The Gospel of the Kingdom - Matthew - The Temptations of Christ

 

Text: Matthew 4:1-4 – “ Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted^[a] by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

We have witnessed how Jesus went out to see John in the wilderness near Bethany. Jesus was baptized to identify with us, and we are baptized to identify with Him. In this chapter of the study, Jesus now is about to undergo a challenge to once again identify with us.

Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. This is a study in Theology called the Impeccability of Christ. Some say that He was tempted because He could sin. The word used here in the Greek is translated as “tempted” can and often means “tested.” There is a  concept being taught in some Seminaries called “Open Theology.”  They say that God doesn’t know what will happen until it happens. So, they say that Jesus could have sinned – and it was necessary for the temptations to see if He would stand strong. Therefore if He passed, He could be our Savior. However, if we are dealing with a “peccable” Savior – that means He could have failed –  we have no guarantee that He still could fail.

There is a difference between temptation and sin. We ALL face temptations. What we do with them determines if we sin or not.

Mark in his gospel (1: 13) gives some interesting thoughts – “and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.” I want you to think of the contrasts to the account of Adam and Eve:

1. They were in a garden – He was in the wilderness
2. They were with friendly animals – He was with wild animals
3. They were tempted and failed, He was tempted and triumphed.
4. They were kept from the Garden by Angels – the angels came and provided for Him.

The idea here in being “tested” is not to see if He could fail, it is to see that He could not fail. It makes me think of a story that I read –

As the Union Pacific Railroad was being constructed, an elaborate trestle bridge was built across a large canyon in the West. Wanting to test the bridge, the builder loaded a train with enough extra cars and equipment to double its normal payload.

The train was then driven to the middle of the bridge, where it stayed an entire day.

One worker asked, "Are you trying to break this bridge?" "No," the builder replied, "I’m trying to prove that the bridge won’t break."

In the same way, the temptations Jesus faced weren’t designed to see if He would sin, but to prove that He couldn’t.

Let us view the three temptations over the next three days as they are recorded.

 

The Gospel of the Kingdom - Matthew - The Approval of the Father

 

Text: Matthew 3:17 – “ And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’” 

We saw yesterday the anointing by the Holy Spirit following Jesus’ baptism. In today’s study, we see the approval of the Father.

A voice from Heaven says, “This is my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with Him.” God speaks and shows His approval of His Son. We should heed that if we follow what God wants, He will approve us also.

In this passage is one of the places that we have the presence of the entire Trinity – establishing Jesus’ earthly ministry as the Messiah. Many groups want to deny the Trinity (after all that word is not in the Scriptures). However, in both the Old and New Testaments we see the work and character of the Triune God. To deny the Trinity is to deny God as He has revealed himself to us. Can I explain how God can be three individual persons and yet One? No, but then I am not God. So, in the last couple of days we have seen:

• ·      The Son’s Acceptance of Obedience
• ·      The Spirit’s Anointing of the Son
• ·      The Father’s Approval of the Son

As we leave this chapter, let us make a few short observations.

First, in John the Baptizer, we have an example of humility. Blessed with great success, attended by the great and noble, and with nothing but principle to keep him from turning it to his advantage, he still kept himself out of view, and pointed to a far greater Personage at hand. So should every minister of Jesus, however successful, keep the Lamb of God in his eye and be willing - nay, rejoice - to lay all his success and honors at Jesus‘ feet.

Second, everything about the work of Jesus was wonderful. No person had before come into the world under such circumstances. God would not have attended the commencement of his life with such wonderful events if it had not been of the greatest moment to our race, and if he had not possessed a dignity above all prophets, kings, and priests. His “name” was to be called “Wonderful, Councilor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace;” “of the increase of his government and peace” there was to be “no end;” “upon the throne of David and of his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice forever” Isaiah 9:6-7.

Third, it was proper that a voice from heaven should declare that he was the long-promised prince and Savior; that the angels should attend him, and the Holy Spirit signalizes his baptism by his personal presence.

And it is proper that we, for whom he came, should give to him our undivided affections, our time, our influence, our hearts, and our lives.

 

 

The Gospel of the Kingdom - Matthew - The Anointing of the Holy Spirit

 

Text: Matthew 3:16 – “ When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.”

After John agrees to baptize Jesus (see his objection in yesterday’s post). We see another point that emphasizes the form of Baptism that the New Testament practiced in this passage. Notice the phrase, “ Jesus came up immediately from the water….” It pictures John lifting Jesus up from his submersion into the water. This picture is also in the account of Philip and eunuch –

Acts 8:36-39 – “Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.”

When Jesus has fulfilled this act of righteousness, we see that the heavens were opened. The expression means that John was permitted to see far into the heavens beyond what the natural vision would allow. We can find a similar idea when Stephen was stoned (Acts 7:55-56) – “But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ‘Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’”

The Holy Spirit then descends like a dove upon Jesus. The dove, among the Jews, was the symbol of purity of heart, harmlessness, and gentleness. The form of the dove chosen here was doubtless an emblem of the innocence, meekness, and tenderness of the Savior.

The Messiah is “The Anointed One.” He is the Prophet, Priest, and King. In the Old Testament, the anointing was by oil, and that was a representative of the Spirit of God. Here – we see the presence of the Spirit of God at this event. The gift of the Holy Spirit, in this manner, was the public approbation of Jesus, and a sign of his being set apart to the office of the Messiah. We are not to suppose that there was any change done in the moral character of Jesus, but only that he was publicly set apart to his work, and solemnly approved by God in the office to which he was appointed. 

Today we have seen today the Anointing of the Holy Spirt, and tomorrow we will see the Approval of the Father.