Journey into the Wilderness, Part 3

Hello everyone.

Today, we will continue our examination of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness.  In the second temptation recorded in Luke, Jesus is shown all of the kingdom’s of the Earth. (Matthew records this as the third temptation.) How Satan does this is unclear.  Luke does not mention the devil taking Jesus to the top of a mountain, like Matthew does.  Certainly there is no mountain that offers a view of the entire Earth, so it seems likely Jesus was shown some kind of vision.  Satan offers Jesus the authority over all of these kingdoms, and the glory and splendor that comes with them, in exchange for Jesus bowing down and worshiping him.  

Jesus, of course, does not take the bait.  He responds to the offer, again by quoting Deuteronomy.  This time Deut. 6:13, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.”  God alone is worthy of worship.  Jesus remains loyal to his Father, and passes this test as well.  When compared to the Israelites and their time in the wilderness, we all know about the golden calf of Exodus 32.  In spite of all that God had done for them, their loyalty wore out quickly, simply because Moses took too long coming back from the mountain to suit them.  Certainly, Jesus' time in the wilderness was paying greater dividends. 

Any way, let's get back to what was happening with Jesus.  What Satan is actually offering here is a little unclear.  We understand that Jesus has complete authority both in Heaven and on Earth, from Matthew 28:18.  In the Gospels we repeatedly see Jesus casting out demons, therefore having greater authority than the devil. So was Satan offering Jesus something that he didn’t really have to give?  At the time, we do understand that many in the world is under Satan’s control.  Was he offering to relinquish that control in exchange for one moment of glorification by Jesus? Unlikely.  More likely that Satan was asking Jesus to switch his allegiance away from God the Father to him, in exchange for earhtly glorification.  Even if this was to be a one-time action for Jesus, it would change everything, in Jesus’ relationship with His Father. 

So, if Jesus would bow down to Satan, Satan would allow Jesus to rule the Earth. But, it doesn’t seem to me that Jesus is looking to rule the Earth.  He rejects the idea of being made some kind of earthly ruler every time. Plus, what Satan is stating about his own authority is likely somewhere between an exaggeration and an outright lie. John 8:44 tells us that he is a liar and in fact, the father of lies. Darrell Bock says, “Would Jesus be drawn into seizing power and turning his back on God....The temptation was about seizing power on one’s own, apart from God’s promise and provision.  Of course, as later passages show, Jesus realized that there was only one source that could make this offer and that source was not the one addressing him now.” (Bock, 376.) Satan was making an offer that was a much easier path to glory than the one God was offering. But it wasn’t real. 

Compare the path to glory that Satan is offering to the path that God was offering.  Satan offered a much easier path.  Notice Phil 2:6-11.  God’s plan involved Jesus ‘making himself nothing,’ being ‘obedient to death - even death on a cross.’  But in the end, Jesus is exalted to the highest palace.  Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess. There are no shortcuts to glory. 

Stein points this out.  In Luke 9:23 Jesus calls his followers to take up their Cross.  Here, Jesus was faced with the same choice. (Stein, 147) Would he take Satan's easier path to glory or his Father's harder road.  Well, we all know how it turned out.  Jesus chose to keep his alliegence with only one worthy of it, and that has made all the difference. 

Tom 

    Darrell Bock, Luke Vo;ume 1 - 1:1-9:50. Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Academics, 1994. 

    Robert Stein, Luke, Nashville, Tennessee, B&H Publishing Group, 1992. 

Journry into the Wilderness, Part 2

Hello everyone,

Today, I will continue to examine Jesus' journey into the wilderness.  We looked, last time, at how the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. It appears that the devil spent forty days tempting Jesus, but Luke only specifically records three of these temptations. 

Luke 4:2 makes one of the great understatements in history.  After not eating for forty days, Jesus was hungry. Satan’s temptation of Jesus attempts to exploit the hunger after not eating for such a long time.  He tries to get Jesus to turn stone into bread.  I ask myself, though, what is the problem here.  There is no command in the Bible that says you can’t turn stone into bread.  Nowhere does the Bible say, "Thou shalt not turn stones into bread." So what then is the temptation here. 

There are different thoughts about this particular temptation and what it means, because the act of turning stones into bread is clearly not sinful. (In fact, who other than Jesus could even do it?) From the various ideas that I read, the one that makes the most sense to me is that in doing so, Jesus would no longer be trusting in God’s provision.  Remember that he had been led here by the Holy Spirit, and was trusting in His Father for everything.  He was going to trust God to meet all of his needs, and not taking his cues from the devil.  Also, we never really see Jesus using his miraculous abilities to benefit himself, only other people. It reminds me of Phil. 2:6 “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage.” (TNIV)

Jesus responds to the devil's temptation, by quoting from Deuteronomy 8:3, "man shall not live on bread alone." (Matthew adds to Jesus' response the continuation of Duet. 8:3 “but every word that comes from the mouth of God.”) Jesus quoting from Deuteronomy recalls how God had provided for the nation of Israel for forty years in the wilderness.  All of their needs were met. (Read Deut. 8:1-4). Jesus always trusted in God’s provision, but certainly he was trusting in that for these particular 40 days. Although Jesus could have turned stones into bread, he did not.  Instead, he continue to trust his Father to provide for his needs. 

The Israelites wandering in the wilderness, however, didn’t seem to trust God for anything.  In Exodus 14:14, with the Egyptians on one side and the Red Sea on the other, Moses responds to their grumbling, saying, “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Moses seemed to take these words to heart.  The Israelites did not.  They complain non-stop throughout their journey.  In Exodus 16 they complain about food, saying basically “Why didn’t God just kill us in Egypt?” (my paraphrase) Yet, God provides food for them.  In Exodus 17 they complain about water.  God provides it for them.   In Numbers 11 they complain about the manna that God has provided them with.  In Numbers 14, they refuse to trust that God would take care of them in the Promised Land. They constantly fail to trust God’s protection and provision in the wilderness. 

In this first temptation we see Jesus succeeding where the Israelites failed.  He trusted completely in God, in spite of his circumstances, whereas the Israelites did not.  They whined and complained about everything, and were fortunate to make it through the wilderness at all.

Robert Stein ties two scriptures to support the point of trusting God for our provision, Luke 11:3, from the Lord’s prayer, “Give us each day our daily bread.” and Luke 12:31 “Seek first His kingdom and all these things will be given you as well.” (Stein, 146) The call then is to seek God’s kingdom and trust God for provision.  No matter what. Like Moses said by the Red Sea, we need to learn to be still and let God fight for us.  Allow God to work the miracles.  Of course, I don’t have the ability to turn stone into bread.  (Personally, I would rather turn stones into pie.)  But what is the equivalent of turning stones to bread for me? Do I worry and complain, refusing to believe, like the Israelites? Or am I really trusting God’s provision for me?  

Tom

                    Robert H. Stein, Luke, Nashville, Tennessee, B&H Publishing Group, 1992.

Journey into the Wilderness

Hello everyone. 

I have recently finished going through Luke telling of the temptation of Jesus in Luke 4.  There is lot that can learn from Jesus here. The story begins with a double reference to the Holy Spirit. It starts by stating that Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit and then that the Spirit led him into the wilderness.  Jesus was very attuned to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.  But we have to understand that the Spirit did lead Jesus into a time of testing.  

This is the second time in Luke that we see someone being led by the Spirit to a certain place.  In  Luke 2, Simeon was led by the Spirit to the temple to see the young Savior, and now that Savior has been led into the wilderness for this time of prayer, fasting and testing before kicking off his ministry.  There is an interesting comparison here with Mark's account.  In Luke, Jesus was led into the wilderness, but Mark uses a different word.  He uses the word ἐκβάλλει (ekballei) which means to throw or cast.  So in Mark's account, Jesus was driven into the desert by the Spirit. A lesson for us, sometimes, when the Spirit leads, it is rough, without soft landing spots.  

Robert Stein suggests that this time of temptation was initiated by the Spirit rather than the devil.  He says that Jesus was not just being passively drug around the wilderness, but that God is the offensive, confronting the devil. According to Stein, God was the initiator here. (Stein, 145).

Matthew records that the devil came at the end of the 40 days.  Mark and Luke say that Jesus was in the wilderness 40 days, being tempted. These do not have to be inconsistent.  The three recorded temptations may be the culmination of a long period of temptation.  In fact, it is likely the devil tried to tempt Jesus his whole life, not just these three times. Now, I know that Jesus was “God in the flesh,” but He was still ‘in the flesh,” and subject to all of the temptations that we are. He said ‘No’ for forty days (and beyond.)

Heinz Schurmann (from Bock, 363) points out that Jesus is obedient to God in a way that others are not.  He uses this example: Jesus succeeds in the wilderness, where the children of Israel failed so miserably in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. I appreciate Schurmann's comparison to Jesus in the wilderness to the Israelites in the wilderness. (I also appreciate Bock reading Schurmann's commentary Lukasevangelium, since my German is limited to the phrases, "Please", "Thank you", "I don't understand" and "Where is the bathroom?") Like Jesus and the Israelites, we will all have our own journey through the wilderness.  Over my next three posts, we will look at each temptation.  We will see how the Israelites failed the test, but Jesus passed. 

            

            Darrell Bock, Luke Volume 1: Luke 1:1-9:50, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Academic, 1994.

            Heinz Schurmann, Lukasevangelium, vol. 1, Kommentar zu Kap, 1,1-9,50, Herders theologisher Kommentar zun Neuen Testament 3, Freiburg:Herder. 

            Robert Stein, Luke, Nashville, Tennessee, B&H Publishing Group, 1992. 

          

We're Important!

Hello everyone.

With today's post, I am wrapping up my study of Luke 3.  It mostly consists of a list of geneologies going backward from Jesus to Adam. In doing my own translation, I will confess that I found the spelling of the names in English to be difficult.  Obviously, some like Abraham and David were pretty easy, but others like Mahalaelell and Arphaxad.  So I did my best, and then checked every spelling against the King Jesus Translation.  Where they were different, I went with the KJT spelling. 

Any way, Luke starts this section by telling that Jesus is starting his ministry and then breaks into Jesus' lineage. Luke does not give the age of thirty as definitive, but says that Jesus is about thirty when he begins his ministry.  So it has been about eighteen years since we have seen Jesus and he has grown up and spent about a decade working as a carpenter, a trade he learned from his father Joseph. 

It was assumed that Jesus was the son of Joseph, and Luke gives a genealogy for Joseph goes all the way back to Adam.  In Luke’s narrative, it has been well established that Jesus was the son of God, but now, using the genealogies, Luke traces Jesus’s bloodline through all of Israel’s history and through the primeval history to Adam, and then concludes with “the son of God.”  Luke shores up his claim that Jesus is indeed the son of God. 

Personally, I have wondered at times the significance of these lists of geneologies.  Luke and Matthew have them and the Old Testament is filled with them.  These lists of names take up a lot of space.  Paul Copan helped me out in understanding something about these genealogies.  He says, “The Old Testament reveals a God who has a global (cosmic) plan, and who involves humans as history-shaping participants in that plan. Yes, humans matter.  The Old Testament’s genealogies reflect the important role that humans play in the unfolding of God’s purposes. (Copan, 217) People matter to God, and He uses human beings to accomplish His purposes.  It seems that God uses a lot of space in the Bible to make this point, but perhaps that is how important this point is. We, humans, are important. You're important.  Isn't that great?

Tom

     Paul Copan, Is God a Moral Monster, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Books, 2011. 

Well Pleased

Hey Everyone, 

Today, I will continue the story of John the Baptist in Luke, by looking at how Luke relates the story of John baptizing Jesus.  Luke give the actual baptism.  Matthew tells us more about the actual baptism. Luke basically says, “John was baptizing and he baptized Jesus too.” (paraphrase of Luke 3:21)  And that’s about it.  The focus here seems to be not on the baptism, but on God's response to Jesus’ prayer afterwards.  Only Luke mentions the prayer.  Both Matthew and Mark mentioned the voice from Heaven coming as Jesus was coming up out of the water, while has it happening as Jesus was praying.  Did Jesus immediately break into prayer after his baptism?  Possibly. 

While praying after the baptism the skies open and the Spirit descends upon Jesus and a voice says, “You are my son, whom I love.  I am well pleased with you.” The Spirit appears in bodily form.  He takes the appearance of a dove and descends upon Jesus. God then makes a statement in three parts.  He identifies Jesus as His son.  He declared that Jesus is beloved and He declares that He is very pleased with Jesus. The word God uses to described His feeing for Jesus is εὐδόκησα (eudokaysa), a form of the verb εὐδοκέω (eudokeo).  In the Greek-English Lexicon of New Testament words, εὐδοκέω means 'to take pleasure or find satisfaction in something, be well pleaased, take delight." God, in this statement is making His testimony: Jesus is His son and God the Father is very well pleased and satisfied with His son. 

Luke has been presenting Jesus from even before his birth as something quite special. Gabriel said that Mary’s son would be holy and would be called the Son of God.  The angelic choir states that a savior had been born.  Simeon and Anna spoke about Jesus as the redemption of Israel. John has stated that there would be one coming after him who is stronger and who he himself is unworthy to even untie his shoes.  Now, even God has given Jesus his endorsement.  Luke has given his readers overwhelming testimony to the uniqueness, specialness and awesomeness of Jesus. In the words of the angelic choir.  'Behold, a Savior.'  Let's all dig deep into God's word and get to know this amazing savior, Jesus. 

Tom

Shouting in the Wilderness, Part 3

Hello everyone.

Today, I will continue to look at the ministry of John the Baptist in Luke.  Luke mentions that the people were expectant of the Messiah. (Luke 3:15) I'm sure that John’s message of coming wrath would likely encourage the thought that the Messiah was coming soon. in fact, many people were questioning in their hearts as to whether John could be the Messiah.  It appears that this was something that they weren’t necessarily saying out loud, but ‘in their hearts.’  John addresses it anyway, talking about one someone coming after him who had a far greater worth. In his denial of Messiahship, John offers three statements about this one who would come after him.

First, he will be stronger than John.  (Luke 3:16) Luke has repeatedly shown Jesus’ superiority to John throughout the birth narratives of chapter 1, and now John himself confirms.  'He will be ἰσχυρότερός (iskyroteros) stronger than me.'  John says that the stronger one coming was so much greater than he was, that John was not even worthy to loosen the strap of his sandal.  We understand that Jesus is the Stronger One.  Compare with Mark 3:23-29.  No one can bind the strong man unless he is even stronger.  

Darrell Bock tells us that during Jesus time that untying of the Master’s sandals was the responsibility of the slave.  But the act was so degrading that Hebrew slaves were not to do it.  John is saying that he is so unworthy, in comparison to Jesus, that he is not even worthy of performing the most menial and degrading task for this coming Stronger One. (Bock, 321)

Second, He will bring a different baptism. John’s baptism was in water. The Stronger One, Jesus, would bring a baptism of the Spirit and with fire.  It is not exactly clear what John means by this and theories abound.  Robert Stein suggests two ideas.  1) We do see Spirit and fire together in Acts 2, on the day of Pentecost.  The apostles are filled with the Spirit as what appears to tongues of fire come to rest on them. 2) John is talking two different baptisms, both brought by Jesus.  A baptism of the Spirit for the obedient, and a baptism of fire (judgment) for the disobedient. (Stein, 134-135.) (Personally, the second option here makes the most sense to me, but am open to other meanings.)

Third, He will bring judgment. John illustrates the judgment by comparing it to a process that most of his audience was undoubtedly familiar with.  Using the winnowing fork to separate the wheat (good) from the chaff (bad.) The wind blows the chaff out from among the wheat.  The wheat is gathered into the barn, while the chaff is gathered and burned.  As we draw near to Jesus, we will be gathered by Him into Heaven. 

Luke 3:18 tells us that John continued to preach good news to the people.  So far, his repent-or-else message may not sound like good news, but it was, because John was preparing the way for the Stronger One, Jesus, to arrive. 

John's message really challenged the people to repent. And he continued to preach this message even to  rebuking Herod the tetrarch. (Bock points out that John 'exhorted' the people, but 'rebuked' Herod, maybe evenly publicly. (Bock, 328-329.) We can only imagine what he might have said to Herod that was harder than ‘children of snakes.’) One of the issues of the rebuke was Herod’s marriage to Herodias.  She had been married to Herod’s half-brother, but both Herod and Herodias ended their previous marriages so that they could be together. So two marriages are destroyed so that Herod could violate the Old Law by taking his still-living brother’s wife. This, however, was not the only issue.  Luke mentions the marriage to Herodias, but also states that the rebuke came for all of the other evil that Herod had committed. Then Luke states that Herod adds to his many sins by putting John in prison.  We know that the eventual outcome from this is that Herod has John’s head cut off.  Herod eventually silences the voice shouting in the wilderness, but before he had completed the task God gave him to do, to prepare the way for the Lord. 

Tom 

     Darrell Bock, Luke, Volume 1 1:1-9:50, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Academics, 1994.

     Robert H. Stein, The New American Commentary: Luke, NAshville, Tennessee, B&H Publishing, 1992.