Scripture: Matthew 3:13-4:11
Title: Jesus – Son of God
Key Idea: Jesus shows he is God’s Son through total commitment and trusting obedience to the Father
Structure:
- Introduction
- Jesus’ baptism
- Jesus’ testing
- Conclusion
Introduction:
As most of you know by now the church lounge is under renovation at the moment. The purpose is to strengthen the room in case of an earthquake
– One of the things the builder is doing (as David showed us last week) is attaching the brick work to the wooden frame using metal ties like this
– Without the ties the brick wall would be independent of the frame and in an earthquake would be weaker without the frame to support it
– The ties keep the bricks in the right position
– Obviously just one tie isn’t going to be sufficient – we need the right number of ties
Here’s another picture – this one is of a ship’s mast and sail
– Hopefully you can see that all the way up the mask there are ties keeping the sail attached to the mast
– I guess without these ties the skipper would have no control of the sail or the boat
– As with the brick wall and framing, one tie isn’t going to be enough – you need a number of ties
This next picture is of a father and son walking hand in hand by the sea
– In some ways the father is like the frame and the son is like the bricks
– Or the father is like the mast and the son like the sail
– The son is close to the father and gets strength from the father
– They are connected not just by a single biological tie but by the bond of many shared experiences
– This father and son are creating a bond simply by spending time together
Today we continue our sermon series on the titles ascribed to Jesus
– So far we have looked at Jesus the Wonderful Counsellor, the Prince of Peace, the Everlasting Father, Mighty God, Jesus as Lord and Son of David
– This morning we look at what it means to say that Jesus is the ‘Son of God’
The gospels of Matthew & Luke both make it clear that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, not by a man, so in a very unique sense Jesus is God’s Son
– However, there is more to being someone’s son than mere conception
– Conception is one tie between father and son but one tie isn’t enough
– To be a son, in the full or whole sense, is to have a certain quality of relationship with the father – a relationship characterised by closeness & trust, with many ties or shared experiences
To help us explore what it means to say that Jesus is the ‘Son of God’ I’ve selected Matthew’s account of the baptism and testing of Jesus
– From Matthew 3, verse 13, we read…
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness.” Then John consented.
16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
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.’ ”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ ”
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ ”
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this Scripture for us
In this reading we see the quality of Jesus’ relationship with God
– Jesus demonstrates he is God’s Son through total commitment and trusting obedience to the Father
Jesus’ baptism:
At Christmas time I was given the gift of a book written by the Frenchman Antoine De Saint-Exupery (my apologies for butchering the French language)
– The book was called The Little Prince
– It is wonderful and packed with many profound things including this…
One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.
This is very true – God is both essential to us and invisible to our eyes
– Not just God though but also the many ties that are essential to our relationship with God
Once the wall lining goes up in the lounge we won’t see the ties anymore but they will be there, invisible, holding things together
Prayer is an essential tie in our relationship with God but you can’t really see prayer – it’s something done in faith
Likewise, the Word of God is invisible – sure, you can read words on a page in a Bible but that’s not the same as discerning the Word of God
– You can only see the Word of God by faith with the heart
Communion is another invisible tie in our relationship with God
– We might be able to physically see, touch and taste the symbols of bread & wine but the essence of communion is invisible
– The bond we have with Jesus (and each other) through breaking bread and sharing the cup can only be seen with the heart
Same thing with baptism – baptism is a relational tie with God; Father, Son & Spirit – it’s an outward sign of an inward reality
– People see you getting wet but they can’t see the internal bond God is creating between you and Him
Our reading from Matthew earlier begins with the baptism of Jesus but what Matthew focuses on is not the part people can see with their eyes but the part that can only be seen clearly with the heart
To everyone else Jesus was just another person in the crowd coming to be baptised by John – but John could see what was invisible to everyone else
– John saw with his heart – he recognised who Jesus really was and said it’s me who should be baptised by you
But Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness.” Then John consented.
This tells us Jesus was getting baptised out of obedience to God
– John’s baptism was for the repentance of sins and yet Jesus was sinless so he didn’t need John’s baptism – there was an element of humiliation in it for Jesus, like he was being tarred with the same brush as a thief or a liar even though he was not guilty of anything
– God’s purpose was for Jesus to save the people from their sins
– By being baptised Jesus was identifying with sinful humanity and publicly accepting God’s purpose for him, which was to go to the cross
– Identifying with sinful humanity created a bond with us
– Accepting God’s purpose created a bond with God
16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Now we don’t know if the bystanders saw the Spirit descending on Jesus and heard the voice from heaven or whether only Jesus was aware
– Either way it is a divine affirmation that Jesus is the Son of God
– The Holy Spirit is the ultimate bond (or tie) between God the Father and Jesus the Son
Those who are familiar with the Old Testament will hear echoes from the past
– In the Hebrew Scriptures God refers to the nation of Israel as his son who he brought out of Egypt
– This means Jesus is like a new Israel and, through Jesus, God is bringing about a new exodus, setting his people free from sin & death
– Likewise, in Psalm 2, the king of Israel is referred to as God’s son
– Most (if not all) of the kings of Israel failed to live up to the title of God’s son through their disobedience to God
– But Jesus succeeds through his trusting obedience to God the Father
There are many other allusions to the Old Testament in these verses but the main point is: God the Father validates Jesus as his Son and expresses his pleasure that Jesus has embraced God’s purpose for him
Jesus’ testing:
There is a wonderful scene in the book I was talking about earlier where the little prince meets a fox and asks if the fox will play with him
– And the fox replies, ‘I can’t play with you. I’m not tame’
– When the little prince asks what does ‘tame’ mean, the fox explains,
– ‘It means “creating a bond”.’ (A tie)
The conversation goes back and forth for a bit and then the fox says…
– “One only understands the things that one tames. Men have no more time to understand anything. They buy things all ready made at the shops. But there is no shop anywhere where one can buy friendship, and so men have no friends any more. If you want a friend, tame me.”
– “What must I do to tame you?” asked the little prince
– “You must be very patient”, replied the fox. “First you will sit a little distance from me, like that, in the grass. I shall look at you out of the corner of my eye, and you will say nothing. Words are the source of misunderstandings.”
The author of the Little Prince lived in the desert for some years, he loved it there. The desert is a lonely place, a place without words, without misunderstandings
Straight after his baptism the Spirit leads Jesus into the desert, just as the nation of Israel were led into the desert after their exodus from Egypt
– Why does the Spirit do this?
– To test the strength of the bond between Jesus the Son and God the Father
– God was confident in the quality of his relationship with Jesus – he trusted his son to choose the right path
The devil tries to break (or at least fracture) the father / son relationship between God & Jesus through three temptations – all of which have to do with power
The first temptation comes after Jesus has been alone and without food for 40 days – when he is at his weakest
– The devil says, ‘If you are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread’
– On the face of it the devil doesn’t appear to be asking Jesus to do anything obviously bad – it’s not like he’s suggesting Jesus steal the bread from orphans – and so we might be puzzled by Jesus’ response
Two reasons I think Jesus said ‘no’
– Firstly, Jesus is at war here with the forces of evil – He is in combat against the devil
– When you are at war you don’t do what the enemy says – you don’t let your opponent set the agenda
– Jesus wasn’t going to start taking orders from the devil even if what Satan suggested seemed harmless enough
– Jesus was only interested in doing what he saw God his Father doing – which brings us to Jesus’ second reason for saying ‘no’
God isn’t sitting on a cloud untouched by human suffering
– God is present and involved with his creation
– Human suffering, animal suffering, the poisoning of the air, land and sea affects God – he feels our pain
– Jesus the Son only does what he sees God his Father doing – he sees God close to people and affected by our lives and so he knows that God wants him to enter into the human experience as well (like Father like Son)
– Part of the human experience is hunger and powerlessness
– If Jesus used his special power to satisfy his own hunger then he wouldn’t be entering into the human experience, he would be avoiding it
– To avoid the human experience would be a denial of his baptism and a denial of God’s purpose for him and a denial of himself as God’s Son
– It is God’s will to save humanity and that meant it was necessary for Jesus to enter into the experience of those he’d come to save
– By fasting and experiencing hunger Jesus was creating a bond or a tie with those who have known hunger & powerlessness
As well as entering into the human experience generally, God wanted Jesus to enter into Israel’s experience particularly – and part of Israel’s experience was hunger & vulnerability in the wilderness
– As Son of God, Jesus is doing for Israel what Israel failed to do
– In all three temptations Jesus refutes the devil by quoting Scripture from Deuteronomy chapters 6 & 8
– Deuteronomy 6-8 forms part of the instruction Moses gave to the people toward the end of their time in the wilderness
– Moses was basically saying that God had been training Israel to trust and obey him – much like a Father teaches a son – and here’s some of the things they should have learned from their experience
Lesson number one: ‘Man cannot live by bread alone’ (and by man we mean humankind – men & women)
– Eating food is essential to survival in this life
– Likewise, obedience to God’s will is essential to this life and the next
– Jesus’ refusal to break his fast until God said so proved the point that doing God’s will is even more life giving than eating bread
– Fulfilling God’s purpose satisfies our souls in a way that food can’t
Having said all that Jesus didn’t always fast – in fact he had a reputation for eating well
– On another occasion in the wilderness Jesus would use his power to miraculously multiply loaves and fishes to feed thousands
– On that occasion Jesus was actually proving a similar point – that God is the source and sustain-er of life
– Jesus had just been feeding the people with God’s word through his teaching – then, after he had fed their souls with his sermon, he fed their bodies with food – because we need both for life
So if you’re thinking I might do a fast for 40 days like Jesus – then don’t, it will kill you (you’re not Jesus)
– If you want to give up something don’t give up food which is good for you – give up the things that are bad for you, like complaining or self-pity or gossip or resentment or worry or excess screen time
Jesus’ obedience in submitting to God’s will for him shows that Jesus trusted God to provide bread for him when God was ready
– And this is exactly what God did – after the devil had left, angels came and took care of Jesus’ needs
The second temptation comes in the form of a vision
– The devil transports Jesus to the highest point of the temple and invites him to jump off, saying…
– “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ ”
– The devil wants Jesus to act as though God is there to serve him
– Leverage your relationship with God, get him to pull some strings for you
Notice how the devil uses the Bible to entice Jesus here – he makes it seem like a good idea, a holy idea even
– The devil misuses holy Scripture by taking a verse out of context and applying a crude literalism to it – what we might call ‘proof texting’
– Jesus isn’t fooled though – he finds the true meaning of Scripture by putting things in the right context
– He understands Scripture because of his closeness to God the Father
Again Jesus quotes Scripture from Deuteronomy
– “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
– This is another lesson Israel should have learned in the wilderness
– ‘Don’t put God to the test’ means don’t try and force God’s hand
– Don’t put God in an awkward position
– Don’t try to manipulate God
– Don’t take advantage of your relationship with God for selfish ends
– It’s the Father who teaches the Son, not the other way around
God wasn’t asking Jesus to jump off the temple roof
– God was asking Jesus to hang on the cross
– Jesus shows he is the Son of God by obeying the will of the Father
The third temptation also comes in the form of a vision
– This time the devil isn’t so subtle – he shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour and says…
– “All this I will give you, if you will bow down and worship me.”
– The devil is offering Jesus a cosy alternative to his mission
– Imagine the good you could do if all the kingdoms of the world were yours – this is an easier way than the way God has for you
But Jesus isn’t going to repeat the mistakes of the Israelites in the wilderness who bowed down to the statue of a gold bull and says…
– “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ ”
– Jesus loves God his Father and wouldn’t trade him for all the kingdoms of the world – that’s the quality of their relationship, that’s the strength of their bond
Conclusion:
Jesus shows he is God’s Son through his total commitment and trusting obedience to the Father
Most of Jesus’ contemporaries couldn’t see he was the Son of God because they were looking with their eyes and not with their hearts
– It was only after his death and resurrection that it began to dawn on people who Jesus really is
The good news is: through faith in Jesus God tames us – through Jesus, God creates a bond making us his friends and family
Questions for discussion or reflection:
1.) What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon?
– Why do you think this stood out to you?
2.) What (or who) ties Jesus to God?
– What (or who) ties us to God?
3.) Why did Jesus go to be baptised by John?
4.) Who did the son of God refer to in the Old Testament?
5.) The baptism of Jesus sounds many echoes of the Old Testament. What echoes can you hear?
6.) Why did the Spirt lead Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil?
7.) Discuss / reflect on Jesus’ response to the three temptations and their relationship to Israel’s experience in the wilderness
– In what ways has your faith / relationship with God been tested over the years?
8.) How might God tame us?
Tawa Baptist 