When Jesus Got In Satan's Face

June 17 (Matthew 4:10)

Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”  (ESV)

We often read the temptation of Jesus as a story about the power of knowing Scripture and using it to fight temptations in our own lives.  This is a perfectly good way to read the story, and indeed Jesus does use Scripture to combat Satan.  Yet if Jesus really is God, the second person of the Trinity and the Lord of all, then there is another way to see this interaction between Him and Satan.

Picture it.  There is Jesus, exhausted in His humanity from forty days of fasting, and the smiling, oily, manipulating tempter approaches, challenging His identity as the Son of God by suggesting He turn stones into bread.  Jesus fills His lungs with hot, desert air and replies that man doesn’t live by bread alone (verses 3-4).  Satan tries again (verses 5-7) by suggesting He throw Himself off the top of the temple in Jerusalem.  This time there is fire in Jesus’s eyes when answers, “Don’t tempt the Lord your God!” Remember, He is not only a human quoting Scripture, He is also talking about Himself.  He is God and He is the Lord.  It is as if He is saying, “Back off, if you know what’s good for you,” for tempting God is exactly what the devil is doing.  And then the tempter shows his hand.  He wants to be God himself and commands Jesus to worship him.  This time there is thunder in His voice and lightning flashing from His dark eyes.  “Get out of here, Satan!  YOU will worship ME!”

This is not a story about a super nice guy at church who has a Bible verse ready for all occasions.  This is the story of your big brother stepping in between you and your enemy and getting in that enemy’s face.  And the natural response of any child, and we are all children before God, is to say, “I want to be just like Him when I grow up!”

Jesus, I do want to be just like You.  I want to be strong in the face of weakness and steadfast in the face of temptation.  Make the words of Scripture become my own flesh and help me to stand boldly against all that comes my way, just as You did.  Amen.

Copyright © 2018 by Steven R. Perkins

Experiencing The Glories of God

June 10 (Psalm 19:1)

The heavens declare the glory of God,
    and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.  (ESV)

Cities can be marvelous things filled with towering buildings, twinkling lights, and a wild array of colors, yet they are, at best, imitations of the glories of God.  No building, however wonderfully designed, can match the grandeur of mountains.  No electric lights can compete with the sparkling of stars.  No pigment or neon can match the palette with which flowers, deep sea creatures, and sunsets are painted.

Most of us live in urban or suburban environments.  Our is the world of sidewalks and pavement and electronics.  We think we have tamed the elements by controlling light and temperature so that we live in comfortable, well-lit rooms twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.  Perhaps instead our achievements have tamed us, made us pale imitations of the vibrantly alive creations we were made to be.  Ask yourself just how vibrantly alive you feel walking through your workplace or even your home.

So, go for a walk in the rain, without an umbrella.  Breathe in slowly the hot breezes of summer.  Look up and look out at the canopy of trees or the blanket of stars.  Even if skyscrapers block most of your view, you can, if you try, see a fleecy white cloud in an aerial sea of blue.  Stay with that cloud for a moment as you walk to your next destination.  Christians do not worship nature, but we join with it in declaring the glory of God.  Such declarations are the work for which your soul was made.

Thank You, Father, for Your magnificent works of creation.  Kindle again in me awe and wonder as I drink in the glories of Your hand, and from such inspiration may my gaze find You.  In the name of Christ Jesus, my Lord.  Amen.

Copyright © 2018 by Steven R. Perkins