It is the tallest mountain in the world. It soars 29,031 feet. It is located between China and Nepal. It is a three month journey to climb this mountain; the cost is around $75,000. The name of this mountain is Mt. Everest. Over the years, over 300 people have died in climbing this steep Mountain where it is almost impossible to breathe as you reach its apex.
In our text today Jesus faces a series of towering temptations. Matthew records three of them. The first one is sensationalism. Jesus has not eaten for forty days. He is starving. The devil--which means splitter--for he is always seeking to divide people--seeks to split Jesus from His Father. His first towering temptation is to tempt Jesus to turn a stone into bread. The temptation from the splitter is this: "Jesus, the Father is not providing for you. Look, you are starving to death. You have power to turn a stone into bread and feed yourself. If you are the Son of God, turn one of these stones into bread."
The devil knows Jesus provided bread for the children of Israel daily for 40 years. So he knows Jesus can do this easy enough. The sin is trying to steer Jesus away from trusting His Father in the face of exceptionally adverse circumstances. Loneliness. Exhaustion. Torrid hot temperatures in the day, freezing temperatures at night. The devil attacks at a point of human weakness. He knows Jesus is true man as well as true God so the splitter attacks Jesus' humanity.
Jesus defeats the splitter with a Book. He quotes the Bible. He quotes from Deuteronomy 8:3 "A human being will not live by bread alone, but by every single word pouring out of the mouth of God!"
The deepest famine of the world is a famine, known or unknown, for the Word of God. A real life is a trusting feeding on God's Word. Jerome, the church father said it well, "If anyone is not feeding on the word of God, they are not living." We live in a world of zombies, walking dead men. The tragic present crisis in the world at this hour in the Ukraine is a result of stone heart leaders trying to live by bread alone. If only, if only, they would listen to the Bread of Life, Jesus, a solution could be found in a day.
The second temptation Jesus also defeats the splitter with the Book--God's Book. Throughout the Bible there are warnings not to twist God's Word--that is an iniquity. Don't adjust, just trust it. Take it at face value. The devil takes Jesus to a pinnacle of a temple. He tells Jesus to jump down and God's angels will save him and the whole world will follow him. The devil--the splitter--the demon divider--even quotes the Scripture--quoting Psalm 91. Psalm 91 speaks of God's loving protection. It is not, as the devil uses it, a text as a pretext for sloppy living, reckless living, careless living.
Jesus draws from the Book, again from Deuteronomy. He tells the devil "It is written, 'don't test the Lord your God [Deut 6:16]. The Word "test" means "force out" or "manipulate" in the sense "don't play with the Word of God!" "Don't pit one word of God against another word of God!" Grab hold of the whole canvass of God's Word. This is one of the reasons four of my favorite interpreters of the Bible: Augustine, Luther, Pascal, and C.S. Lewis all knew the whole Bible by heart. For each of them, Jesus was the center. The point here? God does not give us a green light to leap from a temple top like Clark Kent.
The third temptation is a Mt. Everest temptation. Again, the devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Jesus, "All these I will give you, if you fall down and worship me." 10. Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'"
Once again Jesus turns to the Book--the Bible. He quotes Deuteronomy 6:13. He tells the devil "Be gone," "Get lost!" This temptation is a temptation for Jesus to take a short-cut to glory, a short-cut to save the world, a short-cut to redeem this world. The only way and it predicted in the Old Testament, for mankind to be saved and the world to redeemed and restored, is, if Someone pays for the hellish bill for our sins of the world. In Isaiah 53, a whole chapter is dedicated to a stunning prediction. With detail Jesus predicts how He will bring glory to God and save mankind only if He goes to the cross. There is no short cut. Moreover, the devil is lying. How so? He promises to give Jesus the whole world. The devil owns squat. He is nothing but a thief. Jesus knows full well what He must do which is what made this a Mt. Everest Temptation. While alive on earth Jesus must descend to hell and suffer in our place. There is no short-cut. He must taste eternal death for the each of the billions of people who have ever lived (Hebrews 2:14).
In love for the Father, and in love for you, and in love for all, Jesus stays the course of the cross. This is our confidence today, tomorrow, and forever. For You Jesus overcame all temptations.
What a Savior!
