St Matthew, Chapter 4, verses 1 - 11, The Temptations of Christ in the Desert.

Today our headings are the temptations:  (The first temptation), (The second temptation), (The third temptation).

So far we have covered Chapters1, 2, and 3.  It is important to follow the transition between chapters and paragraphs because it tells the story of what is being said in the Bible. 

If these words were for a person who never read the Bible and was just beginning, we would try to convey some sense of connection of what has happened so far, so that the reader can maintain interest in what is being read.  Chapter 1, dealt with the history of Christ's family, his lineage, and his conception.  Chapter 2, dealt with the circumstances surrounding his birth and the events that occured immediately after he was born.  Chapter 3, dealt with his associate, John the Baptist, who was sent here, on earth, to announce his coming.

The devil has sought to prevent Christ's  coming from the very beginning.  He sought to have Mary branded as an adulteress and thereby stoned to death.  He sought to have him killed as an infant through the evil deeds of Herod, who killed the innocent children of Bethlehem, thinking that he would capture him in his net of death.  And now in chapter 4, Satan, confronts Christ in an attempt to turn him away from God.

Immediately after his baptism, Jesus was led into the desert by the Holy Spirit for the express purpose of being tempted by the Satan.  He fasted for 40 days and 40 nights.  I find it difficult to fast for 3 days and Christ, our savior, was fasting for 40 days.  I try to imagine where one would be, mentally, from the isolation of being in the desert, alone, in the heat of the day, in the sun, in the dry climate, alone.  Did he have water??  Did he have a bit of bread to eat to survive??  How long does one survive in the desert without the basic requirements of life, food and water??? 

And when he was hungry, at the end of the 40 days and nights, the tempter came.   And he said, "If thou art the Son of God!!!"  Tempt me to not know who I am.  Tempt me to believe that I doubt my origin.  Tempt me to believe that I am not of Godly origin.  This is what Satan did with the word If.  Satan did not acknowledge that Christ was the Son of God, because he wanted to tempt him to have doubts.  Christ, however, knew who he was and the purpose of his being on earth.  He had jsut received accolades from his Father, stating that he was his son and that he was well pleased in him.  So Christ tells Satan that it is written that man does not live by bread alone.  This is a solemn affirmation of who we are as human beings.  We are not just flesh and skin and bones and blood.  If we were then bread would be what keeps us and maintains us.  No, we are more than flesh, we are spirit that lives by the words that comes from God himself.  God spoke and gave us life.  God breathed into the dust and gave it life to create Adam.  We are spirits living in an earthly realm.  


Satan, in the second temptation, tries the same tactic by attempting to create doubt with the word If.  He again attempts to creat doubt by stating: "If thou art the Son of God."  This time he throws in the facts that it is written that the angels shall protect Christ.  Then Christ directly tells him that he will not be tempted by his tricks.


Satan, in the third temptation, takes him to the movies and offers him fame and fortune and glory.  He says: "All these things will I give thee."   Christ, however, does not want things, but only the one true God.  He tells Satan to leave him, to depart from him with his trinkets and baubels because it is written that there is only one true God and he is the only one that we should worship and serve and not Satan. 

This tells me that I shoud not worship, desire with a consumming passion, a shinney new car, or money in the bank, or fine clothes, or a big house, or any of the wordly things, that this world has to offer.  Be mindful that I am of this world, so I must have need of these things to survive.  But I shall not worship them.  My praise and my glory should be in God and not in man.  If you are the sons of God, then use the power that God has given you to create wealth.  If you are the sons of God then use the power that God has given you to protect yourself from disease and sickness and from harm.  All these things I will give you if you just forget that you are sons of God and worship me in this world, Satan says.  Go for the gold.  Go for the riches and wealth.  Go for the power and lust that this world has to offer.  Go for the pleasures of sex, and food, and the lust of clothes, and the lust of having a physical body defined by the norms of this day.  All these things will I give you, if you worship me, says Satan.  And God says, "The Lord thy God shalt thou worship and him only shalt thou serve."

St Matthew, Chapter 3, verses: 13 -17, Let it be so now: The Baptism of Jesus.

Today there is only one paragraph entitled:  (The baptism of Jesus).  I include these headings because I have used them as meditation guides.  As we continue to go through the gospels, I take the paragraph headings and recite them and do a brief meditation of each.  The paragraphs give me a short description of the substance of the paragraph and a way to combine the chapters of the Gospel together.  These are the paragraphs we have covered so far,
Chapter 1: 
(The genealogy of Christ, Abraham to David),  (David to the Babylonian captivity),
(Babylonian captivity t Joseph),  (The virgin birth). 

Chapter 2:
(The Magi come to Jerusalem), (Herod consults them), (The Magi find Jesus) ,
(The flight into Egypt), (The slaughter of the innocents),  (The return to Nazareth). 

Chapter 3: 
(The preaching of John the Baptist),  (John speaks to the Pharisees and Sadducees),  and
(The baptism of Jesus) .

I intentionally do not include the text of the verses that we cover because you may use a different Bible.  So you can follow along in your Bible or if you choose you can use the one we use.


Today's paragraph covers the baptism of Jesus.  John is out there in the desert doing his thing preaching about repentance and baptising the believers.  He knows that the messiah is coming and he knows the power and glory and majesty of the ONE.  John has not seen Jesus face to face so he does not know him.  Yet when Jesus approaches John to be baptized, John is stunned to see Christ before him wanting to be baptized.  What was it about Jesus that shocked John??  What was it about Jesus that told John that this is the ONE?? 

John was a holy man.  He lived in the desert and was filled with the Holy Spirit.  Dare we say that he had spiritual wisdom that enlightened him to the nature of Jesus??  He baptized hundreds and maybe thousands of sinners, standing in the waters of the Jordan accepting person after person after person.  Seeing people from all walks of life, he baptized them as they came.  He looked upon thousands of faces daily.  And then comes Jesus, and he knows.  And then he sees the messiah in his earthly form.  Having the true knowledge of Jesus, and not being worthy to bear his sandals, must have been a moment of joy, and shock, and awesomeness, and trembling, and breathtaking, and fulfilling, and peace.  Jesus, our God walked this earth among us humans, among his creation.    

And John said no.  He was not worthy to baptise him.  John wanted to be baptized by Jesus.  He wanted to be anointed by Jesus instead of performing a baptism of water.  He wanted to be baptized by the Holy Spirit and by the fire.  But Jesus knowing that all things must be fulfilled according to the scriptures and the law, requested that John the Baptist perform his baptism.  And John saw the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus and heard the voice of God From heaven provide witness to his son.  That indeed was a moment of a lifetime to remember, the voice of God descending from heaven and the Holy Spirit coming to rest upon Jesus.   I think about how I will feel when I meet him for the first time!!

St Matthew, Chapter 3, verses: 1-12, John the Baptist, the Pharisees and the Saddducees.

Today' readings has 2 paragraph with the following headings:  (The preaching of John the Baptist), and  (John speaks to the Pharisees and Sadducees).

Now in those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the desert, or was it Creflo Dollar, or Joel Olsteen, or Brian Houston, or Benny Hinn.  All the people came from Jerusalem, and Judea and from around the Jordan.  Or did they change channels from channel 5, or channel 11, or channel 2, to hear the words of these preachers on the church channels.  But John wore garments of camel hair and had a leather girdle around his waist, whereas today preachers wear fine suits and silk ties, and gold watches and silver bracelets.  And today they preach prosperity, and good fortune, and success in this life, and how to overcome lack, and getting out of the poverty mindset.  John taught repentance, but today we have every message under the sun that relates to everyday life. 

And John eat locust and honey, and today preachers eat steak and lobster, and dine at fine restaurants.  How start the times and the contrast in those times and the times we live in today.  Where are the prophets of old, the men how sought not the ways of the world but sought the will of God??  Are there men of such caliber today??   We can not find them on TV today, that is for sure!!
John called a spade a spade and did not bite his tongue.  He called the religious leaders of his time vipers, snakes with poisonous tongues.  John offered a way out, a door to escape the coming wrath.  Much of the population knew the sign of the times by the evil that lived among them.  John offered a way out.  He opened the door to salvation so that those who were drawn, were able to repent of their sins and prepare for the ONE to come.  The ONE to come was mightier than John, whose sandals he was not worthy to bear.  Such humility, such love, such compassion did John exhibit in his time.  Is it here today in our time?? 

John tells the Pharisees and Sadducees to bring fruit befitting repentance.  What fruit did he speak of?  Was it sorrow, and regret, a sense of low self esteem.  Or was the required fruit a deep sense of remorse and quilt, a sense of shame and a desire for forgiveness.  Otherwise the axe was at the tree ready to cut it down.  Is this our typical sermon of fire and brimstone that is taught in churches today??  Is this the typical message that you would hear in a church tent revival??  Or was it true then and true now.  John foretold of the thrashing floor being cleaned and the chaff being sent to the furnace where there is unquenchable fire.   R-E-P-E-N-T. 


John baptized with water but the ONE coming after him will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.  Have you received your baptism in the Holy Spirit???