Temptation- Mark 1:12-13

Mark 1:12-13

Psalm 91

Temptation! Temptation!

Our Lord Jesus calls us to pray daily that God, our Father would lead us not into temptation, but instead, deliver us from evil.

Have you ever pondered that prayer, we pray?

We are asking God not to lead us into temptation?

Haven’t you ever questioned if it is God who is actually leading us into temptation, or is it us, or someone or something else?

It is clear from these couple of verses from Mark, that it was God who led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Such is the clarity, that this was God’s leading, that is says, it was the spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, that drove Jesus into the wilderness.

In a sense, Jesus was pushed by His father, by the Holy Spirit, into the desert to be tempted by the devil.

Now why did God allow Jesus to be tempted by the devil and why would God allow us at times to be tempted also?

Well, one reason why God sometimes allows us to be tempted, although this doesn’t cover all the reasons, is that sometimes, just like, the case was with Jesus in the wilderness…….sometimes………God allows us to be tempted because He wants to test us, ……..test whether we are trusting in Him or something else……..test us ultimately, so that we may drawer closer to Him.

In fact the Greek word for tempted which is “periazow”, can also mean test.

And so every time that we are tempted to sin, it is an opportunity for us to either trust that God is our ultimate good, or trust that something or someone else is our ultimate good.

We know that when Jesus was in the wilderness for forty days, that His father was testing him.

We know from the previous verses, that Jesus had just been baptised, which was like a ceremonial anointing that King Jesus had arrived and was about to start his ministry on earth and now, after that commissioning service for Jesus, there was going to be a time of testing.

Testing to see whether Jesus was going to carry out what he had been set aside to do- “destroy the works of the evil one”

God set apart his son to do his work, to give him glory, but before Jesus started that task, he was put to the test.

Thousands of years before God the father, sent Jesus his Son, into the wilderness to be tested, God sent Israel, whom he also called his son, into the wilderness to be tested, but not for 40 days but for 40 years.

Remember when God rescued his people from Egypt and brought them into the desert, where they wandered for 40 years?

That wandering in the desert, by all accounts shouldn’t have lasted 40 years, as the journey from Egypt to Canaan was perhaps only a two week journey on foot, max.

And yet it took a lot, lot longer than just 2 weeks, because we know that the people in the wilderness failed God’s test again and again.  The Israelites failed to trust that God was their ultimate good!

Isreal didn’t trust God and his promises……they grumbled and moaned…..they even created their own god, with their own hands…. a golden calf……..and as a result of their disobedience, all of them, barring a few, failed to enter into the promised land.

Most of them perished in the wilderness as they failed the test.

God allowed his first born son- Israel, as it says in Exodus 4:22, to be led into the desert to be tempted: and again and again, they failed the test.

Again and again, they looked to other things for their ultimate good, even things which God set them free from, like Egypt- the place of slavery that they came from, rather than God Himself.

And so we can see that with the True Israel- Jesus, God’s one and only son, He passed the test that the Israelites failed. Jesus never disobeyed his father, Jesus never stopped trusting in the goodness of his father despite the suffering he went through.  Despite those harsh forty days in the wilderness……Jesus passed the test the Israelites failed………. And not only that but Jesus also passed the test that Adam and Eve failed in the garden of Eden at the beginning of creation.

Remember in the garden, when Adam and Eve failed God’s test, when they ate the forbidden fruit, which God warned them not to eat?

Adam and Eve trusted in the devil more than God, they trusted in themselves more than God, and they failed God’s test, and as a result sin entered the world.

Adam and Eve didn’t trust that God was their ultimate good!

Jesus passed the test that Adam and Eve failed.

Jesus passed the test that the Israelites failed.

Jesus passed the test that we failed and continue to fail as we again and again fail to trust in the promises of God and instead look to other things for our ultimate good!

But how did Jesus pass the test?

How was Jesus able not to sin, even though he was tempted?

Well, it is first of all important for us to remember that because Jesus was also God, that he wasn’t immunefrom temptation, he wasn’t immune from getting hungry, he wasn’t immune from the lure of power, prestige and wealth, he wasn’t immune from suffering, NO, he faced the same temptations that the rest of us do.

Just as all humans faced temptation: Jesus as a man faced temptation.

It wasn’t somehow a lesser temptation for him than it is for us.

It wasn’t easier for him than it is for us.

In fact it could be argued that his temptations could have been even greater than ours, since he knew he could do God things if he wanted in those moments of temptation, like turn stones into bread, or jump off a building and command the angels to catch him.

No friends, it is crucial for us to know as it says in Hebrews 4:15

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin

Jesus’ temptation to turn from his father and believe the lies of the devil, were just as real as the temptations we face.

So how did Jesus not sin when tempted?

How was he able to pass this test, that everyone else fails?

Because if we can see how Jesus passed this test, we can apply those same principles to our lives when we too are being tempted to sin.

But before we look at how Jesus passed the test, let us also consider the circumstances in which he was tempted, because that may also help us to be more aware of temptations in certain circumstances.

When we look in more detail from Luke 4:1-13 of the testing that Jesus faced in the wilderness, it appears that were two main circumstances, in which the devil tried to tempt Jesus and which he continues to use, today.

First of all, the devil tempted Jesus to sin, when Jesus was physically and emotionally exhausted. The devil tried to use the suffering of Jesus in order to tempt Jesus to sin.

Jesus had been in the desert for 40 days and during that time he fasted, he went without food, and at the end of that time, when Jesus was tired and hungry,  and after the devil had continuously tempted Jesus to sin, the devil finally, tempted him to follow his commands, by turning the stones into bread.

Jesus would have been tired and hungry.

It would have been the easiest thing in the world to turn the stones into bread and eat.

Friends, I know I would have failed the test.

I get hungry after missing just one meal, I get so hungry after missing just one meal, that my whole focus zones in on my next meal. I think about what I am going to eat and I know that after a certain amount of time, I will get so hungry that I will eat anything, I will even eat some left over devon in the fridge.

After just missing one meal, my whole focus in life is about food, I will do anything to eat food- just bring it.

And so yes, if  knew I had the power to turn stones into bread, you would have bet your bottom dollar, I would have done it.

When I am tired, when I am hungry, I know I am more prone to give into temptation.

I am not the only one who would do anything to get food.

Remember, Esau?

Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew.

Sneaky Jacob caught Esau when he was tired and hungry and….Esau broke….he sold Jacob his birthright for a bowl of stew. That lovely red stew, all prepared ready to eat.

It would have been so easy for Jesus to give up his birthright and turn those stones into bread and follow the command of the devil- but he didn’t- praise God- He didn’t.

I also know that when I am tired and at the “end of my tether” it is a time when the devil’s temptations are more appealing.  It may not be with food, but it may be to sin in some way, to go back to a old habits which I think brought a bit of joy, or a bit of freedom.

It is at those times of exhaustion that it is easy to forget that those old habits, just like the slavery in Egypt for the Israelites, didn’t bring me good, but actually brought me bad.

It is at those times of exhaustion when I am feeling tempted, that I need to ask God to bring the words of scripture back to my mind.

It is in those times, that I need to remember God’s promises to me, promises like Jesus came to give life and life to the full. Promises like my joy is complete in Christ. Promises like the wages of sin is death.

When Jesus was tempted to turn those stones into bread, Jesus’ replied showed that he was able to look passed that “seemingly” quick fix of eating bread and instead he looked at the permanent solution that is found in the word, in the promises of God.

Jesus fixed his eyes on the permanent, full, complete joy he found in his father and not the “half-baked”- temporary Joy, that this world has to offer.

In that moment when Jesus was tempted to follow satan’s command and turn the stones into bread, he said this:

“Man shall not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God”

Friends, Jesus did what was perhaps, foolish in the world’s eyes, but he did what was faithful in his father’s eyes.

He neglected the physical bread and instead he trusted in the spiritual bread.

And there is nothing evil with bread in itself, but Jesus knew that satan was using the bread to get him to bow the knee to him.

Friends, satan will use the seemingly “good things” of this world to cause us to sin, to take our eyes off Jesus and instead fixed on something else.

I pray that God would give us courage each day, to do what may be foolish in the world’s eyes and yet be faithful in the eyes of God.

Let us be diligent when we are exhausted to remember that satan prowls around like a lion, ready for easy prey, but also let us to be diligent when things in this world are going seemingly well, because this is the other circumstance in which satan will tempt us.

Just as satan tempted Jesus with wealth, power and this world’s glory, we must also be careful not to fall into temptation when we have been given, or indeed have taken wealth, power and glory.

Praise God, I don’t think this temptation has been quite as strong for me, since I haven’t been in a position of wealth , power and glory….However I can imagine it being very similar to my temptation with food.

Just like I would do anything to get food, I think wealth and power could work the same way, people get so desperate to have wealth, power and glory, that they would do anything to get it and hang on to it.

When satan offered Jesus the glory of the earthly kingdoms, which by the way he is only given for a short time, Jesus finally answered him with a “Be gone”- “Go away”

Again this is another way we can overcome temptation, we just have to stop flirting with temptation and take ourselves out of certain situations. We shouldn’t give the devil even a foot hold.

However, I think the main reason why Jesus was able to overcome temptation and it is probably the main reason why we will continue to overcome temptation day after day, is that Jesus knew that His father loved him like no other love.

Jesus knew his father’s love for him was better.

Jesus knew his father’s love for him was never ending and so much better than anything this world or beyond has to offer.

These couple of verses from Mark 1:12-13 are actually picking up the themes of Psalm 91

Justs look at these two passages side by side:

Mark 1:12-13

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.

Psalm 91:11-13

For he will command his angels concerning you    to guard you in all your ways.¹² On their hands they will bear you up,    lest you strike your foot against a stone.¹³ You will tread on the lion and the adder;    the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.

Mark recorded that Jesus was with wild animals in the wilderness.

Psalm 91 talks about someone who will tread on the lion and adder.

Clearly both Mark and Psalm 91 describe a situation where a person was in danger of wild animals.

Mark and Psalm 91 also describe the angels helping this person.

Friends, Jesus was surrounded by wild animals in the desert and God’s angels were helping him, but why didn’t Jesus ever give into the temptation?

Well the next verse of Psalm 91 verse 14 gives us the answer.

Look at that verse with me:

“Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;    I will protect him, because he knows my name.

In that time of temptation, Jesus didn’t sin because he held on to the love of his father.

The love that Jesus had for his father was greater than any temptation that the devil threw his way.

In that moment of hunger, exhaustion, suffering , temptation, Jesus rested in the love of his father. Psalm 91 describes this resting as taking refuge, or as dwelling in the shelter of his father.

And so friends, when we fall into temptation, we are showing a lack of love for God….and yet praise be to God, when we fall into temptation, we repent, knowing that Jesus passed the test we failed, knowing that his love for the father was and is enough for us.

Let us pray