No Answer

Hardly had the water dried when Jesus was "...led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil."  (Matthew 4:1). This was not going to be a picnic, or a Sunday School outing.  It was as real as real can be.  Even as the baptism of Jesus was set in the context of intentionality,  so was this moment of temptation.  With the baptism the intentionality belonged to Jesus, but with the temptation it belonged to the Holy Spirit.  It has always seemed strange that the Spirit would lead Jesus, or us, into spiritual peril, but this story indicates we should not be surprised that such happens.    

What lingers heavy in the air after we conclude that the Spirit might lead us into a a place of spiritual peril is the question, "Why?  Why would God do such a thing?"  It becomes even more confusing as we remember that Jesus taught us to pray, "...lead us not into temptation..." (Matthew 6:13). Why would we need to pray such a. prayer when Jesus spoke of the Father God as One who "...gives good gifts to those who ask Him?"  (Matthew 7:11).  To consider such questions is to know that it is always easier to ask questions than to give answers.  

Such is where I find myself as I ponder this moment in the life of Jesus.  I can offer some answers that I have been taught to recite, but many times what others tell us ends up sounding a bit empty until we have sat with the question long enough to start moving toward what God is telling us.  Such thoughts make it easier to come to the end of the page without the answer being sought.  There is some comfort in what the Apostle Paul wrote, "...God is faithful, and He will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing He will also provide the way out so that you nay be able to endure it."  (I Corinthians 10:13)  Wherever we are led by the Spirit, God is with us.