On What Do You Feed? Matthew 3:13-4:4

Credit where due: I draw heavily for this sermon from John Piper's preaching on fasting. BJH

The Bridegroom is gone for a while. So we fast while He is gone and for His return. We also fast because Jesus fasted. Consider that as Jesus prepared for His earthly ministry, He fasted. As Jesus prepared to wrestle with the devil so that He could deliver us from bondage to sin and death, Jesus fasted. If Jesus had failed, salvation would have failed. If He cannot defeat Satan, everything is lost because no one can be crucified for my sin who cannot beat the devil.

You and I face challenges and neither of us is Jesus. If He prepared for and began His ministry by fasting, could it be that we as individuals and as a church ought to fast to meet the challenges we face? Could it be that the reason we are defeated by the same things over and over – such as a lack of boldness or lack of wisdom, the same sins, the same problems in relationship ... is because there is a weapon for the battle or a route of attack that we have overlooked? On what do we really depend? On what do we really feed for our strength? What is your “bread?”

“It is not surprising that Jesus was tempted by the devil immediately after his baptism which signified the formal entrance upon the Messianic work. That is a common experience for ministers [and I would say, ministries] who step out into the open for Christ.” A.T. Robertson

THE BAPTISM OF JOHN THE BAPTIZER (He was not Baptist)

• John

  • Filled with the Holy Spirit Luke 1:15

  • Fulfilling the prophesy of Isaiah 40:3

  • Calling people to change their attitudes and conduct

• Baptism

  • “It is his [John] office to bind them to a new life, symbolized by immersion in water.” Plummer (Anglican commentator) v.3:6

  • For those committed to God, not those following the crowd or … superstition (Pharisees) or ... ritual in carnal unbelief (Sadducees) v.3:7

  • Had been practiced for proselytes and therefore naturally repulsive to those born into Judaism

  • For Jesus it fulfilled righteousness

    • Not because he had sin to repent of

    • Put the stamp of approval on John's ministry of calling to change by His example

    • Initiated a new ordinance demonstrating being “set apart.” + high priest “washing”

    • Having already been circumcised (OT), and now baptized (NT), not for His own justification, as an example

THE SIGN AND THE SENDING vv.3:16-4:1

• The Spirit of God “in the form of a dove” Luke3:22

  • All three persons of Godhead present

    • Jesus – baptized + Holy Spirit – in a bodily shape + Father - a voice (from a different place)

  • Jesus had the Holy Spirit (at least as spiritual as John)

• Jesus led (driven Mark1:12) by Spirit (the Fortifier) to be tempted by the devil (“slanderer”) (see the word slanderer used in 2Tim.3:3; Titus 2:3; 1Tim.3:11)

• Being chosen by God is not being chosen to be comfortable

THE FAST v.4:2

• Produced hunger - After forty days of close communion with the Father

• Produced victory - Deuteronomy Defense – All the defenses Jesus used came from Deuteronomy 8:3; 6:16, 13

THE MESSAGES of Deu. 8:2-3 and Matt. 4:3-4

• Led (caused to go) to Wilderness; Forty; Testing/tempting; letting you hunger; as being led/leading to Promised Land

• Testing to see what controls you – measure of our slavery

  • “bread”? Other “medication”? Faith? To deal with life.

• Satan's temptation to make bread (as Jesus had made manna)

  NOTE: Before manna – man had no concept of manna- a God thing

  We Live - not by bread or anything else we know OR manna OR miracles

• RATHER We live by every thing that comes from the mouth of God = God

THE QUESTION When you hunger, what do you hunger for? Bread? “Spiritual bread”? What do you need? Bread? Manna?

OR The love of God?-(to which the manna pointed)

Satan is happy for us to work miracle and turn stones to bread – if we love the bread (we just made) instead of God.