Not Always Easy

Matt 4:1 "The Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil."

 

Talk about a head scratcher. Look at this: Jesus was led by the Spirit. That's a good thing, right? I mean, this is the Trinity in communion and communication. The Holy Spirit was at work in Jesus' life in that He communicated with Him and told Him to do things, say things and go places. Jesus, being perfect, did what the Spirit led Him to do. In this instance, the Holy Spirit told Him to go into the wilderness. I wonder if this is the same wilderness that John wandered around in? It is the same word…a solitary, lonely, desolate, uninhabited place. Frankly, it does not sound like a fun place to go to. Maybe if you were going to have lunch with John the Baptist it would be OK, but to just go into the wilderness…Why? Here is the kicker: "To be tempted by the devil." Whoa. Wait a minute. The Holy Spirit directed Jesus to go to a lonely, deserted place for the very purpose of being tempted? Didn't God know what He was doing? Why in the world would God the Spirit ask God the Son to go to a place where He was going to be tested? But as the Spirit led, Jesus went and when He went He encountered the very thing that He went for…temptation. The devil hit Him with the big three: The lust of the flesh (you are hungry…eat), the lust of the eyes (all this can be yours) and the pride of life (prove who You are.). The result? Jesus passed the test. He came through the temptation by using the word of God to battle Satan. Great lessons for us.

 

Maybe that is why the Spirit led Him there…for us. He led Jesus there because He was a man. He had to be tempted in all points like we are, and He was, but He did not sin. He was tempted so that He knew what we go through and He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. And, He gave us a pattern on how to defeat temptation: His word.

 

The weird thing is this…the Spirit led Him into a place where we would think that the Spirit would not lead. He led Him to danger. He led Him to discomfort. This reminds me of the series that we just finished in church about chasing the Spirit of God…following His lead. It is not always going to be easy. It is not always going to be comfortable. In fact, many times it will be hard and challenging. Why? Because we need to be dependent. We need to rely on the One who understands what we are going through because He went through it. We need to depend on the power of the word of God. If Jesus had not gone into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, we would not know this…but now we do.

 

I may not like it, but I know Jesus knows.