How far will you go to make a name for yourself? What could the devil offer you to sell out the desire God has for your life in order to make of yourself what you want? Are there things tantalizing you that will draw you away from God rather than closer to Him?
Greek mythology tells of a king named Tantalus who wanted to be more than he was. He befriended the ruler of the gods—Zeus himself—and was soon invited to take part in
the feasts and banquets that were held on Mount Olympus. Here he was able to dine on the nectar and ambrosia that was reserved as food only for the gods.
Greek mythology tells of a king named Tantalus who wanted to be more than he was. He befriended the ruler of the gods—Zeus himself—and was soon invited to take part in
the feasts and banquets that were held on Mount Olympus. Here he was able to dine on the nectar and ambrosia that was reserved as food only for the gods.
What does Tantalus do with this new found success and privilege? He decides to use his status to become popular with his friends who are mortals back on earth. Instead of showing gratitude to Zeus for blessing him with such privilege, he steals from the gods and brings their nectar and ambrosia down to humanity. This, of course, will not go unpunished!
The reaction of the gods was to destroy his kingdom and then Zeus struck him dead. However, in the Underworld Tantalus was sentenced to stand in the river of Hades with water up to his chin. Above him was a tree with clusters of delicious fruit hanging just above his head. Every time Tantalus tried to drink the water, it would recede beyond his reach and every time he reached for the fruit, it would be blown out of his reach. He was, thus, doomed to suffer hunger, thirst and unfulfilled desire forever. (This is the story from which we get the word tantalize.)
What kinds of things tantalize you? This morning we will see how the devil came to Jesus in an attempt to get Him to be something He was not. The devil said to Jesus twice, “If you are the Son of God . . .” and proceeded to try to talk Him into doing things that went against the nature or will of God (Luke 4:3, 9).
Wait a minute—isn’t Jesus the Son of God? Of course He is, but what does that mean? By turning stones to bread or jumping off the Temple He would be taking God off of the throne and putting Himself in that position! He would be providing for His own needs instead of trusting God to provide, and He would be making God serve Him by saving Him instead of Him serving God!
What the devil really wanted was for Jesus to use the things of God for His own glory and to serve Himself (much like Tantalus took the ambrosia and nectar of the gods for his own glory)! In other words, the devil tried to get Jesus to live up to the picture he had of the Son of God rather than the expectation God had! How many times do we fall into the same trap? How many times do we expect of Jesus things outside of what God expects? Hopefully, we will learn this morning to avoid the temptation to be something we are not, allowing God to sit on the throne of our heart while we trust Him to provide for us and protect us!
-Scott Jarvis
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