The Wilderness
Do you remember the story of the Good Samaritan? There is something interesting in the details of that story. The Bible records that “a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho...” (Luke 10:30). That “down” was not like we would think in a compass, but literally went down through the mountains about 4000 ft. Jericho, interestingly is known as the city of palms, because of all the date palms that are located there. On a recent trip to Israel, the most interesting aspect of our drive from Jerusalem to Masada was when we passed the probable location where Jesus was tempted in the wilderness. And, my, oh, my does it look like a wilderness!
You remember this story, don’t you? It’s found in Matthew 4:1-11. It reads:
“Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.”
When Satan approached Jesus, he approached him with doubt, “If you are the Son of God...” Isn’t this similar to the scientific world of our day? Or rationalism? We often approached it with methodological doubts. This is nothing new and really finds itself in the historical critical method of approaching Scripture. It developed in the 17-18th century. Either way, the first question begins with doubt. And Jesus answered with assurance from the word of God, “It is written.” He quotes from the Bible: “Every word.” He throws back at Satan the word of God.
The second temptation took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple. Satan questions God’s love for Jesus, by telling Jesus to test God. But again, Jesus replies, “It is written...”
The final temptation, the devil is commanding worship. We can find our solace and strength in that once again, Jesus found His solace and strength in the word of God. We can gird ourselves with the same Scriptures that Jesus girded himself with.
This also demonstrates to us that even after we’ve been baptized, it will not be an easy road. The truth is, we as sheep need a Shepherd to lead us. Follow the example of our Shepherd and speak, “It is written...”
You can read more about Pastor Douglas' trip, on his blog: http://readmd.wordpress.com
Malcolm S. Douglas is currently the Pastor of the Tucson Midvale Park and Benson SDA Churches in Southern Arizona. He has previously taught Academy and Collegiate aged Bible classes and has also served as an oversees missionary. He has an M.A. in Religion with a double emphasis - evangelism and religious studies. His speaking engagements found him throughout North, South, and Central America, Europe, and Asia. His passion is to faithfully and effectively empower, revive, and train the church for taking the gospel to all the world in this generation as a pastor, revivalist, and evangelist for the Seventh-day Adventist Church.