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Word from Scotland
by Sandy Shaw
In Luke 4:5, having been ‘unsuccessful’ in his first effort at tempting Jesus Christ, he now takes Jesus to a high mountain, above Jericho, where you can see for miles. These are real places. We are reading of real incidents. Then we hear these tempting words: worship me: bow down before me: and all you see can be yours!
In other words: By-pass the cross. I will make it easier for you. Be quiet about what your Father said to you and you won’t need to go up that other mountain, Calvary. Soft pedal your message. Forget about your mission. Ignore that experience you had at the Jordan River. Do it my way and there need be no persecution.
The devil wanted to control and boss Jesus. Submit to my terms. Jesus replied, “It is written. Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit and filled with knowledge of the Word. And Jesus not only acknowledges the Scriptures but uses them to overcome the tricks of the evil one and gain another vital victory.
The devil has another go at Jesus taking him up to JERUSALEM, which is about a three hours walk away.
He takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the TEMPLE, which is assumed to be the south east corner of the wall surrounding the Temple. He suggests that Jesus should jump - 90 feet or so – and an army of angels will come and protect you. What a scene if HE had jumped!
It would have been like some bizarre circus act. Jesus would not become a showman. Crowds may have followed him for a season, and for all the wrong reasons.
Do something dramatic. Appeal to people’s curiosity and desire for the unusual - for the extraordinary - ENTERTAIN! Crowds - yes - but only for a brief season. Crowds are never keen to carry crosses. They soon look elsewhere.
The devil tries to help Jesus get the wrong kind of kingdom, and be the wrong kind of king. And – the devil raises up only to cast down whereas Jesus comes when a person is down to lift him up. And - being in holy places does not protect us from temptation. The enemy can hover around the Temple – and church services, meetings and gathering.
Jesus replied on these three occasions using and quoting the Word – the Scriptures. He could have produced some new original truth, but no. He chooses to honour the writings of Moses - recognising their authority. Jesus honours the Scriptures. HE WON!
In the world today it can be a lonely fierce battle! That is one reason why real genuine fellowship and friendship and trust is VITAL!
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
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