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Roads to the Resurrection Lenten and Eastertide Series for Sunday School 2021 Roads to the Resurrection Lent and Eastertide Series for Sunday School 2021

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Roads to the Resurrection Lenten and Eastertide Series for Sunday School 2021 Roads to the Resurrection Lent and Eastertide Series for Sunday School 2021 Roads To The Resurrection Lenten and Eastertide Series for Sunday School 2021 Roads To The Resurrection Lent and Eastertide Series for Sunday School 2021 he weeks leading up to Resurrection Sunday are opportunities for special studies Tthat direct us toward Christ rising from the dead. Christians are a resurrection people, but we always remember that Good Friday came before Easter, death came before resurrection. We must reflect on the Lord’s passion and the ultimate sacrifice He made for us in his atoning death for our sins at Calvary. This eight week study will lead us from the early days of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee to the final triumphant days in Jerusalem, and then Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus, instituting the Christian mission that took the Gospel to the Gentile world. The titles for this series are: February 21 – The Wilderness Road (The Road to Worldly Temptation) February 28 – The Road to Galilee (The Kingdom Road of Calling) March 7 – The Samaritan Road (The Costly Road of Discipleship) March 14 – The Jericho Road (The Compassionate Road to Ministry) March 21 – The Bethany Road (The Challenging Road of Death/Mourning) March 28 – The Jerusalem Road (The Cruel Road of Crucifixion) April 4 – The Emmaus Road (The Conquering Road of Resurrection) April 11 – The Damascus Road (The Compelling Road to Mission) You are encouraged to participate in all of these studies and enrich your personal journey with the Lord to His passion and resurrection, and then embark on the Christian mission with Paul. -1- February 21, 2021 and rests on Jesus. The voice of the Father from heaven definitively declares Jesus’s iden- THE WILDERNESS ROAD tity: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17). (The Road to Worldly Temptation) Cort Gatliff At this point we would expect Jesus, now formally anointed by the Spirit, to use his divine power to do mighty works and grow in popularity. Instead, he’s led by the Spirit away from the crowds and into the wilderness “to be tempted by the devil.” The idea of the wilderness looms large in our imagination. The wilderness can repre- sent a time of preparation and waiting, a place of learning to trust in God’s promises. It can also represent exile and a sense of wandering. When we experience grief, loss, or a feeling of purposelessness, we often say we’re in a wilderness season. For the Jewish people, the wilderness had many of the same Text: Matthew 4:1–11 connotations. This passage is loaded with symbolic meaning, but we must remember the history of the Israelites in order Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. to understand what Jesus is doing here. 2 He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. 3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” When God freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, they 4 But he answered, “It is written, passed through the Red Sea (picture Charlton Heston part- ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth ing the waters), and then they were led by God into the wilderness, where they faced of God.’” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 saying to him, various temptations and challenges. Rather than remain faithful to God, they consistent- “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ly turned to idols and sought to live according to their own desires. ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” Now, thousands of years later, Jesus begins his ministry by enduring the same temp- 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” tations and challenges that the Israelites faced, except this time he is perfectly faithful. 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and This wilderness story is not primarily a story about how we should learn to resist and their splendor; 9 and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” overcome temptations. It is first and foremost a proclamation that Jesus has resisted and 10 Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, overcome temptation in our place. ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” 11 Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him. Let’s look at these three temptations to see how they play out. he temptation of Jesus in the wilderness is one of the first and most well-known The First Temptation: Verses 1–4 stories from Jesus’s life. But often we treat this event as little more than a strange T We learn that Jesus has been fasting for forty days. The number “forty” is significant in preface to his real work of preaching, healing, and forgiving. In reality, though, this story Israelite history. Noah and his family endured forty days of rain on the ark. Moses fasted lays the foundation upon which the rest of his ministry—including his death and resur- forty days on Mount Sinai. And the Israelite’s experienced forty years of testing in the rection—is built. Let’s take a closer look. wilderness. The temptation in the wilderness occurs immediately after Jesus begins his public Jesus hasn’t eaten, so the devil tempts him at his most vulnerable point: physical hunger. ministry by being baptized by John the Baptist. This humble baptism along the muddy “If you are the Son of God,” the devil says, “command these stones to become loaves of bread.” banks of the Jordan River turns into a royal coronation when the Holy Spirit descends -2- -3- The key word here is if. We know Jesus is the Son of God—the Father just announced to take his rightful seat on the throne ruling over all creation. One small compromise is this for all to hear. But the devil wants Jesus to doubt God’s Word. This is the same all it would take, and he could avoid the humility and pain of the cross. From our per- temptation used to trick Eve in the Garden of Eden. “Did God really say you must not eat spective, this is a practical decision! from any tree in the garden?” (Gen. 3:1). In response, Jesus paraphrases Deuteronomy 6:13, summarizing the most important Jesus responds to all three temptations by quoting verses from Deuteronomy, Moses’s commandment. “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.” final words to the Israelites as their years in the wilderness come to an end. For this first temptation, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 8:3. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every For Jesus—and for all Christians—there is no reward great enough to justify worship- word that comes from the mouth of God.” In this passage, Moses is reminding the Israelites ping anything or anyone other than the one, true God. that God miraculously provided food to sustain them in the wilderness, even after they had complained. Having been tested three times, Jesus emerges victorious from this cosmic confrontation with the devil. How did he resist and overcome these temptations? Was it on his own On the surface, there’s nothing sinful about Jesus turning stones into bread. The tempta- strength? Not at all. He resisted and overcame by standing firm on the Word of God. tion, though, is for Jesus to take matters into his own hands rather than trust in God. There will be seasons of life when we find ourselves in the wilderness. In especially The Second Temptation: Verses 5–7 hard circumstances or during times of doubt, we may feel far from God or doubt his goodness. We can find comfort in the fact that we are never alone in the wilderness. The second temptation is closely related to the first. Matthew tells us that the dev- Jesus overcome the wilderness temptations, and now he walks with us even through the il brought Jesus to the top of the temple of Jerusalem—the center of Jewish religious most challenging situations. life—and tempts him to once again prove that he really is the Son of God by throwing himself off and allowing the angels to protect him. Jesus is tempted to put God to the test and prove his intimate relationship with the Father. The devil even twists Scripture (Psalm 91) to convince him to do it. This time, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:16. “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” If Jesus had jumped, it’s likely that many people would’ve witnessed this demonstra- tion of divine power and decided to follow Jesus. But God’s redemptive (and seemingly counterintuitive!) plan is to save humanity not through sheer acts of power but through acts of humble service and suffering. Hebrews 4:15 is indeed very good news for all of us who struggle with sin and To test God is to doubt his wisdom. Ultimately, it’s a declaration that we want things temptations: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness- done our way on our schedule.
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