2023-02-26 The Way of the Kingdom
Matthew 4 vv 1-11
- First Sunday of Lent. We'll be in the Gospels.
- v1 - Wilderness. Throughout the Bible, the wilderness is a place of testing and temptation. Nobody goes into the wilderness and comes out the same.
- Jesus consistently goes into the wilderness for solitude, testing, temptation. The Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness. This is where the tradition of Lent comes from.
- The wilderness is a place to pursue, not avoid.
- v2 - Jesus is about to be tested. A good test reveals the truth.
- v3 - 1st tempation: Jesus is hungry. Temptation is to turn rocks into food.
- A: Jesus always uses scripture to respond. The responses always reveal the truth about the temptation. Jesus' ministry is not ONLY about meeting physical needs, social justice, and alleviating human suffering. These things are important, but the Kingdom of God is about souls and not just bodies.
- vv 5-7 - 2nd temptation. Why would Jesus do this? To go viral - all the skeptics would be silenced
- A: Jesus discerns that this temptation would make the kingdom ONLY about souls. Jesus cares about our souls but also about the physical and social wellbeing of people. 1 John 4 vv 20-21
- Inverse of the first temptation
- A: Jesus discerns that this temptation would make the kingdom ONLY about souls. Jesus cares about our souls but also about the physical and social wellbeing of people. 1 John 4 vv 20-21
- v8 - 3rd temptation. Devil is offering all the kingdoms of the world.
- A - Ends vs means. Jesus' kingdom is about means, not just ends. The way things are done, matters. No shortcuts. Matthew 16 vv 21-23
- v11 - Jesus wins. He resisted the devil, and the devil fled from Him. Jesus stayed on earth to establish a kingdom that was about alleviating suffering AND saving souls. Jesus is the way - the way we come to God, and the way God comes to us.