Temptation Of The Christ

                                                                                                                                                     

This study is in no way meant to be comprehensive,  but rather  to stir independent study and ideas. Please share your thoughts for discussion.

Most  followers  of Jesus understand the importance of Christ living a sinless life, in conquering sin and death.  In the next paragraphs,  I will develop the idea  that conquering sin also meant Jesus to saying no to the temptations found in everyday life, caused by Adam succumbing to temptation in The Garden (Genesis 3),  but also saying no to The Temptation by Satan in the wilderness.   I also maintain The Temptation (wilderness) foundational to Jesus’ living a sinless life, which is key to The Kingdom Of God being re-established.

This is something almost every Christian knows intellectually - all I am saying is let's study this out so we realize the Temptation is perhaps as significant as some other events.

Christmas: - The arrival of Christ signaled God’s redemption of man back to Himself.  His arrival fulfilled prophecy, the Messiah had come. He was here to re-establish His kingdom after The Fall Of Mankind. After all, He couldn’t redeem man perfectly and legally, conquer sin and death by keeping The Law, unless He,  somehow arrived here first. Thus we have the miracle of Christmas.

Our celebration of Christmas means hopes for great renewal and joy.  Christmas is recognized by Christians and non Christians alike.  “The Holiday Season”  could have only have  been caused by the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us (John 1:1, 14).

Easter: -  The celebration of Jesus’ resurrection after His atoning death on the cross. The bodily resurrection of Jesus conquering sin and death after His ultimate act of love on the cross, is the definitive picture of God (Heb 1:3) (1 John 4:8).  As Paul says, The Resurrection is the linchpin of Christianity (1 Cor 15:18-20).

The temptation:  It's obvious that every event in Jesus's life here on earth had great significance. Only tongue-in cheek do I even suggest a holiday for The temptation in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-12 & Matt 4:1-11). I not only think this is a significant event, but a necessity - one that Christians should not only recognize, but rejoice in.

When we read the account of Jesus' temptation by Satan, after fasting for forty days, we must realize, Jesus was fully man as well as fully God (Heb 2:17-18). He was hungry, thirsty, feeling the extreme stress of exposure and dehydration  you and I would feel.

Jesus came to earth with a simple mission: Restoring The Kingdom. That was priority one in God's plan.

Satan, wanting to keep possession of the world’s kingdoms,  came to Him, in the desert wilderness,  in what Satan believed  was  His weakest physical  moment - remember, Jesus was fully man. Satan didn't realize that it was also one of His strongest spiritual moments. After all,  Jesus, was connected to God The Father intimately through prayer and was fully God  Himself.

One lesson we learn from this, and every account of Jesus’  life, is that it was, and is, vital to stay connected to the Father through prayer. He showed  us that the only way we can live The Kingdom Life and show it to others, is to stay connected to  God the Father.

God made man in His own image. In doing so, He gave us free will.  Free will was the trait God intended and hoped  would be used to choose only Him (out of extreme love for Mankind). Freewill needed to be dealt with – notice it did not need to be corrected.   Freewill is the God given trait that allowed Mankind to make the right choice, the choice to obey in the Garden, the choice to choose God. 

The only perfect method a perfect God could use to let us choose Him freely was to give us the option not to choose Him. When man fell and couldn’t save himself, He sent us a Savior to re-claim the Kingdom and reconcile us back to Him, again, by our own free will – by choosing God come to earth! – Jesus, The Christ.

His love for us is unquestioned. That's why God made us in His image, Christ (God on earth) paid a tremendous price on the cross,  and I know He would do it again for you and I, along with every atheist, every cop-killing, kidnapping, hypocrite criminals against babies, kittens and all of humanity,  out there. However, our salvation is just a side lite, a by-product of conquering sin and death - the reclaiming of The Kingdom OUT OF LOVE FOR YOU, MYSELF, AND ALL OF HUMANITY.

That is the ultra-superlative - on steroids, beyond comprehension,  love displayed at the cross. Love never fails (1 Cor 13:8). The ultimate  to re-establish The Kingdom (conquering sin out of Love for you and me). He was resurrected, bodily,  to live in The Kingdom forever with the Father (conquering death, out of Love for you and me). God’s love for us, for every human being, cannot be over emphasized.

Jesus’ work here would be incomplete and imperfect had He not dealt with temptation,  and chosen God. You see, sin could in no way be conquered by dying and being resurrected alone.  Sin could only be conquered by sinless living, then dying and being resurrected.

At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, the Bible says He was “sent out” into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  He HAD to defeat the root cause of sin and death.  Jesus, before He atoned for sin on The Cross, and after living a sinless  life where the daily temptations of life had been rejected, and there are / were many, it was time to deal with temptation once and for all
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Remember, The main thing Jesus was going to do on His mission, was to tell about The Kingdom. It was time to set Satan straight about where He (The Kingdom) stood on selfishness and all greed and sin that mankind is tempted with.

Almost  every choice we make, every way of the world  vs. The Kingdom Of God is counter intuitive
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First He rejected Satan’s appeals to His personal needs and comfort, letting the tempter know that God supplied His needs. Next He rejected political  power.  The Kingdom way is “love conquers all” and He let Satan know this, quoting him the Word.

Satan didn’t understand this at all (and us, for the most part). This could have advanced Jesus’s agenda considerably – think of how many people could have been fed, healed or otherwise helped had Jesus taken the bait of temptation. He needed to teach the lesson that the Kingdom does not reform it transforms. The Kingdom doesn’t love. The Kingdom is love,  The Kingdom is only advanced by Love, and God is transforming love!

Jesus was a spiritual leader. He  wasn’t the political leader the Jews expected The Messiah to be.  He, as the exact representation of The Kingdom, was here to transform with love, instead of reform with politically or militarily.

This is a part of the reason Jesus was rejected by the people who had given Him a hero’s welcome (the citizens of Jerusalem)  just a week before they called for His death.. Satan didn’t understand this, the disciples didn’t understand this, the Jewish masses didn’t either, and I’m not sure I would have either.

But I am sure glad my Savior did and does  understand, and could do the hard things for me! This is the reason to be mindful, as well as grateful for His complete work.