I notice it says Jesus was led into this wilderness experience by the Spirit. Makes me
sympathize with Tevia in Fiddler on the Roof, "lord, it is said we are the chosen
people but couldn't you just this once choose somebody else"! I guess we all need to face our own demons every now and then. I've been trying but it
just does not seem like a helpful process. Manzel
Don't Brush Off Jesus' Wilderness! The Good Book (Holy Bible) has it there for a
purpose. In fact, I believe that a "widerness experience" of some kind is a part
of our spiritual journey to Easter Day. Sure...it's much easier to dismiss the
"demons" within us and skip the "wilderness experience". But if was
important enough for Jesus....it should be all that more vital for us to wrestle with and
say "no" to the evil within and about us. Jesus ultimately overcame the forces
of evil for us in the wilderness and his encounter with the devil. He was victorious over
the darkness of evil, and by God's grace....so can we!!!! I guess I am a little
"shocked" at the idea of even thinking of bypassing Matthew 4:1-11 and go on to
Easter. JB in Ks.
thanks again to who ever in previous year's discussion of this text, reminded me of
Paul Simon's song, Loves Me Like A Rock. and the line, "and the devil would call my
name..I'd say who do you think you're foolin..." brings a smile to my face again.
Manzel
Speaking of song lyrics, whenever I read the temptations of Jesus in the desert I
remember Willie Nelson singing in "We Are the World;" "As God has shown us/
By turning stone to bread." I think not, but is there a scriptural account where God
turns stone into bread?- Pace e Bene Deke in Texas
I have been thinking about Jesus as the obedient one after Adam and Eve's disobedience.
And I was thinking that obedience has so much less to do with following rules than it does
listening to God's voice no matter where that leads you. It is hard to think of preaching
obedience in our current cultural context though. I have never looked at this website
before, I really appreciate the online discussion of the texts. Peace, Alison in MD
To Manzel,
I agree!!!!!!! The wilderness experience was where Jesus answered questions about His
ministry which he was fixing to begin. I think a better Lesson for this week would come
from Luke 9:51 Luke adds that after this Mountain top experience (read also Luke 9:31)
Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. Jesus knew what awaited him in Jerusalem and he
was obedient even unto death. I think this is what I will preach on for the first Sunday
in lent.
Harold in Alabama
Interesting take on the first temptation in our (UK) Young Church notes for this week:
Jesus was willing to let stone be stone. Stephen in Exeter UK
After reading and praying about Jesus' wilderness experience I wonder if the reason
that the Holy Spirit was so that he could confront the temptations that would be ahead as
his minsitry took off. Jesus' had the chance to leave those temptations behind in the
desert with the knowledge that he would indeed be victorious over them.
With that theme of using the 40 days of wilderness to confront and beat temptation,
(Even though Luke records that the devil left for a more opportune time.) I'm titling my
sermon "40 Days to Beat Temptation" to the theme of Paul Simon's "50 Ways
to Leave Your Lover." Any thoughts (especially rhymes) would be appreciated.
Mark in IL
Saturday, February 9th, 2002
I am indeed desperate tonight ... just returned from the Hospital... a
44 year old woman in my church died tonight quite unexpectedly... her brother had cancer
surgery earlier this week... they made it through that all right... then, she's out for
supper with her husband (they co-chaired our Fellowship Committee in our church, she was
FULL of LIFE)... and fell over dead... CPR from a dining stranger near by didn't help,
ambulance was there within minutes... nothing... so, my sermon will need a little
adjustment tonight... Appreciate any prayers for her husband Sid tonight...
Probably too late this week...
in shock...
pulpitt in ND"
Pulpitt, May God bless and renew your strength and magnify His peace in your life, the
life of your congregation and those loved ones for whom you feel such compassion. Manzel
Deke, Jesus created bread to feed the 5000. and in the old testiment mana from heaven
was God's miracle bread even though there was no alchamey of stones. Jesus did say (palm
sunday) that God could turn stones into decendants of abraham. Jesus did exercise such
powers that the tempter identified but not in those ways, not in ways that assume the ends
justify the means. Manzel
Fourty days to beat temptation, with a rhythm of 50 ways to leave your lover, great,
creative idea Mark. should be fun to work on. Manzel
Mark, just a few crude spur of the moment thoughts on your 40 days to beat temptation:
Just sing a little hymn, Tim
Get on your Knees, Bea
Let your regrets go, Jo
Put it in God's hand, man
Cast all your cares on God, Claude
Give all you can Stan,
Don't need to fuss much, forgive all you see, Lee, and get yourself free. ..Manzel
WOW, everyone has been so hard at work already.
Many in our tradition (Lutheran) "give up" something for Lent. Yet, I've
always wondered about the sincerity or purpose of this tradition. I think the following
story captures the folly of our "religious" tendencies
A certain Irish priest, newly arrived in New York, decided to visit the section known
as the Bowery, haven of homeless alcoholics and other derelicts. As he walked along one of
the Bowery blocks at night he suddenly felt a gun against his ribs. Then he heard a raspy
voice: "All right mister, gimme all your money!" Quickly, he reached for his
wallet and handed it over to the thief, but as he did, the holdup man noticed his clerical
collar. The thief was overcome with shame. He said, "Forgive me Father. I didn't know
you were a priest. "To which the priest replied, "That's all right, son. Just
repent of your sin. Here have a cigar." The thief replied, "Oh, no, thank-you
Father" as he handed the wallet back to the priest, "I don't smoke during
Lent."
Pr. del in Ia
Thanks Manzel for you kindness... it is much appreciated...
I stood in the ER last night, in shock myself over what had transpired... with his
wife's arm hanging down by the side of the bed. Wedding ring on her finger... her husband
bent over and kissed her on the forehead... and we stepped out into the hallway in front
of the nurses station... they were all busy at their posts... continuing to care, to
extend a comforting hand, to move past "the mountain top" and get back to the
valley... yes, "LIFE", life is precious and it does go on... for me, my
parishoner and those in the helping profession at the hospital.
Right after the baptism of Jesus... we find him tempted in the wilderness... after the
peak day in his life, we find him out on the flat prairie with promises made from
"the tempter".
Over the years, I've come to believe that the Spirit that led Jesus into the wilderness
might just be the same Spirit that, once there, now tempted him once again. Yesterday was
the heavenly glow and the divine assurance... now comes the reality that he might not be
so great...
I think he had his doubts, just as we have our doubts, doubts which left unchecked can
ruin us...
I don't know about you, but I have doubts... some days my faith is alive and well. I
see the hope in the Sunshine... and other days... I must admit, I yearn for the
"mountain top" revelations that assure me of God's reality in my life and in the
lives of my parishoners... when the reality is most days... I get the "prairie
type" revelations... small, gentle, tender, yet constant nudges that God is there and
that God cares.
That's what the DPS does for me... it finds me in the wilderness of my own loneliness
of self doubt... and lifts me up, dusts me off and sends me on into another week. Thank
you once again ALL!
Blessings,
pulpitt in ND
Manzel you wrote... that...
"Lent, and the wilderness experience again! Still? No thank you. I vote for an
alturnative, anybody know a bette way to lead upto Easter? Manzel"
To enjoy a rainbow, you've got to have some rain... to have a baby, you've got to wait
the 9 months and if you're a woman... there are those labor pains... but the baby helps
you forget some of the pain... Easter comes... but we can't get there without Lent... and
that's not what you find in your belly button...
;?)
With grins,
pulpitt in ND
Comments
How does this sound? 1. Turn stone to bread would Jesus use His power for his own needs
or for the needs of others 2. Jump off this building. Would Jesus use the miracles for a
show of His power or to glorify His Father. 3. Worship me? Would Jesus take a short cut
and bypass the cross.
Harold in Alabama
I have taken a different approach to the transfiguration, temptation, and following
lenten texts. Through the lenten season I will be looking at mountain top experiences in
our lives, what they are, how we react, ect. ending with the mountian of Galgatha. Last
Sunday I looked at the transfiguration as a "witnessing" experience. P, J, and J
witnessed Jesus' MT experience and it changed their lives (after the cross they were
empowered using 2 Peter) This sunday Satan takes Jesus (us) to the mountain top. When has
Satan taken us there and can we tell teh difference between Satan's MT and God's MT. I am
submitting this hoping to spur conversation in this direction. God Bless LoriBNC
LMBC: It did occur to me last week while preaching that not all mountain top experience
are of God. You have an interesting perception here. I am weaving prayer and sabbath into
the service this week. We have a retreat Sat. so carrying the theme over. Perhaps it is in
our prayerful dicerning that we can find out whose mountain top it is. I the mountain top
of winning a sporting event. sort of rambling here. Nancy-Wi
Manzel,
I kind of understand where you are coming from, not wanting to deal with the temptation
narrative again. I certainly see the need to spend time in our own wildernesses sometimes,
but I've been finding the lectionary to be a rather dry well for me lately. Maybe it has
to do with the fact that I'm now on my third time around.
Anyway, I've been doing some different things, lately. Preaching outside the lectionary
using some passages that are less familiar. A couple of weeks ago I entitled my sermon,
"The 'Buts'of Moses" and talked about all the excuses Moses gave God for not
doing God's work. (In the NRSV, all the excuse passages begin with "but.") Of
course, I ended the sermon with a challenge for all of us to set aside our excuses and say
yes to God.
This past Sunday, I did a service on finding the Holy in the Ordinary. The sermon was
pretty much done by the congregation. I passed around a large basket full of all kinds of
stuff (mostly from my junk drawers), everything from fake flowers and stones, to medicine
cups, mini-flower pots, round washers, small crosses, etc. I had about 100 objects in the
basket. Everyone picked out an item. I told them not to think about it, but to just grab
something and we sang "How Great Thou Art" while the basket was going around.
Then I asked them to spend a few moments just silently meditating on their object, to see
what God might speak to them through an ordinary thing. The results were more than I had
hoped for. I invited anyone to share that wanted to and in each of my churches about a
dozen people shared. Some of them had some amazingly profound insights to share. Maybe
this idea would work for a service during Lent, too. I used a variety of resources and
scriptures.
Thanks to all for your insights and input. I often check in with you even if I'm not
preaching on the text.
Grace and Peace, Mel in NE
About 18 mo ago I started a project I called "Elemental Christianity" writing
a series of meditations on symolism of the four "elements" of earth, are, fire,
and water. I think I'm going to take that work and turn it into a 5-part Lenten sermon
series with an introductory sermon this week, then one of the "elements" each of
the next four weeks. The Gospels lend themselve to this, sort of, though not in the usual
order the elements are listed. The 3rd Sunday Gospel is the Samaritan woman at the well --
obviously a great opening for "Water". The 4th is the healing of the blindman
with mud made from spittle -- obviously, "Earth". The 5th is the raising of
Lazarus (with Elijah's valley of dry bones and all that breathing) -- a good
"Air/Wind/Breath" opening. That leaves Nicodemus's night time visit (2nd Sunday)
to be the "Fire" Gospel, which can work in terms of "born of the
Spirit" and the fire imagery associated with the Holy Spirit.
What I'm puzzling over is how to introduce this series in the context of the 40 days
and the temptations in the desert..... As a Prayer Book Anglican, I don't have the freedom
to change the lessons (and wouldn't, I don't think, even if I did). Working on it....
Blessings, Eric+
The sacred journey of "Walking On the Glory Road" through the Season of Lent,
I believe, rightly begins with the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert wilderness. Is there
not the reliving of sacred covenant history in the life of Jesus, particularly as his
baptism emerges and unfolds into the drama of the Exodus wilderness! From a sacramental
perspective of "remembrance", i.e., "anamnesis", (and not unlike last
week's transfiguration experience with Moses and Elijah), do not the sacred stories hidden
beneath the ashes of antiquity across the ocean of the past leap to life in the present;
very much like the bush that burns but the flames do not consume the bush.
The Exodus does not belong to a remote past frozen in "what-is-no-more". Just
as Jesus relieves (recapitulates) the sacred journey in the unfolding of his life, so we
too can experience Holy Ground and the Burning Bush calling us to the resurrection in
Covenant Renewal, calling us to new birth in the baptism "from above" as we
emerge out of the Red Sea waters in spite of the waves of mud and water that rise to our
nostrils before they part, calling us into the desert wilderness, (like the desert father
Antonius), in order to conquer the demons of temptations. In this desert we will need to
develop the skills and practice of contemplation, meditation, and prayer. No other way
leads to the cross, and no other way than the cross leads beyond! The power of the this
Sacramental Word peels the layers of consciousness back such that when we look deep within
our autobiographical stream of life we discover the sacred journey Jesus walked is none
other than our own Glory Road. His desert temptations finally unveil in the depths of our
autobiographical consciousness that we are as surely saved by his "life" as we
are by his death upon the cross. To escape the Exodus desert wilderness road Jesus walked
at the beginning of Lent may be to choose some other "way" than the
"WAY" that leads to the cross. (PaideiaSCO in north ga mts)
Eric: Nice idea, this week should be the binder for the elements, what hold them
together. Here obedience to God's will comes to mind as "glue". Another
possibility could be prayer (consulting with God.) Nancy-WI
Hi, Does anyone have any insight as to why Mark's account of the temptation is so
short?
Also none of these accounts mention prayer. Any comments on that?
Nancy-Wi
First, to Mel in NE,
I can't resist a little joke/offering to you for your sermon series on Moses: On
preaching the "But's of Moses" you should remember that, on the mountain top
when God finally honors Moses' request by being seen, God objects because, if anyone views
the face of God, they will die. So God says, "I'll let you see my backside as I walk
past. (Exodus 33:18-23)" The Hebrew word is more 'earthy' than the rather sanitized
english translation- literally translating as 'ass'... or, to relate to your title, final
"butt".
My apologies to anyone who might be offended but I couldn't resist. I'll try harder not
to yield to temptation next time!
Second, in relation to Sunday's scripture:
As for the wilderness temptation story of Jesus- in our neighborhood, we have a growing
number of young families facing layoffs and many who have already lost jobs. There seems
to be an upswelling of struggle in many lives- parents needing care, financial worries,
and all the strains that come from these basic struggles. Given how good our ecomomy has
been over the past decade, for many of our families, they are facing hard times for the
first time and are struggling to find their way. Temptations to take shortcuts (stones to
bread), to give up on life (throw yourself off the tower and hope to be saved) or turn
away from one's strength and faith (worship me, says Satan) are very real. This story is a
wonderful way to approach what could be a very difficult time for many people who may not
have truely experienced difficult times before. Lent, as a walk through tough times, seems
very real this year.
TB in MN
To TB in MN, Thanks for the laugh. I wasn't offended...my sense of humor is a little
warped.
To all, I really appreciate the valuable conversation on the importance of lent. I,
too, feel that it is essential to our lives as maturing, growing Christians. So, beginning
with my Ash Wednesday service tommorrow night, I will be returning to the lectionary. I
think Sunday's sermon will deal with the ways temptation can sneak up on us. I liked what
someone else said about how temptation doesn't just hit us in our weaknesses, but also in
our strenghts (through the temptation to think more of ourselves and our abilities than of
what we're supposed to be doing!) Thanks so much for the inspiration!
Grace and Peace, Mel in NE
Nancy,
You ask a very good question about Mark, Luke and Matthew's accounts.
Scholars have thought that Mark's account is shorter because his text was written first
and the others, following his lead, expanded upon the story to fill in more detail. The
reasoning goes something like this: Mark, writing his gospel largely from oral sources
such as travelling evangelists, storytellers and possibly the disciples themselves,
created his gospel by simply collecting the various stories he found most truthful
together from what he had heard. You can somewhat see this in that many of his accounts of
Jesus' healings and teachings, taken individually, tend to have a clear beginning, middle
and end as if they were individual stories collected together into a book. They do have a
'storytellers' quality about them even as we read them today. Matthew and Luke, writing
later, at times appear to be taking some of Mark's stories and filling them in with more
detail thus making them longer and richer.
In Conservative traditions, they would possibly say that Mark approached his account to
simply 'report the facts' about Jesus while Matthew and Luke, seeking to emphisis Jesus as
the Messiah and Son of God, presented a more indepth report of the events- thus each is
reporting the event but some are chosing to present more detail depending on the gospel's
particular emphisis. Tradition holds that these gospels are first hand accounts from the
disciples themselves and so the differences might also reflect differences in their
memories of what happened when.
As the Christian church was growing in
those early years, the traditions surrounding Jesus were deepening and being enriched by
the communities understanding of who Christ was as the years went on. Mark, earlier in
this tradition, reflects a simpler understanding of Christ and so his stories are simple,
direct and lack the detail of the later accounts. Matthew and Luke, writing some time
later are affected by the historic events of their times such as the tearing down of the
Temple around 70 AD and the growth and development of the church (a footnote: one big
change in this time is that Christians, for many reasons good and bad, are leaving their
Jewish roots behind and becoming independent communities of their own and so need to find
new traditions and establish a new understandings of who they are). The remarkable events
of 50-80 AD would naturally cause dramatic changes within the Christian circles as the
world changes, traditions grow, stories are told and retold. Matthew and Luke reflect this
in the detail that is contained in their stories- each seeking new meaning from the life
of Jesus to speak to their times (much like we try to do in writing a sermon for Sunday
morning). Though the following might be a somewhat shallow analogy: think of it as a
decade long game of 'Telephone' and reflect on how a simple story could grow and change as
it is told, retold and retold again. On a deeper level, think of how the telling your
church's history might have changed as time passes on. Once you could talk to the first
members and hear first hand accounts of the churh's roots, now they have passed on and
those same stories have become something akin to history or even legend, as those pioneers
have become saints in the eyes of the church.
Sorry about babbling on like this (and I doubt it would help a sermon) but, just as
there are different accounts of the widerness story, there are different explainations of
why the differences exist. In the end, I think it all still comes down to the question of
'Where do you find the truth? Where is the Spirit, from this story, speaking to you
today?"
TB in MN
As a lay preacher it is easy to get bound up in a certain routine of life. My son said
to me the other day "Dad - all you do is get up in the morning, go to work, come
home, do stuff for the church, go to bed - you need to break out of that routine." I
thought reading the gospel for Sunday and trying to think of a new angle on the reading,
that that is what Jesus did to test out his vocation. He broke free from the normal
routine of life by deliberately going into the wilderness to be close to his Father. Maybe
what we need to do this Lent is to break free from our routine - to make time to be alone
with God - to get close to our "soul friend" - to discover or rediscover our
faith. I find it interesting that to be really close to his Father, Jesus didn't go near a
synagogue - the place of worship. What do other contributors think?
I find the discussions every week on DPS really stimulating and they have inspired
several sermons recently when the words just don't seem to come.
Brian in London, England
The other night, insted of watching the opening ceremonies for the Olympics, my family
watched (again) the Michael Jordan/Bugs Bunny movie "Space Jam." The theme song
was "I Believe I Can Fly." After reading this passage, I have this image of
Jesus on the pinnacle of the Temple, with the devil singing this song, and inviting Jesus
to join in. How often are we tempted to "be like Mike" rather than to "be
like Jesus," to soar above everyone else rather than serve among the
"least" of these?
OLAS
A stray thought...
No where in the Bible does it say that Jesus can turn stones into bread, jump off
buildings and not get hurt, or has the ability to rule as king. I realize such a
suggestion smacks of heresy but maybe, if we look at this another way, Jesus was really
facing the potential of a mouthful of broken teeth, going splat on the ground when he
jumped or becoming an emperor and facing all the live-taking problems of such a position.
Satan knew that Jesus didn't have these powers and so tempted him with the thought that he
might... much like when a politician or public figure begins to believe their own press
clippings.
Just going off the deep end,
TB from MN
TB From MN
Just a thought: If Jesus turned water into wine why would it be so hard to turn stone
to bread. If he walked on water and didn't sink then why could he not jump from a tall
building?
Hatold in Alabama
Comments
Why not?
TB from MN
USE your sonship for feeding yourself- temptation one. ABUSE your relationship with the
Father by tempting Him to guard you - temptation two. REFUSE for a moment to worship God,
worship me and the wealth I promise - temptation three. I also see some parallel in
strategy of temptation with Genesis. DOUBT God's Word - "If you truly are the son of
God..." AND "Did God say?" CONTRADICT/ALTER God's Word - "You will not
die," and "He will guard you" MAKE NEW PROMISES - "You will be like
God" and "All these I will give you"
Just sorting through this stuff for possibilities. ARMY CH E, Middle East
Ah! Temptation! How sweet it is! Those beliefs just out of reach, just beyond reality.
Are they bad or are they good? Temptations are the things that actually draw us into the
future. They are the tempting morsels at the end of the string which keep us moving
forward.
Why did Jesus resist?
(My answer) Because Satan offered the end result without the necessary effort.
I believe Jesus ended up achieving all the offerings which the spirit proposed in the
desert, but they came centuries after his death and with a whole lot of effort on the part
of a whole lot of people. Similar to the blessings of Abraham.
The temptation still today, is to shortcut the process, so as to avoid the mundane but
necessary effort required, in reaching the goal. Sorry! In God's terms that is to gain
joy, without knowing pain. That is to know life, without experiencing death.
Jesus (the church) has turned stones into bread. Every Christian should be an example
of this. Jesus (the church) has thrown himself from the highest ramparts and not been
harmed. For me this is what it means to overcome life, through the grace of God. Jesus
(the church)has reached to every kingdom of the world.
It all starts with serving God, and not myself.
Ah temptation! Still drawing me further. God or Satan??? I wonder.
Regards for a tremendous week of God given insight.
KGB in Aussie.
If you haven't read it, go buy and read Henri Nouwen's "In the Name of
Jesus." It is a short book about ministry, with reflections based on this passage. I
read it over and over every year - it is extremely challenging, truthful, and grounding
for anyone in church leadership, especially ordained ministers. Nouwen says Jesus faced 3
temptations in his wilderness experience which we too face - the temptation to be
relevent, to be spectacular, to be powerful or influential. He discusses our truer
callings and offers ways to address these temptations with disciplines and understandings.
Anyway, with this passage I am drawn more to looking at the temptations we deal with as
CHristians - and not simply lust, but the more subtle things - along the lines of success
and power. The wilderness is the setting but not the point of the sermon here for me, I
guess. Jim in CT.
Has anyone noticed the connection between the last temptation and the end of Matthew's
gospel. Satan offers Jesus all the kingdoms of the world. At the end of Matthew Jesus says
"All authority is given to me in heaven and on earth." But he had to go through
the cross first. Satan is offering the painless shortcut. But Satan doesn't really own all
the kingdoms of the world, anyway. -- Mike in Maryland
In Marcus Borg's book Reading the Bible Again for the First Time, he speaks about the
different understandings of just what was the "sin" commited by Adam and Eve.
Two of the understandings are the "Primal Act as Hubris" - meaning to give
oneself the place that belongs to God alone; the second is the "Primal Act as
Sloth" - meaning to "leaving it to the snake," or to let some one else
author one's existence, to live the agenda of another. I want to tie these in with Jesus'
resisting temptations, and I sense a tie-in with globalization and modern morals and
values, consumerism and on and on... But I am having trouble getting started. Any ideas or
opinions? Blessings LGB
Why did Jesus tell this story? Nobody knew but Him! So, why did Jesus tell the story?
To let us know about the reality of the devil? if the devil is real then Why is that we
hardly believe that? If we are to be tested like Jesus, what is the purpose? Why our
Heavenly Father allow it? Is this life a school and everybody must be tested? If so, then
what is the purpose of life? Where we were before we were born? In heaven? Why we were
sent to this world? A lot of questions!!! Naive..
Naive... asked, "If so, then what is the purpose of life?"
That reminds me of a t-shirt I once owned. It said: "This is a test life. It is
only a test life. If this had been a real life, you would have been told where to go and
what to do."
I used it a couple of times to preach on the fact that we HAVE been told where to go
and what to do!
Blessings, Eric in KS
Speaking of the differences between Matt and Mark, remember how each discribes the
action of the Holy Spirit? Matthew says the spirit "led" Jesus into the
wilderness; went out before him, took him by the hand and said, "I know it looks
rough, but you can do it. Trust in yourself and trust in the Father." Mark says the
spirit "drove" him in. In biblical times to "drive" meant to force
unwitting and/or unwilling animals, to go where you want them to go...to go where they
DON'T want to go. It involves whips, switches, rods, harsh words and gutteral sounds;
behavior that, in a sense, seems cruel. The Holy Spirit says, "GO!" (whipsnap)
"GIT!" (poke in the backside with the staff). The suggestion, IMHO, is that
Jesus is resisting, unwilling. How many of us entered pastoral ministry that way? How many
laypeople try to escape their calling?
By the way, TB from MN: Interesting take on the story concerning what Jesus may or may
not have been able to do. Harold in Alabama: Way to keep us true to the Word! But the two
perspectives may not be as contradictory as might appear. Jesus said he did and said
nothing apart from the Father's will(please, don't demand chapter and verse!). He turned
water to wine and walked on water because that is what God called him to do in those
moments in order to demonstrate his messiahship. If Jesus wished to turn stone to bread as
a shortcut out of his Spirit-directed suffering, his dental health may very well have
suffered; if he wanted the trill of hang gliding or bunjee jumping without the required
equipment, he very well could have wound up as sidewalk pizza; if he went after riches and
power by forsaking his Father, he very well may have ended up a fat, ulcer-afflicted
potentate, dreaming of escaping the demands of state and ending is days with a blade in
the back from a wrongly trusted, overly ambitious prince.
Geeez, I'm long-winded tonight! Pastor Andy, Ionia NY
