Mary’s Lent Diary (Day 4)

After Jesus was baptised, I wanted to give him a hug.  I tried to make my way down to the water but there were so many people!  It took me ages to wriggle my way through them and, by the time I reached the place where John was baptising, Jesus had gone.  So I went home but there was no sign of him there, either – or the next day, or the next day…I know he is old enough to look after himself but I guess a mother never stops worrying!  Every day I looked out for him, and everyday there was no sign of him.  If Joseph were still here, I know he’d have told me to stop worrying, and that Jesus would be fine, but I couldn’t.  I began counting the days since I had last seen Jesus….10, 20, 30….no sign of him.  Finally, after more than 40 days, he turned up!  I was so pleased.  I made him his favourite meal, sat him down and he told me all about where he had been….

After his baptism, he had been led by the Spirit into the desert, and then spent 40 days being tempted by the devil.  Jesus didn’t go into detail about how he was tempted, and I did not like to ask.  I am a bit in awe of him – He is still my Jesus but now he seems a bit different, somehow.  I can’t quite put my finger on it.

He didn’t eat anything during those 40 days so at the end of them, he was really hungry.  Though Jesus did not tell me about the 40 days of being tempted, he did tell me what happened after those days – three more temptations.

The first was to prove he is the Son of God by turning stones into bread.  I thought that was mean, because Jesus had not eaten for 40 days!  But Jesus resisted and quoted the bible at the devil, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’

The next temptation was to do with power – if Jesus would worship the devil, then Jesus could have the authority of all the kingdoms in the world.  But again, Jesus resisted; ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only’ – it’s a good thing he knows the Scriptures so well!

The last temptation was to jump from the top of the temple!  I put my hands to my mouth in horror…then my brain caught up and I realised that Jesus must have resisted this one, too, since he was sitting right there with me (!).  Apparently, the reason for the temptation was to prove he is the Son of God by having God send angels to save him when he jumped…but, yet again, Jesus resisted: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’

Wow, my boy is certainly something!  And I think I am only beginning to realise how big of a something he is….

(Matthew 4)

Desert Mountains

Jesus has gone from the ‘high’ of his baptism to the ‘low’ of being tempted.

Tempting is probably something we can all relate to. 

We’ve all experienced it. 

We’ve all struggled with it. 

And there is nothing the devil likes more than to see us struggle.

Let’s look at the first temptation: Turn these stones into bread.

Turn these stones into bread. 

In other words, try to provide for yourself. 

You’re hungry so think about what you want – and then get it. 

When the devil tempts us, he wants us to think that we want what he wants us to want. 

And maybe, actually, we don’t want it.  Or maybe we do.  But, either way he makes us think about it. 

And that’s when the rot sets in.

But the devil’s plan backfired.  Jesus knew that He was hungry and He knew what he needed – God’s word.  So he quoted it to the devil:

‘Man shall not live by bread alone…’

Is that true? 

Is it true of you?

Let’s think about what ‘bread’ is.

Bread is food.

Bread is something man made to satisfy physical hunger. 

Which is good!  We wouldn’t survive without food, after all.

But what if we apply this spiritually? 

Do we spiritually try to live on ‘bread alone’? 

Survive on things that we can make and do for ourselves?

Do we make contingency plans, just in case God doesn’t quite get it right?

Rely on our abilities, earning power, families…whatever it may be?

Note the word ‘alone.’  The Bible is not saying we don’t need ‘bread’ at all.  Of course we need it!  And it is ok to have nice things. 

The Bible is saying that we can’t survive on bread – material things, earthly things – alone. 

We need God, too.

We need His word.

‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’

Matthew 4:4

It is when we try to live on bread alone that things go wrong. 

When pleasing our boss becomes more important than pleasing God. 

When spending time with our friends becomes more important than spending time with God. 

When how we look to the world becomes more important than how we look to God.

When bread becomes more important than God. 

How’s the bread/God balance in your life?  Do you need to work on your priorities?  Don’t let the bread push God out…

 Lord Jesus,

Please help me get the bread/God balance right in my life.

Amen

Mary’s Memo: Don’t Go It Alone