Issue 181
This is the first in a short series on the testing of Jesus as He started a new phase of the work He was born to do
You must have noticed that work and life are full of beginnings and endings. Whilst in work, many of us feel that it has no end, yet within our careers endings and beginnings occur all the time. You begin a project and it ends, you begin a case, lesson or course and it ends. You begin an operation, repair job or IT job and it ends (although it should be accepted that IT projects may be the exception that prove the rule here!)
You may also have noticed that the start of something new is often accompanied by some sense of elation; the more significant the start the greater the elation. We often describe such a new start as a baptism. So a new job has its excitements, a new approach has its attractions, a new commission or client their challenges.
Jesus of Nazareth, aged around 30 was to embark on a new mission altogether. Changing from private carpenter to public communicator meant that almost everything was to change. The turning point was accompanied by a baptismal service in the River Jordan. The Spirit of God himself energised the proceedings with his power and it would not be out of place to say that the carpenter’s son was elated and excited.
He was about to begin a new chapter in his life’s work which would see him fulfil the work he was born to do. It is hard to describe his inner state except to be sure that he felt alive, exhilarated and challenged. This is what he had been waiting for and this beginning was a big one.
Perhaps you have noticed that there is a common dynamic that accompanies these high moments: they’re often followed by testing times. Jesus of Nazareth went straight from the river to the desert. He went from satisfaction to hunger, from celebration to asceticism, from company to solitude and from excitement to struggle.
If you have been high and exhilarated for any reason connected to a new beginning, especially a significant one where the spiritual stakes have been raised in your life, the chances are you will have also experienced this aftermath. It can be quite puzzling, for it is often very sudden and if you aren’t prepared for it, it can come as a shock. But if you are to rise to this second challenge – this second beginning, it would be wise to notice a couple of things from the carpenter’s story.
Firstly, it was the Spirit of God himself who led Jesus to this desert to be tested. Testing times are not random accidents – God leads us into them. We know of this principle when we go through appointment procedures and follow them up with vetting procedures. The point is not to fail the candidate, but to verify their suitability. Even for Jesus this was the case, so it will be for us.
Secondly, Jesus was strong when the process started – some of us see testing us as kicking us when we are down – not so; it is when we are strong that we are tested. The point of testing is to make us even stronger – not to destroy us.
Before we conclude this piece, we must address two issues. Firstly, why did Jesus then encourage us to pray “Lead us not into temptation?” I suggest that there are a number of reasons, but relevant here is the simple fact that temptation and testing are difficult and dangerous, so we pray that we will be led away from them and delivered from evil. What it doesn’t mean is that we can live a life free from testing and temptation.
Secondly, you may consider that Jesus was weak, not strong, when he was tempted. He certainly was hungry, but he wasn’t weak. He was strong from the energy of his baptism and he was spiritually strong from his fast, as many who have fasted will testify. Strength doesn’t always look like strength, but it was here.
So, if you have just come down from a high to a valley, a river to a desert, a new job to a testing time, hold on because you are not the first nor the last to experience this; it is not meaningless or haphazard, it can make you stronger, and just as it had a beginning, it will have an end and, if you need help, remember you are not alone – you can always ask the carpenter.
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Work well
Geoff Shattock
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