JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture

[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
“God So Loved the World …” (John 3:16)
God loves us!

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (John 3:17)

He has done this because He loves you. God asks, “Why will you die?” The Lord Jesus says, “You will not come to Me, that you might have life.”

Oh, the lovely thing that is said of the Lord Jesus Christ in Luke’s Gospel, “He entered and passed through Jericho.” Why? Because in Jericho there lived the chief of the publicans, a base sinner, a crook, and our Lord was going there to save him. He entered and passed through; He did not stay there. He did not even spend the night. He was there only long enough to win Zacchaeus. You can widen that out. Our Lord entered and passed through this world — John’s Gospel gives the tremendous movement — Jesus said, “I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father” (John 16:28). He entered and passed through this world. Why? Because you were here and He wanted to save you. Don’t tell me that He did not die for you; He died for you. He did this that you might not perish.
 
Immeasurable Height

What about the height of the love of God? “They shall have everlasting life!” The height is infinite. May I be personal again? I am going to heaven someday. You may think, “Well, you must be very good.” On the contrary, I am not very good. I am going to heaven someday because Christ died for me and I have trusted Him.

We have not scaled the heights; we have not plumbed the depths of the love of God; we have not widened this out as it should be. Paul was accurate when he said, “To know the love of Christ that passes knowledge.” I am not able to measure the vastness or the intensity or the overwhelming goodness of God. If I could, it would break your heart, and it would break mine if I fully knew. I can only say that God loves you.

These are days in which a great many people are called to go through dark nights and deep waters. When you face problems and face them alone, you need to know that God loves you. Whoever you are, wherever you are, God loves you, and His love is revealed in Christ on the Cross. And, my friend, you will find it only there. It is not on the mountaintops or on the surging sea; it is not in babbling brooks or majestic redwood trees — you will not find it anywhere in nature. The Bible makes this crystal clear. “God so loved the world that He gave redwood trees and babbling brooks”? No, sir! “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
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JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
Why Jesus Was Tempted

As we come now to the temptation of our Lord, we need to realize that there is a frightful and fearful darkness about the temptation and an appalling enigma associated with it. There is that which you and I will not be able to penetrate. I find there are three experiences in the life of our Lord that leave me on the outside. The first is here in the temptation. The second is in the Garden of Gethsemane, and the third is at the Cross. These are three events that I am not permitted to enter in too close, for unseen and hidden forces of evil were at work there. At these times He was surrounded by the powers of darkness and destruction, and we see Him grappling with the basic problems of mankind.

We are told in 1 Corinthians 15:47 that “the first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven.” But out there in the wilderness we find the Lord from heaven down yonder where it’s earthy, laying hold of humanity that He might solve humanity’s problems. He is down on the level where we are, and here God the Son won a victory for mankind — for you and for me — in the temptation.
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[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
Why Jesus Was Tempted

 
Preliminaries

Now there are several preliminary considerations that we want to look at before we examine the temptation itself.

We find that the Gospel according to Luke presents the Lord Jesus as the Son of Man. And it is very interesting that just before he records the temptation of Jesus, he gives us a genealogy, and it’s the genealogy of Mary, the mother of Jesus. This is the genealogy from which our Lord got His humanity. And it is traced back, not only to David and even beyond Abraham, but it goes all the way back to Adam, for in Luke 3:38 the genealogy concludes: “The son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.” So we see that the genealogy which is given here is the genealogy that goes back to Adam. Then immediately the temptation of our Lord is given, for He was a man, and as a man, He “was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).
 
Led of the Spirit

Will you note verse 1 of Luke 4:

Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.

Now I’m confident you have noticed that He was filled with the Holy Spirit. The Son of God needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit in order to meet this temptation. If He needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit in order to be able to meet the temptation, I might as well face up to the fact — and you might as well join with me — that you and I cannot face the temptations of this world today in our own strength. You and I are joined in a battle in which we are hopelessly outnumbered, and we will be miserably defeated if we go forth in our own strength and with our own ability.

Paul could say, even as a believer after his conversion:

I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. (Romans 7:21)

In other words, Paul was saying, “After I became a child of God through faith in Christ, with a new nature that wanted to serve God, even at the very moment when I wanted to do good, evil was present with me. When I want to do good, evil is right there.” I wonder if that has been your experience.

Again Paul could say:

For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:3-4)

Paul found out that in and of himself he could not live the Christian life at all. He could not meet and grapple with the issues of life, for in his flesh there was nothing good. And even though Paul approved of the Law, he was unable to keep it because of the weakness of the flesh. But he found out that by walking in the Spirit of God he was enabled to live for God. That’s the reason he could write to the Galatians:

I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust [the desire] of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16)
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[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
Why Jesus Was Tempted

Walk by means of the Holy Spirit! You and I, as we walk out of our homes and even a house of worship into the world, we will not live for God unless we walk in the Spirit, my beloved. If it’s going to depend upon your feeble ability and my feeble ability, we’ll fail before the sun goes down today. We cannot make it — we are unable to do it. Our Lord was filled with the Holy Spirit before He entered the wilderness.

Then we’re told something else, that He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. It’s interesting to note that Mark, in his very brief and blunt record, says that “immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness” (Mark 1:12). The word in the Greek is ekballo, which means “to throw out.” The Holy Spirit threw Jesus out into the wilderness. It all implies simply this: He did not seek the temptation. His attitude at the time of the temptation was the same as it was yonder in the Garden of Gethsemane when He prayed, “Let this cup pass from Me.”

Any person in the flesh today, in the battles of life, is foolish to say that he can meet temptation and come off the victor. Even our Lord prayed, “Let this cup pass from Me.” But He also hastened to add, “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39). May I say to you, that’s His attitude here when He’s driven, thrown out, into the wilderness by the Spirit of God. That’s the first thing for us to note.
 
Satanic Purpose

The second thing that is preliminary is found in Luke 4:2:

Being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.

First off, let me say that the temptation did not begin at the end of forty days. Luke makes it very clear that during all forty days our Lord was tempted in a special way. But may I also add that the temptation did not start at the beginning of the forty days. All of His life, from the moment He was born and Herod sought to destroy Him, Satan was making attacks on Him. And when He concluded this temptation in the wilderness, that did not conclude His temptation as far as Satan was concerned. Luke is very careful to say:

Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time. (Luke 4:13)

I believe that all through His ministry you find Him being tempted, even saying to Simon Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan” (see Matthew 16:23), recognizing that Satan was responsible for Peter’s being deceived. It was in the Garden of Gethsemane under the shadow of the Cross that the tempter came to offer the Lord once again the crown without the Cross.

And He was withdrawn from them [His disciples] about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” (Luke 22:41-42)

The cup, I think, was the Cross, and I do not mean the suffering of death. The cup was that He was made sin for us. He is the Holy One of God. When my sin was put upon Him, it was repulsive and awful. It was terrible, and for a moment He rebelled against it. The Lord, however, had come to do His Father’s will and so He could say “nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done. ” He committed Himself to His Father’s will, although bearing your sin and mine was so repulsive to Him.

Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. (Luke 22:43)
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[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
Why Jesus Was Tempted

There was an angelic ministry at the time of our Lord’s temptation in the desert. Now there is an angelic ministry in the garden when Satan comes to tempt Him again. Luke alone recalls this fact.

And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. (Luke 22:44)

Only Dr. Luke tells us that the Lord sweat great drops of blood. The Lord showed a tremendous physical reaction to the agony and conflict that confronted Him. I cannot explain what happened and do not propose to try. I am not, however, impressed by the biological explanations offered today. I realize that there are some wonderful Christian doctors who have come up with some interesting explanations, but I still am not impressed. He shed His blood for me, and I bow in reverence and worship.

But none of the ransomed ever knew
How deep were the waters crossed,
Nor how dark was the night that the Lord passed through,
Ere He found His sheep that was lost.
 — Elizabeth C. Clephane, from
“The Ninety and Nine”

But, my beloved, our Lord went to the Cross with joy to be the sacrifice for your sins and for my sins! Oh, my friend, don’t turn your back on a Savior who loves you like this! It will be tragic indeed if you do.

Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)
 
A Personal Devil?

Now there is another matter of introduction: Is the devil a person or not? Is it just mythology, folklore, to say there’s a personal devil? Or does Satan represent merely an influence of evil? Is it something that is merely psychological?

Ministers are greatly divided on this issue. Some time ago a poll of ministers in the Chicago area and in the New York area revealed that 30 to 90 percent — according to the area polled — believed there is no such thing as a personal devil. I do not know what the percentage is now. But, my friend, to say there is no such thing as a personal devil is to disbelieve the Bible. You may not believe the Bible, but if you do, you must recognize that the Word of God makes it clear that Satan is a person.

Since Satan is a spirit, an angel of light, the question is, of course, did he come in a bodily form to tempt Jesus? I believe he did come in bodily form. I think Christ met him face to face. The subtlety of Satan is that there are times he comes as a roaring lion, and other times he comes like an angel of light. He changes his method continually.
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[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
Why Jesus Was Tempted

 
Tested or Tempted?

There’s one other item that we need to note. We’re told here that our Lord was tempted, “Being tempted for forty days by the devil.” What do we mean when we say that Christ was tempted? That word has a twofold meaning, and we have to be very careful how we use it. To tempt someone can mean inciting and enticing to evil, especially to immorality. To tempt someone can mean to seduce that person, and the minute you say that, you are saying that there’s something in the individual that causes him to succumb and yield to that sort of thing. But we know that was not true of Christ. His temptation was not that kind of temptation. He said in John 14:30, “For the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.” Believe me, brother, when the tempter comes to you and me he finds plenty! But when he came to our Lord, he found nothing in Him. That is, there was no hook or handle that he could take hold of. So our Lord was not tempted in that sense at all. Hebrews 7:26 tells us He was “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners.”

But the word tempt is used in another way in the Word of God. It is used, for instance, back in the Old Testament when it says, “God did tempt Abraham.” Did God tempt Abraham to do something evil? No sir! God never tempts anyone with evil. Never. God did not tempt Abraham in that sense. What God did was test Abraham, and that’s something altogether different. God tested Abraham.

Also God tested the children of Israel. After they had come through the wilderness, Moses gave them a resume of the journey, and he said this:

And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. (Deuteronomy 8:2)

The forty years in the wilderness was a temptation to Israel. What sort of temptation? It was a test to see whether they would keep God’s Law or not. Of course, they failed. That generation was not even permitted to enter into the Promised Land.

Now our Lord was tested. That raises the question. Could Christ have fallen? There’s a great deal of difference of opinion here today. Could Christ have yielded to Satan’s suggestions when He was tempted? May I say to you, the answer is a categorical no. He could not fall! Well, somebody says, then was it a legitimate temptation? Yes, it was a test, a test to demonstrate that He could not fall, that He was the immaculate Son of God, that He was an impeccable Savior, that He was able to save to the uttermost those who come unto God through Him. It was a demonstration.

Now that’s not contrary to our way of living, even today. New articles are tested. Automobiles are tested, and tires are tested. If you should go to a site where one of the tire companies has a testing ground for their tires, and if you should stop and say, “What are you trying to do, ruin them?” they would say, “Oh, no. We’re just proving that they cannot be ruined.”
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[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
Why Jesus Was Tempted

Let me give this very homely illustration. When I was a boy I lived in a west Texas town that is no longer on the map. Nothing is there now but mesquite bushes. But there was a time when those who founded the town had high hopes it would become a booming town. It never did. The little town was named Burnham. It was on the Santa Fe Railroad, right by the west fork of the Brazos River. The Brazos River is unusual in that during summertime you can’t find enough water to wade in it. In fact, in late summer a mosquito couldn’t even get a drink in it. But in the wintertime you could float a battleship up the river.

One year we had a flood. It washed out the bridge for the Santa Fe tracks, so the company came in and built a new strong bridge. When they had finished it, they ran in two locomotive engines on top of that bridge and tied the whistles down. All of us who lived in the little town — all twenty-three of us — ran down there because we’d never heard two whistles at the same time. Several officials of the Santa Fe were present for the occasion, and the engineer who had built the bridge was there. So one of the citizens of our community stepped up to him and asked, “What are you doing?”

“We’re testing the bridge.”

Of course, this citizen of our community went on to ask, “Are you trying to break it down with those two engines?”

This engineer with great disdain looked at him, actually with contempt, “Of course not. Two engines could never break down that bridge!”

“Then why in the world are you putting them on there?”

“We’re putting them on to demonstrate that two engines cannot break the bridge down.”

Our Lord was tempted for that same reason. And, my friend, because of that fact, He was tested in a way that you and I have never been tested. The pressure on Him was greater than it’s ever been on any of us. For you and me, when the pressure builds up from temptation, we give way, and the minute we give way the pressure is relieved. But our Lord never gave way, and the pressure continued to build up. You and I really don’t know what extreme temptation is as He knew it.

He knew what even Adam didn’t learn. Adam, created innocent, never knew what it was to resist to the very end. Adam gave way to sin. You and I give way to sin, and the pressure is removed. Jesus never gave way, and the pressure built up. Only He knows what it was to really be tempted.
 
A Look at the Temptation of Christ

Now will you look with me at His temptation.

Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. (Luke 4:1-2)

I must confess that I cannot explain it, but I will take you to the very edge and hope we can learn something more about our Lord.
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[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
Why Jesus Was Tempted

The attack that was made upon Him was in three areas of His complex personality. And the attack that has been made upon you and me has always been made in these three areas, and it is being made there today. The attack is on the body, that which is physical; upon the mind, that which is psychological; and upon the spirit, the will of man. There is a remarkable correspondence between the temptation of Adam, the temptation of Christ, and your temptation and mine today. Also there is a contrast. Our father Adam in the Garden of Eden was tempted under favorable circumstances and in a perfect environment. Our Lord was tested out yonder in the wilderness under unfavorable — in fact, very harsh — circumstances.
 
Physical Temptation

Now will you notice these three testings. The first is physical. Remember that the powerful satanic forces of evil were surrounding Him and bearing down on His weakened body — without food for forty days!

And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” (Luke 4:3)

Now there’s nothing particularly evil in that as you look at it. Satan didn’t ask Him to make alcohol; he didn’t ask Him to make dope. He didn’t ask Him to commit an obvious sin. All he did was ask our Lord to make those stones lying at His feet into bread. That was all. And there is nothing wrong with bread. The Scripture says bread is the staff of life, that it’s a necessity. On one occasion Jesus fed five thousand people, and at another time He fed four thousand, and He did it miraculously. Why not do it here?

It’s the same temptation that came to Eve in the Garden of Eden when she looked at the fruit hanging from the forbidden tree. She saw that it was good for food. There was nothing wrong with the tree or the fruit in and of itself. When Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of that tree, they did not suffer from ptomaine poisoning. The tree, I’m willing to concede, may have had the best fruit in the Garden of Eden — nothing wrong with it. The thing that was wrong was that God said not to eat of it.

What was wrong with our Lord making the stones into bread? Well, my beloved, the wrong thing was that it exemplified Satan’s philosophy, which is still in existence today and by which most men live. It’s simply this: A man must live, and in order to live he must eat. The most important thing in this life is to live and to eat. The clamor of the crowd and the medley of the mob is: What shall we eat? and what shall we drink? and what shall we wear? And in Southern California there are at least a thousand restaurants and five thousand supermarkets that answer your first question, What shall we eat? They are in business to answer that question.
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[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
Why Jesus Was Tempted

There are thousands of liquor stores and cocktail lounges that want to answer the question, What shall we drink?

What shall we wear? Well, clothing stores abound, and they have the answer to that.

And you and I live in a society, a satanic society, where people will sell liquor and dope for money because they’ve got to eat. Folk will be dishonest. They’ll steal; they’ll gamble; they’ll do anything for a dollar, because they’ve got to eat. This is Satan’s low estimate of the human family. He has nothing in the world but utter contempt for us today! Why in the world would we serve him when he absolutely despises us? He said in Job 2:4, “All that a man has he will give for his life.” The inference is that man is physical, only an animal, that’s all. But Satan was wrong about Job.

Now listen to our Lord as He answers him.

But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”’ (Luke 4:4)

Our Lord uses the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. Then He makes this statement, that man is more than physical. After he’s satisfied his hunger and he’s slaked his thirst and he’s dressed up like a peacock, down deep underneath there’s still that which needs to be satisfied. He is more than physical. He’s more than an animal.

Well, my friend, if man is only an animal we would be better off being a four-legged hog rather than a two-legged hog — we could eat more, sleep more, and grunt more. But we are more than the physical: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.” Nothing in the world can satisfy the human heart except the Word of God.

Have you noted that the restless multitudes rush to and fro in this world, traveling everywhere? Every magazine that I see advertises a trip to somewhere. Oh, this itch today to travel! “If I could only get out to the South Pacific. If I could only go to South America or New Zealand. If I could get somewhere else, maybe I’d be satisfied.” My friend, you will never be satisfied except with the Word of God. Nothing else will satisfy you.
 
An Appeal to the Mind

Will you notice the second temptation. It’s psychological. Its appeal is to the mind.

Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” (Luke 4:5-7)

One of the greatest revelations we have in the Word of God is this: Satan has control of the kingdoms of this world. The word that is used here is oikoumene, which means “inhabited world,” and it’s a word that was used for the Roman Empire. Satan took our Lord yonder to a mountain and showed Him that great, vast, rolling Roman Empire — all the way from those cold hills of the highlands of Scotland down to the burning sands of the Sahara Desert, all the way from the pillars of Hercules yonder to the slow-moving Euphrates. Of all those great kingdoms, Satan said, “They’re mine. I put them all together, and they’re Yours  — You can have them.” It’s Satan’s appeal to the mind such as Eve’s experience when she looked yonder at that fruit and saw that it was pleasant to the eyes.
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[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
Why Jesus Was Tempted

What is Satan really saying to our Lord? His implication is this: “You are on the way to the throne, and I know You are going by way of the Cross. I have a detour for You. You can miss the horror of the Cross and come to the throne without the Cross.” May I say to you, that is without doubt the most satanic insinuation in the world. This same appeal to the mind has gotten into the pulpits of America today, that we should be intellectual, that we should not preach the death of Christ, that the cross of Christ should not be held up. Yet the most brilliant of them all came yonder to Corinth, the city that boasted of its Greek philosophy. This man Paul, who knew their philosophy better than they knew it, came and said to them:

For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. (1 Corinthians 2:2)

And he said:

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. (1 Corinthians 1:18)

But he said, “That’s what I preach.” And, my friend, if Christ went by way of the Cross because it was necessary, then I’ll preach the Cross because it is necessary for your salvation and mine. There’s no other way. No other way.

Dr. Edward Judson, the son of Adoniram Judson, who headed up the mission after his father’s death, made this observation: “My father suffered greatly in Burma, and as a result there has come into existence all these great missionary agencies of this day.” And then he made this remarkable statement: “If you get anything without suffering, it’s because somebody else suffered for you. And if you suffer and do not succeed, somebody else will get something because you suffered.” Oh, what a glorious, wonderful truth that is. It contradicts the philosophy of Satan: “Miss the Cross; You don’t need the Cross — it’s not essential. You can come to the throne without the Cross.” Our Lord said, and will you notice this:

And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” (Luke 4:8)

Oh, Satan left out something. Satan said, “If You will worship me only for a moment, I’ll give You the kingdom.” Our Lord said in effect, “You left out something. You cannot worship without serving. If I worship you, I’ll serve you. And we are to worship God only, and Him only are we to serve.”

May I say to you, this is a mistake that even some Christians are making today. They think they can serve God on Sunday, and maybe through certain Christian agencies, but that they can live their own lives to suit themselves. My friend, you cannot do that. It’s impossible. Listen to Paul in Romans 6:16:

Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?

Don’t you know, my friend, that whomever you obey, whatever livery or uniform you wear, you are the servant of that one? If you are serving sin, then sin is your master. Don’t fool yourself.
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[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
Why Jesus Was Tempted

I stood in front of my office window one day and looked across the street at the California Club. There were about fifteen chauffeurs standing and chatting. Walking very briskly, a man came out of the club. I couldn’t hear what he said, but he lifted a finger and spoke something. Immediately one chauffeur withdrew from the crowd, went over and opened the door of the car, and the man got in. Then the chauffeur went around the car, got in the driver’s seat, and drove off. So I came to the profound conclusion that he and no one else in the crowd was that man’s chauffeur because the one you obey is your master. The others didn’t obey him.

My friend, today when you serve sin, sin is your master. Our Lord says you are to worship only God, and Him only are you to serve. You can’t worship Him without serving Him. And if you’re serving sin you cannot worship God.
 
Realm of the Spirit

We come to the third area of Satan’s attack, which is spiritual. Notice verse 9 in Luke 4.

Then he [Satan] brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.”

And now listen to the old rascal. He becomes pious; he knows a verse or two of Scripture also.

“For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” (Luke 4:10-11)

Satan moves now in the realm of the spirit — actually the realm of faith. “Do the spectacular! Demonstrate that You are the Son of God. Show them! Prove it to them, then they’ll accept You, they’ll believe You.”

Eve looked at the forbidden tree, and the third thing she noticed was that it was designed to make one wise. Apparently she thought, “I’ll be a little smarter than I am today by eating the fruit of that tree” — esoteric! “I’ll get something that will lift me up” — the pride of life.

May I say to you that Satan can quote Scripture, and it was Shakespeare who said that the devil can quote Scripture for his own purpose. I ordinarily agree with Shakespeare, but he’s wrong there. The devil can never quote Scripture for his purpose, but he certainly can misquote it for his purpose, and he did misquote it here. He left out that which was all-important — that is, he didn’t fully quote the verse: “He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways” (Psalms 91:11, italics added). He left out the final four words. God the Father had a way for His Son, and it was not God’s way for Him to throw Himself down from the temple. Oh, one of these days Christ will come in the clouds of glory, but it will be in accordance with the Father’s will. Now it is not God’s will. Faith is our quietly waiting upon God, doing His will.
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[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
Why Jesus Was Tempted

You know, friend, for you and for me there are two great dangers today. We always think of unbelief being the great danger. Actually, that’s not the only danger. The danger on the other side is presumption. Anyone today who will stick his hand in a sack of rattlesnakes and say “God can keep me from harm” is a fool. He is presuming upon God. Couldn’t our Lord Jesus cast Himself down from the temple without harm? He certainly could! Why didn’t He? Because He was moving by faith. In other words, Satan was saying, “No longer trust Him. Don’t go in all His ways, go in Your own way now.”

It’s an awful thing to see folks moving in these two directions, unbelief on one hand and presuming upon God on the other. It’s frightful today. I no longer listen to anyone who commands God to heal somebody. Who does he think God is, a messenger boy for Western Union? What right has little man to presume upon God and command Him to do anything? Our Lord can keep us in all His ways, and we are to walk in faith, but let’s not presume on Him, my beloved. Unbelief is a danger, but presumption is a danger also.
 
Why Was Jesus Tested?

Jesus was tested, first of all, to demonstrate that we have an impeccable Savior. I have One today in whom I can have utmost confidence. He’s able to save to the uttermost. All power, He said, was given to Him in heaven and in earth. I have that kind of Savior. He stood the test.

And second, there is a Man in glory today, at this very moment, who knows me and sympathizes with me. And when I go down through the darkness of this life and come to the battles I must fight and to that place where I cannot win in my own strength, Christ Jesus is there for me, and He knows me; He understands.

Paul has written about this in Hebrews 2:14-18:

Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.

And then in Hebrews 4:15-16 we read:

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

In 1 John  2:1, the apostle John wrote:

My little children [little born ones], these things I write to you, so that you may not sin.

Oh, I wish I were on that spiritual plane. And if that’s all the apostle could say, I would be discouraged today. “My little born ones, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin!” But what if I fail? Listen,

And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

Oh, when I’m a good boy, it’s nice to have someone pat me on the back. But it’s when I’m not good that I need somebody on my side. “If anyone sins” — He doesn’t turn against us! He doesn’t say, “Get Me the club. Now I’m going to hit him.” If anyone sins — at the time when everybody else turns against us — at that moment “we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” He comes in on our side, and He says, “I am for him. I’m for him because I know his battle; I know his weakness. I know all about him. I sympathize with him because I was down there. And I’ve undertaken to get him all the way home to glory. I am able to do it. I didn’t fail. I stood the test. I took the penalty of his sin — he’s Mine. I can save him.” How wonderful that I have an Advocate with the Father, wonderful that when I need somebody to understand me and to help me, He’s up there for me! My friend, though the whole world would turn against you today, if you are His, He’s for you. And it is because He went yonder through the evil darkness of that satanic temptation on our behalf. Out in the wilderness He faced what I face and you face. Then He went to the Cross to die a death that you and I cannot go through!

The King of love my Shepherd is
Whose goodness faileth never,
I nothing lack if I am His,
And He is mine forever.
Perverse and foolish, oft I stray,
And yet in love He sought me,
And on His shoulder gently laid
And home rejoicing brought me.
And so through all the length of days,
Thy goodness faileth never.
Good Shepherd, may I sing Thy praise
Within thy house forever.
 — Henry W. Baker

..........
TO BE CONTINUED!

[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
When Jesus Went Through Samaria (John 4)

There is a sense in which the Gospel of John can be classified as the simple Gospel, for it’s couched and clothed in simple language. We know it is written for plain people because plain language is used. The grammar is comparatively easy. If I had the privilege of teaching Greek grammar to you for six months, I believe you could read the Gospel of John in Greek at the end of that time. It’s filled with monosyllabic words. It has very few polysyllabic words. If you read the first chapter of John with that in mind, you will be amazed how simple the Gospel of John really is as far as the language is concerned.

But in another real sense it’s the most profound of all the four Gospels. It’s the deepest and the most penetrating. It’s beyond the comprehension of the human mind. The thought here is lofty. It is exalted. When I read it I feel like I’m missing something. Although I seem to know what he’s saying, I sense there is more. There is something just beyond the fingertips of my spiritual comprehension that I don’t quite get. It’s out of reach of my childish mind.

I remember in seminary, my last year in a denominational seminary in the East, a lecturer came to give our annual series of lectures. He was known as a profound thinker. After he had spoken three times, I honestly had no notion what he was talking about. I could not understand exactly what he was getting at. So I went to the professor on our faculty who was the man with the highest I. Q. and with more degrees than any other. I said to him, “I thought I was able to get anything that any man would say, but I seem to be missing what Dr. So-and-So is saying.” I never shall forget his reply. He said, “Vernon, you know when you’re out in the mountains and you come to a pool of water, a cool, clear, limpid pool sixty feet deep, and you can see the bottom of it. But when you’re walking down a muddy road and you come to a hoofprint filled with muddy water, you can’t see the bottom.” Then he said this, “You know, some men are not deep; they are muddy.”

May I say to you that John is the opposite of that. He’s crystal clear in his language. Because you do see the bottom of the language, you think you’re getting it all. But it doesn’t mean he’s not deep just because you can understand the language.

Now the incident before us is an example of this.

He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. But He needed to go through Samaria. (John 4:3-4)

It says here that He needed to go through Samaria. Now that’s simple enough. Actually a child can understand that. A sixth-grader could get a map and point out Samaria and explain it all to you with no difficulty whatever. But, oh, my friend, you know there is a sweep here that’s breathtaking and awe-inspiring. And I must confess that I don’t quite get it.

But He needed to go through Samaria. (John 4:4)

You say, “Well, I understand that.” Do you? Let’s move back for a moment and get a perspective on what John is saying. He begins:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)
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[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
When Jesus Went Through Samaria (John 4)

May I say that this verse moves you farther back in eternity than any other place in the Bible you can go. Genesis 1:1 was fifteen minutes ago compared to John 1:1. John 1:1 goes back into the eternal ages where my little mind and your mind will not be able to comprehend it at all. Out of eternity, the “Word,” the Lord Jesus Christ, the expression of God, the communication of God, comes to earth.

Now move down to verse 14, “And the Word became flesh.” Literally, He pitches His tent here among us. He is born in Bethlehem and grows up in Nazareth. He has a human body. And I read here, “But He needed to go through Samaria.” He needed to! The God who came out of eternity past had on His itinerary a trip through Samaria because there is some unknown, forgotten person there with whom the God of all eternity must have an interview. I say to you, I don’t quite get that. The God of eternity comes out of eternity and deliberately charts His course through Samaria.

And then I read something else about this One who created the heavens and the earth:

Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which he had done. (Genesis 2:1-2)

Notice that it says He rested. He wasn’t tired, but He had finished the job. But I read here in John 4:

So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. (John 4:5-6)

The God of eternity came out of eternity, took upon Himself our frail humanity, and with an effort He kept an engagement in Samaria.

He crossed over every barrier that day, racial lines, religious lines, lines that they had set up dividing even men and women. And He crossed over all the lines of the Roman Empire. The God of eternity did all this in order to reach a poor sinner. I say to you, friend, I don’t quite get it. But it’s tremendous! And it’s wonderful and glorious that He would do this in order that He might reach a sinner.

Now will you notice this personal and private interview with the most notorious person yonder in the town. This woman didn’t make an appointment. The fact of the matter is the God of eternity had arranged the appointment. She resented His approach. She resisted any effort to bring to her attention anything spiritual. She had no comprehension whatsoever. And I read:

A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” (John 4:7)

Oh, my friend, today the One who created this universe and the One who created water asked for a drink of it! I thought of this the other day crossing from Victoria over to Port Angeles when the wind was blowing. There’s a lot of water there! Out of the eternity of the past into time, taking upon Himself humanity, getting tired at noonday, He sits down on a well and says to the sinner woman, “Give Me a drink.” What condescension!

How far down have you and I gone? How far away have we gone? What effort are we making today to reach the unsaved? Haven’t our churches really become sort of religious clubs where we eat, drink, and be merry? And we’re making no real effort at all to reach the unsaved today.
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[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
When Jesus Went Through Samaria (John 4)

May I say to you, our Lord left heaven’s glory. He crossed over the cultural borderline and asked drink of a woman of Samaria. He did it not because He was thirsty for the water in Jacob’s well — I’ve read this account again carefully, and I don’t find that He ever did get His drink out of the well. But He was satisfied. He told the disciples when they returned from town with food and urged Him to eat, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” He was thirsty for her soul and for the souls of those in Samaria. He crossed over the line.

Now I would like to make the introduction of this woman — maybe you don’t want to meet her. The women in that day carried the water. That was a very good custom, by the way, women did the work! Early in the morning, before it got hot, the women from the town would come down to the well and draw the water, and again late in the evening when it was cool they’d come down, draw the water, and take it back to their homes. But this woman is down there at noon. Why is she down there at noon? Well, to put it very candidly, she was not popular with the women in the town. The good, respectable women in Samaria didn’t care to come down to the well with her. And evidently she didn’t care to come down with them. She had been insulted, I suppose, a great many times. So she quit coming except at noon. She did not expect anyone to be there. But when she got there, she found that there was Someone sitting on the well.

Notice how this woman reacted. I’d like for you to get acquainted with her.

Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. (John 4:9)

Her reply to Him is rude. It’s insolent. It’s the kind of answer a woman like this would give.

I wish we had a picture of her, but this is the way I see her. The Lord Jesus had come out of eternity to talk to her and there He sits. She never expected anyone, and she’s frightened at first. When she’s over the fright she tosses that pert little head of hers, thinking, Huh, a Jew sitting on the well, and He says give Me a drink! To Him she says, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” She’s rubbing it in. Everything she says is insulting. In other words, “What right have You to talk to me? I’m a woman, You’re a man; people don’t do that here. And You are a Jew. You people think You are superior to us. You won’t have any dealings with us Samaritans. We are mongrels to you; we’re half-breeds. Why are You asking me for a drink?” And she just tosses her saucy little head and thinks, Nothing doing. If He thinks I’m going to give Him water, He is wrong.

Will you listen to our Lord? Oh, friends, how we need to learn from Him. The folks who crudely give out tracts and rudely witness ought to take a lesson from our Lord on witnessing. Will you notice Him?

Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” (John 4:10)

Our Lord dealt with this woman skillfully and sympathetically. He dealt with her forcefully and faithfully and factually also. No, He did not give a talk here on integration. He did not give a message on civil rights. He wasn’t running for office, as you can see. Oh, we hear so much today that is not helpful. Let’s take a lesson from our Lord. Notice His method. He appealed to her womanly curiosity. He created an interest and a thirst.

I read that Coca Cola spends more money than any advertiser in the world. Do you know why? To create a thirst. They just come out and say it. If you’ve been riding down the highway you may have seen their billboard. It has only one word on it, “Thirsty?” If you weren’t before, you are then, and you want to know the next place that sells the stuff. May I say to you, that’s legitimate. They create a thirst.
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[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
When Jesus Went Through Samaria (John 4)

Our Lord is creating a thirst in the heart of this Samaritan woman. He says to her — and notice everything is along that line — “If you knew the gift of God, … There is something you don’t know.” And, believe me, if there is something a woman doesn’t know, she wants to know! “If you knew who it is asking you for a drink….” Yes, she would like to know who He is. “You would ask Me, and I would give you a different kind of water, the water of life.”

Now this woman is beginning to change here. Her attitude is definitely changing. Have you noticed it? “The woman said to Him, ‘Sir’ .…” When she first addressed Him after He had asked for a drink, she didn’t even say “Sir.” But now He’s begotten an interest. She is looking at Him in a different light — He’s suggesting that He has water to give. She says:

“Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water?” (John 4:11)

She immediately puts the problem to Him. Her thinking is down in the bottom of Jacob’s well, and she’s talking about that water when she says, “You can’t get at it. You have to have a long rope to get it, and You don’t even have a container to put it in. How could You give me water?” You see, she’s already missed the point. And then in a derogatory way she asks, “Are You greater than our father Jacob?” She claims Jacob for her people, and she has a right to do that. The Samaritans were the off-breed. You see, when Assyria conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and took them into captivity, they left the poor in the land who intermarried with the colonists brought in by the Assyrians. The result was this group called the Samaritans who were present in the land when the Jews came back from captivity. And these half-breeds were not accepted by Israel. The Samaritans were simply ruled out. But notice that this Samaritan woman claims Jacob as her ancestor, and she is accurate. Our Lord never did question that, you see.

“Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?” (John 4:12)

And as great as old Jacob was, he had to have water out of the well to drink. I don’t think our Lord ever got a drink out of this well. He didn’t need it. Jacob did, and he drank out of this well.

You see, she’s changed her attitude, but she’s not getting very high in her thinking. Actually, her thinking is no higher than the water level in the well.

Now will you notice our Lord again. How gracious He is.

Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again.” (John 4:13)

The water that’s in Jacob’s well is H2O, but that’s not the water He’s dealing with here at all. He’s talking about another well because, friends, these wells down here are crowded.

“But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:14)

We find out later that He is speaking of the Holy Spirit, whom He gives to those who believe in Him, but He doesn’t say that to the woman. She hasn’t even learned the first lesson yet. She’s not very alert spiritually. She’s not interested in any water except the water in that well. But our Lord says, “That water that you’re getting out of this well won’t satisfy you.” And we’ll find out in a moment that she was not satisfied.
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