Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi
Matthew, Mark and Luke all record what happened to Jesus after his baptism; John takes up his account when Jesus returned to the Jordan after his ordeal was over, so he doesn't mention it. But all three of the Synoptics place the temptation immediately following his baptism:
At once the Spirit led him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. -- Mark 1:12 - 13a
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. -- Matt. 4:1
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days and at the end of them he was hungry. -- Lk 4:1 -2
When I was in Israel, we had a stop at the River Jordan for baptisms. I was shocked to learn that the site used for baptisms now is nowhere near where Jesus was likely baptized. The Jordan baptisms today take place very near the spot where the Jordan meets the Sea of Galilee on the south side. You are all no doubt familiar with the location; everyone who goes to Israel takes a photo there...
Looking upstream towards the Sea of Galilee; about half a mile away.
It's a pretty place...but most scholars believe that John was baptizing at the other end of the river, near where it dumps into the Dead Sea. The reason baptisms are not done on the south end of the river now is because irrigation has funneled off so much of the flow of the Jordan that, we were told, it's barely a trickle north of the Dead Sea....which is evaporating at an alarming rate, since there is very little water reaching it from the Jordan anymore. There simply isn't enough water there to baptize people.
If Jesus was baptized at the southern end of the Jordan, near the Dead Sea, he would have been very near En Gedi and Qumran; the region of the Judean desert that our tour passed by. There are springs in the area, where he could have found water. I don't think he wandered around; I think he found a spot near a water source and camped there for 40 days.
I have heard it said that the devil waited until the end of the 40 days to come to Jesus, when he was at his weakest point physically from hunger, because we have only three specific temptations mentioned in the gospel narratives; the order is a little inconsistent but the temptations themselves are consistent. He was tempted with food, with wealth, and with the opportunity to display his true power and identity. But, look closely at the wording above. Matthew states that he was led into the desert for the purpose of being tempted by the devil; both the other two scriptures say he was led into the desert, where he was tempted by the devil. Luke even states, 'for forty days he was tempted by the devil'. I am certain he was tempted with those three specific temptations. What I am not certain of is that it only happened one time each...or that there weren't other temptations on the same themes repeatedly. I don't think he resisted the enemy three times in 40 days...I think he resisted the enemy every day for 40 days. The temptations may have increased in scope as time progressed, but Jesus proved to be as resistant to the enemies' schemes at the end of his time in the desert as he was in the beginning, quoting scripture to emphasize his 'no'.
Here's the thing we miss so often...Jesus didn't use his power as the Son to do anything at all on earth. Anything and everything he did, he did through the power of the Holy Spirit. He did it through the same power source that is available to believers today. That's huge, my friend. HUGE. If Jesus resisted the temptations of the enemy through the power of the Spirit, then we, too, can resist those same temptations. Oh, they may not be cloaked in the same circumstances, but at the heart, it's the same temptations: physical appetite, desire to possess what we see, desire to be recognized for who we believe ourselves to be...or for the gifts and talents we have.
We don't use that power because...we want the stuff. We don't truly know who we are, so when the devil waves the temptation in front of us, it looks good and we go for it. But...we don't have to take the temptation. WE DON'T HAVE TO. We have the same power in us that was in Jesus...falling into temptation is no more who we are than it was who Adam was. Ultimately, it's about choice. Jesus chose to reject the temptations and, when he did, the enemy packed his bags and left him. James writes that if we submit to God and resist the devil, the enemy will flee from us...just like he left Jesus (James 4:7). We don't know how hard it was for Jesus to reply with those scriptures; he may have shut his eyes...clenched his fist and spit the words through gritted teeth because his humanity wanted to give in. But he had the same Spirit with him that we have...and he did not give in. Now, keep in mind, the enemy didn't leave the first time Jesus said 'no'...or the second, or the third. He kept after him for 40 long weary days. But in the end...Jesus outlasted him. He had a 'no' for everything Satan threw at him. Satan finally ran out of new ways to present his enticements and left.
I've heard a lot lately about what happens when you give God your 'yes'...but there's a pretty potent thing that happens when you repeatedly give the enemy of your soul your 'no'.
Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. -- Matt 4:11
Who's to say if unseen angels come and attend anyone who resists the devil until he leaves?
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