The Gospel of Matthew | The Temptation of the Disciples | Sermon #268
- Admin P
- Apr 23
- 2 min read
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"Last Sunday evening I pointed out that the Lord was tempted in all ways, just as we are tempted. This crowd wanted to come and make Him a king. There was a temptation to skip the horrors of the crucifixion and simply accept the offer of the kingdom physically at this moment in time. The Lord Jesus resisted this temptation and sent the people away. As I was thinking about this, I do believe that there is another reason: the Lord Jesus told the disciples to get into the boat to go to the other side, and He himself sent the people away.
Think about the temptation that was being presented to the disciples. They were not immune to the voice of the people who wanted to make Christ the king. They themselves were tempted, at this moment of time, to also jump on the bandwagon, and clamor to make Christ the physical king of Israel.
It would have been easy for the disciples to get caught up in the politics of making Christ king of Israel in the physical sense. It would have been easy for the disciples to lose sight of the heavenly kingdom and fix their eyes on just an earthly kingdom. They could have quickly become embroiled in the politics of the day.
The Lord did not want the disciples to lose focus and begin to become political agitators trying to set up Christ as Israel's immediate king in opposition to the Roman Empire. Political involvement is a dangerous game.
The church must be very careful. I know I risk being misunderstood for what I am about to say, but I think it does need to be said anyway. The church is not political. This does not mean that the church does not engage in purposeful duty related to the responsibility of being a citizen. The church should be very clear in its stand on what God says related to a given subject."
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