87. Beginner Bible Course: The temptation of Jesus (or testing, depending on how you look at it)

EPISODE 87  The simple Bible overview of…THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS – OR TESTING DEPENDING ON HOW YOU LOOK AT IT

It's three 3:00 in the afternoon...

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00:00:04

...A ten-year-old old boy gets off the school bus and runs into the house. He's immediately hit with that smell, fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, the cookie jars still warm. There's a sticky note on it that says, Hey, sport, donate. These we'll have dinner at five. I'll explain later, mom, what this hungry little lad doesn't know is behind the scenes. His mom did this on purpose. She timed it. So they be just out of the oven, warm when he got home. Now here's my question. Is she tempting him or testing him? I pose that question to my students. Their answers really boil down to the heart and motivations of the mom and to the trust and the parents and the level of discipline in the child.

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My very simple teacher summary is this. If that mom believes in that little boy and based on her love has a strong desire that he succeed. It's a test, but if that mom doubts her little boy and believes he'll cave in, maybe even wants him to cave in it's a temptation, temptation or test. It's the same Greek word in the new Testament. It's the word used in Matthew chapter four, Mark chapter one in Luke chapter four. This time, it's about God's little boy, Jesus. Today. We're going to use Matthew chapter four as our home base. And we'll insert the additional comments of both Mark and Luke.

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The heading over this passage in my Bible is the temptation of Jesus. It could just as well be called the testing of Jesus. It depends on which way you're looking at it from the one who loved him and believed he'd succeed, or the one setting him up hoping desperately he'd fail. I should say this right up front. The new Testament teaches God tests, but he never temps. Did you catch that? God may put those warm cookie jar incidents in our life or allow them to be placed there by the enemy, but he'll only do so. Having given us the resources to resist and the belief that we will indeed succeed, the temptation or testing of Jesus is one of the most vivid windows to Satan in his ways in all of scripture.

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If you haven't listened to episode 86, the baptism of Jesus by his cousin, John I'd suggest you listen to that. That gives you the context for what happened before the testing or temptation of Jesus. All three gospel writers tell us this incident happened right after Jesus was baptized Mark in his characteristic way says immediately. I mean, Mark makes it sound like he was still dripping wet. We're about to see a stark contrast happen. The baptism was a highlight in Jesus' life. The excited crowds, his cousin, John, the affirmation of his calling by John and the Holy spirit, descending heaven, and remaining on him.

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00:03:01

And then that voice of his father, you are my beloved. You please me. Well now Jesus is going to be alone in a desolate place. And he's going to have a different voice. Speaking to him. Here's Matthew's account of the testing or temptation of Jesus. Matthew tells us Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness. The Judean wilderness it's desolate, almost like a lunar landscape. While Matthew said he was led by the Holy spirit. Mark says the Holy spirit drove him into the wilderness. This warm cookie jar incident was prompted by God.

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Matthew gives us the purpose of this to be tempted by the devil. Mark adds Jesus was there with a wild animals that could be to show just how wilderness this is, or it could be a deja VU kind of moment. Wait a minute. Jesus animals, Satan. This is a bit like Genesis three with Adam and Eve and the animals and Satan in the garden. Matthew continues the Jesus in the wilderness fasted for 40 days. If you're wondering if that's even humanly possible, it very much is many people have gone without food for 40 days, both Moses and Elijah did that. You can research.

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Long-term fasting people who do religious fasting report, a clarity of mind, more time for meditation and prayer. A centering of what's really important that clarity of mind and time to meditate comes after the first three or four days. Prior to that, trust me, all you can think about are cheeseburgers. Matthew tells us at the end of 40 days, Jesus became hungry. The tempter Satan puts the warm cookie jar on the counter with a sticky note, help yourself. If you're the son of God, make some bread out of these stones, that if word in Greek can be translated. Since I think that's a better translation.

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00:05:02

Satan comes to hungry Jesus and says, since you're the son of God, turn these stones into bread, feed yourself for heaven sakes. That was a reasonable suggestion. In the old Testament, God had supernaturally made Manoj something like frost on the ground that they gathered in baked into animal crackers and going forward in the gospels, Jesus himself will create food for crowds of 5,000 and more. Here's Satan appeals to a reasonable need. Jesus is starting to starve to death, but Jesus doesn't do that. Instead. He quotes a verse from Deuteronomy chapter eight. It is written man shall not live by bread alone, but every word that comes out of the mouth of God for those 40 days, Jesus had been meditating on scripture and communing with God.

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He knew that the spirit had led him or drove him into the wilderness and he knew loving father like the mother and my cookie jar example would provide dinner at the right time in podcast, 85, growing up, Jesus, I cited a verse from Hebrews that though he was a son yet he learned obedience through the things that he suffered. There's something really important in this first temptation or testing of Jesus. It's pretty hard to get more intense suffering than 40 days without food. Now Satan proposes a solution yet Jesus obediently hangs in there waiting for God's timing.

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00:06:32

No shortcut here. Will this be helpful later in Jesus' story? Indeed it, well, if Jesus would cut a corner here to mitigate his suffering from hunger, if Jesus would cut corners would make bread out of stones to mitigate his hunger here. What? He looked for a shortcut to mitigate his suffering later. Like maybe when he's hanging on the cross and he's being taunted to come down and save himself. Satan puts out another cookie jar. He takes Jesus to the Holy city, to the pinnacle of the temple. We're not told how that was done later in Jesus story. We'll see him walking on water.

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00:07:12

So clearly even as a human being, he had some transportation options that weren't readily available to each of us, at least one of the pinnacles of the temple was 20 stories above the ground. During daylight hours, the temple was an ant Hill, a constant frenzy of coming and going and activity and crowds. Satan says this, throw yourself down. Since you're God's son, he'll save you it'll be a bungee jump. People will see it. And they'll clearly know you are God's son. The Messiah between the lines. You can hear him whisper people will embrace you without you having to go through that whole Isaiah 53 crucified thing.

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00:07:54

Satan ups the ante on this temptation or test, he uses Jesus weapon, scripture, Satan quotes, Psalm 91. The whole theme of Psalm 91 is a vivid reminder that God is our refuge. He's our protection when trouble is there. And it specifically talks about God doing that for his Messiah, Satan sites from memory Psalm 91 verses 11 and 12. Did you know? Satan knows scripture. He knows it better than you do. He's probably got the enemies playbook memorized. If you compare Satan's quote of scripture with the actual scripture in Psalm 91, verses 11 and 12, you'll notice he left out a phrase.

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The phrase to guard you in all your ways. Psalm 91 is teaching as you're going about in all your ways, doing God's will. He's a refuge, a protection when trouble finds us while we're doing that Psalm 91, no way suggests where to go, looking for trouble. Again, Jesus answers with scripture from Deuteronomy six scripture also says, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test. Don't put God in a place where you expect him to be your bungee cord. Satan has a third cookie jar. He takes Jesus to a very high mountain there. He shows him all the kingdoms of the world and all their glory.

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00:09:23

Now there's no mountain high enough to show you all the kingdoms of the world. You just can't see them from there. So I have to assume this was some sort of vision. And if it was a vision of space, being able to see all parts of our planet, it could also be a vision of time seeing those kingdoms through history and let's face it made in God's image. Man's done some pretty spectacular things, but if it's true that Jesus could see through time. I think there was something much more tempting. He would also see the destruction and bloodshed and heartbreak. I just picture a deafening silence and a very deep and long look forward.

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00:10:06

If Jesus could become that promised eternal King, where the lamb would lie down with a lion and uses mane for a pillow where the deserts would bloom, where bloodshed would end. I imagine Satan softly saying, you can have all of this as King and as King, you can prevent all of that. Then I imagine another long pause until Satan says just bow and worship me. Jesus responds get lost Satan for the third time, Jesus cite scripture, Deuteronomy four. It is written worship the Lord, your God, and serve him. Only at this point.

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00:10:46

Matthew tells us the devil left him. Luke adds until an opportune time. In other words, this ain't over after Satan left angels came and began to minister to Jesus. I'm smelling fresh cookies here. Do you realize we might never have gotten this story in the life of Jesus? Nobody but Jesus and God knew about it for us to know this. Jesus had to tell someone, he probably told Matthew directly and Peter who repeated it to Mark. Why did Jesus tell us about this cookie jar incident? I'm going to suggest four reasons. The first is this to warn us, his kids, about the ways of Satan, the disciple, Peter in his letter says this our enemy, the devil, prowls like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

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00:11:38

Have you ever been to a zoo and seen a lion or tiger pacing in his cage? Looking at you, Satan was a student of Jesus and of us. And as you look at the three temptations it's as if he has artificial intelligence, he shrewdly adjusts his tactics to the situation and to our wiring, this cookie jar incident shows us how Satan works, the shortcuts, the offers to the things we need or the things we want and the use of in twisting of truth. And God's word, here's the second reason to show us Satan and sins. A lure can be broken though. Adam and Eve failed the cookie jar test and we do frequently.

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00:12:20

Jesus demonstrates that it's possible. Imagine I gave a test to my students and it was a bust. The average score was less than 50%. And a few students got hardly any, right at all. The students would conclude that test was a bust. Nobody could pass that. But what if there was one student out of the whole class who got every single question, right? A curve wrecker, suddenly it would no longer be the test being impossible. It would be the test being difficult and the students not doing their homework by going head to head toe to toe with Satan, I'll remind you in the power of the Holy spirit and fully using the truth of God's word.

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00:13:04

Jesus demonstrated the power of sin and Satan can be broken. Again. The writer to Hebrews says Jesus was tempted in every way as we are yet without sin. He's a curved wrecker. A third reason, I think it's in here is to show his kids how to fight, how to fight those cookie jar incidents. We'll learn more about this, especially in the letters of the new Testament, but here's a few observations. Jesus went into this fight knowing fully. He was God's beloved son. He was full of God's Holy spirit. He persevered obediently through suffering in the wilderness. We know from other passages that fasting was accompanied by prayer.

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Prayer is an intimate conversation with our God and Jesus knew and wielded the powerful weapon of scripture. I'll add one more in the life of Jesus. It wasn't here in the wilderness, but it was the night before his death. And that's this. We fight these temptations with the presence of others around us to encourage and pray for us the night before another cookie jar incident, where Jesus was tested or tempted not to go to the cross. He begged disciples to linger near him and pray for him. And the fourth reason it might be here is this. It's a permanent battle. These cookie jar moments, it's not over it.

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00:14:30

Ain't over for Jesus and it's not for us. The warm cookie jars will stay by Jesus throughout his earthly ministry. And they're going to be in our lives till the grave, but I'll end with good news. The disciple, John reminds us in his first letter, late in the old Testament, greater is the one helping us than one placing the cookie jars in our path, in the temptation of Jesus or his testing, depending on whose perspective you're looking from. Jesus goes toe to toe with Satan, the King of this world and comes out victorious in round. One is now going to begin his public ministry, but he's not going to do it alone.

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00:15:11

He's going to collect a group of young men to be his students and apprentices. And what type of men will his savior of the world and eternal King select. You might be surprised and we're going to be introduced to those student apprentices in our next word picture.