Time, Setting, Characters, Plot...

It kind of sounds like a good book. Well, the book is Matthew and these are just a few of the things we must consider before we can even begin to look at the greatest sermon ever preached. Matthew chapters 5 through 7 give us specific instruction on how to live as followers of Christ. The first 4 chapters give us the background on who Jesus was as a man and as God.

Chapter 1 gives us the lineage of Christ from Abraham through His birth. This is important because it establishes who Jesus was as a man, Abraham was an important figure in the Jewish culture and Jesus' relation to him gave him a certain credibility with those who knew the scriptures and knew God's promises to Abraham. Chapter 1 also tells us of Jesus birth and shows how it perfectly fulfills the prophecy that Isaiah spoke of in Chapter 7, "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which is translated 'God with us.'"

Chapter 2 gives us a little background on King Herod, an evil king whose position was threatened by the birth of Jesus. Herod was used by God to fulfill his promise spoken of in Hosea 11:1 "Out of Egypt I called my Son." Although Jesus was born in Bethlehem just like the prophet Micah said he was taken to Egypt when He was just a baby to avoid Herod's decree to kill all of the male children under 2 years of age. God is big enough to use any means necessary to fulfill His promises, even taking the plans of a wicked king and using them to prove Himself true.

Jesus came to his cousin John in Chapter 3 to be baptized in order to "fulfill all righteousness." We also get the priveledge of seeing the Triune God reveal itself to us for the first time in scripture. God the Son was descended upon by God the Spirit and God the Father spoke in a voice from heaven. Immediately Jesus was led into the Wilderness by the Spirit in order "to be tempted by the devil." Jesus fasted there in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights and Matthew 4:2 says, "He was hungry." Ya think? So what was the point?

Jesus was led to the wilderness in order to be tempted. Jesus is referred to as the 2nd Adam. In order to establish his credibility as both God and man this time of temptation was necessary. Satan tempted the flesh by trying to get a hungry Jesus to turn rocks into bread and Jesus responded with scripture from Deuteronomy. Satan also tempts the spirit of Jesus by telling Him to throw Himself down off the temple to prove that God will save Him. Guess what, Satan knows scripture too. He quotes Psalm 91:11, 12. How many times in our own life has Satan tempted us or at the very least made us second guess our call to a particular situation or setting by using the very words of God to convince us to do our own thing. Once our focus turns away from God and toward ourselves it doesn't matter if we think scripture is taking us there, it is a lie from the devil. When God has taken us to a place of barreness and hunger it is for us to focus on His presence. The moment we turn our thoughts to ourselves we miss the point of the trial that God has allowed to come into our lives.

Jesus went to the wilderness for the specific purpose of being tempted. This time of fasting and trial for Jesus deepened His relationship with the Father and equipped Him for His future ministry. How many times do we see ourselves as victims when we are in the midst of our own trials and wildernesses? What if we began to view these times as the opportunity to allow God to take us to a place that we have never been. I can only imagine how our lives would be changed if we would simply allow the spirit to "lead us up into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." There is no where the Spirit of God can take us that He is not capable of giving us victory, our struggle is to simply trust Him when we don't have the map.