Matthew 4.1-11

Lent One (Revised Common Lectionary) | 02.26.23 | Matthew 4.1-11 | Carl A. Voges |

The Passage

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.  And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”  But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”  Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall

down and worship me.”  Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan!  For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”  Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.     [English Standard Version]

If, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.                                                         [Romans 5.17]

  In the Name of Christ + Jesus Our Lord

As we travel the interstate highways through states like Georgia, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, have you noticed how people mark the places where deaths have occurred?  In sharp contrast to that practice, as the Lord’s people make their way through a fresh Lenten season, we are brought notice the places where real Life occurs.  The highway places of death are seen most clearly in the wildernesses of the world’s life.  It is helpful to remember how these wildernesses stem from people refusing to recognize that the Father is our Creator, that the Son is our Rescuer and that the Spirit is the Breather of new Life.  In spite of these wildernesses, though, we gratefully remember that there are oases within them, oases which are brimming with the Lord’s Scriptures along with his Sacraments of Baptism, Forgiveness and the Eucharist.

However, noticing both of these realities puts the Lord’s people in a dilemma.  On the one hand, we are stepping into very familiar territory as we journey through these six weeks – preparing for Holy Week, the three Great Days of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday, along with Easter Day!  During these weeks the rhythms of the Church’s liturgies are heightened and deeper work is required of parishioners and pastors.  During all this month and a half the Church’s history and traditions re-enter the lives of the Lord’s people in vital ways.

On the other hand, the world in which the Lord’s people reside hardly has a clue to the uniqueness of this day and its succeding five weeks.  To it the Church’s traditions and history seem antiquated, the liturgical rhythms appear useless, and it appears that the Lord’s people should disappear increasingly from public view.  Such a dilemma tempts parish communities to lose their nerve as the Lord’s people, to explore more creative ways of gaining the world’s attention and approval while fastening on the ways in which we are or are not impacting the world.

Thankfully, during these Forty Days of Lent, the Holy Trinity pushes into this dilemma, guides us through the wildernesses and brings us to the holy oases where real Life is occurring.  The framework for this pushing, guiding and bringing is seen clearly in today’s Gospel.  This passage opens up in the days coming immediately after Jesus’ Baptism.

With the words of the Father still ringing in his ears, “This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favor,” Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Remember that the wilderness recalls the wanderings of the Lord’s Old Testament people for forty years as they made their way from the Exodus in Egypt to the promised Land in Canaan.  Remember, too, that these forty days also recall the flood at the time of Noah as well as with Moses’ stay in the Lord’s presence on Mount Sinai.

Our Lord goes without food for forty days and nights.  Going without food for more than month has spawned numerous books on fasting.  From different angles they detail what happens to the body during that time.  In the first three days, the body rids itself of toxic poisons from poor eating habits. The symptoms in those days include headaches, a coating on the tongue and bad breath.  Over the next two days, the hunger pains begin to subside, but there are feelings of weakness and dizziness.  In the last two days of that first week, a person feels stronger and is more alert; the hunger pains are only a minor irritation, most of the poisons are gone from the body.  The person feels good, concentration is sharper, there is a sense that the fast could go on and on.

Jump ahead two weeks, though, and a much different picture emerges.  The hunger pains return, signaling the first stage of starvation.  The body has used up all its excess reserves and is now drawing on living tissue, including its muscle.  The signs are very clear after twenty-one days that now is the time to break the fast.  Add another nineteen days and we realize that Our Lord has been pushed way beyond the first three weeks.  He has gone forty days without food!  It is beyond cynicism that this is the point when the tempter comes up and says to Jesus,  “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to turn into loaves!”

With his body breaking down and his Life at a dangerous intersection, Jesus is severely tempted to follow through on the suggestion.  After all, there is no “if” about it, he is the Son of God, he can do whatever he chooses to do.  But he does not exercise that choice, he tells the tempter that real Life does not come from bread, but from his Father (quoting Deuteronomy 8.3)!

Still vulnerable from the forty days without food, the devil takes Jesus to Jerusalem and

stands him at the top edge of the temple (this is a height of 200-225 feet).  He says

to Jesus,  “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down!”  Surprisingly, the devil himself quotes two verses from Psalm 91, reminding Jesus of how the LORD God has promised to protect his people.  With his body breaking down and his Life at a dangerous point, Jesus is severely tempted to follow through on the suggestion.  After all, there is no “if” about it, he is the Son of God and he can call on his Father’s protection any time he chooses.  But Jesus does not call that protection in, instead he reminds the devil that the Father is not to be tested (quoting Deuteronomy 6.16)!

Next, taking Jesus to a very high mountain, the devil shows him all the world’s countries and their splendor (we know, from the International Space Station, that the world looks very attractive; its ugliness and squalor are not readily apparent).  He tells Jesus that he will deliver all of this to him if he only falls down and worships him!  With his body breaking down and his Life at a highly dangerous point, Jesus is severely tempted to follow through on the suggestion. He knows the devil has been taunting and challenging him, perhaps if he caves in to him, the taunts and challenges will disappear.  But Jesus does not cave in, he orders Satan to leave, reminding him that the only God to be worshiped is his Father (quoting Deuteronomy 6.13)!  The devil leaves and the angels of the LORD God appear and look after Jesus.

Today’s Gospel is framing our lives in these Lenten weeks as the Son’s Spirit pushes, guides and brings us to the holy oases where the Father, the Son and the Spirit are working mysteriously for the people of this world.  The devil’s temptations were meant to cut the connection between Jesus and his Baptism.  That did not work, however, and now Jesus can let his Baptism by the Father and the Spirit continue to drive his Life.  He knows and we know that his Baptism will bring him to the dying and rising which rescues the world’s people from the devil, from sin and from death.

The devil’s temptations continue to make their way into the lives of the Lord’s people today.  He means to cut the connections we have been given by the Holy Trinity at Baptism, preventing us from seeing and participating in the places where real Life is flowing because of the Trinity’s activity.  The devil pursues us because he wants our lives to be shaped and driven by the world (his actual world!).  As we consider the devil’s temptations, however, we need to make some distinctions:  We are not describing the temptations to go into a Best Buy store and steal some DVD’s or to cheat on a test for which we are not prepared or to get creative on our tax returns for 2022.

Instead we are describing the temptations which occur because we have been baptized into the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  These temptations are intended to separate us from that Baptism.  We are highly vulnerable to such temptations, not because we have been going without food for forty days and nights, but because of the following circumstances: our emotional state may not be steady; our insecurities may be causing us to act in ways that are dishonest; our physical condition may be shaky; our marital relationships may not be that strong; our mental attitude may be clouded; our spiritual state may not be that deep; our sense of who we are may be determined by what the people around us are thinking and doing.

Being his or her slick self, the devil may present the temptations in this fashion: Haven’t you been baptized into the crucifixion and resurrection of your Lord?  Don’t you realize the power to which you have access?…or…

Hasn’t the Father marked you as his daughter and son, promising he will be your Lord?

Don’t you think you should test that promise now, to make sure that it’s sure?…or…

Doesn’t this world, created by the Father and filled with splendid material, look good to you?  Wouldn’t you like to make a real impact on it while, at same time, enjoying its attractions?

Well, you can, the tempter says, Just walk away from your Baptism!  Let us remember, however, that if we do reach for the life he offers for ourselves, we cut the connection to Baptism, a cut plunging us into the destruction of this world as well as its bleak end.

The good news today is that when we are tempted to cut that connection, the LORD God is looking after us – he makes clear the relationship he has established with us.  He does that by surrounding us with the holy oases of his Baptism and the Scriptures, his Forgiveness and the Eucharist.  As his Life surrounds ours, he leads us safely through the world’s wildernesses and the places where deaths are marked.  Out of his deep grace and mercy, then, the LORD God gives us the holy oases where his real Life is occurring!  In such mysterious giving, may this year’s Lenten season be new and freshening for all his baptized people!

Now may the peace of the LORD God, which is beyond all understanding, keep our hearts and minds through Christ + Jesus Our Lord

Pr. Carl A. Voges, Columbia, SC; carl.voges4@icloud.com