifice of the Lamb. If we want to see the glory of God more clearly, I think we are supposed to pray to see the sacrificial love of the Lamb more clearly. If we want those around us to see the glory of God more clearly, I suspect they will see it when the sacrificial love of the Lamb is displayed in our lives.
Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness when he was full of the Spirit. Expect the wilderness. When the Holy Spirit takes us there – and he will – it’s purposeful. Stand on God’s word. Resist the devil. Look to the One who perfectly withstood the test to empower you through the Holy Spirit.
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[1] Righteousness is ‘a condition acceptable to God (Strong’s) or “what is deemed right by the Lord” (HELPS).
[2] “All three members of the Trinity were evident. The beloved Son was there. The Holy Spirit was there in dove form. The Father’s voice was heard from heaven pronouncing His blessing on Jesus.” (Believer’s Bible Commentary)
[3] “The verb “drove” is strong, giving the idea of divine and scriptural necessity. (ESV Reformation Study Bible)
[4] “This detail emphasizes that the wilderness is [thought to be] a place of curse where the devil is master (Matt. 12:43; cf. Eph. 2:2). (ESV Reformation Study Bible)
[5] Same word as when Jesus showed us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation/testing”.
[6] “Possibly a symbolic reference to the forty years of Israel’s wilderness experience (Deut. 1:3).” (ESV Reformation Study Bible)
[7] All of Jesus’ quotations in this narrative come from or around Deuteronomy 8.
[8] “Josephus speaks of the dizzying height of this location. A later rabbinic tradition (which may or may not go back to the first century) says that “when the King, the Messiah, reveals himself, he will come and stand on the roof of the Temple.” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary Of The New Testament)
[9] The passage quoted (Deut. 6:16) again recalls Israel’s experience in the wilderness. (ESV Reformation Study Bible)
[10] “Ps. 91 is an exhortation to trust in God; Satan attempts to replace trust with a test, casting doubt on God’s faithfulness.” (ESV Reformation Study Bible)
[11] Luke’s oikoumenē (“inhabited world”), often used of the Roman empire, gives this temptation a stronger political flavor and so stresses Satan’s offer of messianic rule over the nations (cf. Ps. 2:8). (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary Of The New Testament)
[12] “The devil’s claim to possess delegated authority over the world fits Jewish ideas prevalent in Jesus’ day about the devil’s rule over the wicked nations (Jn 14:30; Eph 2:2; 1Jn 5:19; the spirit of falsehood noted in the Dead Sea Scrolls). Nevertheless, the devil’s authority was limited; authority to delegate ultimately belongs to God (Da 4:32).” (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)
[13] “I can give it to anyone I want” (4:6). Similar arrogant boasts were made by the Caesars. The emperor Nero once said, “I have the power to take away kingdoms and to bestow them.” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Of The New Testament)
[14] From diakonos, from which we get the word deacons.
[15] Angels accompanied Israel in the Exodus (Ex. 14:19; 23:20; 32:34; 33:2)
[16] Many have also made correlations with Jesus as the second Adam being successful where Adam failed. https://tabletalkmagazine.com/posts/how-does-jesus-temptation/
[17] Jesus calls Satan the “prince of this world” in John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11.
[18] Ephesians 2:2
[19] Daniel 10:13
[20] 1 John 5:19
[21] The ‘self-empowerment’ list is from https://gralefrittheology.com/2015/05/17/how-the-temptations-of-jesus-relate-to-everthing-about-you-society-and-the-world/
[22] Psalm 16:11
[24] Proverbs 20:26, 28:16, for example.
[25] Matthew 20:25
[26] Job 1
[27] Matthew 26:39
[28] 1 Corinthians 12
[29] Numbers 20
[30] Wikipedia, of all places, which has a nice summary of this episode in the Biele. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temptation_of_Christ
[31] Philippians 2:3
[32] 1 Corinthians 1:22
[33] Luke 9:51-56