Rev. Troy Lynn Pritt January 23, 2011 Page 1

Transcription

1 Rev. Troy Lynn Pritt January 23, 2011 Page 1 JESUS BAPTIZED AND TEMPTED Matthew 3:13-17; 4:1-11 Over thirty years ago I was on a Braniff Airways flight from Austin, Texas to Atlanta, Georgia. The stewardess had just served breakfast coffee, orange juice, sausages, and pancakes wrapped around strawberries with strawberry syrup. I was really enjoying this breakfast. Suddenly, the airplane hit an air pocket and dropped like a broken elevator. Coffee cups, orange juice, pancakes and sausage were flying through the air. My suit, shirt, and necktie received coffee and syrup stains. Stewardesses went around the plane with hot wash cloths and profuse apologies. If you think hard enough you can remember times when a special time in your life was followed by a hard or painful period. Numerous couples were married a few days before the new husband went off to war. Other couples have rejoiced at the birth of a baby and soon afterward they were faced with some illness or defect that required months of medical care and maybe surgery. Thousands of people have moved into a new home a short time before a flood or tornado took it away from them. Other couples have celebrated some accomplishment by their child only to lose that child to death shortly thereafter. When the Bible tells us that Jesus was tested in all ways such as ourselves, it surely had in mind His baptism which was followed by forty days in the Wilderness without food and among the wild animals. During that time He was tempted by Satan. The ordeal in the Wilderness and being tempted by Satan were greater than anything we could endure, but it was like the ordeals of couples described above.

2 Rev. Troy Lynn Pritt January 23, 2011 Page 2 1.) Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?" But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him. When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:13-17 NKJV) One time in West Virginia, Bishop Theophilus J. Herter, Th.D. and his wife visited my church. He was one of my professors in Seminary. It was Communion Sunday; we were receiving about six young people into the church. I felt like he should be the one who was preaching. John the Baptist felt that way when Jesus came to be baptized by him. The baptism of John the Baptist was a baptism of repentance. Jesus had no sins to repent but He received the baptism of repentance to identify Himself with the sinners He came to save. After He was baptized both Jesus and John the Baptist saw the heavens split open. They saw the Spirit of God descending as if a dove and a loud voice from heaven was saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. That was one of the few times that all three persons of the Trinity were present at the same time for someone from earth to perceive. Why did the Holy Spirit appear as a dove and not as flames of fire as on other occasions? The Spirit was there to ordain Jesus to His earthly mission. The first time Jesus came in humility and meekness preaching God s love. He will come again as fire to judge. "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." (Matthew 3:11-12 NKJV)

3 Rev. Troy Lynn Pritt January 23, 2011 Page 3 2.) Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'" (Matthew 4:1-4 NKJV) In a couple months it will be Lent. Many Christians will fast during Lent. That is good. No one can say they are following the example of Jesus. No human could go without food altogether for forty days and forty nights. Jesus was truly human so the fact that He went without food for forty days and forty nights was a miraculous work of God. He was led into the Wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil. God kept Jesus alive throughout this fast so that He would face Satan s temptations in a thoroughly weakened state physically. It is as if God were saying to Satan, My Son can whip you with one hand tied behind Him. Why was Jesus hungry? God led Him into the Wilderness to be tempted and to prepare for that temptation to deny Himself food. When Satan said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." Satan was tempting Jesus to turn aside from what God had commanded Him to do and satisfy His hunger. That is why Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy 8, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.' What God had told Jesus to do was His first priority. We pray Give us this day our daily bread. But are we willing to wait for God to provide it and be satisfied with what He provides? 3.) Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you,' and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.'" Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'" (Matthew 4:5-7 NKJV)

4 Rev. Troy Lynn Pritt January 23, 2011 Page 4 When I was a child and lived in West Virginia there was a mountain we called Tunnel Mountain. Whenever someone bought a new car, they would test it by seeing if it could go to the top of Tunnel Mountain in high gear. The word tempt means to test, to try something and see if it lives up to its promises. That is all right if you are testing a car or even soap powders. Satan took Jesus to the highest point of the Temple and he quoted two different promises in Scripture: 'He shall give His angels charge over you,' and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.' Then Satan challenged Jesus to throw Himself down and prove those promises are true. Jesus replied, quoting Scripture, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.' It is not faith if we have proof first. 4.) Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me." Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'" Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him. (Matthew 4:8-11 NKJV) This was the most outrageous of Satan s temptations. He promised Jesus what was already Jesus inheritance in heaven, where He is now King of kings and Lord of lords. He asked the most blasphemous of actions that Jesus would fall down and worship Him. One of the rewards to Jesus for His obedience in dying on the cross is that one day every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Satan promised Jesus what he could not give Him if Jesus would do the one thing that would destroy God s plan of salvation for man. In His weakened physical condition, Jesus defeated Satan at each temptation believing the Word of God, we can defeat him that way also.

5 Rev. Troy Lynn Pritt January 23, 2011 Page 5