Temptation - The Great Reenactment (3)

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”

“On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.” (From Matthew Chapter 4, NASB).

In the Garden of Eden, when tempted by the serpent Eve responds, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.”

In Genesis 3:1 – 7 the serpent questions God’s Word, Eve gives one response to the serpent, the serpent counters her argument, the woman succumbs to the deception (compare 2 Cor. 11:1 – 3), and the temptation is consummated in sin and death.

In Matthew Chapter 4, after forty days of temptation in the Wilderness, Satan attacks with a temptation and Jesus responds with God’s Word; Satan attacks with another temptation and Jesus responds with God’s Word; Satan attacks with another temptation and Jesus responds with God’s Word. Satan’s sustained attack is met with Jesus’ sustained response with God’s Word.

In each of His responses Jesus speaks from Deuteronomy (Dt. 8:3, 6:16, 6:13).[i] This raises the question, “How can we possibly resist temptation without a living (incarnational) knowledge of the Word of God to which we are living in obedience?”

Also, let us keep in mind that Jesus is driven into the Wilderness after His baptism, at which the Holy Spirit descended upon Him – it was the Holy Spirit who drove Jesus into the Wilderness to be tempted. Jesus resisted temptation by the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon the Word of God – we cannot separate the Spirit from the Word or the Word from the Spirit. The Bible must be illuminated by the Holy Spirit for us to understand it and see Christ in it. To withstand temptation and live in obedience to Christ we need the union of the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures in our lives. We must call on our Lord Jesus to work His will within us, to live His life within us – for in and of ourselves we are not sufficient to obey God and face temptation.

Should someone say, “What of young Christians who are just learning the Scriptures?” We have the promise that “…God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it” (1 Cor. 10:13). The critical point here is that “God is faithful.” We can trust the character of our Father.

Sadly, there are some today who disregard what we call the Old Testament; the Law and the Prophets and the Writings. Yet, it is from Deuteronomy that Jesus took all three of His responses to the enemy in the Wilderness. It was through the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms that the risen Christ revealed Himself to His disciples (Luke 24:27, 32, 44 – 47). How foolish to reject the revelation of Christ in Genesis through Malachi. How foolish to disregard the foundation and backdrop of the New Testament. I don’t use the word heresy lightly, but this is heresy as old and older than Marcion.

In the Great Reenactment in the Wilderness, Jesus is living by the Word of God; He is living in obedience to the Word of God and not tempting God by attempting to manipulate the Word (note that Satan traduces Psalm 91 in Matthew 4:6, we see this ploy in heretical teachers); He is worshiping and serving God and God alone.

Knowing God’s Word as our sustenance. Living in obedience to God’s Word. Worshiping and serving God and God alone. This is our daily calling. By God’s grace, faithfulness to this calling will see us through the Wilderness of temptation, trial, and testing as we participate with Jesus Christ in the Great Reenactment.

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[i] I write from a human perspective for I don’t understand the mystery of the Incarnation; certainly the Word of John 1:1 has always been the Word and therefore the Word of Deuteronomy which Jesus “quotes” in Matthew 4 is His own Word which Moses recorded in Deuteronomy. It is difficult, at least for me, to understand in most any measure the union of God and Man in the Incarnation. I “see” it more clearly at some times than at others – but it is ever a mystery.