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Spectacular

Spectacular

Words of Faith 3-21-18

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2018

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL

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Luke 4

 [9] The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. [10] For it is written: " 'He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully;  [11] they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"

 

      The final temptation must have been the most powerful. The temptation of the flesh was dealt with.  The temptation of the soul had been answered.  Now Jesus faced a temptation at the level of the spirit. I call it the temptation of the spectacular. 

     This time the devil even quoted Scripture.  Don't think for a minute that the devil does not know Scripture!  Don't think that temptation will always seem earthly and fleshly and have no "scriptural backing".  There are many temptations that sound very "spiritual" and have a great proof text to back them! 

        For Jesus this was the temptation to do something big for God.  Take a Huge risk and do something spectacular.  Do something that will draw the people.  Do something that will show people the power of God.  Do something spectacular, for the sake of the Kingdom, of course. 

      What a temptation this must have been for Jesus.  For centuries the heart of God had ached over the injustice of this world, the brutality of conquerors and the pain of sin and brokenness.  Now, what a chance!  Use a little flash.  Show some pizazz.  Show the Romans who is boss.  That would have been spectacular.    

      I am convinced from what we have revealed in Scripture that Jesus had enormous power at His finger tips.  There must have been a huge temptation to use this power from time to time.  When people ran Jesus to the edge of a cliff, there would have been a temptation to go over the edge and then levitate in front of them and say: "Excuse me?  Is this any way to treat a Prophet in His home town?"  You may think that ridiculous but if Jesus could walk on water how much more difficult could it be to walk on air? 

        Remember that everywhere Jesus went some of the Pharisees were grumbling in the back of the room with their religious objections. If the Angel Gabriel had the power to shut the mouth of Zechariah, don't you suppose the Jesus could have closed the mouths of His critics to their great embarrassment? That would have been spectacular.

        John tells us that Jesus was and is the Word who was present and active in creation (John 1:1).  John tells us that without Him nothing was made that has been made.  Jesus could have done any number of spectacular things.  We are awed when we hear that Jesus withered a fig tree.  But the wonder of Jesus may be that this tree was all that He withered.  He cursed cities which to this day are uninhabited.  He could have withered the entire Roman Empire.  That would have been spectacular.

        The wonder of the life of Jesus may not be the miracles Jesus performed but the ones he did not.  The mystery may not be in what Jesus did, but in how restrained he was.  The great miracle of the Kingdom is the obedience of Jesus to do the will of the Father, to become a servant rather than a king, and to die a transforming death rather than use His power.  That did not appear very spectacular.

       Have you ever noticed that the miracles of Jesus are always with a purpose and they are never self-directed?   They are motivated by compassion, or given as a sign, or simply to glorify God.   Jesus could have created food whenever he was hungry, formed Palaces on hillsides, and summoned chariots in which to travel.  But none of that was in keeping with His message of servanthood.  As Paul put it, Jesus humbled Himself and took the form of a servant (Phil. 2:6-7). 

       So Jesus answered the tempter.  "It says: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"  That was the final word.  In any of these arenas you don't test the power of God by attempting to force God into a corner or demanding the spectacular.  So the devil finally left...  until an opportune time. . .  

     The Scripture says: Resist the devil and he will flee you (James 4:7).  The devil was never far off but we never see another struggle like this.  The devil was on the run.  Even when we think of the cross and the many persecutions Jesus endured, He never let the devil get the best of Him and Jesus did not speak to him ever again.  He paid no attention to the devil except to order some of his underlings to vacate the people they were tormenting. Our job is to minimize the opportunity of the devil and not pay much attention to him otherwise. 

       So what are we to do with this text?  Of course we face similar temptations as individuals and as the church.  We face the same temptation to serve self.  We face the same temptation to buy into the power structures of this world.  We face the same temptation to force God to do something spectacular, all to glorify Him of course.

      How do we respond?  We immerse ourselves in Scripture.  Resist the devil. Draw near to God and He will draw near to us. There are holy habits that will help us with all this.  Much of what we call "Holy Living" has been abused as a form of legalism.  Most of the Holy habits-- fasting, prayer, searching the Scripture, solitude, etc.-- are out of style.  We need to relearn such habits with the knowledge that they do not earn salvation or even a greater degree of grace, but they so reduce the opportunity for the temptation and increase the opportunity for God in our lives. 

       Where are you today?  Only you and God know the arenas of your temptation.  Are you pressed by the temptations of the flesh?  The temptation to serve self?  How about the temptation of power, to buy into the world system of power at a compromise that means worshiping something other than God?  Or maybe you are tempted to name and claim something spectacular in your life, and in doing so to put God to the test.  Jesus has answered clearly. We live on Word.  We worship and serve only God.  We do not test God.

 

Father God, I am so grateful for Jesus.  Knowing that He has been tempted in every way and yet was without sin gives me strength and courage.  I know that He understands me.  Make Your Word a part of my inmost being.  Draw me near to You.  Lead me not into the place of temptation.  Focus me on loving You.  Give me strength in the time of temptation, when that comes.  In Jesus' name.