In The Wilderness | Matthew 4:1-11

Scripture

• Matthew 4:1–11

About this sermon

Introduction: The baptism of Jesus was the launching point for His public ministry. And it was a high point. The forerunner serves his purpose by the baptism of Jesus. Jesus’ ministry will now emerge out of John’s. The mission of Jesus is on display in His baptism. He assumed a place of identification with those whom He came to save. The identity of Jesus as the Messiah is confirmed at His baptism. It was confirmed for John the Baptist as the Spirit of God descends and remains on Jesus. The identity of Jesus as servant, King, and Son of God is confirmed by Trinitarian witness — the Son, the Spirit, and the Father’s voice, as the heavens are opened when Jesus emerges out of the waters of baptism. Everything is at a high point. Everything is ready for launch. Everything seems set for Jesus to begin preaching and performing the signs that would demand the faith of all those waiting for the consolation of Israel. BUT, BY GOD’S CHOICE, SOMETHING ELSE MUST COME FIRST. AND WHAT MUST COME FIRST IS ALSO NECESSARY TO MAKE CLEAR WHO JESUS REALLY IS. Before Jesus would engage in His public ministry, He must be proven in private. What we read here, no one could have told us about except Jesus Himself, because only Jesus was there. There is a series of temptations that He must face, and by which He must be proven triumphant. It is an early test in His life as redeemer, but it will not be His last. ESV Luke 4:13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. This morning we consider the triumph of Christ in the wilderness. • THE LOCATION FOR PROVING THE SON OF GOD (vs.1) Immediately following the baptism of Jesus, He makes His way out into the wilderness. Three things we take note of about Christ’s location in the wilderness. • THE INITIATION WAS BY GOD Jesus heading into the wilderness reflects the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Christ always does what is pleasing to the Father. It is BY GOD’S WILL that Jesus goes into the wilderness immediately after His baptism. ESV Mark 1:12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him. Right away, that should put this entire encounter into a different frame of reference for us. This is a situation in which GOD IS PUTTING SOMETHING ON DISPLAY ABOUT THIS SON. I think that is important. I think we often read of this and think about WHAT SATAN wanted to do instead of what GOD wanted to do. From the standpoint of Satan, it is an attempt to lead the Son of God into sin. From the standpoint of God, it is a demonstration of what is true about His Son. Note: This also speaks to us about the fact that this passage is not centered on us. It is often the case that people come to Matthew 4 looking for lessons about how God’s people should deal with temptations from Satan. That is not inappropriate, so long as we keep in mind that that is a helpful additional use for this passage, but not its primary purpose. IT IS RIGHT to see that Christ’s way of dealing with Satan has lessons for us, as we deal with temptations to sin. But IT IS WRONG to miss the design for this encounter, and to miss the message for us about our Savior. • THE LOCATION WAS DESIGNATED BY GOD This not only makes plain that it was the Spirit of God who impelled Jesus to go somewhere following His baptism — THE SOMEWHERE IS WHERE GOD WANTED JESUS TO BE. The wilderness was the desired location. In other words, Jesus is in the WILDERNESS on purpose. The wilderness is not His destination for no reason. There is a reason He is there. We will discuss that in a moment.

Topics

• Suffering & Trials