Maybe Lent is an ideal time to think of our own wilderness moments.
Right after Jesus’ baptism, the Bible tells us that God’s voice from Heaven said that Jesus was His son and He was pleased with him. That definitely seems like one of those mountain top moments to me. Jesus is following God’s will and God verbally recognizes him. It seems like peace and joy should commence, right?
The very next verse, has Jesus being lead by the Holy Spirit to the wilderness to be tempted. I’ve always wondered why. He was God’s son. Why the wilderness trial?
My pastor said on Sunday that it was because Jesus had been a carpenter up until this point. He couldn’t go from being a mere carpenter to the person God meant him to be. He required some training and testing from Satan. If he couldn’t pass the wilderness test, then how could he pass the ultimate test of willingly going to the cross?
This was a bit of a light bulb moment for me. We have all spent time in the wilderness and we have all been tested or tempted in some way, on our Christian walk.
When I got home, I looked up the account in Matthew, Chapter 4. Our pastor was preaching from Mark, but Matthew’s account has may more details. As a writer myself, I’m always very curious about the details.
Matthew’s version says that Satan tested Jesus three times and each time Jesus didn’t take the bait, unlike Adam and Eve, way back in Genesis, with their run in with the him. Jesus stood firm each time. When Satan quoted scripture and attempted to twist it to his liking, Jesus quoted right back to him the truth in scripture.
Notice, that Satan didn’t leave after the first, “no.” He kept at it, but Jesus didn’t waiver. I imagine Jesus feeling a little stronger and Satan a little weaker with each refusal to go along with his plans. He began on the sneaky side, but finally came out and said what he really wanted, which is the same thing he wants from us. He wanted Jesus to worship him.
That’s when Jesus quoted the perfect scripture, “Jesus said to him, “Away from me Satan! For it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'” Matthew 4:10.
What can we learn from Jesus’ experience in the wilderness that we can apply to our own lives when we experience wilderness moments?
First of all, God is always growing us. As long as we are on our journey, there is always room for growth. When we find ourselves in desolate places, it’s important to remember that God is with us. We are never alone. Jesus could have called out for help at any moment. He knew it. He didn’t, but he could have.
Secondly, knowing scripture really helps with our strength and resolve. We have an enemy who is very familiar with scripture. Shouldn’t we be too?
Lastly, Satan will always come after God’s people, but we have all the tools we need to resist. Best of all, we have the Holy Spirit. We too, have the ability to tell him to hit the road.
Because, the really awesome rest of the story that unfolded when Jesus told Satan to go, was he was first attended to by angels and then he began to preach.
His wilderness time lead to the greatest three years in human history.
What if God has great things planned for us following our own wilderness moments? It might be something to think about.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂