"Our Refuge" from the Virus (LK 4:1-13; Psalm 91)

Luke 4:1-13¹ The Spirit ‘anointed’ him and the heavenly voice confirmed Jesus to be the 'Son of God'.  Full of the Spirit, Jesus was led into the wilderness where he was confronted by Satan for 40 days. After 40 days, Jesus is tired, hungry, thirsty, dirty, sweaty, and in his physical weakness he faces the devil and all his accusations. 

³ The devil brings Jesus’ identity or ‘Sonship’ into question. In each incident Jesus is tempted to listen to the devil and to act independently apart from the direction of his ‘heavenly Father’. Jesus, faithfully, trusts God’s good intention by clinging in faith to God’s word (Deut.8:3, Exodus 16-17); this for Jesus was the only viable option.

By contrast, in the ‘garden of Eden’, Adam believed the lie and aligned himself with the devil. Israel also, in the wilderness, failed to trust God and longed to return to Egypt. They failed to trust God’s good purpose, and yet Jesus in each of these temptations resisted the devil and in each incident Jesus trusted God and His word (Deut.6:13, Ex.20:3).

In Luke’s gospel, the third temptation is the devil taking Jesus to Jerusalem where he sets Jesus on the highest point of the temple. The devil brings Jesus’ identity into question and challenges Jesus to put his faith in action. The devil says, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, ¹⁰ for it is written,  He will command his angels to guard you, ¹¹ they will bear you up with their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone (Psalm 91)." The devil tempts Jesus to throw himself down and prove that the word of God is true. 

¹²  Jesus answers the devil’s misuse of scripture by saying, ‘"You shall not put the Lord your God to the test." ^So So the devil is forced to flee from Jesus for a more opportune time. Moreover, Jesus would remain faithful even in his greatest trial when at Calvary Jesus would remain faithful and would trust his Father even to the point of death upon a cross.

Mark 15:34b “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Hebrews 12:2 (NIV84) ² Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus resisted the devil and obeyed the Father as a truly obedient son even to the point of death on a cross. Consequently, as his adopted brothers and sisters, we can pray this marvelous Psalm 91 in our times of trials (COVID-19). We pray not to put God to the test, but we pray as those beloved of God, forgiven and accepted in Christ! We know that Jesus has lived a perfect life and died a sinners death on our behalf and so we look to God for mercy. So we can pray in the name of our Lord Jesus who is enthroned at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2) and we can trust our gracious ‘Heavenly Father’ no matter what we face! 

Psalm 91 (NIV84)             ¹ He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. ² I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” ³ Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. ⁴ He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. ⁵ You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, ⁶ nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. ⁷ A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. ⁸ You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. ⁹ If you make the Most High your dwelling— even the Lord, who is my refuge— ¹⁰ then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. ¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; ¹² they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. ¹³ You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. ¹⁴ “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. ¹⁵ He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. ¹⁶ With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.”