From the water to the wasteland

My greatest heartache as a mother is when I am unable to help one of my children . . . when I cannot fix a broken situation, when I cannot pick him up, wipe his nose, dry his eyes, and wrap him in my apron for a little while like I did when he was tiny—my hug assuring him that things were going to be all right.

Several days ago, I mentioned in my briefing that all of my children would be home for Thanksgiving—not so.  In the wee hours of the night before, my oldest, Matthew, who sustained a brain injury in the spring, had an epileptic episode, and was unable to fly home.  He was crushed, as was I; what’s more is that I was unable to do anything but console him and pray for him, as we live 450 miles apart. ‘Tis the heartache of a mother, tis the heartache of a parent.  Honestly, the feelings are palpable.

We tend to think of the heartache of the Father watching Jesus be whipped and tortured, we imagine the agony he experienced as he saw his son dragging the heavy cross to Golgotha, while he was taunted and jeered; we certainly consider how God’s heart must have ripped asunder as Jesus was nailed to the rough wooden beams, and worst of all, when he had to turn his back on him, as Jesus became our sin.  But, that is not when the heartache began for God the Father. 

He had just finished speaking out his affirmation, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” and then watched as Jesus went into the desert.  God must certainly have thought, ‘O Son, how I love you, how courageous you are, and how committed to save them, that you would launch your ministry at all, but in such a way as this!’

Matthew writes:

When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said,

>“If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him,

>“If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:

‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and,‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”

Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him,

>“All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”

Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

Matthew 3.16-4.11

This passage is crucial to our Christian faith.  If Jesus had given into the testing of the Devil in the desert, we would not have salvation—nothing after these days ultimately would have mattered. 

Why did the perfect Son of God start his ministry by going into the barren desert to fast for 40 days?  Think about it, research it, hit ‘reply’ and let me know your thoughts.  We will burrow into these happenings in the next couple briefings. 

In closing, think about the heart of the Father toward you, your pain, your heartache, your struggle; none of it escapes him.  He is with you in it, if you invite him, which is why Paul wrote, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”*

God is with you in the desert, he is with you in whatever you are facing.  And again, I ask you, why do you think that Jesus’ ministry began in the desert with 40 days of fasting?

* - Phillipians 4.6-7, NLT