Matthew 4:1-2
Perhaps the English doesn't get this right but according to my translation, the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted. Part of the Spirit's plan for his life was to face temptation. You would think that Jesus would be led into this time of solitude to be ministered to by the Spirit in preparation for his public ministry. You would think it would be a time of encouragement and building up. But the Spirit has another plan - to prepare Jesus for public ministry, he will be tempted (after he has fasted for 40 days and 40 nights).
I love the understatement: "After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry." I think I might be hungry after not eating for that long (I might be dead after not eating that long). I also love the timeline. There was no rush to capitalize on any press Jesus might be receiving after his baptism. There was no sense of urgency to get out there with the message that God had given him. The multitudes of people that needed healing would have to wait. The most important thing was to spend time - significant time - submitting to the Spirit's leading. We have no idea what Jesus did during those forty days. We have no idea if the three temptations that we read about were the only temptations Jesus faced. We have no idea what else happened. We just know that, in preparation for his public ministry, Jesus went out to the wilderness and was gone for over a month.
Today I am so driven by the urgent that I hardly take any time for rest. It's so easy to make excuses - it's September, there are people to recruit, there are recruits to interview, there are students to make welcome, Identity is coming (and it's fulller than we thought it would be), there are talks to prepare, there is curriculum to write and/or adapt... the list goes on. I always talk about taking time but I very rarely do it because there is another need to be met, another event to plan, another meeting to attend.
God, do I need to spend some time in the wilderness? Do you need to remind me of my purpose and calling? Am I taking time to hear from you? I know that there's a time for work but there is also a time for rest. Do I have a good balance?
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1 comment:
Very good point, and it is so true that we have no idea what else happened during that time in the wilderness. I wonder why Matthew is so vague about it. Also I agree that I myself get so wrapped up in what needs to be done that I hardly see the wilderness. Maybe we need to take more time and enjoy the view! HA I ripped off the views slogan!
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