Jesus in the Wilderness - Mapperley Monday Mail.

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Good Morning!


Yesterday morning, we finished off our series "In the Wilderness" by looking at the time Jesus went into the wilderness – Matthew 3:13-4:11.


Matthew is very clever in the way that he tells Jesus' story. Especially in chapters 1-4, he emphasises the bits that show that Jesus is the True Israel – he is the embodiment of the perfect People of God.


Israel failed in the wilderness in Numbers 11-14. The devil tempted them, and they fell. But Jesus didn't. Just like Israel, he came up out of the water having been assured that he was God's Son, and was then led by God's Spirit into the wilderness.


Israel survived on their own food for 40 days or so, then complained and accused God of leading them into the wilderness to die (Ex 16). Jesus went without food for 40 days and nights, was within a week or so of starving to death, and yet would not take the devil's temptation of using his powers to turn stones to bread. He had learnt the lesson of the wilderness – that what matters is that God is with us. If God is with us, we don't need to worry because he will provide for us. Jesus trusted God for his physical needs, even after 40 days without food.


Straight after that, in Exodus 17, we're told that Israel asked "Is God among us or not?" when they failed to trust that he would provide them with water, despite the pillar of cloud and fire and the manna. Jesus didn't have manna; he didn't have a pillar of cloud, and yet he was tempted to doubt God's presence with him; to prove it by jumping off the temple. We'd maybe come up with a clever excuse and get out of it; Jesus didn't need to because he was utterly confident in his Father's love for him.


Israel went on a few weeks later to be unfaithful to God by building and worshipping a golden calf (Ex 32). We seem to live in an age when everyone has their price – when politicians often accept "donations" to develop strong views on certain issues and so on. It turned out that Israel's worship was easy to buy – a nice idol and a party did it in Ex 32. A load of willing Moabite women were enough in Num 25. But Jesus could not be bought even for the whole world.


Nothing the devil could throw at Jesus would stop him. Nothing could turn him aside from his mission to take the punishment that we deserve on the cross. Nothing could stop him from his plan to save us.


So when we find ourselves up against the devil's schemes, don't be afraid! Jesus beat him even when he hadn't eaten for 40 days. How much more can be triumph now that he is ruling as King over the whole universe! Jesus lives in us – don't be afraid of the devil's schemes.


If we trust in Jesus, then he lives in us and we live in him. We are made into part of his body; we are a part of Jesus whom God looks at and says "this is my son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased!" In Jesus, God accepts us totally and without reservation. it's not that God looks at us and is somehow under a delusion so that he thinks we're better than we are. It's that when we are included in Jesus, we become a new creation, and that's who we really are. The real me is in Jesus and is made perfect in him. The old me has been crucified with Jesus spiritually, but sad to say is still hanging around. But when God looks at us, he sees the real us, the new us, the in-Jesus us and says "this is my child, whom I love". Satan has no dominion over the real us, because Jesus has beaten him once and for all.


Let's praise and trust our glorious Saviour this week!

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