Dear Church,
Luke 4:1-13 details Jesus’ 40 days of fasting, training, and temptation in the desert.
Here are some “aha’s” from the passage:
God can be encountered anywhere, especially in the dessert.
It was a training ground where away from the public eye and away from the pressures and stresses of daily life, Jesus got one-on-one instruction from God the Father about how to defeat Satan and how to rely on the Father in order to do His ministry.
What we see in this first temptation was the temptation for Jesus to be self-reliant rather than God-reliant. Who was going to be the Source for His ministry? Himself or His Father? Who was going to be His Provider? Those questions were answered in the desert of temptation. Jesus was going to allow the Father to sustain and provide for Him.
When we rely on self we will be limited to what self can do, but when we rely on God, we will be able to achieve anything God can do!
You can only say Philippians 4:19, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength,” if you are relying on God and not yourself.
In the second temptation, Jesus prepared to do God’s will God’s way.
The whole Jewish nation had been expecting a Messiah, however the kind of person they were hoping for wasn’t a meek, peaceful, servant-King, but a powerful military and political figure. In the second temptation Satan offered Jesus an opportunity to become that kind of leader. Jesus didn’t fall for it. Jesus knew the kingdoms of this world couldn’t compare to the Kingdom of God.
The third temptation is found in verses 9-12. We often have this idea about being a Christian that nothing bad should ever happen to us. Here Satan tempted Jesus to test God to see if He could allow Jesus to be hurt. We know the whole story. Part of God’s plan to save the world included intense suffering for Jesus. The thoughts Satan wanted to shove into Jesus’ mind went something like this: “If God the Father truly loves you, He won’t let you get hurt.”
I submit to you that Jesus accepted in the desert that the Father had good reasons for any physical or emotional hardship He allowed. Jesus willingly endured the pain and mental challenges in the desert with the help of God the Father. I believe it was because God was with Him that He didn’t just give up and die there. Jesus knew because of that desert experience that the Father could enable Him to get through anything. Jesus made it through the horrific experience of crucifixion, walked through the doorway of death, and came out victorious because God the Father was with Him. No, the Father didn’t just bail Jesus out of painful situations, but He did walk with Him through them and He did make sure He came out alive.
In the desert and on the cross Jesus experienced the truth of II Corinthians 12:9. In that verse God said to the Apostle Paul about his own suffering, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Here is the simple truth: When we are weak, God is strong. It is God’s power in us that defeats Satan, not our own strength.
Yes, Jesus was weak in the desert. He was weak on the cross. But He was also never stronger because it was the power of God at work in His life that brought about amazing victory in His life. And when you learn how to let God’s power sustain you, you become indestructible.
One final thought from verse 13: “When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.” Why did Jesus need to learn the lessons in the desert, and why do we? Because Satan doesn’t give up. He will keep looking for a way to take us down. But the desert lesson, the lesson of God’s will, God’s way, through God’s power, will set us up for victory every time Satan comes calling.
Let’s prepare for whatever is ahead! Let’s go into the desert this Lenten season.
Pastor Melissa
