Welcome to 2023, a new year filled with potential and
hope, with the unknown, and perhaps even a bit of uncertainty;
a new chapter with potential for new beginnings, new dreams, and the
opportunity to explore who you are, who we are, and what might lie ahead. But
no matter what 2023 holds, it’s wise to think about how we can prepare
ourselves for what this new year holds rather than simply drifting through the next
365 days.
Jesus is at the beginning of a new chapter in his life that’s kicked off by his baptism. In his baptism, God
the Father sends the Holy Spirit to Jesus and now the Spirit brings Jesus into
the wilderness to be tempted. Alisa Childers, in her reflections on Hosea 2
writes, “the
wilderness is often a harsh and dangerous place God uses to test and refine his
people. It is also a place where he provides sanctuary and allows his people to
encounter him in powerful ways.”
The wilderness is seen as a place to meet with God, to be shaped and refined by God.
Jesus follows the Spirit’s guidance into the wilderness. Jesus spends 40 days
and nights fasting. Fasting isn’t as common today, but the discipline of fasting
is about developing self-control and growing in your trust in God to provide
you with whatever you might need. Fasting is a time to open up your mind,
heart, and soul to the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit. This is why
fasting is always accompanied by reflection on the Word of God, which for Jesus
is what we call the Old Testament. Prayer is also part of fasting and
reflection on Scripture. We see the results of Jesus’ time spent in fasting,
reflection, and prayer in his encounter with the devil.
Spiritual disciplines are practiced to guide us in growing in the fruit of the Spirit as
described in Galatians 5:22–25, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such
things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the
flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep
in step with the Spirit.” In growing the fruit of the Spirit in
ourselves, we grow in the strength and courage needed to live as Jesus followers
in our culture today, and we grow in knowing Jesus better.
After 40 days and nights of fasting, reflecting on Scripture and talking with his Father,
when Jesus is physically weaker and hungry, the tempter arrives. It’s
fascinating to see how the devil uses the same tactics with Jesus that he used
on Eve. The devil uses doubt and innuendo to try to get Jesus to stray off the
path laid out for himself to accomplish the task given to him by his Father and
the Spirit to counter what the devil accomplished in the Garden of Eden. There
he got Eve and Adam to listen to his voice instead of the voice of God, something
that still haunts us today, something we still fall for today, every day. Jack
Kingsbury writes, “the substance of each test has to do with Jesus’
devotion, or obedience to God. The intent of Satan in each test is to entice
Jesus to break faith with God, his Father, and thus avow his divine sonship.”
The devil comes with those dreaded ‘if’ questions designed to get you to doubt yourself or what you
believe, or to get you frustrated and act in ways you normally wouldn’t or
shouldn’t. “If you are the Son of God, tell these
stones to become bread.” Knowing Jesus is hungry, the Devil suggests
that he really isn’t the Son of God, for why would the Son of God go hungry? The
Father created bread in the wilderness for all of Israel, so why not create
bread for yourself. The sly devil knows that if Jesus does create bread for
himself now it will be to only prove himself to the devil out of weakness or
frustration, making Jesus do something he has not intended to do, taking the
easy path instead of the path of self-discipline and trust in his Father.
This is where we see why fasting and reflecting on
Scripture go hand-in-hand, Jesus responds with words from Scripture
to put the devil in his place and deny his influence, “It
is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes
from the mouth of God.” Instead of making Jesus weak, the disciplines of
fasting, reflection on Scripture, and prayer have focused Jesus on trusting God
to provide for him instead of his physical hunger.
The devil isn’t finished with Jesus yet, he’s
persistent. He now tempts Jesus from a
different angle, taking Jesus to Jerusalem and the highest point of the temple.
The devil offers another ‘if’ question, “If you are the
Son of God, 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.” That sneaky devil is trying to get
Jesus to prove himself and get him to force God to prove himself by sending
angels to protect Jesus from doing something really dumb. The devil does it by
quoting Scripture at Jesus! Does Jesus really trust that God is with him?
We hear echoes to Israel’s time on the wilderness, as soon as things became hard and they were getting
thirsty, the people begin to complain, asking if God really with them. Moses
writes in Exodus 17,
“The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of
the people…. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to
drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called
the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they
tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
Have you ever wondered if Jesus is with you? He can seem so quiet just when it feels like we need
him the most. When Joyce and I were on our journey into ministry, there were
times we wondered where God was when there was no money in the bank. Our kids
were teens and pre-teens, and the foodbank could only help so much. Often,
these times were coupled with difficult family news of sickness or hard times
and we felt far away from our circles of support. I’ll be honest, there were
complaints at times and temptations to put God to the test. Yet we also learned
deep trust and humility during those times as we turned to Scripture and prayer
for strength and guidance. We learned that Jesus is never far away and that
he’ll provide. Jesus replies with words from Scripture, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”
Jesus chooses trust and faith over putting God to the test, trusting his Father
will take care of his son in his need.
The devil has one more temptation. He takes Jesus to a high mountain and shows him the
kingdoms of the world and makes Jesus this offer, “All
this I will give you if you will bow down and worship me.” The devil
straight out shows Jesus what he’s after, to get Jesus to worship him instead
of his father, a bold move. Jesus rejects Satan, “Away
from me, Satan!” The scholar L. O. Richards writes, “The Man born to
be King was shown the kingdoms that would be His, and was reminded that they
could become His now. All the suffering would be avoided—all the anguish, all
the rejection, all the pain of a death in which the weight of the world’s sins
would bear down on the sinless One. And again Jesus chose. “It is
written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.” Complete
commitment to the will of God was Jesus’ pathway to the throne. There could be
no shortcuts. There could be no other way. Before Jesus could rule, He had to learn by experience
the fullest meaning of submission to the Father’s will. The crown lay beyond
the Cross.” Now the Father sends angels to take care of Jesus,
showing Jesus’ trust in his Father is the right thing.
Jesus prepared himself before the devil arrived through fasting, reflection on Scripture, and prayer.
In his responses to the devil, Jesus shows himself ready for the path before
him. Jesus moves into the area of Capernaum and begins his preaching ministry
with this simple message, “Repent, for the kingdom of
heaven has come near.”
Today is the beginning of a new year, 2023. There’s so much that lies ahead of us. Part of what we’re
planning to journey through this year is an Appreciative Inquiry to share our
stories in Bethel with each other, both those who have been members for a long
time and those who are newer to Bethel. The goal is to listen and learn from
each other how God has been working in or lives and leading us into this church
family. This is part of learning and seeking out who the Spirit is shaping us
and where the Spirit is leading us.
This is where we look to Jesus and his preparation and openness to the Spirit’s leading. We need to
prepare ourselves to be open to hearing God, to discerning the Spirit’s
leading. This will take all of us to prepare ourselves as Jesus did, engaging
in the spiritual disciplines such as reflection on Scripture, prayer, worship,
solitude, fasting, and other disciplines that help you listen to, and hear the
guidance of the Spirit as individuals and as a church as we move forward into
2023 and a year of listening to each other and the Spirit. May the Lord be with
us on this journey through 2023.
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