THE WORDS OF JESUS
Creative, Causative, Prophetic, Instructional – Pt 4
“Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God.” Matthew 4:10
Outrageous, ingenuous and insane? Or The Omnipotent, Omniscient Omnipresent Son of God? It has been said that Jesus was either a demon possessed fraud, a liar and insane, or He truly is the Son of God.
Jesus made statements that, for many, are hard to believe. For example, Jesus once said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down out of heaven, so that anyone may eat from it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats from this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I will give for the life of the world also is My flesh.” (John 6:47-51)
Many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is very unpleasant; who can listen to it?” As a result of this, many of His disciples left, and would no longer walk with Him. (John 6:60, 66)
How can you tell which is true of Jesus? Ask yourself, did Jesus do what He said could be done? A careful study will show the prophecies He fulfilled. Jesus, Himself, said, “even though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” (John 10:38).
A simple face value reading of Jesus’ Words and a careful study of the results, will either completely confound you or thoroughly convince you that He meant what He said and said exactly what he meant.
So, I ask, ‘what if we have been reading and misunderstanding what Jesus meant by and the intentions of His Words? What if we have been misapplying what He taught? Could this be one of the main reasons our faith has grown weak and our works have faded?
The full context of this verse begins with Verse 8, “Again, the devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. Verse 9. And the devil said to Jesus, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Verse 10. Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”
Remembering that Jesus’ Words are always creative, causative, prophetic and instructional, there is very much to learn from these few words:
First, Jesus is submitting Himself to this temptation and testing in order to teach and instruct. Jesus is showing those who would follow Him will also face temptations and testing by the devil. This is not a metaphor. It is a fact. You must be ready.
Speaking the Word of God is how we defeat the temptations and trials of the evil one. This is the first step and the only way!
“For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”
Secondly, we are to remember that the Word of God is creative and causative and that His Words “Accomplish the very thing which He purposes, and they shall succeed in the things for which He sent them”. (Isaiah 55:11).
Jesus is exercising the authority given Him by the Father, and He has told us He will be with us ‘until the end of the age’. Additionally, Jesus has conferred His authority to His disciples.
Jesus, is quoting Deuteronomy 6:13, the Jewish Bible (also called the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh), which Christians call the Old Testament, instructing us and demonstrating the creative, causative and prophetic power of God’s Word.
Next, when Jesus says, “For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”, He is making a grand proclamation of truth and of finality. Spoken in the future tense, Jesus is literally saying ‘from this moment forward and for all time, hence’, you are to fully and meekly surrender yourself as a lowly and menial servant or slave to God, giving yourself to Him in the deepest admiration, love and dependence.
This is spoken within the context, “For is it written” (i.e., “It is written in The Word of God”). Jesus, once again, is speaking the Word of God from Deuteronomy 6:13-15, “You shall fear only the Lord your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name. You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you, for the Lord your God who is in the midst of you is a jealous God; so follow Him, or else the anger of the Lord your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth.”
In doing so, Jesus is both vanquishing the devil, (“Be gone, Satan”!) and is setting the example for His disciples to follow.
Finally, Jesus’ words address one audience: ‘‘You shall worship the Lord God and Him only shall you serve’.’, (meaning only the people of God, i.e., those who are called by His Name), Authority over the devil is granted only to the people of God.
If you know Him, you can’t help but worship and serve Him. He is your sanctuary.
If you don’t know Him, you have to admit, He is a pretty scary man! I beg you, lose your fear. Come to know Him. He has words of eternal life (John 6:68 ).
Know His Words. Speak His Words. Live His Words.
Your Brother and Friend,
Mike Young
NEXT: THE WORDS OF JESUS – What Are You To Do With Them? Part 5, “Repent, for the Kingdom is at hand”, Matthew 4:17.
PREVIOUSLY: THE WORDS OF JESUS – What are you to do with them? Part 3.
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