Transcript Document

Temptations in the Wilderness
Vinod Shah, CCIH Annual Conference, May 28, 2005
Scripture Reference
“As soon as Jesus was baptised …….was led
by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted –
Matthew 3:16
to
….….the devil left him and angels came and
attended him.” Matthew 4: 1-11
Matt 3:16,17 - Identity bestowed
And Jesus when he was baptized, went up
straightway from the water:
I and lo, the heavens
opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God
descending as a dove, and coming upon him;
17 and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying,
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Identity
• The reason why Jesus was able to overcome
are in these verses Matthew:16 and 17
• He had an identity
• “Beloved Son”
• Accepted before He accomplished anything
Suicide note of a Houston teenager
1985
“This is the only thing round here
which has roots”
He had hung himself from the tree
Socrates
• Socrates lived
during 470 B.C. to
399 B.C
• “Know thyself” to
young people
• Sentenced to death
for corrupting
young people
Identity not to be found in the
• Family Tree
• Occupation
• Race
• Amount of wealth
John Eldridge “Sacred Romance”
Says our identity is to be found in the phrase:
• “Pursued by my beloved”
• I am my beloved and His desire is for me
– (Song of Solomon 7:10)
• Menelaus, King of
Greece
• Paris- Prince of
Troy
Helen of
Troy
• Pursuit – 1000
ships
Pursued ones
Trojan Horse
Thousand ships
Hound of Heaven- Francis Thomson
I fled Him down the nights and down the days
I fled Him down the arches of the years
I fled Him down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind, and in the mist of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter.
Up vistaed hopes I sped; and shot precipitated
Adown Titanic glooms of chasmed fears,
From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.
But with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbèd pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat—and a Voice beat
More instant than the Feet—
'All things betray thee, who betrayest Me'.
Hound of Heaven-Contd.
Rise, clasp My hand, and come !"
Halts by me that footfall :
Is my gloom, after all,
Shade of His hand, outstretched caressingly
"Ah, fondest, blindest, weakest,
I am He Whom thou seekest
Reflection
• Does our identity come only from our
“occupation”?
• Can you be the “pursued one”?
1st Temptation - What does it
really mean
st
1
Temptation
• Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the
wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2 And when
he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he
afterward hungered. 3 And the tempter came and
said unto him, If thou art the Son of God,
command that these stones become bread. 4 But
he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not
live by bread alone, but by every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of God :
• Temptation to misuse God given gifts
•
Authority given in “stewardship” cannot
be misused
Pablo Piccaso 1881-1973
Most gifted painter of the 20th
century
• Changed mistresses like people changed
clothes
• Work of his last years was filled with
couples kissing, copulating and suffocating
each other.
• Utterly disconnected with reality; died
angry and resentful
St. John Chrysostom (Bishop of
Constantinople)
Constantly challenged the
wealthy to give.
•
He said: “you have to
give things away because
they belong to the poor.’
• Banished to die walking in
the wintry wilderness.
What have you got that you have not
received?
• 1 chronicles 29: 11 to 14
• “For everything in heaven and earth is
yours”…
• Challenge for us to consider about our God
given gifts
Stones to Bread…….
• Another way to understand this:
• As a diversion devised by the Devil
• Like a distraction
Blaise Pascal
• 1623-1662
• Brilliant physicist,
mathematician &
Theologian
• Pascal’s laws,
Hydraulic principle &
calculating machine
• What people want is not just a easy peaceful
life but rather a “diversion”
• People prefer to keep hunting rather than
capturing the hare
• They want to be distracted from taking life’s
most important decisions
• John Bunyan’s –
Pilgrim Progress
• Beelzebub set up a
“vanity fair” to divert
pilgrims from going
to the celestial city
nd
2
Temptation
Next, the devil took Jesus to the holy city and had him stand
on the highest part of the temple.
The devil said, “If you are God’s Son, jump off. The
Scriptures say:
God will give his angel orders about you.
They will catch you in their arms, and you won’t hurt
your feet on the stones.”
Jesus answered, “The Scriptures also say, ‘Don’t try to test
the Lord your God!”
*
nd
2
Temptation – “Just jump off”
Compel God to act
• God will have to rescue you thro’ his angels
• Temptation to manipulate & control
• Compelling God to act in a predetermined
way
Lord of the Rings
• Ring had to be
destroyed
because it was a
very controlling
thing (city of
doom)
• Only Frodo and
Sam Gamgee
could do it
Howard Hughes- the American
billionaire
• He liked to hire actresses – pay them, their
hotel bills and make sure they were always
at his beck and call
• He never gave them work to do
• He just enjoyed the control he had over
them
Reflection
• Are our relationships free from Control or
manipulation• Spouse
• Children
• Colleagues, committees
• If you love then set him/her free…
Temptation 2 – contd.
• Also can be interpreted as a temptation to
be “popular”
• Jump in front of the temple where
worshippers will applaud
Magic versus Miracles
• Magic is done to attract attention to oneself;
to impress that you have credentials
• Miracles are done – only to help others.
• Jesus was not a magician
Jesus’s weapon in winning people was not
power but love
Reflection
• What drives our behavior?
• How conscious are we about making an
impression on others?
rd
3
Temptation
Finally, the devil took Jesus up on a very high
mountain and showed him all the kingdoms on earth
and their power. The devil said to him, “I will give
all this to you, if you will bow down and worship
me.”
Jesus answered, “Go away Satan! The Scriptures say:
‘Worship the Lord your God
and serve only him.’
*
3rd Temptation- “All these things
I will give you”
Faust - Johann Goethe. (1749 –
1832)
Mephistopheles
Extract …..
• MephistophelesWealth shall be yours, beyond all fear or
favour. Be pleased to take your pleasures on
the wing, voluptuous beauty taste in
everything. And may you flourish on the
joys …
• Faust –
And soothe my soul to self sufficiency and
make me one of pleasure’s devotees. And
then take my soul… that’s a wager.
Michael Foucault-1926-84
If you met him…would be impressed
by his extreme intelligence and his
facility at answering the most difficult
of questions clearly and logically.
You would also be struck by his
punctilious but somewhat distancing
politeness and his avid curiosity about
ideas and events around him.
Foucault is a philosopher who uses
history to provide insight into human
experience and social interaction with
a view to inviting people to change
the ingrained status quo
Pact with death – for sex
• Pact as follows: To exchange life in its
entirety for sex itself, for the truth and
sovereignty of sex- sex is worth dying for.
“Risk is its own reward”
• A model for all the young homosexuals in
San Francisco
• Died of AIDS in 1984
Jesus did not make this pact
• Devil must have shown him all the
kingdoms- past and present
• He had a vision of a better kingdom
• Revelation 21- A new Heaven and a new
earth
No deals with God..
• Deals are made where there is mistrust
• God asks for full unconditional surrender in
full trust
Angels ministering to Him
• No one can say that they have been tempted
more than they are able..
•God knows when to stop