Lent I / “The Temptations of Jesus”, 02/21/2010

Sermon on Luke 4:1-13, by David M. Wendel

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, ²where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. ³The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread." ⁴Jesus answered him, "It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.'" ⁵Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. ⁶And the devil said to him, "To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. ⁷If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours." ⁸Jesus answered him, "It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'" ⁹Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, ¹⁰for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,' ¹¹and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'" ¹²Jesus answered him, "It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" ¹³When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Devil is Wily and Wise

Make no mistake about it, the devil is wily and wise. We know that from the experience of Adam and Eve and the tempting of the serpent, but we see that again in our reading from Luke-Jesus being tempted by the devil in the wilderness. On the basis of Scripture, we see that first, in the fact that the devil apparently didn't bother much with Jesus at all, until at thirty years old, Jesus leaves home, is baptized, anointed by the Father and the Spirit, declared indeed Son of God. Until then, Jesus hadn't been any trouble, staying with his family, working his father's trade. Satan was wise, conserving his energy, not concerning himself too much with Jesus until Jesus was confirmed as Son of God. But now, having been baptized, Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, is led by that same Spirit into the wilderness. And the devil had to notice now, because as with Adam and Eve created to live in Paradise, but cast out into the wilderness, if this Jesus was indeed the Messiah, the Savior of humanity, it would be fitting for the new Adam to enter into the wilderness as well, to become one with sinful, tempted humanity. Jesus in the wilderness was as much as sign that this Jesus was God's Son, sent to be the Redeemer, as was His baptism and the confirming dove and voice from heaven. As St. Ambrose wrote, "Christ entered the desert, for he knew where he could find the lost." (Exposition of the Gospel of Luke, Ancient Christian Commentary)

So, as Jesus, newly baptized, full of the Holy Spirit entered the wilderness, the devil took notice, and saw in these actions a firm indication that this Jesus might be the One, the new Adam who would rise up against him. Whether Satan followed Jesus into the wilderness, or was there already doesn't matter-what does matter is that while Jesus was there for forty days fasting, emptying himself, of himself, preparing himself for what was to come in his life and ministry, the devil was not just there at the end, but was there tempting Jesus all along. Luke tells us that for forty days Jesus was tempted by the devil! And we can only imagine what those forty days worth of temptations were like-most likely little jabs and barbs, a poke here, a prod there-because as we said, the devil is wily and wise. And just so the devil waited until the end of the forty days to intensify the temptations-to hit Jesus hardest at the end, when after forty days of fasting and wrestling, He was famished. At that point, Jesus was exhausted and hungry and surely, at the end of his strength. And it was then that the devil saw his opening. It was then that Satan hurled everything he could at Jesus-testing him, trying him to see if this one, was truly the One.

The First Temptation

And see how wily the devil is...while Jesus was out in the wilderness doing a spiritual thing, on a spiritual journey, as preparation and orientation for what was to come, as God's Son, and the world's Savior, then the devil came at Jesus, trying to catch Him off guard. For what would be wrong with wanting Jesus to prove that He is the Son of God? The devil didn't just ask Jesus to turn a stone into bread-he asked Jesus to do it as proof that He is God's own Son. Isn't that what Jesus was about already in the wilderness, taking his proper place along humanity in the wilderness, as Son of God, God with us, God become flesh and blood to stand alongside us, in our wildernesses? The devil was wise in his strategy, asking for proof, thinking Jesus would be willing to manifest himself in such a seemingly simple way. But Jesus refused. Jesus refused to enter into the contest, refused to play Satan's game, responding instead, with the Word of God, "It is written, one does not live by bread alone." End of discussion, end of that temptation.

The Second Temptation

But the devil became even more wily, tempting Jesus with worldly power, knowing that this Jesus had come for just this reason, to take the world back from Satan, to be finally, Christ the King. The devil was simply offering Jesus a short-cut, an easier path, a broader way-Jesus could have it all, with a snap of the finger, or rather, a bending of the knee, if Jesus would first, worship him. But again, Jesus wouldn't enter the contest, wouldn't play the game. Jesus saw right through the devil and his temptations, and his false, misleading reasoning. Jesus answered again, from Scripture, saying, "Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him." For while Jesus would become King of kings and Lord of lords, it would come not the easy way, but only through suffering and death on a cross, in obedience to the will of the Father in heaven. Jesus came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. And so, Satan lost the second challenge, as Jesus held fast.

The Third Temptation

Now, the devil returned to his earlier strategy-determined to tempt the Son of God, as Son of God. Satan whisked Jesus out of the wilderness, to the very pinnacle of the Temple in Jerusalem, saying, "if you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you' and ‘On their hands they will bear you up so that you will not dash your foot against a stone." Ah, and the devil became even more cunning and sly-as he tried to use Jesus' own weapons against Him, trying to fight fire with fire, quoting Scripture against Jesus, so that Jesus might be confused, and tripped up. If Jesus was Son of God, surely the Father would protect him, send angels to bear him up-what could be wrong with taking God at His Word? What was wrong was that Satan was tempting Jesus, to test the Lord God. Which led Jesus to answer, "It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test." And that ended the testing and temptation, at least for a time, until an opportune time, Luke tells us. That's what Luke tells us, but what do these temptations of Jesus tell us?

We Are Attacked When Doing Something Good and Spiritual

Of course, we see and learn that the devil is wily and wise, as we said. We see and learn that the Evil One strikes us sometimes at the very moment that we consider we are doing something very noble, and spiritual. As we enter into the Season of Lent, we can convince ourselves that we are doing something very worthy and good for ourselves, if not for God. We contort our faces so that others will see how painful it is for us to give up chocolate, or Starbucks. We make a show of skipping one meal a week, so that we can give the "savings" to the poor and hungry. Even participation in midweek Lenten worship can become a badge we wear throughout the season, so that others may know how committed we are to our Lenten discipline. On the one hand, Lenten observance is good, and helpful, and can truly renew and refresh our life in Christ. On the other, the devil is always close at hand, tempting us to turn a good work bad, if we will give in just a little to pride, desire, hope for recognition and adulation from others. As we journey through Lent, we do well to remember, and guard against the devil, who likes nothing more than to attack us at the very moment that we are convinced we are on a godly path.

The Devil Attacks Us When We are Weakest

Another lesson that we learn from the temptations of Jesus, is that the devil attacks us at our weakest-when we are tired, worn out, famished, all alone in the wilderness of our lives. The fact is these are the times in life when we don't really need an Evil One tempting us, creating in us doubt and fear and lack of faith. It's when we are weak, and feeling alone and forsaken in life, that our own evil thoughts and desires get the better of us, and we are tempted to try God, to test God, as we want Him to prove His existence, and His love, by doing for us what we want. So that while we are considering ourselves forgotten by God, in the midst of grief, loss, illness, unemployment, difficulties in life, the devil knows just how to play with our minds to compound our anguish, build upon our doubts, and turn us away from God. If only we had just forty days of such trials and temptations, it would be more than enough-but we are weak, tired, famished all too many times in life, and the experience of Jesus in the wilderness tells us, warns us that the evil one, whether outside us or inside us, will always be close at hand. That's the second thing the temptations of Jesus tell us. And the third and final thing?

Jesus Has Won the Battle Against Sin, Death and the Devil

This experience of Jesus, proclaimed each year on the First Sunday of Lent, lets us see and learn that in spite of our greatest efforts, our most faithful and observant Lenten discipline-we can not win the battle against sin, death and the devil. The greatest danger as we step into the Season of Lent, is that we think we can do what Jesus did-fight against temptation and trial, and win. This might be the most dangerous temptation of all-to see Jesus, to watch Jesus and believe that the message of his temptations in the wilderness is that we, too, can emerge from the desert unscathed, and worse, victorious. For the reality of our situation is that we are our greatest enemies. Our greatest concern ought not be "the devil", though he is concern enough for us-rather, we should be concerned with our own propensity for sin, for reasoning and rationalizing our bad behaviors away, thinking ourselves good enough and strong enough and righteous enough. The temptations of Jesus tell us, if nothing else, that we are not god, that we are not able to save ourselves, but that He is the One-the Son of God, who alone can fight against temptation and win; that He alone can enter into the wilderness of the First Adam and his children, and by His obedience, faithfulness and righteousness, open Paradise for us again. Pope Benedict XVI writes, "Jesus has emerged victorious from his battle with Satan. To the tempter's lying divinization of power and prosperity, to his lying promise of a future that offers all things to all men through power and wealth-(Jesus) responds with the fact that God is God, that God is man's true Good." (Jesus of Nazareth, Illustrated Edition, Pope Benedict XVI; Rizzoli; New York, p. 70)

The Highest Lenten Observance

As we are at the beginning of our Lenten observance, this is what is proclaimed to us by the Temptations of Jesus...that Jesus has emerged victorious from His battle with Satan, responding to the devil with the fact that God is God; that God is humanity's true Good. And the highest Lenten observance is not our own obedience or commitment to Lenten discipline, but "worshiping the Lord our God, and serving only Him." The highest Lenten observance is not thinking we can fight the devil and win, but placing all our faith and hope in "Christ Jesus, mighty Lord", as Luther wrote, "God's only Son, adored. He holds the field victorious!"

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Rev. Dr. David M. Wendel
pastor of Saint Luke’s Lutheran Church,
Colorado Springs, CO, USA
E-Mail: pr-wendel@saintlukes-cs.org

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