From the Waters to the Wilderness

Well, I'm excited to bring you what is an intriguing and, quite frankly, dramatic moment in all of Scripture. The title of our message today on this great last day of Unleavened Bread is From the Waters to the Wilderness. From the Waters to the Wilderness.

At the baptism of Jesus Christ, the heavens were opened up. The Bible says that the Spirit of God descended, and the voice of the Father declared, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

On that moment, in that moment, it really was a declaration of identity. Identity being proclaimed, a moment in which it was confirmed exactly who Jesus Christ was before God. Jesus was the Father's beloved Son, and that Father was well pleased with him. And with that, then, we might expect from that moment, from that baptism, that Jesus would immediately go into triumph, immediately would begin to perform powerful works, and receive recognition of that identity that was then proclaimed.

But we know from the narrative of the Gospels, that's not what happened. Because almost immediately, and quite frankly abruptly, he was led away. Away from those baptism waters, away from the presence of others, away from this visible moment of affirmation, and he was driven by the Holy Spirit into a wilderness, where he would find himself at that time tempted by the devil for 40 days. So from the waters, those waters to the wilderness, the wilderness becoming a place of testing. That's quite remarkable, you know, to consider this. Before a single miracle was performed, before a single sermon, if you will, was given, before his ministry began in this proclaimed outward way, there was a confrontation, a testing, a proving, to, in a sense, a confirming of the identity that had been proclaimed.

And brethren, that movement from the affirmation of being God's Son to the testing is profoundly important to us to understand, especially when we observe these days of Unleavened Bread. Because it reveals something vital about the Christian walk. Let me give it to you. It's this.

Once our identity by God in Jesus Christ is revealed, that affirmation will always be followed by a spiritual testing. Did you know that? Again, it is that our commitment through baptism from that day and the days to come will be followed by a testing of that commitment. In other words, when a life is set apart by God, it does not remove us from the testing of our faith and the testing, the presence of the temptation of sin.

So, often it is from that point that we have a sharper focus, and if we are honest, this is something that we have all experienced. After moments of clarity, after moments of resolve, after decisions to change, after renewed desire to put sin out of our lives, there can be and come a struggle. And often it may come to us as an unexpected struggle, a pressure, a testing that seems to rise precisely at the moment that we're trying to move forward. Why is that? Why does the path of commitment so often lead us into challenge, like it did for Jesus?

Well, it is because the wilderness experiences that we endure and encounter, these wilderness moments of testing, they are not interruptions to our spiritual journey. They are part of it. That's something to really internalize today. Let me give that to you again. Our wilderness experiences of testing, they are not interruptions to our spiritual journey. They are part of it. And this is what we see modeled in this striking story that we come to today, from the waters to the wilderness.

So, remarkably, and is the pattern before Jesus calls us to overcome our wilderness temptations and tests, he himself enters into that very wilderness himself, showing us the way and giving us the example. And so today we're going to step into that moment, and we're going to turn our hearts and minds onto this whole encounter of Satan and his attempts to turn Christ away from God and make no doubt this story revealed to us in the gospel will have an immense spiritual impact.

It will be a great help to us as we look forward from these days of unleavened bread. So if you're ready, I'm ready. Let's get right to it. I invite you to open your Bibles once again, and let's turn to Luke chapter 3 verse 21. This is where we'll begin. Luke 3 chapter 3. And we're going to begin in verse 21.

We're going to back up a little bit from the moment in which Jesus is whisked away by God through the Holy Spirit. And we come now to this baptism moment. Let's begin here. Luke 3. Let's begin reading in verse 21. Luke records, When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus was also baptized.

So you have this visual of him kind of waiting in line there for his turn. And while he prayed, the heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon him, upon Jesus. And a voice came from heaven and said, You are my beloved Son, and you I am well pleased.

And then verse 23. Now Jesus himself began his ministry at about 30 years of age. And then from verse 23 to verse 38, you have the genealogy leading us to Luke chapter 4 and verse 1, and this wilderness temptation attempt by the devil. So let's begin there. Luke chapter 4, beginning in verse 1, we will read through verse 13. Again, one of the most sacred and profitable moments in all of history. Luke records it this way. Luke 4 verse 1. Then Luke records, Jesus being filled with the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for 40 days by the devil.

And in those days he ate nothing, and afterward when they had ended he was hungry. Verse 3. And the devil said to him, here's the the first of three temptation attempts, and the devil said to him, if you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread. And Jesus answered the devil, saying, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. Verse 5. Then the devil, taking him up on a high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment.

And the devil said to him, here's the second attempt, temptation attempt, the devil said, all this authority I will give to you and their glory, for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, verse 7, if you will worship before me, all this will be yours. And Jesus answered and said to him, get behind me, Satan, for it is written, you shall not worship the Lord your God, and him only you shall serve.

Then, verse 9, he brought Jesus to Jerusalem, set him up on a pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, here's the third temptation attempt, if you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here. For it is written, he shall give his angels charge over you to keep you, and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against the stone. Well, Jesus answered and said to him, it has been said, you shall not tempt the Lord your God. Verse 13, now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. Let's stop there.

Again, I got to tell you, these are very sacred, very profitable words here. For all of mankind. And so what do we know? What do we know immediately when we come into this narrative here? Well, right off the bat, we know from the beginning this is a cosmic struggle between the devil and the Son of God himself. The struggle begins remarkably with a fast, a 40-day fast by Jesus. Again, filled with the Holy Spirit. There in verse 1 and 2, this is after his baptism, he's now led by the Spirit into the wilderness. 40 days then, he goes without food, tempted by the devil. Ate nothing for those 40 days.

And at the end, end of verse 2, Luke records, and he was hungry. I'm sure he was, yes. Well, you know, we would know that, right? I'm not sure if Luke, the doctor, was just being over-detailed. But you know, you wonder why did Luke mention that?

Perhaps it was to address some of the erroneous speculation of the day. There was some false teaching that somehow Jesus was not fully man, and that he was really more just God here on earth. It was a prevalent false notion of that day. And so many would say, well, in hearing this recording from Luke, they would say, okay, 40 days, 400 days, what does it matter? After all, he's God. He's not fully man, you know, trying to discount the story, the events right from the beginning. That was an erroneous belief where they tried to make Jesus so much God, they made him less than human. So perhaps Luke is right in the beginning here trying to correct that false notion. Now, he didn't eat for 40 days, and he was hungry. He records. So, I think if you would have seen Jesus at that time, he would have been showing the signs of that fast. He would have been somewhat emaciated, I'm sure, gaunt, perhaps gray in color. So you'd have been able to see the effects of this fast. So this was a moment of physical weakness, for sure. And it is right in that moment when Jesus is feeling low, very low physically, that the devil decides, this is an opportune time for me to come to him and look to persuade him, to tempt him away from his father and away from his mission here on earth. So here, in verse 3, we have this first temptation attempt. And it's quite a remarkable attempt. He says there in verse 3, the devil said to him, if you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread. Why don't you just, if you are the Son of God, why don't you just make it into bread and eat? Interesting. First temptation attempt. What do you think it means? What was the essence of it?

Very interesting because we know in the previous chapter we read of the Father's voice from heaven proclaiming Jesus Christ's identity. You are my Son. And then here in chapter 4, verse 3, the devil's voice comes and says, if, right, well if you are the Son of God, it's always the way, by the way. I hope you stand guard against this type of verbiage from Satan the devil. It's always the way. You know, if you look at the history of scripture and you see that this kind of verbiage, this kind of evil skill set comes into picture, did God really say, you know, or do you think that's really true?

So when you think about this in deeper and in terms of Jesus's humanity, Jesus, again, appears there at the Jordan River. He's baptized by John. The Spirit descends upon him in this bodily form like a dove. Heaven's part. They hear the voice of the Father. You are my Son, and in you I'm well pleased. And Jesus must have said to himself at that point, this is great. Some 30 years of preparation. Here we go. I'm ready to get started.

Let's go. On with my ministry.

So where did he go? Well, to the wilderness, it says. Whose idea was that? Well, is God the Father. God led him by the power of the Spirit into the wilderness. And here he is not eating. First day, second day, not eating. Third day, fourth day, fifth, sixth, some 40 days. And in the midst of all that, this cosmic struggle is taking place.

Now, I bring that up because it is in light of that fact that Jesus had just heard the voice from heaven from his Father. You are my Son. It is in light of that that God now leads him to this amazing conflict and struggle right at the outset of his experience.

So you can imagine here, this moment, allow me a little conjecture here. You know, the devil comes and approaches him in the opening conversation here. I don't know, Jesus. Look at this horrible place. Why are you even here? I mean, if you're the Son of God, and I say if purposely here, you know, I saw that scene as well. It was quite a scene, you know, at the Jordan River, the voice, the dove, the whole thing. But I just want to suggest to you, Jesus, that maybe what you thought happened, I don't know. Did it really happen? Because after all, if you were the Son of God in whom the Father's well pleased, don't you think things would be going a little bit better for you than they are now? You're not a day or two into it, and here you are, alone, seemingly forgotten. I mean, look at yourself. You haven't eaten, and here you're all talking to me, the devil would say. I don't know if things are going too well for you.

I don't know, Jesus, it seems like perhaps what you thought happened maybe didn't. Are you really the Son of God? We can sense that up, that question right now. We can turn these rocks into bread and go ahead and eat, see if you can even feed yourself, you know. A little bit of conjecture there, I know, but I think that's the essence of it here. Many commentators say this first temptation from the devil to Jesus was simply Satan tempting him to use his divine power for personal benefit. Okay, to satisfy the hunger, turn the stones into bread. There might be an aspect of that that's true, but is that the actual essence, you think, of this first temptation? Simply use your divine power, Jesus, for personal benefit. That's the temptation, to provide a physical need to satisfy. Maybe, maybe, but I wonder if that's the fullness of this temptation, because I think perhaps at its essence, at its very essence, this is a temptation to doubt. To doubt. Doubt whether the father loved him or not. Doubt whether the father had his best intentions in mind. Doubt whether he was actually pleased with him or not. When he's here in the most devastating circumstance, to doubt these things, and to perhaps even consider, I'm being punished by the father. Surely, this circumstance is a punishment.

After all, I'm seemingly forsaken, buffeted, facing the worst of these days. I'm tempted to think that God the Father has left me. So, perhaps I should just take it on my own. Take it alone.

And the devil would have been very quick to support that kind of thoughts. Well, of course. Oh yeah, you're thinking correctly there, you know, he would have said. I don't know, far from him being pleased with you, I think maybe just the opposite, Jesus. And this is some sort of punishment. So, go on it on your own. But, look at Jesus's answer. It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. This is a quote. We won't turn there. This is a quote from Deuteronomy 8 verse 3. Deuteronomy 8 verse 3 for your notes. There. Doubt. Doubt in the love and the care of the Father, and that doubt is creeping in by looking at your surrounding circumstances. What do you think the context was from this quote that we find in Deuteronomy 8? Some of you know, of course, that's the context of God providing the provision for his people in their wilderness wanderings. Right? Another wilderness event where God's people were rescued, brought to rescue in a dramatic moment. The Father showing his strong hand in love and care, and now they're in this wilderness wandering. And God the Father supernaturally providing the the manna. What is the temptation that they fall into in that moment?

Doubt. Doubt. Is he still with us? Maybe we should just even stayed back in Egypt, you know? I guess that would have been better.

You see. So, be bringing this personally. Be bringing this personal temptation attempt to your life today. This is a powerful—it's a devilish—temptation. Doubt the Father's love for us when we find ourselves in the midst of the wilderness. Is this a temptation for you?

Are you falling vulnerable to the devil's voice, believing somehow he's left you, believing somehow he's not pleased with you, believing somehow you're not his son or daughter, feeling moved to go at it on your own? Is this your temptation of doubt today? It may then breach into the temptation of impatience. It may move into the temptation of self-will instead of God's will, growing weary, beginning more and more to lose faith in God, and finding yourself putting faith in yourself. So, if you're in that moment, respond the way Jesus does. Think about these things. No, I'm going to live by every word of God. And yes, let me remind myself, the Father has promised to look after me. And in fact, I know it is by his very power that I'll be able to endure these things. Yes, it is true. The Father does allow and even move us into these dreadful wilderness situations. It's pretty dreadful. It's pretty barren. It's pretty ugly. It's a ugly place to be, of course. I'm prepared to give you that devil. But listen, I will not do what you say, because my Father does love me. And my Father knew I would be foodless. And my Father knew I would be famished. And my Father knew you would even be here. And so, if I were to do as you suggest, it would be an act of disobedience and against his will, an act of lack of faith. And I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to believe your lies, even in the wilderness. My Father still loves me. And I am still the son or daughter of my Father, you see. And he will get me through this wilderness experience. The wilderness experience is not an interruption to our spiritual journey. It is part of it. The Israelites needed to learn that. And Jesus Christ is teaching us that fact. There are going to be moments in which the Father allows access, limited, controlled, measured access to us in order to test and deepen our identity as his son or daughter. But with every temptation, he will provide a way of escape. That's the promise. He will help you bear under it and through it. Why? Because he loves you. And if you're in the wilderness, it is not because he's left or forsaken you. Just the opposite. Just the opposite. So that's a powerful first temptation that we can learn from, of course. Is it yours? Let's go to the second temptation here. That's found, staying here in Luke 4. That comes to us in verse 5 through 7 here. We're here, Luke records, then, not having success with that. The devil, taking him up on a high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Jesus, So the devil here proposes that Jesus should establish his messianic kingdom at that time by making a compromise with him. The devil proposes. Why don't you just bow down to me? I can give you what you seek. You can achieve all authority in this earthly kingdom.

And get this. The devil says, and you'll be able to achieve it. You'll be able to achieve it without struggle or without suffering. That's the real key here. The devil says, you can have all of this without struggle and without suffering.

Isn't that what he's saying here? This is a powerful temptation. In other words, there's another route I can offer you, Jesus. It's a route that does not require pain, suffering, and it is a route without sacrifice. You can have it today. Whew! Now, we know that Jesus would come face to face with this particular temptation.

No doubt, the devil wanted to present this second temptation over and over again at different opportune times. Jesus faced this particular temptation there in the Garden of Gethsemane a few hours before his death in his humanity, vanquishing in anticipation of that crucifixion. What does he say there in the final prayer? Father, if it's possible, please allow this cup to pass from me. If it's possible, let's go that way. You know, I wonder in that moment if he would have remembered the voice of the evil one in this moment here in the wilderness. Why don't you just accept the kingdom from me, the devil said, without pain, without suffering, partnership with me, and you can have the world without crucifixion, without suffering, without a narrow road, without a crown of thorns.

But Jesus in that moment said, no, not my will. Your will be done, Father. And in the moments passing, he stood up, straightened his shoulders, and went forward according to the will of his Father, and moved him toward what would be his crucifixion. That was the narrow road. And here, Jesus's response there in verse 8, he says to him, Get behind me, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God in him only you shall serve. So rather than the path of no suffering, Jesus chose the route of self-denial, self-sacrifice, the narrow road he rebukes Satan, and chooses the way of struggle and conflict, chooses the way of suffering here, testing and trial.

By the way, the same suffering and temptation comes our way. As today, the devil says to us, you do not have to believe all that stuff about the narrow road. You don't have to go into this whole thing of picking up your own cross and following Jesus. Don't do that, the devil says. I have a way of doing it without all that pain or suffering, and it's much easier. It's a broad road, the devil says. Don't believe that nonsense of self-sacrifice. You can have all that the world offers you today. That's the devil's offer to us today, the temptation to us. This particular test came again to Jesus. When you know about these temptations and you're reading the gospel accounts, you actually see these other opportune times that Satan the devil influences and brings forward. You remember there was a moment in which Jesus gathered to group together and he said, now I'm going to go up to Jerusalem and I'm going to suffer. I'm going to be crucified on the third day and I'm going to rise again. And what does Peter say? Lord, this will never happen to you. That's not the route you want to go. He said, urging Jesus to take a route without pain, without suffering. Go outside of God's will. And what does Jesus say to Peter in that moment? Get behind me, Satan. You see, Jesus knew these temptation attempts were going to keep coming and coming. And it wasn't Peter. It was Satan the devil was using Peter for this particular temptation. So, how are you doing with this one? Let me just tell you unequivocally that following God through Jesus Christ is not without cost. To truly give our lives to the Father and to the Son is to accept a life which includes sacrifice. It's that simple. It includes surrender. It includes suffering. But it's not a suffering or sacrifice that's empty.

It is seen. It is seen. Every time we choose obedience over convenience, every time we resist sin, when no one else is watching, every time we endure hardship rather than compromise, God sees it and Christ understands it. Because our Savior took this very same road and he had victory. He had victory. And so, when we suffer for righteousness sake, we are walking in Jesus Christ's footsteps. And these sacrifices, though, are preparing us for something eternal. You know, we've said it many times, but it is the truth. These sufferings in the present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which will come. So, recognize our mission today is to give God all the glory. We become a kind of living sacrifice today and we give Him all the glory. We give Him our life. We bend ourselves to Him in every way for His glory. But God's wonderful because in the end, God says, I want to share my glory with you. And that's what Jesus prayed about there. He says, I pray for the time in which those you've given Me that we'll be able to share our glory with them for all of eternity. That's wonderful to think about. But today, today, we are to pick up our own cross. We are to become a living sacrifice for God. And it's a noble mission in preparing for the return of Jesus Christ and the salvation of humanity.

We give Him all the glory today. One day He will share His glory with us. That's pretty awesome.

Now, verses 9 through 11 were confronted by the third and final temptation attempt here, where the devil now leads him to Jerusalem and stands at the highest point of the temple here. Let's read this. Verse 9 through 11. Then he, the devil, brought him Jesus to Jerusalem, set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, again, here's the question, well, if you are the Son of God, throw yourself down for here. From here. For it is written, He shall give His angels charge over you to keep you, and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. Let's stop there. Another fascinating attempt here, this final temptation here. With this one, I think we're brought to one of the most subtle dangers in the life of faith. The devil brings Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple. The temple at that time represented God's presence. This is, he's quoting from Psalm 91. So this speaks of protection, angels protecting promises as he's urging Jesus to throw himself down here. So this is the temple as a representative of this place of protection here, and promises for protection. So what do you think the essence of this temptation is? You know, each one of these could, you could probably glean a multitude of things. For me, I think the essence of this third temptation is the temptation for control. Control. We all want control in our lives, right? We want to be in control of our circumstances, what happens to us. So this is an invitation for Jesus to step outside of the Father's will and still expect the Father to rescue him anyway. So the temptation to step outside of the Father's will and still then expect the Father to rescue him. Create a crisis and then demand divine intervention. What does that do? That turns relationship into obligation, doesn't it? It whispers, if God truly loves you, if God truly is with you, then he will act when you decide he should act. You see, it's man's desire to have control. This hits close to us here today. How often are we tempted to place conditions on our trust? God, if you answer my prayer in this way, then I will. Fill in the blank. God, if you will remove this trial, then I will. Then I will. God, if you prove yourself here or there, then I will trust you. I want to, I'm desperate to gain some kind of control here.

But, brethren, that is not surrender. That is negotiation, isn't it? And God does not enter into negotiated trust. Okay. And Jesus' answer here is, states that fact, you shall not tempt the Lord your God. Cut straight to the heart of the matter.

Jesus refuses to manipulate the Father's promises. Can we fall victim to that? Try to manipulate, control the Father's promises. And Jesus here, though, refuses to step outside of obedience, just to force a demonstration of God's power. Because true faith does not need to manufacture moments to prove that God is faithful. True faith just knows it. I'll repeat that. That's a, that's a perhaps good to put on your bathroom mirror if you're feeling this temptation. True faith does not need to manufacture moments to prove that God is faithful, to prove that God loves you. To prove that God is pleased with you. No, true faith just knows it. And trust in God.

Faith is not about compelling God to act. It is about yielding ourselves to His will.

And even when He seems silent, even when there's no obvious rescue, visible rescue, even when we stand on the edge of uncertainty, in this moment, Jesus would not throw himself down from the temple. He would just simply trust in God in His promises. He didn't have to, He didn't have to manufacture something to prove it. He just knew. And so in that, He releases control, full control and trust over to the Father.

No matter what we're facing, no matter the wilderness, shortly thereafter, in the days and months and years to come, we know Jesus would allow himself to be lifted up on a cross.

And there, no angels intervened. Not because the Father was absent, but because the Son was perfectly trusting and perfectly submitted.

But here, He would not test God in the temple, but later He would not abandon His trust at the cross. You see, full trust. So that changes your prayer. It changes your expectation. I know you're still here, Father. Help me respond to this wilderness event according to your will. I don't want to step outside of that will.

I want to move in such a way where I am showing the evidence that I'm your son or your daughter. You see? I want to have full trust in you, no matter what comes. So we are called to a faith that does not demand rescue on our own terms, a faith that does not require signs to remain steady, a faith that does not test God in moments of pressure, but instead we are called to a faith that rests fully, humbly, and obedient in God's will. Even when we stand in the pentacles, even when it seems uncertain, even when deliverance does not come the way we expected, we trust. We trust.

Well, the temptation, the third temptation, ends there. And the wilderness temptations end as well there in verse 13. With this, we'll work toward a conclusion as well. So there in verse 13, Luke records, now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. And we mentioned a few, of course, those opportune times that came again and again, his attempts to overturn God's purposes through Jesus Christ. But Jesus Christ defeats them all. Every temptation attempt. And just know we have access to that same victorious spirit, that same power. We have that same power available to us today, you see. So the same spirit that moves us to these wilderness events is the same spirit and the same power that will get us through them, you see. That's how wonderful it is. As followers of Jesus Christ, we can tell the devil in these moments, get behind me, Satan, and we have the power available to us to resist him. So may we use this power. May we use this power that's on full display here in the victory over Satan. May we have victory from the time that we rose from those baptism waters, even as we are ushered into the wilderness testing today. And to come, may we find a way of escape to bear under each temptation, so that in the end we too will hear these faithful words. This is my beloved son. This is my beloved daughter in whom I am well pleased.