Temptation - The Great Reenactment (2)

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him. (Mark 1:9 – 12 ESV).

In Genesis we’re told that after the creation of Adam that “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.” At some point after that declaration of the good work of God in creation, and in the forming of Adam, the tempter appears on the scene. We don’t know what the time sequence was, but we go from the beauty of creation and the peace of the Garden to the temptation, to the horror of sin, rebellion, and expulsion from the Garden.

In the Gospel we see that after the Father’s declaration of pleasure in the Son that the Son is immediately driven by the Spirit into the wilderness and the Son, the express image of God, is tempted by Satan – unlike in Genesis here in the Gospel we do see the time sequence: baptism, the descent of the Holy Spirit, the affirmation of the Father, and then immediately Jesus is driven by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the enemy.

Where do some people get the idea that God will not try His work? That God will not put the excellency of His work on display through fiery trials? Through sustained (40 days!) trial? Where do we get the idea that we can sow and receive the Word of God without encountering the enemy? Consider these words of Jesus:

And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. (Mark 4:13 – 17 ESV).

To receive the Word of God with “joy” is not the same as receiving the implanted Word which is able to save our souls (James 1:21). To be sure there is joy in our Lord and in His Word, but Jesus makes a particular point of telling us that we can receive the Word with joy and yet have no root in ourselves – we may endure for a while, but when difficulty comes we fall away. I want to suggest that this principle applies to sanctification, our growth in Christ and transformation into His image, as well as to what was, as I see it, the immediate context of the parable, our salvation. (We certainly see a focus on sanctification in the seed sown among thorns and in the seed sown on good soil).

Tribulation and persecution bring with them the temptation to abandon Jesus Christ and His Word and thereby “fall away” from Him. Adam and Eve received, in some measure, God’s Word concerning the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil; however, rather than abiding in that Word, and rather than submitting to that Word so it would abide in them, they succumbed to the temptation of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.

The Word was made flesh and tabernacled among us (John 1:14), and when that Word was tried in the Wilderness for 40 days it did not fall away but remained faithful to Himself, to the Word of the Father (we cannot penetrate the mystery of the Trinity – we can experience the Trinity, we can receive the self-revelation of the Trinity, but we cannot “comprehend” the unfathomable). As Paul writes, “He cannot deny Himself” (2 Timothy 2:13). And yet, the temptation, the Great Reenactment, contained all the dynamics and possibilities of our temptations, for our High Priest was “tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).

“The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times” (Psalm 12:6 ESV).

When God sends His Word into the earth, that Word is tested. When He sends His Word into our lives, into our earthly furnaces, His Word is tested. His Word will always come forth in purity, the question is whether we will submit to that Word and whether in our submission we will allow His Word to purify our lives; our hearts, our minds, our souls…our very beings. The Word of God is pure and it purifies those who submit to its working in their lives.

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:12 - 13 ESV).

The context of this Hebrews passage is the failure of Israel in the Wilderness to receive, believe, and obey the Word of God – Israel succumbed to temptation in the Wilderness and therefore failed to enter into the “rest” that God desired to give them. This is what precedes the passage; but what follows the passage should give us great hope:

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:14 – 16 ESV).

When we have a time of need, when we are tempted, we need not follow the way of Adam, we need not follow the way of Israel in the Wilderness, for we now have a Great High Priest who has also been in the Wilderness of temptation, and He has been tempted “in every respect” as we are, and yet He is without sin – for He never ever said “yes” to temptation. This is a great hope and it is a great decision – shall we join ourselves to Adam and deny the Word of God? Shall we join ourselves to Israel in the Wilderness and deny the Word of God? Shall we take our place in the rocky ground of the parable of the Sower and Seed and deny the Word of God?

Or shall we draw near to our Great High Priest at the Throne of Grace and receive His mercy and grace to help us in our time of need and temptation? Which reenactment will we choose to participate in? Adam in the Garden? Israel in the Wilderness?

Or shall we join ourselves to the Great Reenactor in the Great Reenactment as the sons and daughters of the Living God?

Temptation is always an attack on God’s Word. It is always an attack on God’s glory. It is always an attack on God’s Son and His Body, His Bride, His Temple, His Church.