LENT • 1
What does it mean for Jesus to be the Servant of God?
This week’s readings invite us to look at Jesus, who is the true Son and Servant of God.
To accompany your readings, listen to these 2 songs:
reading for: 2 March
Luke 4:1-13
Jesus is the Servant who knows that he is the true Son of God
READ
Luke 4:1-14 follows after the baptism of Jesus, which climaxes in Jesus hearing the affirmation from the Father in Luke 3:22, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” The Father publicly proclaimed that Jesus is the beloved Son of God and that the Father was pleased with Jesus.
Shortly after that, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil for forty days. The text tells us that Jesus ate nothing and that he was hungry at the end of these forty days. (V1-2) A series of three temptations is then recorded for us in the verses that follow.
Luke 4:3
The Devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
This request by the Devil wanted Jesus to prove that he was the Son of God by disobeying the Father and asserting his own power and authority to feed himself. Jesus refuses and cites a passage from Deuteronomy 8:3 that exhorts man not to live by bread alone. (V4) Jesus is telling the Devil that he does not have to prove that he is the Son of God and that he would serve the Father and not seek his own will. Jesus knows who he is as the true Son of God and that as the Son, he would serve the Father.
Luke 4:5-7
And the Devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.”
The second temptation contains a request by the Devil for Jesus to worship him, and in return Jesus would be given all the authority and glory of the world that was delivered to the Devil. Jesus answered the Devil again with a verse from Deuteronomy by declaring that only the Lord your God is to be worshipped. (V8, Deut 6:13) Jesus is telling the Devil that he will obey the will of the Father and trust in the plan of the Father. Jesus, as the Son of God would obey the Father.
Luke 4:9-11
And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”
This time the Devil quotes but misinterprets Scripture. The Devil tells Jesus at the pinnacle of the temple that if he is the Son of God. That God will protect him even if he threw himself down. Jesus, for the third time replying from Deuteronomy, says that the Lord your God is not to be put to the test. (V12, Deut 6:16) Jesus is saying that as the Son of God, he will not test the Father and that he would obey the will of the Father. He would not put the Father in a place where the Father is forced to act.
REFLECT
This account shows us that Jesus is the Servant who serves by being absolutely clear that he is the Son of God. Jesus did not waver in his service and identity.
Do we know who we are as members of the body of Christ and adopted by the Father as Sons and Daughters of God? Do we serve God with a posture of Sonship? Pray that we will know that we are children of God and serve Him by being absolutely convinced that we are children of the living God.
reading for: 3 March
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Jesus is the Servant who gives to the Father
READ
Deuteronomy is a book set and written just before the people of Israel would enter the promised land, it contains what some would see as Moses’s last words to the people of Israel. Today we look at Deuteronomy 26:1-11. The passage starts with an affirmation that Israel will come into the land that the Lord is giving them and that they will have possession of the land. Israel at this time is still outside the land and has not taken possession of the land yet. Hence, these words by Moses make certain that Israel will be given this land by God and that they will take possession of this land.
The passage then continues to spell out what they must do when they take possession of this land. They are to take some of the first fruits of the ground, put it into a basket and go to the place that the Lord will choose. They are to say to the priest that “I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.’ (V2-3) The priest then is to offer it to the Lord. (V4) The Israelites are then made to recount their salvation story of how they were in slavery and treated harshly in Egypt and how the Lord heard their cry and delivered them from Egypt with mighty deeds and wonders and how he has now given them this land. And hence, they now bring the first fruits from the ground as an offering to God. (V5-10) They are then commanded to rejoice in all the good that God has given.
This story sets out the instructions of what the Israelites must do when they take possession of the land. They were to offer offerings and give to God from what he has given to them. Their giving is a symbol that they were servants of God who must give from what God has first given to them.
Although Israel fails to do what the Lord commanded, Jesus fulfills God’s commands completely. He was absolutely clear that he was the Son of God and that he was to serve his Father and obey the will of the Father. He is the true Servant of God who gives to the Father throughout his life, culminating on the cross.
REFLECT
Jesus is the Servant of God that did not just give first fruits from the ground to the Father, but he gave his own life to the Father so that the entire creation could be redeemed. May we remember that our redemption is only because Jesus did not withhold his life but chose to offer it to the Father. Praise the Lord!
reading for: 4 March
Romans 10:8b-13
Jesus is the Servant who saves us
READ
The passage today exhorts us to believe Jesus, to confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that Jesus is Lord and that God raised him from the dead. Only then will we be saved. (V8-9) It emphasises that everyone who calls on the Lord, whether Jew or Greek, will not be put to shame and will be saved. (V11-13) This is the incredible privilege that we have to confess and believe in Jesus.
The passage encourages us to believe in Jesus. Hence, we must ask who exactly this Jesus is? What did he do that we must believe in him? Verse 9 tells us that God raised him from the dead, speaking of the resurrection. We know the first act of that story that Jesus gave of his life as a ransom for the sins of the world, how he was crucified on the cross. Jesus did not hold on to this life but chose to give it to the Father as a ransom for the sins of many. Jesus is the suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 who suffered on the cross, and it is by believing in this Jesus that we are saved. It is by confessing this Jesus as Lord that we are saved and redeemed.
REFLECT
Our belief and confession is in Jesus, not just any other Jesus, but the Jesus that did not withhold of himself but gave it as a ransom for the sins of the world. Give thanks to Jesus for his service to the Father, that he chose not to withhold himself but chose to give it as an offering for the sins of the world.
Because we are saved by Jesus, who chose to obey his Father and give his life, we are saved and can live a life that seeks to obey God. Share with your LG one way in which you are learning to obey God. Or share 1 person that you are learning to love as your neighbour.
reading for: 5 March
Psalm 19
Jesus is the Servant who obeys God
READ
Psalm 19 starts with creation declaring the praise of God. The psalmist speaks about the heavens declaring the glory of God, and the sky above proclaiming his handiwork. (V1-6) The creation is beautiful and made by God. Creation is not created apart from Jesus but created through Jesus. (Col 1:16)
Psalm 19:7-14 speaks of the sweetness and value of the law of God. The psalmist writes that the law of the Lord is perfect, the precepts of the law are right. The law of God is to be desired, sweeter than honey and more precious than gold.
Jesus, who created the heavens and the earth, took on human flesh and came into the world as a servant. He is the Servant of God that fully obeyed the Father. We have seen in the gospel reading for this week that as Jesus faced temptation in the wilderness, Jesus answered the Devil by quoting from Scripture. In Luke 24, Jesus taught his disciples the importance of reading and interpreting the Scriptures. In the Lord’s prayer, Jesus prayed for the Father’s will to be done. Jesus valued and sought to obey the law of his Father throughout his life. He did not turn from the law but sought to fulfill the law. Jesus is the Servant of God who knew the Scriptures and sought to obey God.
REFLECT
Jesus placed great importance on obeying the Father’s will, and he valued the law of God. He did not abolish the law but is the fulfillment of the law. He placed great importance in the Scriptures.
As followers of Jesus and the body of Christ, let us like our Master place great importance in the law of God, seek to obey God and please him in all respects. Do we take time to read and understand the law of God, or do we remain ignorant and place little value in reading the Scriptures? Pray that God will give you the strength and the heart to see the laws and words of God as more precious than gold and sweeter than honey.