As many of you know, I used to work in the transport industry (bulk chemical distribution). Most of the time, it was important that our drivers travelled by the shortest routes to their deliveries – if they took a scenic route, our profit margin just vanished in a puff of diesel smoke. However, sometimes the shortest routes were not easily passable by our large trucks, and we had to insist drivers went via other roads. Occasionally one might consider nipping through these lanes for an early finish. “It cuts about 30 miles off the journey!” said one. “And will add 2 hours to it!” said a more experienced colleague.
It’s often the case that short cuts end up causing more problems than they solve. This is true not only in relation to transport, but in different spheres of life, like trying to put up IKEA furniture without reading the instructions first. At the beginning of Lent, the church always reads the story of the temptations of Jesus (recorded in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke and mentioned in passing by Mark). There’s a lot to consider in the stories. One important aspect of the temptations which I didn’t mention in my sermon this year is the fact that the Devil basically tries to get Jesus to take a short cut to glory.
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
Matthew 4:8-9
Jesus didn’t bow down to him. However, at the very end of his Gospel, Matthew tells us that Jesus leaves his disciples with the instruction to make disciples of all nations, prefixing it by saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” What the Devil offered in chapter 4, Jesus ended up receiving in chapter 28, but crucially, not by taking the short cut. Instead, Jesus’ path was hard: he was frequently opposed and criticised by the religious leaders, his own family thought he was mad, and the people of his hometown tried to throw him off a cliff! In the end, he was hung on a Roman cross. How appealing the short cut must have seemed to him at times. The controversial 1980s film, “The Last Temptation of Christ”, tried to pick up on this; even at the end, whilst Jesus was hanging on the cross, the tempter came to him with a way out. Scripture doesn’t spell it out in these terms, but it’s not actually such a fanciful idea. We read that the crowds mocked him, saying, “If he is the Christ, let him come down from the cross.” This is not a far cry from the Devil’s own words, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread…”
But Jesus saw it through. He followed the path God had laid out for him; a path which took him into death. No short cut to avoid it. Jesus had to die. Only then would he receive the glory due to him. The shortcuts we take for our own ease and glory end up landing us in trouble, but in obedience to his Father’s will and out of love for lost mankind, Jesus has resolutely walked into that trouble to rescue all who repent and call upon him; by dying, he saves his friends from death – no matter how grave their sins, those who cling to him by faith will, like him, pass through death and enter into the glory of God’s eternal kingdom.
This Easter, may Jesus’ perfect obedience fill you with hope.