Title: POWER ENCOUNTER

Focus: As we face inevitable spiritual confrontations, let us learn from Jesus’ power encounter with the devil.

Function: To move the people to enter spiritual confrontations with a deep sense of trust that in Jesus Christ we have strength and victory.

Text: Matthew 4:1-11

INTRODUCTION

I’m happy for the children in our midst, but I worry a bit about all those of you who are skeptics, who operate with a very narrow worldview of scientific facts and figures. The children (and others who have been drinking from the Postmodern mindset of new-age spirituality) will easily swallow the story about Jesus’ power encounter with the devil in the desert.

But I wonder about the rest of us. If your worldview does not allow for a devil and angels, you will be reluctant to enter this passage. If our notion of reality is limited to that what can be seen, touched, tasted, heard or smelled, then we must do some mental gymnastics in order to hear God’s Word today. We must make space in our minds and in our hearts for the invisible, for the realm of the spirits, for this highly significant spiritual power encounter between Jesus and the devil. Are we willing to do so?

I hope so, for by becoming aware of the spiritual realm, of the invisible circumscribing our visible world, we open ourselves up to hear the message from God’s Word. And when we enter the story of Jesus’ power encounter in the wilderness with a believing heart, we will also come to recognize our own encounters with sin and the devil. This is why I say with conviction: as we face inevitable spiritual confrontations in life, let us learn from Jesus’ power encounter with the devil.

THE PASSAGE: MATTHEW 4:1-11

As I crawled into the story of Jesus’ temptation in the desert near the beginning of Jesus’ journey to the cross of Good Friday and the open tomb of Easter Sunday, I was struck by biblical lightning.

Last week we observed Jesus’ glory moment called the “transfiguration.” And when he came down that mountain of transfiguration—what happened then? Matthew tells us in chapter 17 that Jesus rebuked a demon who had taken possession of a boy and caused all kinds of seizures and misery to the boy. The disciples could not cast out the demon. But Jesus did. And that happened near the end of Jesus’ earthly life.

This week we learn that Jesus has another power encounter. Right after Jesus’ glory moment of being baptized with water, and being anointed with God the Spirit, and being affirmed by the voice of God the Father, we notice that the devil goes straight for the jugular of Jesus’ divinity.

I was struck by this observation, because it rings a bell with my own experience. Have you ever noticed that high or deep spiritual moments in your life often run into depressive, or low moments of intense struggle, temptation, or spiritual confrontation. So, Calvary has a new pastor. The installation took place; connections are being made; the “Opening the Doors” master plan is being explored to put some wheels under it. We are at a high point, right now. Well, don’t stop praying! And don’t dose off into a cozy, spiritual sleep. Our enemy, the devil, is prowling around. For Jesus’ power encounter with the tempter underscores this truth: glory moments in our lives are wake-up calls for the devil. This power encounter, like the one near the end of Jesus’ life on earth, is of the utmost significance.

The first thing we note is the invisible hand of God the Spirit at work. Listen: “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.” Nothing happens by accident in Jesus’ life (nor in ours). There is divine intent or purpose in Jesus’ power encounter. The Spirit of God leads Jesus, the Son of God, into the wilderness. That wilderness becomes the boxing ring where the savior of the world must fight the prince of this world. In that desert, Jesus will ignite spiritual sparks, break out in sweat, and apply fasting as a physical discipline to pummel his body into a high level of intensity to engage in the fight of his life—and ours.

Don’t miss this truth: this boxing match is authorized, guided, and witnessed from heaven. The Spirit of God leads Jesus into the boxing ring; and the angels of God are ready to attend to Jesus after his third-round knockout punch.

Now let’s consider the fight. Round number one: The devil sneaks up on Jesus after Jesus has been fasting for 40 days and 40 nights. Jesus is physically weak and vulnerable; in fact, he is starving. He needs food to eat. The devil has found a weak spot. The tempter always looks for our greatest vulnerability and then he strikes: “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Here the devil asks Jesus to act upon His heavenly Father’s declaration at his baptism that Jesus is, indeed, the Son of God, and thus divine. Here the devil is tempting Jesus to overcome his hunger pangs by resorting to his divinity, rather than resting in and relying upon his heavenly Father’s provisions. But Jesus deflects the devil’s sucker punch by appealing to the Scriptures: “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Round number two: The devil switches tactics. If this Jesus is going to fight with the glove of piety, well, so can the tempter. The devil takes Jesus to the holy city, Jerusalem, and has him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”

How clever! Satan wants to silence Jesus, that is, get rid of him by inducing Jesus to apply Satan’s warped interpretation of Psalm 91. Note also, how the devil plays with Jesus’ divine identity by bringing it into his interpretation of Scripture. It’s like the tempter is saying: Look, I can understand that an ordinary Joe Blow would not take this psalm literally. After all, jumping off this temple roof will lead to death for most people. But listen, Jesus. You don’t have to worry about that because you are the Son of God. Aren’t you? But Jesus deflects this sucker punch by saying “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Round number three: The father of all lies takes Jesus to a high mountain and shows him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. And then, with a straight face, pompous like a gasbag filled with hot air, the devil says: “All this I will give you, if you will bow down and worship me.” Using lies, implying that the world and its splendor belongs to him, the devil holds before Jesus a shortcut.

By virtue of his baptism and anointing with the Holy Spirit, Jesus has begun his journey to the cross and the tomb. If he succeeds on that journey and manages to overcome all its obstacles, including death itself, then Jesus will receive splendor and glory fitting for the “King of kings and Lord of lords.” But if Satan can keep Jesus from finishing the cross journey of suffering and death, then Satan wins and his tyranny or reign of sin, misery, and death will continue forever. So the stakes are high. Will Jesus take the short cut or easy way out and bow before Satan?

Jesus is tired of Satan’s sucker punches; rising to the occasion, reaching back to the authoritative Word of God, Jesus deals Satan a knock-out punch saying: “Away from me, Satan. For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.”

INSIGHTS THAT ENCOURAGE

As we face inevitable spiritual confrontations in our journey of life, let us take courage and encouragement from Jesus’ power encounter with the evil one.

Here’s an insight of great encouragement: earlier we observed from Scripture that the Spirit of God led Jesus into this boxing ring called the “desert,” where Jesus had the fight of his life. There was divine purpose behind Jesus’ temptation. What was going on?

When Adam, the head or representative of the human race, lived in the Garden of Eden together with Eve, they had a power encounter: Satan, in the form of a serpent, tripped them and induced them to eat the forbidden fruit. As a result, sin entered the world, corrupted our human nature, and led to misery and ultimately death. Ever since that day, the curse of death, like a cloud, has hung over our world and heads. No one could pay the price of sin, because no human being has the power to overcome death. And no one has the strength to keep God’s will perfectly. Thus no human being can qualify to save the world, by paying the price of sin and disobedience.

No one, until God sent the second Adam—Jesus Christ. He is fully divine (the Son of God) and fully human—yet without sin. And as he begins his journey to the cross to pay for the wages of OUR sins, Jesus, like the first Adam, must face the tempter. Will he succumb, like Adam (and Eve) or will this Jesus withstand the tempter? If he wins the battle in the desert, then we may put our hope and trust in Him. If he loses the battle of temptation, then there is no hope for us.

Today I invite all of you to put your hope and trust in Jesus. For in Him, there is victory over sin, Satan, and death itself. How do we know? Crawl into the story of Jesus’ power encounter with the devil and note his knock-out punches!

With that invitation, I call upon all of us to take courage whenever we encounter temptation and the opportunity to sin. Learn from Jesus and take to heart the Word of God. For example:

· Be committed to stand by God’s Word. Read it, study it, feed your heart, soul, and mind with a steady diet of daily instructions and stories that inspire faith and strengthen our resolve to live as true followers of Jesus Christ. Contemplate the apostle Paul’s words to Timothy when he says: “…continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” In other words, take to heart the Word of God.

Also,

· Do not seek power encounters. Do not dabble in forces of darkness and sin. Stay away from places where sin is blatantly practiced or secretly committed. We do well to stay away from brothels to casinos, from Mafia activities in the dark to cheating on our tax forms in the light of our office or home. Do not seek power encounters. They will tend to come to us anyway. When they come, however, follow the advice of the Scripture. Sometimes, we can flee from temptation. In that case, do what Paul says, for ex. in his first letter to the Corinthian Church “Flee from sexual immorality” (6:18) or “Flee from idolatry” (10:14) In the case of temptations, fleeing is a good strategy to follow.

But if we can’t flee, then we must adopt the strategy of resisting. Listen to James, the brother of Jesus: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts” (James 4:7,8).
Or listen to the apostle Peter (I Peter 5:8,9) “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith….”

So be encouraged today! As we face inevitable spiritual confrontations, let Jesus’ victorious power encounter and his boxing strategy with the devil be an inspiration for all of us to follow.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.