The Kingdom Movement

A Literary & Pastoral Study Guide to the Gospel of Matthew

The Inspiration of Matthew,

by Caravaggio

On the King's Errand

Devotional Reflections on Matthew's Gospel

Jesus Retells Your Story:  Mt.3:13 – 4:11

^3:13 Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ But John tried to prevent him, saying, ‘I have need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ ¹⁵ But Jesus answering said to him, ‘Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’  Then he permitted him. ¹⁶ After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on him, ¹⁷ and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.’  ^4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² And after he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he then became hungry. ³ And the tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.’ ⁴ But he answered and said, ‘It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’’ ⁵ Then the devil took him into the holy city and had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶ and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you’; and ‘on their hand they will bear you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’’ ⁷ Jesus said to him, ‘On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the LORD your God to the test.’’ ⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; ⁹ and he said to him, ‘All these things I will give you, if you fall down and worship me.’ ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Go, Satan!  For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and serve Him only.’’ ¹¹ Then the devil left him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to him.

When Jesus came into my life, he began to re-tell my story and re-live my story to undo patterns of sin in my life.  The most powerful instance of this was during the summer after my junior year of college.  That was the time my parents finally decided to get their divorce.  My dad’s drinking had escalated to an alarming place.  Now my way of dealing with my family, ever since 10th grade, was to leave.  After I got my driver’s license and my car keys, I was out of there.  I’d go over to a park or to a friend’s place to distract myself.  I didn’t even have a thought for my younger sister, who was four years younger than me, who I left at home to deal with the mess I didn’t want to deal with.  But that summer, I felt Jesus say to me, ‘I want you to stay.’  I said to him, ‘I don’t have the strength to do that.  If what you said is true, Jesus, then you need to be here in me, living your life out through me.’  And he did.  My parents couldn’t afford a lawyer, so they had me arbitrate who gets what.  I remember going into that time saying, ‘I can’t do this!’  But during that time, Jesus filled me with a sense of his love for me.  And he gave me his love for my parents.  I was able to listen sensitively to both of them.  In fact, every other time before that, my response to them was, ‘You have to stay together – for my sake’ or ‘You have to get a divorce – for my sake.’  But I had never considered it for their sakes.  Jesus helped me separate myself from my parents’ marriage so they could make a decision that was best for them.  Jesus gave me his love for my parents.  He gave me his strength to stay at home.  He gave me insights so I could counsel my sister with what she was feeling.  At the end of that summer, I was talking to my friend Malcolm, whose family had gone through a similar thing earlier.  I told him what I was experiencing and how I was meeting Jesus throughout it all, and he said these words to me that I’ll never forget:  ‘Mako, how can you be so other-centered at a time like this?’  I treasure those words as a reminder to me of the difference Jesus makes. 

Jesus was going into the wilderness to retell the story of his people.  Israel had been baptized in the waters of the Red Sea (1 Cor.10:1 – 2) and then went into the wilderness where they promptly gave into temptation and failed the call of God.  Their wilderness wandering turned into forty long years – a painful and frustrating experience to say the least.  Jesus now goes into the wilderness for forty days, an echo of the forty years.  He was reflecting on Deuteronomy, the book that Moses gave Israel as they were coming out of the wilderness.  Jesus was determined to succeed where Israel had failed.  

In fact, Jesus was also retelling humanity’s story.  His three temptations echoed Adam and Eve’s temptation in the garden.  In Genesis 3:6, Eve took the fruit because she thought it was ‘good for food’ (turn these stones to bread), it was ‘a delight to the eyes’ (see the nations of the world), and because it was ‘desirable to make one wise’ (be admired by others)   Hence, Jesus was undoing the sin of humanity, reliving the temptation by Satan, without giving in.  Jesus was determined to succeed where Adam and Eve had failed.

Somehow, we know that in all good stories, the happy ending doesn’t just come out of nowhere.  It replays the mess ups people had done before.  Like with Anakin and Luke Skywalker.  Are you a Star Wars fan?  Do you notice that Luke repeats motifs from his father Anakin’s life.  In Anakin’s duel with Count Dooku, Anakin loses his green lightsaber, but he also has Obi-Wan Kenobi’s blue lightsaber.  During the fight, a power cord is cut, which turns the lights off.  So Anakim and Dooku fight in a blue and red lightsaber duel, with blue and red lights reflected in their faces.  In that duel, young Anakin loses his right hand.  Of course, Anakin later chooses the dark side and becomes Darth Vader.  Luke Skywalker replays his father Anakin’s story, but redeems it.  He has a blue lightsaber, and with it fights Darth Vader, who now has a red lightsaber.  So Luke and Darth Vader fight in a blue and red lightsaber duel, with blue and red lights reflected on their faces.  They are in a dark room, and replay the same moves that Anakin and Dooku did.  In that duel, young Luke Skywalker loses his right hand.  So the stories parallel each other.  But Luke later does not choose the dark side.  He stays on the good side of the force and redeems his father, yes, but also his father’s story.  The victory echoes the defeats of the past, but reverses them.

Happy endings don’t come out of nowhere – they repair the failures of the past.  Jesus will direct you to places in your story where you failed before, because he wants to undo them with you.  How do you think Jesus would re-live your life story with you, and heal you and transform you?