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THE REAL JESUS
(Con tinuedfrom page 5)
any material crutch, upon any re–
mote temptation to depend upon a
false feeling of "self-reliance." 1n
this weakened state, after having
spent countless hours in deep and
soul-searching prayer, He would be
equipped to withstand the worst
temptations Satan the devil could
throw at Him.
Not by Bread Alone
The account in Ma tthew says,
"And when he had fasted forty days
and forty nights, he was afterward
an hungred." The word "hungred"
in context implies much more than
just " hungry," the way it may ap–
pear to us. lt is very doubtful that
any living human being today could
have the willpower and self-control,
together with the physical stamina
and strength, to endure a fuiJ 40-
day and 40-night fast.
Jesus was nearly at the point of
death: He had almost starved by the
time Satan the devi l carne to Him
and hurled every conceivable temp–
ta tion His way. After lhe initial
lemptation of trying lo get Jesus
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obey his whims by converting stones
into bread, Jesus made one of His
most importa nt pronouncements
(and a statement thal is almost uni–
versa iJy misunderstood by millions
of professing Christians today who
would rather live by
some,
and
not
every
word of God). Jesus said to
Satan, "It is written, Man sha ll not
live by bread alone, but by every
word thal proceedeth out of th e
mouth ofGod."
Mlnlstering Angels
Then Satan began to probe to find if
there was any ego there, any vanity,
selfishness, or desire for power or
self-importance. Finally Jesus gave
a command , and lhe devil was
forced to obey! "Then sai th Jesus
unto him, Get thee hence, Satan:
for it is written, Thou shalt worship
the Lord thy God, and him only
shalt thou serve" (verse 10).
Now read the next verse! "Then
the devil leaveth him, and, behold,
angels
carne and ministered unto
him." What does "ministering"
mean? Wha t would you do if a per-
The
PLAIN TRUTH
January
1978
son who was very dearly beloved to
you were discovered in an ema–
ciated, starving state, in a condition
of almosl complete physical and
mental exhaustion?
Remember, these "angels" did
not appear like little pink-cheeked
bare babies with bows and arrows,
but as mature, kindly, competen!,
and swiftly efficient men!
From the times the One who be–
carne Jesus Christ of Nazareth-who
was the God of the OId Testament–
appeared to human beings Himself
(He wrestled in the dust of the earth
with Jacob, sat in the shade of Abra–
ham's tent on the plains of Mamre,
talked to Moses from a cloud on
Mount Sinai) and from the other
accounts in the Old Testament of
angelic appearances, you can learn
that angels always a ppeared to
human beings
as men !
The two men
who were the objects of the perverse
lusts of the citizens of Sodom, and
who had to drag Lot and his fami ly
out of the city just prior to its de–
struction, were
angels,
manifesting
themselves as st rong, human
men.
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Jesus was no doubt slumped to
the ground or seated with His head
in His hands following this exhaust–
ing encounter when a strong a rm
encircled His shoulder and a deep
resonant voice said, "Here, take a
sip of this."
When you "minister" to a person
in this state of exhaustion, you wil l
no doubt provide warmth in the
form of blankets and a place to líe
down, and give sparing amounts of
something appropriate like beef
broth or sorne ot.her richly nutritious
and easily digestible food.
When needed, angels, who were
always around Jesus in unseen spirit
form, would manifest themselves as
human beings, and give Jesus even
the necessary physical sustenance
and protection. He was constantly
attuned to that "other dimension"
of the heavenly presence of His
Father and the righteous angels.
So in the greatest spiri tua l battle
ever fought, a battle that was abso–
lutely necessary in the plan of God,
the captain of our salvation quali–
fied to take over rulership of this
ea rth from the devil himself.
(Another excerpt from
The Real
J es us
will be comi ng n ex t
month.)
o
OTHERCHEEK?
(Continued from page 15)
strikes you in the face" (verse 20,
RSV). The implication is very
plain- they ought not to have pul
up with such people who took ad–
vantage of them. They had the right
to assert themselves. lnstead, they
were passive and submissive, en–
couraging aggressive behavior on
the part of those false teachers.
Laylng Down Your Lite
So Christ's example is one of
volun–
tary
sacrifice. He said: "Greater !ove
has no man than this, that a man lay
down his life for bis friends" (John
15: 13, RSV) . That's the essence of
Christianity. But is it love
if
a per–
son murders you and takes away
your life when you didn't want to
give it? A person shows true Chris–
tian love when he doesn't have todo
it, but freely and willingly
chooses
to
share what he has with someone
who is in need. He gives "not grudg–
ingly, or of necessi ty," but because
he wants to.
And if someone wrongs him, he
takes an assertive stand. If that per–
son doesn' t comply with his wishes,
he has nonetheless maintained his
dignity, and he can believe in faith
that in spite of the outcome, "all
things work together for good to
them that love God, to them who
are the called according to bis pur–
pose" (Rom. 8:28).
Sorne people say that Christianity
contributes to neurosis-that it
causes people to " turn the other
cheek" in a nonassertive manner,
building up a reservoir of frustra–
tion that ultima tely leads to aggres–
sive behavior. But as we have seen,
this kind of " turning the other
cheek" is not true Christianity at
all- it's a false understanding of
what Jesus meant and what God
requires.
No, true Christianity calls for
freedom- for standing fast in that
liberty that Christ has given us. As
assertive Christians, we can by our
own voluntary choice give up our
rights, and lay down our posses–
sions, our time, or even our lives
in
service to others. We have been
given freedom of choice and the
right to behave assertively.
o
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