Pressures Jesus Faced

Introduction. (Colossians 1:19-24) In this life we face many pressures. If someone...

Misses services they might say -- “I’m under alot of pressure at work!”
Struggles with their mate in marriage they might say -- “Don’t pressure me!”
Teenagers rebelling against parents instruction may say -- “I’ll get it done, just please don’t pressure me!”

In this text we are told some of the glorious things that Christ has done for us...

Reconcile the world back to God through the cross.
Made brethren out of those who were His enemies.
Provide them means to present man blameless to God.

Note: In verse 24 Paul claims that when he suffers he “fills up in his flesh” a portion of the “afflictions of Christ.” The word afflictions in the Greek means, pressure, a squeezing (often as in Grapes).
Christ did all of these things for us through His coming but He did it facing a number of pressures that sought to deter Him from reaching His goal. If we could learn from Jesus life how to better face pressures perhaps we can have a greater hope of attaining our goal of Heaven without being deterred along the way.
This mornning we are going to look at the pressures which Jesus faced. We will look at these over Jesus’ lifespan and consider the pressures all along the way which sought to deter him from his goal of redeeming man. We will follow these pressures from the manger to the cross. We will consider three categories of pressures.

I. Pressures From Others

Rejected by Home Town (Luke 4:14-28). Illustration: People who go to a class reunion often engage in dieting, dressing nice, even new hair piece. Why? They want those they grew up with to accept them and approve of them. Imagine not simply social rejection but violence.
Disciples Desert Him (John 6:60-71). Context: Teachings regarding Himself as the bread of Life. Wouldn’t it be difficult to know you offered people eternal life and yet watch them disregard it? Foreknowledge wouldn’t lessen the blow.
Pressured to Exalt James and John (Matthew 20:20-28) Example: As parents there are time you have just told your child something and they turn right around and do or say something contrary to what you just said. It makes you want to pull your hair out! That is what happened here. All that He taught about serving others is forgotten.
From others Jesus experienced... A home town that rejected Him!
Disciples that turned away from Him!
While those who remained sought carnal glory!

II. Pressures From Temptations

Direct Temptation (Luke 4:1-13) Note: Most of our temptations are subtle, indirect. I don’t believe the Bible teaches that Satan is any longer allowed to directly tempt man in this same way. Even so, when we give in to his works and his desires we are giving in to Satan.
Jesus, on the otherhand, faced direct temptation. Imagine this kind of pressure.
Peter Tempts Jesus to Glorify Himself Prematurely (Mark 9:2-13) Knowing the pain of the cross wouldn’t it have been tempting to jump over the struggle and pain of it and go right to the glory. We face this temptation when it comes to worldly pleasures. Heaven will be a place of joy, rest and happiness. We mustn’t try to jump over the struggles of life by wallowing in sinful pleasures.
Witnessing Hypocrisy (Mark 14:1-11). John 12:7 indicates that Judas was one of these critics. Have you ever heard someone criticize another person up one side and down another all the while they are deserving of even greater criticism? The temptation is to let them have it! Perhaps there is a time for that, but sometimes the best approach is to assert the proper priorities.
His coming death was more important that a little money. Human souls are more important than petty criticisms.
Evil Spirits Taunt Him (Luke 4:31-37) Two observations about this - it would have involved...
1. Temptation to display power in ways that were contrary to the plan of His coming.
2. Discouragement that even spirit beings displayed no true respect or repentance. You would think that if there was anyone who would display reverence and respect it would be evil spirits. They are fully aware of their future fate yet impentient! Many sinful mortals are just the same way. Note: Jesus doesn’t allow this to deter Him from His purpose. He is...
Tempted to seek glory and avoid pain!
Tempted to disobey the Father’s will!
Tempted to have the wrong attitudes towards others!
Tempted to misuse power!

III. Pressures From Religion.

A Challenge to His Authority. (Mark 11:27-33) Example: When I was a little child, they tell me that my Grandpa Whisman once told me to do something, and I replied to him, “You’re not my boss!” In this text, Jesus had created these religious leaders and yet they say in essence “You’re not our boss!” What a pressure! Even so, he demonstrates patient teaching rather than quick frustration.
Pharisees Criticize His Efforts to Win the Lost (Luke 7:36-50) There is little that is more discouraging than to work with someone in the hopes of converting them to Christ only to have the thoughtlessness of someone else turn them away. In this text Simon spoke to himself (vs. 39). I wonder if that woman had sensed the same kind of rejection from those like him in the past? Yet, Jesus doesn’t throw up his hands and give up on Simon, rather He realizes that Simon is a sinner also in need of teaching.
Maybe we would we do better if the next time our brethren disappoint us, rather than becoming discouraged and angry at them, we need to just see them as sinners like us in need of growth, teaching and patience.
Pharisees Label Him Beelzebub (Mark 3:20-27) Not only do they judge him falsely but then accuse Him of representing the very one against whom He fought. We face this with the religious world. We call for purity, and truth, yet we are accused of being evil and possessing condemning attitudes. We must follow Jesus’ example.
The Prominence of Commercialized Religion (Matthew 21:12-17) You don’t have to see too many television preachers parading their riches about to begin to feel a bit shy about identifying yourself with religion. Jesus must have been tempted to remove himself from religion all together. Yet what did He do instead? Struggled to clean up man’s mess. The sad thing is that this commercialism probably came right back after His death! But He had done His duty.
Corrupt religion doesn’t nullify the necessity, power, relevance and truth of sound religion, it just makes the need to uphold pure religion a more difficult work.

Conclusion. (Hebrews 12:1,2) May we meditate upon the pressures that Jesus faced the next time we feel overwhelmed by the world and find power in following His example to make it through trials and temptations.