the Temptation of Jesus

Was Jesus really tempted? I know for me, many of my years as a “new” Christian, I struggled with the thought that God cannot possibly understand what I am going through down here on earth when it comes to being tempted as a mere man and ultimately falling into sin. I know from reading scripture that He spent over a month in the wilderness being tempted by Satan. I know He gave me instruction in His word about how to avoid it and how to handle it when it did come up, but deep down I believed He and I were on two totally different playing fields. I mean, come on, surely God can resist temptation much easier than I can because, well, He is God and I am not.

And, I thought I had scripture to back it up. I figured that Jesus could not really be tempted by what the following passage states: Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone (James 1:13). I had two claims to support why I believed that. First, Jesus was God in the flesh, and second, since God cannot be tempted, Jesus was immune to temptation. But after careful study and a whole lot of prayer and maturing, the eyes of my heart were opened to the truth, and that truth ultimately set me free.

My first claim agreed with scripture. Jesus was indeed God in the flesh. John 1:1-5, 14 and Colossians 2:15-18 clearly state that as truth. The second claim does not agree with scripture. Twice the writer of Hebrews indicated that Jesus was, in fact, tempted.
And now He can help those who are tempted, because He himself has suffered and was tempted. (Hebrews 2:18).
For our high priest is able to understand our weakness. When He lived on earth, He was tempted in every way that we are, but He did not sin. (Hebrews 4:15).

So the answer to my question is a definite, YES, Jesus really was tempted by Satan, and was in fact tempted in all the ways that we are tempted today. Yet He did not sin. One reason Jesus is our perfect high priest is because he can sympathize with us. He knows how it felt to be tempted. And because He has been there, done that, and got the T-shirt, He patiently waits for us at His throne of grace ready to help us when we need it. 

- Lanny Vines

John the Baptist

What do we think of at the mention of John the Baptist? Often, pictures depict a longhaired, wild-eyed man in camel hair clothing, something one would expect from someone having lived in the wilderness for many years.

From the Gospels, we see John preached boldly to the crowds.

What I see is a man who simply told the truth, and didn’t shy away from confrontation.

First of all, John wasn’t afraid to confront the Pharisees and Sadducees, leaders and rulers of the Jewish church.  They had long since forgotten what was important and were focused on maintaining traditions and protecting their role as leaders.  It was no longer about God, but, instead, about them and what rules (many of which they made) they chose to enforce. Worship was not a focus, as was apparent when Jesus later talked about the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Next we see John confronting Herod (generally, not a good idea to confront someone with this much power). But again, John was focused on what was right, and this time it costed him his life.

Today, we see many who stand up for Jesus and are ridiculed because it’s either not politically correct, or they are viewed as not following long held traditions. Our goal should be that of John’s, to speak the truth and focus on the one thing that is important – Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Just as John was bold, we should also be bold for Christ.  It won’t always be easy or comfortable, but as Christians, John’s example is one we should strive to follow.

- Johnny Lasiter 

Luke 2

"Light of the world you stepped down into darkness..."

That's what I think of as I read Luke 2. God came down, light entered the dark world, and as I read this passage I hear so many of the other stories we've covered on Sundays this year echoing Jesus...

Creation -Jesus is the Light into darkness    

                               

Noah - Jesus is the the Ark to save us

Abraham - Jesus is the Sacrifice God will provide for us

Jacob - Jesus is the thin place, the Ladder to heaven

Moses - Jesus came down to earth to save us because He saw, He heard, He cared

Joshua - Jesus is our strength, he will fight for us

Ruth - Jesus is our Redeemer

After a history of pain, fear, desperation, tragedy, oppression and judgment, finally some good news.

The Lord has come. I hope I never stop being overwhelmed by this story - the birth of the Messiah. The details are mindboggling. All the events God put into motion to fulfill the prophecies of His Son: the census, no room in the inn, the star, the shepherds, the wise men, the angels.  He went to so much trouble to put it all together. I am overcome by His grace to think that the God of the Universe did all of that so we could know Him.  

And if that weren't enough. The other details given in the chapter 2 allow us to see that Jesus was not only fully God, but also fully man. The humanity of Jesus tells us that He knows the frailty, the weariness, the awkwardness, the joy and the love of being human. Jesus grew up in a family, with all its dysfunction; a real, living, breathing, laughing, crying, hard to put up with family.

 And then He reminds us that this world is not our home. He told his parents, “didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?” I don't know about you, but sometimes in the chaos of life here on earth I forget that I too am created to be in my Father's house. Lord, you came in humility, setting aside Your Glory, to be a part of our humanity, but also to rescue us so we could be at home with You. Does it get any better?

- Shari Horne

Matthew 1

There is not much written about Joseph following the birth of Jesus, but in Matthew 1, he is shown to be a compassionate, obedient and faithful man.

As a husband, when I read Matthew 1, I can’t help but try to put myself in Joseph’s shoes when he found out that his future wife, Mary, was pregnant with a child that was not his. I imagine that he felt heartache, anger, shame, sadness, confusion and disbelief. Yet Joseph was considerate and compassionate towards Mary and planned to quietly leave her. Then the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and explained His plan and even though this plan differed from Joseph’s, he chose to be obedient to God.

One thing I must ask myself is if I am willing to remain obedient to God even when His plans differ from mine? How often in our lives do we find things not going according to our plan? When this happens, we may find ourselves experiencing some of the feelings that Joseph may have felt like heartache, anger, confusion or sadness. So will you stick with your plans or let God lead you in a different direction? Like Joseph, God has a perfect plan for our lives and we need only to be faithful and obedient to experience what God can do.

-Rusty Holt