Sermon Tone Analysis
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Pride/Testing the power of God
The first place that the enemy takes Jesus is the temple in the holy city, which is Jerusalem.
Here is some interesting facts about Jerusalem.
There is s bit of speculation about what the name of Jerusalem actually means, but it likely means “foundation of peace.”
Jerusalem is an important city both in biblical times as well as biblical prophecy.
In fact, the Old Testament references Jerusalem 660 times and the new testament references it 141 times.
Totalling 801 times!
The testing of Abraham to sacrifice Isaac happen on mount moriah which is just outside of Jerusalem.
The city was huge during the Davidic Empire.
It is the location where they took the head of Goliath.
David moved the Israelite Monarch there.
It was also the location of the Ark of the Covenant
David’s son, Solomon, would have the temple built and “consecrated the temple as a permanent location for Yahweh’s presence (2 Sam 7:1–17; 1 Kgs 6:1; 9:3).”
Shepherd, C. E. “Jerusalem.”
Ed.
John D. Barry et al.
The Lexham Bible Dictionary 2016: n. pag.
Print.
Despite Jerusalem’s beginnings, later the people would fall away from God and reject the prophets warning.
God would let the city fall and the people be exiled.
Ezra and Nehemiah would be called by God to restore the city and temple.
The greatest impact of the city of Jerusalem in the new testament was the death and resurrection of Jesus.
In A.D. 70, the temple would be destroyed which lead to the spread and rise of Christianity.
And in prophecy, heaven is referred to as the “new Jerusalem” in revelation 21.
So, Jerusalem is important in the will of God.
This sets the stage for today passage and the temptation of Jesus.
It is also important to note that Matthew and Luke have differing orders of the temptations.
We are looking at Matthews order as it is likely the “correct” order decided by most scholars.
The reason that Luke’s is different is probably that he wanted to place and emphasis on Jerusalem, which he often did.
Therefore switching the second and third temptation so that it would end in Jerusalem.
Anyways, for the purpose of today’s message, we will use Matthews telling of the story.
So, Satan leads Jesus to the highest point in the temple.
We have been asking the question as to whether these are temptations or testings.
One interesting point to note is that the Spirit is the one who lead Jesus into the wilderness, but it is the devil who leads him to Jerusalem and to the mountain.
So, if these are temptings, why would Jesus allow the devil to lead Him?
It is almost as if there is a degree of submission to the devil.
Which brings us to the next question: is Jesus submitting to the devil?
Those who fall in the tempting camp would probably say so.
Those who fall in the testing camp would say that He is actually submitting to God and following satan.
Jesus and satan are now on top of the temple, probably looking down.
I wonder if anyone is standing around watching....
Like, what are those two guys doing up there?
Satan tells Him to jump off and and then he quotes:
There are 3 ways that this could be a temptation.
1. Questioning the Word of God
We talked about this a little last week in it could be satan’s way of trying to get Jesus to question God’s word.
Remember in the garden how Satan used God’s word to convince Eve to eat the fruit?
Satan was trying to catch her on a technicality.
As I said last week, we need to be aware that this is one of the techniques that satan uses to tempt us.
We need to recognize what He is doing and be ready.
How many times in our lives do we question God’s word?
Will He really provide for me?
Will He really take care of me?
Will God really do what He has said that He will do?
As we talked about last week, the ways that we fight this temptation is to:
Know the Word of God!
Know that He is the creator and sustainer of life!
That His word contains life!
Rely on the Holy Spirit for guidance!
2. Questioning God’s Care/Love
What’s interesting about this idea is that is admits that the Word of God is true.
So, as Satan would possibly say: “God says that He will care for and send His angels to protect and save you.” - so let’s see if He really means it...
Throw yourself off, surely God will keep His word right??
See the seed of doubt being planted?
Does God really care for you and love you enough to protect you?
How often do we question this?
Does God really love me?
Does He really care for me?
Sure, when things are going well, it’t easier to believe this....
But, what about when things aren’t going so well?
The Israelites believed that God loved them when He led them out of Egypt....when they walked through the red sea....
But, now we are going to question Him to see if He loves us enough to feed us....
How do we fight this temptation?
1. Believe and trust Him!
If you believe in God, then you believe in the validate of scripture.
You believe:
When we believe in God, we believe that Jesus came for us, lives in us, and loves us!
The second way to fight the temptation of questioning God’s love is:
1. Get to know Him!
How can love be expressed without relationship?
If someone on the street just randomly comes up and says that they love you, are you going to believe them?
Probably not!
In the words of the great band DC Talk, may the rest in piece,
Love is a verb!
Love is something you do!
Love is demonstrated in action.
God didn’t just say that He loves us, He demonstrated it!
And He continues to do so!
For us to be strengthened in the love of God, we get to know Him!
We spend time with Him!
We read His word.
We put His word into action by serving others!
We pray!
The first temptation here is possibly questioning the Word of God.
The second is possibly questioning God’s love and care for us!
3. Pride
At the beginning of the message, I spent some time talking about the importance of Jerusalem!
And, this is where Jesus and Satan are.
They are on top of the highest point of the temple.
They are possibly people around watching - we don’t know for sure....
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