Saturday, January 16, 2016

What's Your Superpower?

"Look in the sky. It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!"

In life, it is easy to see why sometimes we need a superhero. Someone who comes to our beckoning call whenever we are in trouble. Although Superman and characters like him are creations from someone's imagination, we have a superhero that has been around since before time began. The bible talks about this hero throughout the entirety of the book, a hero ready to come in a save us from our despair. This hero's name is Jesus.


Jesus was with God before the Earth was even a thought. Before time began, Jesus was. When time has come to an end, Jesus will be. He is everlasting from beginning to end, and there was a time when he was waiting in heaven for his people to call upon him. Jesus was the true hero even before he gave his life on the cross. From his birth, he was special and important in God's plan.


At the start of his journey, Jesus was baptized in the river Jordan by his cousin John the baptist. When he emerges from the water, the spirit of the Lord comes upon him in the form of a dove and a voice is heard from heaven saying," This is my Son, in whom I am well pleased." Immediately following this event, Jesus is sent into the desert for 40 days, eating nothing during this time. Here, our antagonist is introduced to the story. Satan, seeing Jesus by himself, tries to get Jesus to sin in order to find fault in him.   The temptations of Satan fall into three areas the people needed saving from.


Temptation One- boulder to bread

"If you are the Son, turn these stones into bread."
This was to satisfy the flesh. It was through hunger and a need to satisfy an appetite that Adam and Eve were drawn to the forbidden fruit. It was hunger that drew the Israelites into a complaining state that ended up being a free for all of meat that in the end made them sick. As clever as Satan thinks he is, he continues using the same methods that made the people stumble and he recycles them onto a new batch of people. When Satan uses this trick on Jesus, he is hoping for the same response. But Jesus throws it right back in his face with nothing but solid words of God. " Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Father"- Matthew 4:4. It is here that Jesus passes where man failed. Man would have given into his flesh and done what was needed to fill a need, but Jesus knew God would sustain him in his timing.

Temptation Two- leap of "faith"

"If you are the Son, thrown yourself from this cliff, for God will send a host of angels to protect you."
Here is a seed of doubt try to blossom in one's faith. If you are who you say you are, take a step. Just to sure that God will do as he says. It is times like this that our flesh questions if our faith has really been real. God came through for me before, but how do I know he will do it again? This spot is where Satan likes believers to sit. The spot of saying you believe, yet you are not willing to trust that he will always come through. Again, Jesus defends his Father with the word. "It is written again, You shall not test the Lord."-Matthew 4:5-7 Lorraine Day says this about this temptation,"Satan tempted Jesus to jump in order to force God into protecting Him. Jesus would put Himself in unnecessary danger to manipulate God into saving Him from destruction. Jesus did not have to jump to prove he trusted in the Father. He demonstrated it by trusting in God's word" *

Temptation Three- Bow now, no blood spilt later.

"He took him up on a mountain and said to him,' All this I give to you if you bow down and worship me'".
This is focusing on selfish desires. Here we have a picture of Satan presenting before Christ a contract that says everything will belong to him, and the price of it all is his soul. Worship me now and you will not have to die for this later. Sure, you will lose all power on the earth and your soul will be mine, but at least you won't have to suffer for people who 2000 years from now will not even want anything to do with you. Leave them to me, I will take care of it for you. All you have to do is bow. Imagine SAtan saying that to Jesus. If he were in it for himself, he might have skipped the food, he might have passed the cliff jump, but Satan is offering him the whole world. No brutal death on a hard plank of wood. No hatred from people. No beatings and scourges. A simple bow of the knee, putting Satan above God, and the devil would have won. It would have been all over for us. Without a moment's hesitation, Jesus gives his final remarks, " Away with you Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve."- Matthew 4:8-10

Jesus knew what he was getting into when he volunteered to die for us, just like any superhero in any movie knows the risk of the fight before they ever begin. But do they give up? Do they throw in the towel when it gets tough? No, because how awful of a movie would that be if the villain attacks and the hero just lets them win? If fictional beings can destroy the evil and save the day, what is stopping a God who loves us and will do anything to save us from doing the same? So what if he doesn't have "powers", because frankly, he doesn't need them. The demons hear his name and quiver. He has already won, and they know that. 


So I say this, Jesus is my superpower! What is yours?


Adam Semple- A young man on a mission from God


*Lorraine Day- Specific Significance of the Three Temptations of Jesus in the Wilderness

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