Road Map

You may remember a wildly popular television show that aired several years ago entitled, “Man Vs. Wild” In this show, survival expert, Bear Grylls, was dropped off at a remote location where the environment was known to be harsh. Bear would be flown in, or literally dropped in, along with the camera crew, and then have the task of traveling back to civilization. Of course, along the way, Bear would face all sorts of dangers while teaching the viewers how to survive the harsh and dangerous conditions. Viewers watch Bear survive flash floods, brutal dust storms and frigid temperatures of the north. When we think of survival it is commonly held that there are three things you absolutely need: water, food and shelter. If we have these three things, we can survive pretty much any environment given our ability to adapt. At times, in Man Vs. Wild, Bear will create a filter for clean drinking water, eat some pretty deplorable things (including bugs) for energy and even build his own shelter to protect him from the elements. But what if we were missing out on something else necessary for survival? What if there was actually something more important that was needed for life? According to Jesus, there is something else. Matthew tells us that almost immediately after Jesus is baptized, He is led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted. Jesus is about to go toe to toe with the devil. I believe there are some critical things here for us to observe as we think about our own faith journeys and the role of God’s Word. Matthew 4:1-4 NIV 1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Let’s pause for a moment. Jesus is led into the wilderness by the Spirit. He’s been fasting for forty days and forty nights so obviously, He’s hungry and weak. It’s in this place of weakness that the devil approaches Him and begins to tempt Him. The devil never picks a fair fight so he attempts to derail Jesus at one of His most vulnerable moments. Let me just add that the devil is a very real enemy to all of God’s people. He is what the bible calls the accuser (Revelation 12:10), the slanderer, and Jesus refers to him as a murderer and the father of all lies (John 8:44). Popular culture often depicts him as a creature with horns and a pitch fork, but we must understand that we are dealing with a very real spiritual enemy. The good news is that we have nothing to fear because he is a defeated enemy. Now, the devil wants nothing more than to see Jesus defeated, and deterred from His mission. Jesus is tempted three times and each time He responds to the devil with this very significant phrase: “It is written.” Just three words but three words that carry a lot of weight.