We read about the desert experience of Jesus today in Luke 4 (www.lifejournal.cc). I call this Jesus' seminary experience. Moses had one for 40 years in the desert. Paul had one for 3 days after he met the Lord on the Road to Damascus. It is that time in between the calling and the opportunity (or at least a time of preparation for the calling) and it is a time of reflection and praying as God prepares your heart for what is to come. For Jesus it was about being the Messiah. Different interpretations of Messianic prophecies led people to think all kinds of things about the coming Messiah.
-Some would want him to be one that provided for the people as Joseph provided for the known world during the famine. That was part of the temptation about the bread.
-Others would want him to be a world leader and bring Israel back to its status under King David or even greater. Christ will lead the world but the timing was not right in the 1st century but that was the temptation about having all the kingdoms.
-The temptation about jumping off the temple concerned being a worker of magic and marveling the folks with wonder works in an Elijah kind of way or even greater. Jesus did many miracles but that was never His Focus. His miracles were about pointing people to the more important mission of spreading the Gospel.
People would often try to lead Him to be the Messiah they expected or the one they wanted, but before He ever dealt with such people, He faced that kind of temptation in the desert alone battling the evil one. I believe He walked out of the desert resolute after such temptation. The people's wants may have been a bother but they were not tempting to him. Even before Luke 4 is over, the people are trying to lead Christ off mission and be what they want Him to be (v.43). He does not seem detoured by it one bit. He had already dealt with that in the desert or His seminary experience (His training ground).
But was the desert 'the temptation to end all temptation'? No. Notice v. 13- And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. Do what? ( that's a little more southern term for 'Huh?' or a redneck version of 'Beg your pardon.') After terrorizing the Lord in the desert- sticking food in his face during a fast, promising Him the world, and quoting Scripture at Him- He now is going to come back for another season of it. Of course! He is the evil one. He roams around like a hungry lion looking for the slowest hyena. Jesus faced it again and again. And so do we? Once the Lord ascended, the devil focused his attack on God's people. Now he attempts to tempt us in every way to keep us from carrying out the task that he has set for us. When do we need to prepare ourselves to stand strong against temptation? All the time, because he looks for the opportune time. What is the opportune time? The time when no one is looking. The time when we are not prayed up or spiritually prepared. The time when we place ourselves in a tempting situation or in a place where we have sinned before. The time when our minds are not focused on the things of God. The time when....we least expect it. That is when the lion jumps out from behind the bush after the hyena. That is when the terrorist's landmine goes off...when we least expect it. No greater terrorist than the evil one. He developed guerilla warfare. Be careful for you may fall into the opportune time of the evil one.
The good news is the opportune time for temptation is also the opportune time to stand for the Lord and to be stronger from it. I pray you do today. Stand strong. What an opportune time!
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