Before the devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he had, many thousands of years earlier, tempted a man and a woman in a garden. The result then was a shift from Eden to a barren land. Now there’s to be another shift, this time from the wilderness to Eden. Jesus has come to restore the offer of Eden.
In this first study we look at the parallels between the two encounters.
For thirty years Jesus has seen firsthand what He, His Father and the Holy Spirit have long observed from heaven. As He prepares to counter selfish longings at a personal level, Jesus cannot ignore the global inequalities such longings have caused. John the Baptist described Jesus as God’s sacrificial lamb that will take away the sins of the world. Jesus knows He’s not only come to provide a remedy for personal sin, He also has to deal with the effects of global sin.
In this study we look at the first wilderness temptation recorded by Matthew, Mark and Luke.
Following the order in Luke’s Gospel, we now come to our second temptation, and find the devil already moving quickly to take Jesus onto higher ground. Clearly he’s not going to give up with Jesus until he’s used all three prongs of his attack. Having failed to ensnare Jesus by drawing on His inner longings, he now seeks to discover how deeply Jesus feels for this world He has created.
This test not only involves a relocation, but also requires a vision. The temptations are intensifying.
Twice now Jesus has replied to the devil using verses of Scripture. As we come to the third temptation (still using Luke’s order), we see the devil also quoting Scripture as he seeks to tempt Jesus on the basis of the pride of life. The devil has already lost out on being worshipped by God, which was, and undoubtedly still is, his deepest longing. However, the pride of life has often been the strongest part of his three-fold attack and he’s not going to give up easily.
The devil no doubt thinks that he may still get Jesus to compromise and ruin His mission. We are about to see what in many ways is his most elaborate temptation.
As we watch the devil slink away, we have to accept that he’ll be back. Getting rid of him will be a long-term project. There’ll be more challenges before the cross, and even then the mortal wound he’ll receive will not instantly eliminate him. It’s going to take an army of faithful people, transformed by the cross and living resurrection lives in the power of the Holy Spirit, to reinforce the upcoming victory. Just as the man and woman in Eden were able to walk and talk with God before making their choice, so for three years the people of Judea and Galilee see firsthand the realities of the kingdom Jesus has come to bring us into.
Two thousand years ago it was a surprise to many that in proclaiming His kingdom Jesus recruited the poor, the imprisoned, the blind, the oppressed and the marginalised. Today, He is still recruiting those who are humble enough to reach out to the tree of life and take up the now-restored offer of life that was rejected in Eden.
After planting many churches alongside Barnabas, Paul goes on a second missionary journey to check on how those churches are doing. When he returns to his base in Antioch, Paul hears about some churches that are coming under pressure to follow the legalism of the Law of Moses rather than the liberty found in Christ.
In this second chapter, we see Paul standing firmly by his principles, both in Jerusalem over Titus and in Antioch with Peter. Paul is back in Jerusalem, able to back up his convictions with his experience of ministering around Cilicia, and is delighted that once again he is endorsed. It is his confidence in his convictions in practice as well as in theory that gives him so much boldness.
The freedom emphasised in this chapter is not just a ‘freedom from’ but a ‘freedom to be’, particularly the freedom to be a person who fulfils the law through love. This emphasis on fulfilling the law is to be welcomed as Paul is not encouraging lawlessness but is pointing out that it is through the work of the Holy Spirit that we can become what God wants us to be.
In this chapter, we see clearly the benefits of living in a way that pleases the Lord but more than that we have before us the example of Paul who gave himself so unstintingly in serving the Lord Jesus that he ended up bearing the marks of his service in his body. This should be an inspiration to us as we reflect on the depth of concern and compassion that Paul expresses throughout this letter.
