SERMON
Walking in the Footsteps: “In the Desert”
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Matthew 4:1-11
A three-year old son was on his mother’s heels as she was busy doing her household chores. It was
becoming quiet bothersome for the mother; whenever she stopped to do something and turned around she
would trip over her son. Several times she suggested fun activities to keep him occupied, but he would just
smile and say, “That's alright Mommy I'd rather be in here with you.”
After tripping over her son for the fifth time the mother’s patience finally broke: “Why,” she
demanded, “are you following me constantly?"
To which he responded, "My Sunday school teacher told me to walk in Jesus' footsteps but I can't see
him so I'm walking in yours."
Starting today and throughout Lent we will be journeying the pathways Jesus took as he made his way
to Jerusalem and eventually to the cross itself. It won’t be an easy journey; like the little boy who walked in
his mother’s footsteps because he could not see Jesus, we may ourselves find it difficult to walk in the way of
Christ. In order to more fully appreciate the blessings of the Easter Resurrection we not only need this time of
Lent to draw us closer to Christ, we need it to better comprehend where we are falling short in walking with
Jesus.
What are the temptations that keep us from walking in our Savior’s footsteps? ─
…The places in life in which we refuse to go? ─
…Places as barren as deserts where we really have to wrestle with who we are and what we believe? ─
…Where evil and temptation lurk at every curve?
Adam Hamilton, in his book The Way writes, “All of us sojourn in the wilderness at times in our lives,
feeling hopeless and all alone. Yet when we pay attention and listen, God comes to us and uses the wilderness
to strengthen and sanctify us.” If we want to grow in Christ the desert then becomes a necessary our journey.
For Jesus the desert was a five mile hike due west of where he was baptized by John the Baptist. The
desert was not made up of palm trees and cacti as if one were entering Las Vegas; it was flat, barren, and void
of life except for the occasional scrub brush. About the only thing in plenty were rocks. Matthew’s gospel
tells us that Jesus was led into the desert by the Holy Spirit so that the devil could test him.
Adam Hamilton reminds his readers why Jesus spent forty days in the desert. “The number” forty “is
significant” writes Hamilton: “The rain than raised Noah’s ark fell for forty days and forty nights. Moses
spent forty days and forty nights fasting on Mount Sinai as he received the Law. Elijah fasted for forty days
and forty nights in the wilderness before hearing God whisper to him.”
Hamilton continues: “In addition to these examples, there one more connection to the number forty
that may have been important. The children of Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years. In
Deuteronomy 8:2, Moses says that the period of wandering was to test them, ‘to know what was in your heart,
whether or not you would keep his commandments.’ This last connection seems to have been foremost in
Jesus’ minds, for in his responses to the devil’s temptations we find that all three of his responses came from
Deuteronomy, chapters 6 to 8.”
Hamilton then concludes, “Jesus’ temptations and his time in the wilderness were a way for him to
connect with the stories of the holy people of old, but they meant more than that. The temptations served as a
test for Jesus. Just as a teacher gives a test, not to break students but to strengthen them, so it was with this
test. Jesus was being tempted, but more important he was being tested, so that when he began his public
ministry and faced adversity and success, he would continue steadfast in his mission.”
Jesus’ first temptation involves one of those things that we Methodists love: FOOD. Food is one of our
basic necessities in life, but our desire for it can at times be our very undoing. Lionel Bart captured best
captures our need for food in his classic musical Oliver:
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“Food, glorious food!
We're all anxious to try it.
Three banquets a day –
Our favorite diet!
Just picture a great big steak –
Fried, roasted or stewed.
Oh, food,
Wonderful food,
Marvelous food,
Glorious food!
Even though he knew what is was like to be tempted by food, Jesus resisted. Quoting Deuteronomy
8:3 Jesus confronts the devil: “No one can live only on food. People need every word that God has spoken.”
In other words, what one really needs in order to live into the reign of God is not bread but the word of God
itself. Though food may nourish the body, the word nourishes the soul. Isn’t that why you have come to
church today? Not for the pancakes that follow, but to have your souls fed!
In the second test Jesus is tempted by the devil to make some sensational demonstration that he is the
Son of God. Standing at the highest point of the temple the devil invites Jesus to jump off! Even though some
might see this temptation as a publicity stunt or an act of taking one’s life I see it as Jesus being tempted to
claim his messiahship now instead of waiting for God to act. “Go ahead jump,” says the devil, “you know that
God will order his angels to come and catch you in his arms. Claim your title as the Son of God now! You
don’t need to wait until God is ready. Do it now!” pushes the devil.
Without flinching Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:16: “Do not put the LORD your God to the test.” This
section of Deuteronomy from which Jesus is quoting deals with the worship of other gods. In essence Jesus is
unwilling to do the bidding of anybody outside of the realm of God. He is willing; even it means he won’t be
rescued by angels, to go to the cross in order to claim his title as the Son of God! He will let God redeem his
suffering not Satan.
In the third temptation Jesus could have had it all: fortune, fame, and power. All he needed to do was
bow down and worship Satan. Larry Davies, District Superintendent of the Lynchburg District tells the story
of how Eskimos kill a wolf simply by coating several layers of frozen blood on a sharp knife sticking out of
the frozen tundra: “Apparently the wolf picks up the scent, and after circling the knife warily begins licking
the frozen blood. He begins to lick faster and faster as the desire for blood literally drives the wolf wild. So
great becomes his craving that the wolf never notices the sting of the sharp blade on his tongue as the blood
being consumed gradually becomes his own. Morning finds the wolf lying dead in the snow.”
“Temptation lures each of us just as the bloody knife attracts the unsuspecting wolf,” says Davies,
“We may warily respond at first, but we soon become consumed by the desire of the moment, never noticing
the deadly sting of the sharp blade of sin as the blood consumed eventually becomes our own.”
How often do we become consumed by the desire of the moment? Whether it was fame, fortune,
power or whatever when was the last time you found yourself like the unsuspecting wolf lured by temptation?
Jesus could have sold us out and given into this third temptation…he could have chosen to have it all.
But he would not deviate from worshipping the one true God and in so doing chose the deadly sting of the
sharp blade of sin that was meant for you and me. He chose God’s way instead of Satan’s way in order that
we would no longer be bound by the temptations that consume us. Telling Satan to go away Jesus quotes
Deuteronomy 6:13: “Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.”
Throughout the rest of his ministry, Jesus and his disciples will be tempted many times over with these
very same temptations. Jesus’ footsteps through the desert however prepared him to meet these temptations
head-on.
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Jesus, in his temptations has shown us a way to live in the face of temptations: (1) God’s word is that
which truly nourishes our souls, (2) we can trust God to act, we don’t have to put him to the test, and (3) we
will not be consumed by our sins if we worship only the Lord our God and serve only him.
Like the little boy who stood in the footsteps of his mother, we are standing in the footsteps of Jesus.
And what is that we discover about him as we follow him into the desert? That he not only stood where we
stand but he identifies with our struggles. He shows us that it’s possible to transcend the messiness and chaos
of our lives, overcome the temptations, and walk the path that God desires for us. So today and everyday let
us continue to walk in the footsteps of Jesus.
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