And So It Begins

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning the 23rd of February, 2020 at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Look for the video of our services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Lent is that season in the Christian calendar when we reflect on all that Jesus did for us.  We look specifically at His sacrifice for us, as Lent leads directly to the cross and our Easter celebration.

And it begins with His baptism, and with what followed.  For our observance of Lent traditionally mirrored the 40 days that Jesus spent in the wilderness, led there by God’s Holy Spirit to be tempted by Satan.  But this time should be so much more to us.  Lent may coincide with those 40 days of temptation, but in our observance, it ends just short of the cross.

So for today, as we stand upon the threshold of Lent, let’s look at how it begins.  Listen and follow along to what the Apostle Matthew recorded for us in his Gospel account, in chapter 3, verse 16 through chapter 4 verse 17, reading from the Modern English Version of our Holy Bible…

3:16 And when Jesus was baptized, He came up immediately out of the water. And suddenly the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending on Him like a dove. 17 And a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

4:1 Then Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil. 2 And He had fasted for forty days and forty nights, and then He was hungry. 3 And the tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones be turned into bread.”

4 But He answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”

5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, and set Him on the highest point of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written,

‘He shall give His angels charge concerning you,’

and

‘In their hands they shall lift you up,
lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone.’”

7 Jesus said to him, “It is also written, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”

8 Again, the devil took Him up on a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their grandeur, 9 and said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me. ”

10 Then Jesus said to him, “Get away from here, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.’”

11 Then the devil left Him, and immediately angels came and ministered to Him.

12 Now when Jesus heard that John was put in prison, He left for Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth, He came and lived in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 that what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, saying:

15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles:
16 The people who sat in darkness
saw great light.
And on those who sat in the land of the shadow of death,
light has dawned.”

17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

--Matthew 3:16-4:17 (MEV)

Let us pray…  Father God, You were proud of Your Son even before He began His ministry on earth, because You already knew what He would do.  And You expressed Your pride out loud, so that others could hear and witness to His authority.  Father, may our lives and our personal ministries reflect Jesus and so also please You.  Please help us show Your Son in all we do.  Help us truly show Jesus to an unbelieving world.

Speak to us now, Father so we can hear You.   Write Your message upon our hearts.  Speak to us of sacrifice and love.  This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.


George H. Gallup, the inventor of the Gallup poll we're all familiar with, once observed:

"There's little difference in ethical behavior between the churched and the unchurched.  There's as much pilferage and dishonesty among the churched as the unchurched.  And I'm afraid that applies pretty much across the board: religion, per se, is not really life changing.  People cite it as important, for instance, in overcoming depression, but it doesn't have primacy in determining behavior."

In his book I Surrender, Patrick Morley writes that the church's integrity problem is in the misconception "that we can add Christ to our lives, but not subtract sin.   It is a change in belief without a change in behavior."  He goes on to say, "It is revival without reformation, without repentance."


As much as we’d like to disagree with Gallup’s conclusion, I’m afraid he is all too correct in far too many cases.  You’ve heard me talk about what I call Sunday Christians, those who profess to believe in Christ Jesus, but don’t live as Jesus would have them live.  They attend church on Sundays, but during the rest of the week they behave and act just like everyone else, just like the non-believers.  You can’t see Jesus in them.

This is what Gallup is talking about, and this is what Morley means when he speaks of a change in belief without a change in behavior.  The Apostle Paul tells us we should become a new person when we accept Jesus as Lord, and not keep living how we used to live.

But the problem is, too many people don’t really accept Jesus as Lord, even when they profess to believe in Him as the Son of God.  Belief is just the beginning.  We need to change, to reform, to repent.  People should be able to see the difference in us in our daily lives.  This is why we need Lent – to repent and to examine ourselves, to look closely at whether or not we reflect Jesus in our everyday dealings with others, in our daily walk.


Our scripture reading this morning started out near the end of chapter 3 of the Apostle Matthew’s Gospel account, but let me read the first 2 verses of that chapter to you…

1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

--Matthew 3:1-2 (NKJV)

The life of Jesus on this earth - as one of us - began at His birth, of course, but His ministry didn’t start until He was an adult of around 30 years of age.  A man named John was baptizing people down along the Jordan River, preaching repentance because the kingdom of heaven was at hand.  And then the Kingdom of heaven Himself walked up to be baptized, and the ministry of Jesus began.

Matthew recorded those first few moments, followed by the next 40 days.  This is how Jesus’ ministry began, with 40 days of being tempted by the devil!  We can’t even resist the temptation to talk bad about someone we dislike!  Yet Jesus was able to resist everything the devil threw at Him.  And this is why Satan left Jesus alone, and why the devil keeps after us all the time.


During those 40 days, Jesus fasted, which kind of lent itself to that first recorded temptation of changing the rocks into bread.  Now a ritual fast lasted from sunup to sundown, with eating allowed before and after.  But Jesus fasted for 40 days and nights!  Maybe this was at least partly an acknowledgment of what Moses told the children of Israel, in Deuteronomy chapter 8 verses 2 and 3…

2 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. 3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.

--Deuteronomy 8:2-3 (NKJV)

“Bread” plays an interesting role in all this.  “Turn the stones into bread.”  “Man does not live by bread alone.”  Jesus said He was the bread of life.  God’s Word is our bread.

Jesus, the Bread of life, fasted for forty days and nights, relying solely on God’s word for sustenance.  None of us can do that, for sure, but we can, and should, rely solely on God’s Word to see us through.


There’s one last little fascinating point I’d like to share.  Jesus’ ministry began as a trial - going without food for forty days, being tempted by the devil in the desert.  He did not ask for this - He was led to it, by His Father’s Spirit.

His ministry, and the rest of His mortal life, only lasted three years, but I think we could say that all of it was pretty much a trial.  Jesus was constantly hounded by the Jewish leadership, the Pharisees and Sadducees and scribes and high priests.  And at the end He faced trial at the hands of the high priests and the Roman governor Pilate.

Now as God, Jesus knew all this would happen.  I can envision Him there in the wilderness, the desert, praying to God as He watches Satan approach.  And I can hear Him saying, “And so it begins.”

Jesus asked for none of this, but was led to it all by His Father, so that His Father’s will would be accomplished.  He did this – all the trials, all the hardships, all the suffering - all for us.  Let us reflect on this as the season of Lent begins.  Jesus did it all for us.

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, we cannot see into tomorrow, nor can we fathom the mysteries of Your ways.  But even though we cannot conceive why You could love us so much, You gave Your own Son to the world, knowing how the world would treat Him, that the world through Him might be saved.  Thank You, Father, for offering us salvation.  Thank You for giving us the faith to believe in Your Son and to follow Him in this life.  Please help us turn from our disobedient ways and reflect Jesus more closely in our lives.

Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, promising to repent of our sinful ways, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help…

Lord Jesus, You knew that the last three years of Your life would be one trial after another.  From the very beginning You knew, yet You followed the path God laid for You, the only path that could lead to our salvation.  Thank You, Jesus, for giving Your all for us!  Help us, please Lord, to be more obedient to Your commands.  Help us to love others as You love.  Help us to be Your hands and feet here on earth.  Help us to be more like You in our daily walk.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.