Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Jesus was LED

This morning I was trying to start my day slowly.  The first Scripture passage I read was in conjunction to a devotional about our identity.  Matthew 4:1, "Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil..."  Here's what I heard through the Holy Spirit about this small bit of Scripture:

  • "led by the Spirit"  The same Holy Spirit that intercedes for me and guides me through each day was present that day for Jesus.  This gives me a connection with the Almighty that I didn't realize that I had.  We are connected with the same Spirit.  That has an amazing comfort and security to it. The Holy Spirit was guiding and prompting Jesus, the Son of God, that day as He can with me every day.  
  • "being led"  With these words, you can infer that Jesus followed willingly.  He went into a place He knew would be challenging....the wilderness.  Doesn't sound very friendly or fun.  Certainly not supportive by any means.  But yet....He chose to go, knowing full well what was coming.  And yet he still went.  I don't know if I would have gone "willingly", knowing that I was going to meet the devil himself.  Who in their right mind would CHOOSE that....willingly?  Yet He did.  He would only have the Spirit to guide him and support him. Did he feel alone?  Scared?  I wonder what He prayed as heard the prompting of the Holy Spirit.  
  • The passage goes on to say that "He was hungry".  He had fasted for forty days and forty nights.  I know that  being hungry is a hard place to be physically.  It's challenging to focus, much less focus on doing any kind of tasks.  And He must have been VERY hungry after not eating for forty days and nights.  His body must have felt weak and his mind probably was only on his growling stomach. 
  • The passage also speaks to the purpose of being led:  "to be tempted".  He was going there for a TEST.  I wonder why the Holy Spirit was leading Him to a place of testing.  Did He need to grow in some way inside of Himself?  Did God the Father need to see Him to pass this test before He would go through all the other tests that he would have in his ministry.... with the Pharisees or the disciples and their issues?  Was it to build his confidence? Or was it a place of preparation?   I can't imagine that Jesus would need any confidence building as He was already the Son of God. But He might have needed some experience to prepare him for the spiritual battles that lie ahead of Him.
  This passage was rich with insights.  God allows tests in our lives.  We even may be led by the Holy Spirit, not to harm us but to grow us up in Christ, to prepare us for a place of greater ministry and impact on the lives of other people. He wants us to use the Word of God as the "Sword" to fight and win the battle, no matter what the physical, emotional or mental challenge, just as Jesus did in this situation.  He repeatedly said, "It is written...."  

At the end of the test, Scripture says, "So the devil left Jesus and the angels came and took care of Him."   They probably brought him everything that He needed:  food, water, rest and I can hear the Father saying to him, "Good job Son!  I'm proud of you!"