Full of the Spirit

After his baptism, the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness where he was tested by the Devil. The Messiah succeeded where Israel failed. After his baptism in the Jordan by John, the Spirit “drove Jesus into the wilderness.” Like Moses and Israel, the Messiah was tempted while he was alone in the Judean desert. His only guide was the Word of God. Like Israel, he was “tested.” Unlike the Hebrew nation, he overcame every temptation and emerged victorious and “full of the Holy Spirit.”

[Cascading river - Photo by Derek Sutton on Unsplash]

Moses did not eat during his forty days on Mount Sinai. Jesus also “fasted” the entire time he was in the Wilderness - “Then was Jesus led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the Devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights...” He would be tested as Israel was so God would “know what was in his heart” - (Matthew 4:1-2).

• (Deuteronomy 8:2, 9:9) - “You will remember all the way which Yahweh your God led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to test you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or not <…> When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which Yahweh made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights; I did neither eat bread nor drink water.”

Jesus was under Divine compulsion to be tested by the Devil. Before he began his Messianic Mission, he must succeed where Israel failed.

• “And the tempter came and said to him, If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man will not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” – (Matthew 4:3-4, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13).

The first temptation echoed the incident when the Israelites murmured against Moses and longed for the “fleshpots of Egypt.” Yahweh responded graciously to the nation’s need by providing the Israelites with “manna” from heaven - (Exodus 16:1-4).

Rather than complain as Israel did, Jesus cited the passage from Deuteronomy that described the miraculous feeding of the nation:

• “And Yahweh humbled you, and suffered you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you knew not, neither did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh.” - (Deuteronomy 8:3).

Christ did not mutter against God when hungry or otherwise seek to evade this test. Instead, he submitted to the will of his Father. Next:

• “The Devil took him into the holy city. And he set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, He will give his angels charge concerning you, and on their hands, they will bear you up, that you do not dash your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him again, it is written, You will not test the Lord your God” - (Matthew 4:5-7).

Satan used one of the “words of God” to tempt the Nazarene to commit a rash act. Since devout Jews expected the Messiah to appear in the Temple, would it not advance his cause if Christ descended safely from the “pinnacle of the Temple” and landed gently in its courts while the nation was at worship? – (Malachi 3:1).

At his baptism, the voice from heaven identified Jesus as the “Beloved Son,” but he was summoned to fulfill that role as the ‘Servant of Yahweh’ who suffered for his people. This Messiah would be displayed before Israel in his suffering and death on a Roman cross rather than impressive displays of power and royal grandeur in the courts of the Temple- (Psalm 2:7, Isaiah 42:1, Matthew 3:17).

• “Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him. He has put him to grief. <…> because he poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors, yet he carried the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” – (Isaiah 53:10-12).

• “For the Son of Man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” – (Mark 10:45).

• “But he poured himself out, taking the form of a slave, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death by crucifixion. Wherefore also God highly exalted him and gave unto him the name which is above every name” – (Philippians 2:7-9).

Jesus responded to Satan by again citing a passage from Deuteronomy - “You will not test Yahweh your God, as you tested him in Massah.” At Massah, Israel complained once more, and once again, where Israel failed Jesus overcame - (“Why do you strive with me? Why do you test Yahweh?” - Exodus 17:1-3, Deuteronomy 6:16).

WORSHIP GOD ALONE

Finally, Satan attempted to lure Jesus with political power. What the Devil offered was Christ’s by divine decree (“I will give you the nations for your inheritance”). Strikingly, Jesus did not dispute Satan’s right to grant sovereignty over the Earth if only he rendered homage to the Tempter. Had not Yahweh called him to reign over the nations of the Earth? - (Psalm 2:7-8, Matthew 3:17, 4:8-10).

• “Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, And the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron. You will dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel” – (Psalm 2:8-9).

If anyone deserved unlimited political power, it was the Son of God. Nevertheless, Jesus rejected the offer (“Depart, Satan, for it is written, Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only!”). Christ quoted the passage he had just cited to fend off the second temptation:

• “You will fear Yahweh you God; and him will you serve. <…> You will not test Yahweh your God, as you tested him in Massah” - (Deuteronomy 6:13-16).

The Devil departed but he would certainly try again to derail the Messiah from his mission (“When the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from him until a fitting season”).

Having overcome all temptations, Jesus “returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee,” and he therefore began proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of God to the Jewish nation - (Luke 4:13-15).

Jesus was now well qualified and fully equipped to speak the words of his Father to Israel. God had not “given him the Spirit by measure.” As promised in Scripture, and because of his loving obedience to His Father, Christ had the fullness of the Spirit:

• “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” – (Luke 4:18).

• “For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he does not give him the Spirit by measure” - (John 3:34).

• “Even Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him” - (Acts 10:38).

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SEE ALSO:

• The Anointed Son - (The Spirit of God and the voice from heaven confirmed that Jesus is God’s Son, the Messiah, and the Servant of Yahweh)

• He Baptizes in Spirit - (John the Baptist prepared the way for the Messiah who is the Herald of the Kingdom of God and the one who baptizes in the Spirit – Mark 1:4-8)

• Spirit and Fire - (The Spirit of God descended on Jesus, equipping him for his Messianic mission. He would baptize his followers in the Holy Spirit and Fire)

• Dans le désert - (Après son baptême, l'Esprit a conduit Jésus dans le désert pour être testé par le Diable. Mais il a réussi là où Israël a échoué)