Desert Temptations - Part 4

(See parts 1, 2, and 3 also.)

We also discussed a theme brought up by Eric that centered on the questions, "Did Jesus know all along that he was Messiah and his ultimate work was the cross and resurrection? Or was it a gradual process that was revealed to him since he kept his divine nature in check?" We find in Luke that at the age of twelve, Jesus referred to God has "my Father" which indicates he knew he had a special relationship. He's baptized by John in Matthew 3, heaven is ripped open with a dove descending, and Jesus must see he has a special calling. The temptations seem to suggest that in his humanity, Jesus is coming to realize the full extent of what it means to be Messiah.

First, he's tempted with a fleshy need. "Hey, I'm chosen. And I seem to have special gifts. Can't I just use them to help me out? I am REALLY hungry. It would be so easy. Look at all these stones. Just a snap and poof. Bread!" If we may, we felt it was like Bruce Almighty. Once he realized who he had become, he worried about his own desires. The red sea parted in his soup, his jalopy became a Saleen, and his girl friend, well, never mind.

Second, it's about privelege. "Well, hey, I'm chosen. I'm special. I can do whatever I want and God will protect. How many times does he promise to protect me? Let's just have a little fun. Plus, it's been awhile since I've seen angels." Can anyone think of any similar situations?

Third, "Hey, now, I have power, true power. I can feed my armies and raise them when they die. All of this could be mine. And I wouldn't have to get hurt." If we may, we felt it was like Anakin in Episode III. He was surrounded by volcanoes, burdened by war and pain, masterfully manipulated by a liar, and caught between his love and his mentor. And all he wanted was peace and life, but in his own way, through his own might, and he would kill to get it.

And Jesus stood his ground. He humbled himself and trusted in God through His promises. He quoted from two consecutive portions of the Torah. In Hebrew, these portions are called "parashahs" and the two from which Jesus quoted are called Va'etchanan (which means "I pleaded") and 'Ekev (which means "because"). At the end of each parashah, the last few verses are called the maftir and summarize the portion. Listen to the maftirs of Va'etchanan and 'Ekev.

The maftir of Va'etchanan (Deut. 7:9-11):

⁹ Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. ¹⁰ But those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction; he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him. ¹¹ Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today.

The maftir of 'Ekev (Deut. 11:22-25):

²² If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow—to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways and to hold fast to him- ²³ then the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you. ²⁴ Every place where you set your foot will be yours: Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the western sea. ^{[a] 25} No man will be able to stand against you. The LORD your God, as he promised you, will put the terror and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go.

More to follow.

Desert Temptations - Part 3

(See parts 1 and 2 also.)

During the second temptation, the tempter takes Jesus to the highest spot of the temple and says something like, "So, you're the Son God. Throw yourself down since it is written,

'For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;

they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"

We read through Psalm 91, the psalm the tempter is quoting. Why did the tempter pick this verse? Did Jesus key in on "trust" in verse 2 and gain confidence knowing that if trusted, and not tested, God would be his "fortress"? Did he gain strength from verse 13 where if he trusted, "young lions and serpents you will trample underfoot." The serpent image took us back to the garden, the temptations there, and the promise that the snake would have his head crushed. Did he picture Adam and Eve and know this time he could prevail with the help of God? (The lion image bothered us abit since we thought of the lion of Judah but by the end of the night we found other verses that made this work quite beautifully. We'll describe later.)

Maybe fear stole into Jesus' heart when he thought of verse 16, "I will satisfy him with long life and show him salvation." Standing at the "highest point", he might have been on the corner of the temple where the shofar is blown to announce the offerings. In his humanity, did Jesus know that years from now, at 3pm, the shofar would sound and he would breath his last on the cross? (I have more on thoughts on this here.)

Maybe the "long life" verse brought him to another scripture, "...so that you may enjoy long life. Hear, O Israel". Shema! Hear! Hear, O Israel. Yes, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one! And maybe his mind raced through that section of Deuteronomy to verse 16, "Do not test the Lord your God as you did at Massah."

What happened at Massah? Israel was on their way to Sinai from Egypt, being led again by the Spirit, and they quarreled. "Give us water", they cried out! "Is the Lord among us or not?" In the heat (day), in the cold (night), in the desert they doubted and they quarreled. God of course provided, but the people did not trust. Would Jesus succeed and place his trust in God?

(Disclaimer, take this paragraph with a grain of salt since I'm not a linguist and don't read Hebrew yet).
Moses named the place Massah after this event. Originally, it was called Rephidim, which is the masculine form of rphiydah, which means "balusters" according to Strong's Dictionary. The Israelites are in a place called the "balusters", or the place of railings. Did Jesus grab this "railing" when he looked over the edge of the highest point? Did this "railing" of God's Word save him?

Ginger pointed out the story following Massah. Maybe Jesus remembered what happened next, the battle with the Amalekites. Joshua fought against them and was victorious as Aaron and Hur "lifted up" Moses hands. God would lift up Jesus, but in His time. Did Jesus picture the crucifixion again, but this time sense victory? Did he glimpse that he too would be lifted up as Moses lifted up the snake so that God's love could be shown for the whole world?

And Jesus responds, "Do not test the Lord your God."

More to follow.

Desert Temptations - Part 2

During the first temptation, the tempter says something like, "Hey, you've been fasting forty days and you're hungry. So, you're the Son of God, make some bread!" Was it a sin to turn stone into bread? Clearly creating bread could be good since later on Jesus feeds the five and the four thousand. So what else is happening?

Did Jesus look down at the stones to which the tempter was pointing? Considering the desert is covered in stones (I'll post pictures once my server is back up), he must have seen stones all over the ground. Stones covering the ground. Covering the ground. "When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor." Manna came from heaven because the Israelites grumbled and did not trust God to provide. They tested Him and asked to be fed immediately. Did Jesus picture the stones as manna on the desert floor?

Jesus' response in Matthew is, "Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." The beginning of the verse that Jesus is quoting reads, "He humbled you, causing you to hunger, and then feeding you with manna." Did the stones all over the desert floor remind Jesus of manna? Did he picture it? Did he then remember this verse about manna and living on every word from God? Surely his stomach was grumbling, just like the Israelites. But he didn't voice his complaint. He didn't grumble. He was being led by the Spirit and he trusted. Jesus tamed his tongue, and he did not speak to turn these stones to bread. We found this train of thought so encouraging because it shows us how we can resist and the temptation will flee.

Lily's awake. More to follow.

Desert Temptations - Part 1

With friends this week, we had an excellent discussion on a story from the gospel according to Matthew that relates how Jesus was tempted in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11). I hope to capture the highlights here. If I miss anything, please let me know, and feel free to contribute or discuss with comments.

The first question was asked by Michelle, "Does the tempter really have the authority to give away the kingdoms? Who gave it to him?" We noted that Jesus refers to the "prince of this world" but didn't go much further with this.

We spent most of the evening wrestling with the significance of the three temptations. The gospel according to Luke seems to stress that Jesus was tempted for forty days. Surely he was tempted more than three times, so why are these three mentioned?

We discussed the similarities with the beginning of Matthew and the Exodus of Israel as recorded in the books of Genesis, Exodus, and Deuteronomy. We noted the following:

1. In Genesis, a man named Joseph (who was the son of Jacob, the great grandson of Abraham, and ruler of Egypt) took Israel to Egypt to escape hardship (famine). In Matthew, a father named Joseph (also the son of a Jacob according to Matthew), took Jesus and his mother to escape hardship (murder by Herod).
   
2. In Exodus, the Israelites were then immersed in the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds) after they left Jesus. In Matthew, Jesus is immersed in the Jordan by John.
   
3. In Exodus, the Israelites were then led by the spirit of God into the desert (with a pillar of fire and a pillar of smoke, two pillars--like the strong legs of a shepherd). Likewise, in Matthew, Jesus is led by the spirit into the desert.
   
4. In Exodus, Israel spent about forty days getting to Sinai. In the Gospels, Jesus spent forty days in the desert. (We also wondered when Jesus entered the desert. Wouldn't it be something if he left right after Passover? Just like Israel?)
   

The rest of the evening was spent studying if particular events in the exodus of Israel out of Egypt to Sinai could be related specifically to the three temptations. Matthew seems to be explicitly drawing events from Jesus' life that tie back to a dominant theme to the people of Israel, the Exodus.

More to follow.

Simcha

Simcha...Hebrew for joy. RVL often talks of the joy and passion with which he has seen orthodox Jews celebrate and praise God. I experienced a taste of it this Saturday. Lily and I were walking to the hardware store to buy parts to fix the toilet. (I guess if we were Essene we could have waited till Sunday, but we're not, so the deed must be done.) On the way there, we passed a group of ten or so young boys lead by a woman on their way to synagogue for Shabbat. A bit chicken, I feebly ventured out, "Shabbat Shalom." All the boys turned around to me and yelled, and I mean yelled back, "Shabbat Shalom!!" Then they hopped and skipped on their way while giving me a few strange looks. It was fun to see and Lily squealed in delight and clapped.