G’day, and welcome to this new special Easter edition of Stories of a Faithful God. Thanks for joining me. I’m Dave Whittingham, your host. The plan is to release one short episode a day this week from Monday to Good Friday… There’ll be a break on Saturday and then a final episode on Easter. The same episodes will on both Stories of a Faithful God and Stories of a Faithful God for Kids, so it doesn’t matter which show you listen to.

MUSIC

Way back at the dawn of time… the first humans, Adam and Eve, had a choice. God said… rule over the whole world… fill the earth and subdue it. He said you’re free to eat from any tree in the garden. That includes the tree of life, which would give them eternal life. He also said… don’t eat from the tree in the centre of the garden. If you do… you’ll die.

The snake… Satan… the devil came along and said… “Nope. God’s lying. You won’t die. If you eat from it… you’ll become like God.

So the question was… is God faithful? Can he be trusted? Or is he a liar? Is he actually stopping us from having what’s best.

They said… he’s not faithful. But they were wrong. And they died.

Ever since then… every human on the planet has faced that choice of whether to trust God fully and completely… and every human who’s ever lived… has failed.

Except one.

We’re in the early first Century AD.

Thousands of people have been travelling to be baptised by a man named John in the Jordan river. One man… Jesus of Nazareth… enters the water just like thousands of others… but as he comes out, something different happens. From heaven, God calls out,

This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.

And Satan’s ears prick up. He can’t stand to have a human who’s pleasing to God. Who trusts and obeys God. He wants people to believe his lies. So he gets himself ready.

And we read this in Matthew chapter 4 verse 1:

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

I love that line. Its like if Matthew said that he dived into a pool, and then he was wet.

But he isn’t just telling us Jesus is hungry to fill in space. Did you notice why Jesus is in the desert? Its because God’s Spirit led him there. God’s put him into this situation. And Jesus could be tempted to think… “why’s God doing this to me. Maybe he’s not so good after all.”

Speaking of being tempted…. Satan… the tempter… arrives to do just that. And he picks up on Jesus being hungry with a question that seems… really innocent. He says to Jesus in verse 3:

“If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

What’s wrong with that?

The problem is he’s saying… “Get yourself out of this situation. This situation that God’s put you in. Use your power as the Son of God… to go against what God’s done.”

Its subtle… but deadly. He’s saying God’s not looking after you. God’s not loving you. You can do better than God.

Jesus though… trusts that God’s faithful. He trusts that the God who put him in this situation will get him out when he’s ready. He quotes a line from Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 3. It was when Moses was reminding the people of Israel not to grumble. Not to think that God won’t look after them. But to remember that he’ll look after them in his way… in his timing. They just had to be patient. So Jesus answers in verse 4:

“It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

In other words… “no thank you tempter. I’m not going to save my life in opposition to what God wants. My life is governed by God. He’s faithful. He’ll let me eat when he’s ready. I’ll wait for him.”

So… the tempter ramps it up a notch. He actually uses Jesus’ trust of God… to tempt Jesus to disobey God.

He takes him up on the to the top of the temple in Jerusalem. It’s the tallest building around. And this time he actually quotes God’s word. He quotes Psalm 91, which talks about how God will care for his Son. So he says to Jesus in verse 5:

“If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written:

He will give his angels orders concerning you,

and they will support you with their hands

so that you will not strike

your foot against a stone.

It’s a passage about God’s faithfulness. Satan’s saying… if you really think God’s faithful… If you really think you can trust him… then prove it. Jump. And let’s see if God really is faithful.

Jesus is having none of it though. If you trust God, you shouldn’t have to make him prove his trustworthiness. In fact, Jesus knows its wrong to do that. In verse 7 he comes back with another quote from the Old Testament. From Deuteronomy 6 verse 16:

Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.”

The tempter isn’t having the success that he’s had with every other human. So this time he pulls out all the stops. Matthew tells us in verse 8:

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.”

What’s going on?

Its worth thinking about where Jesus is heading. By the end of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus has even more than Satan offers him here. He has all authority… both in heaven and on earth. It’s been given to him… Not by Satan. But by God the Father.

The path to get there though… lies through the suffering… and humiliation… and horror of the cross. God’s path for Jesus isn’t an easy one. It’s a path that ends in glory… but he’ll need to pass through shame to get there.

Satan’s offering the glory… without the shame. Without the suffering. Without horror. All Jesus has to do is stop worshipping God the Father… stop obeying him, stop trusting him… And start worshipping Satan. How easy is that?

It’s a question of who you think is faithful. Adam and Eve… they said… God’s words are lies… Satan’s words are faithful. And it’s a disaster.

Every human on the planet including you and me… in hundreds of decisions every day… take the easy way out. The way that seems best to us, even though it isn’t God’s way. We trust ourselves and, without even knowing it most of the time… the lies of Satan… more than we trust the faithful God. And it’s a disaster.

Now here’s another human who’s offered the easy way out. God’s offering him pain and suffering and shame and then eternal glory… Satan says I’ll give you that without the suffering. Don’t trust God. Trust me. In verse 10 though, Matthew tells us:

Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”

Then the devil left him, and angels came and began to serve him.

Which shows… God hasn’t abandoned him. Jesus patiently waited for God and now God provides for him. Jesus was right to stick with God, because God’s faithful.

What’s going to happen with this totally unique human, Jesus? Who trusts God… not just in the good times… but in the hard times as well. Whose faith isn’t rocked by suffering or hardship. Who knows and trusts in his very bones that God’s faithful. How will that play out in a world that’s under the sway of the tempter who hates the Faithful God? Well that’s a story… for next time. See you tomorrow.