Sunday, February 18, 2024

The first temptation of Christ

Preached 08:00 18 Feb 2024 at Christ Church, Billericay, a slightly modified version also preached at 10:00

Purpose: To understand temptation and its avoidance

Reading: Mark 1v9-15

Introduction

It’s the first Sunday of Lent. Lent is a time for reflection, and the subject for reflection today is temptation. I will be focussing on the New Testament passage this morning. There’s more in there than just the temptation, so there are some other things we will need to consider.

Baptised

The passage starts with Jesus’s baptism. Mark does not attempt to explain why Jesus needs to be baptised, After all He is the son of God, so there seems to be no need. Only Matthew provides a clue. He says that John questioned Jesus saying

“I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

Jesus tells him it is to “fulfil all righteousness”. It is all part of the plan, if Jesus is to return to God and take the experience of being human into the God head, baptism is an essential part of what He must do because that puts him in the same position as us.

God speaks

As Jesus comes up out of the water, the heavens open and God, the Father, speaks to His son.

“You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

But wait, Jesus hasn't done anything yet! There wasn’t even a baptism preparation course. He just went to John and it was done.

Fathers

At the risk of drifting into a Father's Day sermon, I wonder how many of us fathers have told our sons how pleased we are with them, before the trial of their adult life begins, before they have really done anything of value. I could plead guilty to that one. It’s somehow easier to say that to the grandchildren than it was to the children. Of course, God’s words here are as much for the crowd as they are for Jesus, but it must be very affirming and a big boost to confidence, to hear of someone’s faith in your abilities before they have even been tested. But I must get back on course now.

Off you go

After the baptism, Mark says, “At once” the Holy Spirit sent Him out into the desert. Some translations have ‘drove’ instead of sent. In the Greek, the same word is used of Jesus driving out evil spirits. For example verse 34 where it says:

“He also drove out many demons”

It can mean anything from ‘take out’ to ‘drive out’. Where ever it’s pitched, I don’t think there was really any choice at this point. Jesus must go into the wilderness.

Judean Wilderness

The Judean wilderness is close to the river Jordan, so Jesus won’t have to walk far. He will be there for forty days, being tempted by Satan. Mark is the only writer who tells us that “He was with the wild animals”. In that wilderness there were Rock hyraxes, Nubian ibexes and Arabian leopards. There were also Israeli mole vipers, and other unpleasant creatures.

Why mention wild animals

So, I can’t decide if this is supposed to be a comfort for Jesus or a further difficulty. It has been suggested that the wild animals he came across would have treated him as they treated Adam and Eve before the fall – so that would not have presented any danger at all. That’s a reasonable theory, but there isn’t much to directly support it.

In the wilderness

What is Jesus going to do for these 40 days. He will have to find shelter, the days are hot – unbearably hot, and the nights are cold – near to freezing on many occasions. There’s also the weather to consider. Would there be high winds causing sand storms? We don’t know, but at least rain was unlikely.

So what does he do? There seems to be nothing to do. All his time will be spent in prayer and reflection, and responding to temptations.

Idle Hands

My mother always used to say “The Devil makes work for idle hands”, when ever we couldn’t find anything to do. I’m not sure children today are ever in this situation, but I certainly remember being bored. I suppose I probably listened to the devil then without realising it. Boredom, certainly in later life, can have different effects.

Retreat

Having nothing to do is not the same as getting away from all the pressing business of the world we live in. Before I started my ministry as a Reader, the very last part of the training was a retreat. A time away from the pressures of the world. When all you have to do is to concentrate on God. Everything else is done for you. The shelter and food is provided – it was very good and there was too much of it, but we weren’t meant to be fasting.

There were guided activities and the days were filled with worship services and prayer times. There was also a lot of silence. It was a wonderful time. In our own way, some of us will have confronted our doubts and reservations about what we were about to undertake. Perhaps even confronting our own demons – if I can use that phrase without being too literal.

Fasting

For Jesus, it almost certainly wasn’t a pleasant time. No doubt He was content to do His father's bidding, even at that early stage of His ministry. However, the things he had to face were not pleasant. The least pleasant thing is the fasting, both Luke and Matthew tell us that he ate nothing.

Effects of Fasting

40 days is about as long as you can go without food. According to an NHS website, starving causes anxiety, irritability, depression, poor concentration, poor sleep, and an inability to regulate body temperature, among a few other symptoms. So Jesus would have to deal with these mental and physical issues along side the temptations.

Satan’s opportunity

So, as Jesus gets hungrier and weaker, the opportunity for the temper improves. Satan does not usually come to you directly, he prefers to wait until an opportune time – when you are weak, tired, depressed, haven’t slept - then whisper an idea.

By sending Jesus into the wilderness, God has set up the conditions for this test perfectly. I’m sure Satan knows exactly what is going on, but he is tempted. I’m sure he knows exactly what the outcome will be, but he is tempted. His temptation comes from his nature, so does his inability to stay out of God’s trap. He just can’t resist having a go – can he tempt Jesus and get Him to sin? It’s Satan’s best opportunity.

Temptation is …

Matthew and Luke detail some specific temptations, that doesn’t mean that is all Jesus faced. A temptation is a thought that becomes a desire. Dwelling on that prepares you to take some action to make it happen. Until you take action, it remains a temptation. The longer those thoughts remain, the more likely the action becomes. Jesus already knew how to push temptations aside. His strategy is to bat them away really quickly, so they do not have a chance to grow.

How to resist

Paul tells the Corinthians:

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

If we fail to resist a temptation, it is entirely on us, because all the temptations we face are well known (even if you think yours is not – it is really), and there is always a way out.

James tells his readers to:

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Temptation’s result

That is what Jesus does, and he passes the test. Luke tells us that, after His baptism, Jesus entered the wilderness “full of the Holy Spirit”. When he returns from the wilderness after the test, Jesus’s ministry starts “in the power of the Holy Spirit.”

That’s the difference that passing the test, resisting the temptation makes. It brings us closer to God, and releases the power of the Holy Spirit in us.

For us

When we’re tempted, we just have to say “No”, or “Go away”, and then remove ourselves from the situation. Sometimes that can be hard to do, but sometimes it is easy. Each temptation is a test that God allows us to undergo. Resistance brings us closer to God and releases the power of the Holy Spirit within us.

Amen.

The 10am version is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qK2c4TkO7A, it starts at about 21:20