The Messiah is vetted! Matthew 4:1-11 July 12, 2009 During the presidential campaign the issue of vetting surfaced during the primaries. Hilary Clinton said, "I've been tested. I've been vetted. I have been in the political arena in our country very intensely for 16 years. I am going to be able to go up against any Republican who they nominate." According to answers.com: To vet was originally a horse-racing term, referring to the requirement that a horse be checked for health and soundness by veterinarian before being allowed to race. By the early 1900s, vet had begun to be used as a synonym for evaluate, especially in the context of searching for flaws. If an American politician needs vetted, what about a possible Messiah? One flaw would disqualify someone for the post. The Messiah was coming to save his people from their sins so it would be especially important to know how a candidate would stand up to temptation. We understand that regular people yield to temptation on a regular basis, but that tendency would disqualify someone from being the Messiah. So Matthew documents how Jesus was vetted before the race. He went up against the most deceitful of tempters, Satan himself. Matthew 4:1-11. Page 1134. 1 Then the Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the Devil. 2 After spending forty days and nights without food, Jesus was hungry. 3 Then the Devil came to him and said, “If you are God’s Son, order these stones to turn into bread.” 4 But Jesus answered, “The scripture says, ‘Human beings cannot live on bread alone, but need every word that God speaks.’” 5 Then the Devil took Jesus to Jerusalem, the Holy City, set him on the highest point of the Temple, 6 and said to him, “If you are God’s Son, throw yourself down, for the scripture says, ‘God will give orders to his angels about you; they will hold you up with their hands, so that not even your feet will be hurt on the stones.’” 7 Jesus answered, “But the scripture also says, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Then the Devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in all their greatness. 9 “All this I will give you,” the Devil said, “if you kneel down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus answered, “Go away, Satan! The scripture says, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only him!’” 11 Then the Devil left Jesus; and angels came and helped him. When I study the Bible I look for stuff that doesn’t make sense. For example, at first glance these temptations don’t seem very tempting. I’ve fasted before. At first you’re hungry but that passes after a few days. So Jesus could have easily said, “No!” to turning stones to bread. Or take the idea of worshipping Satan, that wouldn’t appeal to us. So why would Satan thing that would bring Jesus down? To understand the depth of these temptations, we have to get inside the Messiah’s head. Up until this time, he had been working as a carpenter in Nazareth. But he left there and went to the Jordan where John baptized him. Now he’s ready to start his ministry and that will lead to the cross. He has to bring about a complete paradigm shift from the Old to the New Testament, from the law to grace, from Judaism to Christianity. He came to serve and to save his people from their sins. And he only has about three years to finish the job. Pressure like that opens anyone to temptation. We also know that he’s compassionate. He’s willing to take risks. He’s has miraculous powers even if he hasn’t used them yet. He’s a brilliant thinker and planner and he has a lot to teach. And among other things he’s studied the Bible since he was a child. Satan would have made use of all these in search of a flaw to trick Jesus. 1st Temptation: “If you are God’s Son, order these stones to turn into bread (3).” If Satan had tempted Jesus to eat after 40 days of fasting, what would be wrong with that? The same thing as if he had used his miraculous powers in the woodshop. Jesus never did miracles for himself. When he came to earth he had willingly emptied himself. His powers were for serving others and to advancing the gospel. It’s arguable there was a greater temptation than eating. Satan may have been pointing at two stones or at thousands and millions. What if Jesus turned them all into bread. Think how many poor and hungry people he could have fed. Satan knew that would appeal to Jesus compassionate side. It would have been an exciting way to start his ministry. The headlines would read: Man Feeds Jerusalem as Rumors of Messiah Mount. But that wasn’t Jesus calling and he told Satan: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Satan uses the same strategy on us. Sometimes we’re tempted to do something just because it’s in our power to do it. Sometimes we feel entitled. We deserve something so we get it or do it or say it whether it’s wise or not. And sometimes we strive to help people but neglect their salvation. This is a tricky temptation. 2nd Temptation: “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “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 (6).’” Did you ever stand on a high bridge and have the urge to jump? After a second, it’s not very tempting. So why would Satan think Jesus would succumb to this one? There are two possibilities. 1. Jesus is about to begin his ministry to the world, but he only knows a few dozen people from Nazareth. And nobody knows who he is. So how does he begin? A PR specialist might suggest a publicity stunt. Jumping off the temple would get Jesus a lot of attention – an instant audience. 2. As he thinks about the coming whirlwind which it will be to accomplish everything he has to accomplish in a short time, Jesus knows he will be using amazing miraculous, powers. What if he crossed the line and went too far. He knows he will teach things that will go against some of the most sacred cows. It would be natural for him as a human to fear making a big mistake. The experts believe one cause of acrophobia is that people are afraid that when they get up high they’ll do something they can’t control or give in to a dangerous urge. Satan may have exploited something like this in Jesus by saying: Here’s the temptation, “Go ahead and throw yourself into miracles and teaching and you don’t worry about messing up. If you don’t believe me, believe God. The Bible says the angels will catch you. Jump off the temple and see what happens.” Of course, Jesus sees right through it and responds, Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test (7).” Leaping off the green steeple might tempt us. A publicity stunt like that would get a lot of people to come to church and cut out come hard work. There are all kinds of spiritual shortcuts that tempt us. For example, looking good on the outside is much easier than making serious changes. And let’s face it. We’d all love to do great things for God. We’d love to fill these pews. But then we get fearful. What if we make a mistake? What if we can’t handle the success? What if we start doing things that seem safe to us but then suddenly we start doing something bizarre. This is a very powerful and timeless temptation. 3rd Temptation: The devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you, if you will bow down and worship me (8-9).” On the surface this seems as tempting as offering meat lover’s pizza to a vegetarian. So why did Satan think this one would trap Jesus? Don’t picture him face to face with Jesus. That’s not how he tempts us. 2Corinthians 11:14 - he masquerades as an angel of light. How might he have approached Jesus in the dessert? Picture Jesus sitting on the sand planning ahead. He’ll need people to listen to him and he’ll be going up against the establishment. If he’s going to succeed, he has to have big time authority. The more authority he has, the more good he can do. Satan holds out something good. But Jesus would have to bypass the cross, jump right to the end and assume the throne of his kingdom. The worship of Satan would be taking the form of worshipping self – literally worshipping me. Why shouldn’t Jesus worship himself? After all, he was the Messiah. Jesus knew. He answered, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only (10).’” We all fall prey to the third temptation. We go the me-first route and entertain vaulted self-esteem. We often worship “me” instead of God. The path that God laid out for Jesus involved suffering and death on the cross. The path Satan laid out involved fame and fortune cost free. He tempted Jesus with a false start, a middle devoid of faith and a shortcut to the wrong end. But it would have destroyed Jesus and killed our only hope of being saved. Jesus aced his first tests. How did he do it. 1. He had a humble attitude. He didn’t believe that he was entitled to a care-free life. And he didn’t believe in the right not to suffer. So he wasn’t tempted by selfishness. 2. He had a mind filled with God’s word. I don’t think he knew what Satan was going to throw at him. It’s when we’re caught off guard that we’re easily tempted. But because Jesus was so immersed in God’s word, the specific verse that aided him was right there when he needed it. 3. He saw past the appeal of instant gratification to the eternal consequences of his actions. 4. He loved God and he wanted to please him. God was the major consideration in his resisting Satan. In responding to Hillary’s claims, Steve Brandt wrote in the Huffington Post said, “No on is completely vetted.” Temptation is a fact of life but so is the Messiah. And because of him we can take a stand for God and against the devil. Youth Message What comes before? When we’re not in school we have a lot of unplanned and unstructured time. And you know what that means? It means that we run out of things to do, we get lazy and bored. And that means we’re more likely to get in trouble. So to help us we want to learn what happens just before we do something we’re not supposed to do. That’s the time when we have a choice to do good or bad. So let’s think about it this way: If you walk into the house and there’s one boot on the floor and one on the ceiling, what can you conclude. That someone put it there. If there’s a boot stuck to the ceiling you know someone glued it up there. Let’s think of some other examples: What comes before an ice cube? What comes before a knee scraped on the sidewalk? What comes before a black eye? What comes before a puddle of milk on the floor? What comes before there a picture on the TV? What comes before we do something wrong? Temptation. If we pay attention, we can learn to spot temptation. When we do that it gives us time to pray and ask God to help. It also gives us time to think of why we shouldn’t do it and what we could do instead. God has promised to help us when we’re tempted but we have to want his help.