MATTHEW 4: 1-11 

Matthew in the Margins…Lent 1…Revised 2020

The ‘Temptations’ are both preview & overview of what Jesus will face in real-life as He carries out His ministry. I'll use the word ‘testing’ from here on as I see ‘tempted’ as too theologically biased. Can a fixation on ‘tempting’ lead us to negative preach-ing, even escapist attitudes? How often do we hear the excuse, ‘The devil made me do it’? ‘Tested’ seems to me to open up more creative approaches to preaching Jesus' formative experiences in His wilderness, & our own wilderness experiences. 

If MT's ‘led by the Spirit’ lacks the vigour of MK's ‘the Spirit threw Him out’, are we sometimes ‘thrown’, in that we dismiss some genuine testing because it doesn’t seem tough enough? Before we expound on the evils of the ‘devil’, shouldn’t we be mind-ful of being 21st C people, not 1st C ones? Might preaching a 1st C Middle Eastern world view to a largely Western (?) 21st C church encourage escapist views regarding questions of evil today? Isn’t Evil too important an issue to be controlled by the flat earth society?

Jesus’ testing connects us back to Moses’ & Elijah’s testing for their ministries. Let’s keep our spiritual eyes open to all the biblical connections. Here, isn’t Jesus’ testing to prepare Him to be the True Messiah, rather than some phoney one? And ours, to prepare us to be faithful, genuine disciples? 

Might turning stones into bread symbolise a legitimate passion for social justice?  Might jumping from the Temple represent getting high on religion rather than God? Might the world view from high up represent getting to the top as an end in itself?

Jesus' refutation of His testings by quoting Scripture isn't an invitation to proof text-ing. Scripture is in every fibre of Jesus’ being. He draws on it deeply; not to be relig-iously correct, but because He Himself is God's Word.

The devil(s) defeated, they depart, & Angels, whether heavenly, or earthly ones, come & care for Jesus. Have they not been in the offing the whole time, yet keeping their distance till God's time comes for them to intervene? Angels, visible & invisible, can be a great strength in our own times of trial. More, why not ask if there are times when we are designated by God to be a ministering angel to someone in their testing?

Brian 

Afterthought: Jesus’ testings are cleverly portrayed in the film ‘Jesus of Montreal’ if you can get hold of a copy.