The King was in the wilderness.
What an odd place for a King to be. The title and position tends to have images of a his own extravagant palace or in some wondrously decked King’s gardens. But nope, the King, led by the Spirit, is out in the wilderness.
After 40 days without food, the account given of the episode says the King was hungry. That’s no surprise. But the evil one looks to tempt Him by getting Him to show off His majestic power and order stones to be turned to bread. Once that’s done, the King can bring everything to order especially His growling and demanding hunger. It’s the quick fix, the instant gratification and the display of His mastery over nature itself.
The King’s response to this is to refer to what matters more than His growling tummy and that is His hunger for what matters to His Father. Not instant gratification, but ongoing obedience to what the Father says. Not to show off for His own sake, but to delight in humbling Himself to what the Father directs. What the Father says is sufficient to live on. What the Father says is enough for provision. What the Father says puts everything in order.
This is a command that the Son takes seriously. This is the command that the Son operates by throughout His ministry. All He ever does is what He sees the Father doing. All He ever says is what He hears the Father saying. All He ever lives for is the glory of the Father by doing exactly what He tells Him to do, because that is life enough for Him.
It is this delight in the Father and each word that comes from Him that gives the King enough to go off without any reference to self-reliance.
This devotion is evident in those that followed the King. They likewise grew to prioritise the word of the Father above all else including their insatiable drive for self-satisfaction by instant gratification. They warded off the lust of the flesh with the reliance on the Spirit, even as the Son led by and full of the Spirit was victorious in spiritual warfare against the evil one.
This is the key to applying the command in our day to day life. What will we live by – urges and nudges of the flesh. That driving rage to be fed at a material level. That hunger to have those base needs met at the soonest possible time. Those cravings that appear to be all-consuming especially in a world that drives the message home that they should be met instantly. Especially in a culture that says if you can do it yourself, then you don’t need anyone to tell you what to do. Especially in an age that gives great credence to those who drag themselves up by their own bootstraps and get things done to please themselves seemingly instantaneously. Will these have mastery over us?
Or will we hear, obey and teach others to observe what King Jesus says?
(Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash)
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 