2022.04.02/03
From the Pastor’s Desk: Rev. Simon Lee
Dear brothers and sisters of RCAC,
We recently sang again the hymn “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” Yes, it was also for my sins and all our sins that Jesus Christ died on the cross. In my previous article, I shared how this Lenten season for me has been a time of deep reflection, as I try to go deeper into understanding the suffering of Christ especially in the last week of His life. I see that Jesus at the end of His ministry was “tested” three times (Mt. 22:15-40), and this reminds me that when he started His ministry, He was “tempted” by the devil three times as well. I wonder whether there is any lesson we can draw from that.
As said, in looking back at the first temptations of Christ, I was struck by the fact that He was led by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil. I discovered a truth I had missed before, that is, the first temptations of Christ are all in the sovereign plan of God. Christ’s temptations also prepared Him to be the High Priest who understands our needs (Heb. 2:16-18; 4:15-16). Let take a closer look at the first three temptations.
The first temptation of Christ by the devil was right after the 40 days of fasting when Jesus was physically weak from hunger. The devil wanted to take advantage of Christ’s vulnerability and said, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” (Mt. 4:3) This temptation involves first of all listening and responding to the devil and yielding to the devil’s suggestion of Jesus satisfying His own physical needs using His power as the Son of God prematurely, contrary to the will of God. Jesus in His response simply quoted the word of God (Deut. 8:3): “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” The first lesson we learn here is in all our own trials, turn our eyes to Christ and His Word.
The second temptation was when Satan took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down…” by subtly misquoting the assurances found in Scripture. This is the second time the devil questioned the sonship of Christ. This test of the devil again involves making Christ listening and responding to him and making Him to display His authority, ahead of God’s plan for Him, as if Christ needed to prove Himself to the devil. Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Deut. 6:16) The second lesson we can take away is we must never blame God for our trials and learn to submit to God’s sovereignty.
The third temptation was when “the devil offered Jesus a shortcut to His Kingdom” (Wiersbe), avoiding all the suffering Jesus knew He had to endure. This was when the devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. All Jesus had to do to enjoy all that pomp and glory, the devil said, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus responded by saying, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” (Deut. 6:13; 10:20) The third lesson is that we should never succumb to wanting to short-circuit our trials which are allowed by God, and focus on worshipping God, and God alone?
Some commentators have drawn comparison of Jesus by the devil with Satan’s temptations of Eve in the Garden of Eden. The first temptation was an appeal to physical appetite (Gen 3:1). The second temptation was an appeal to personal gain (Gen 3:4). The third temptation was an appeal to power or glory (Gen 3:5). Also, in each case Satan twisted and manipulated God’s Word.
Before Jesus began His ministry on earth, the devil wanted to test Jesus on His self-identity. Twice the devil explicitly started his temptation with these words: “If you are the Son of God…”and implicitly and more subtly by offering the devil himself as the ruler of the kingdoms of the world to be worshipped by Jesus. Jesus the Son of God became the Son of Man so as to be our Saviour and Lord. His Sonship was not taken away when Jesus came into the world as a man in all His humanness, tested by the devil. As said in the introduction, the author of Hebrews tells us, “For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Heb. 2:16-18) Christ’s complete triumph over human weaknesses as a man in fact demonstrate that He is the Son of God.
The author of Hebrews goes furthermore and assures us that because Jesus was tempted just like us but did not sin, that Jesus is a high priest that can understand our weaknesses and give us help when we are in need. He says, “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb. 4:14-16) Christ’s complete triumph over human weaknesses as a man further demonstrates that He is our Saviour par excellence.
One final reflection, in the first temptations of Christ, we see that word of God can be misused and misrepresented by the devil in tempting us, but it can also be used powerfully in fighting back the devil in our temptations. Therefore, we must know the Word of God well to discern what is the truth and what is falsehood, and be able to use it in our spiritual warfare, for it is “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Eph 6:17b)
Next: The first and last temptations of Christ (3): The last temptations
Your servant in Christ,
Rev. Simon Lee