Hold your ground
by Pastor Tim Klein
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You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve (Matthew 4:10b).
Read Matthew 4:1–11
How good are you at resisting temptation?
I confess that in some things, I really struggle. For example, put me in a bakery where there are fresh cream honey-logs or Kitchener buns, and it is highly unlikely that I will leave the place empty-handed.
What are the things that tempt you most? You know yours as well as I know mine.
I wish I always had the same splanxa (guts or intestinal fortitude) as Jesus to recognise temptation and confront it head-on. Do you recall the time when Jesus explained to his disciples what he was about to go through concerning his torture and death? Peter talks up and says never – this should never happen to you. Now, Jesus could have thought, ‘Ahh, here at last is somebody on my side, someone who doesn’t want to see me go through the pain’. Instead, he recognises this as a temptation to tempt him away from his God-given mission. So, he responds to Peter: ‘Get behind me, Satan.’ (There’s that cream bun attracting my attention again: Get behind me, Satan!)
Jesus is no stranger to temptation. This famous reading from Matthew chapter 4 is the classic go-to passage when considering temptation.
This is not about froth and bubbles – things without any eternal consequence. Temptation is about taking our eyes off the Lord, relying on ourselves or relaxing our hope and trust in Jesus. This temptation of Jesus has eternal consequences, not just for him but also for you and me. (Actually, when I think about it, perhaps not resisting the temptation to consume cream buns does have some consequences for me and my family in the long run, but certainly not the same level of eternal consequence as Jesus faced.)
We could unpack each of these temptations Jesus faced, but it’s enough to focus on how he dealt with them.
How did he do it? He focused on the Lord. He pointed Satan, the tempter, back to the Lord – to his Heavenly Father – to the living Word of God. He focused the bringer of death onto the giver of life.
We pray: Dear Lord, you know how we people struggle with temptation of all kinds. Please strengthen us in our faith and trust in you and your word so that we can turn away from temptation to you – in every circumstance of temptation we face. Amen.
Tim has served as a pastor for more than 30 years in Australia and New Zealand. Not retired but repurposed on 12 January, this husband of wife Joy, father of three and grandfather of 10 intends to spend more time in the garden, write some songs that have long lingered in his mind and heart and keep up with the activities of his grandchildren and friends. He also has several active beehives that need managing, with some still to be constructed and populated. Tim will continue his voluntary service as a chaplain with SA Police.
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