First Sunday in Lent
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. (1 Timothy 1:2)
The basis for God’s Word to us today is our Gospel reading.
Let us pray…Speak O Lord your words of life to us and may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to You, our Rock and our Redeemer. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Beth and I were married in May and our honeymoon not only involved a couple of weeks out on the West Coast, but also a couple of months up in Whitehorse where I filled in for a pastor who had gone south on vacation.
Now if you’ve never been to Whitehorse, it is a sprawling city covering more than 400 square kilometers and straddling the Alaska Highway for some 27 kilometers. It is made up of little pockets of populated areas nestled in the hills and we lived in one of those neighbourhoods.
One day we decided to hike up a hill in our neighbourhood, leading to the CBC tower. We wondered what was on the other side and when we got to the top we discovered the reality of our lives, that we were living on the edge of a vast wilderness. From there we could see for miles and there was nothing but bush and lakes.
Perhaps that’s not the exact image of the wilderness Jesus was immediately pushed out into by the Holy Spirit after he was baptized but like any Canadian wilderness, the wilderness of Judea was not a friendly place.
Now each year, on the first Sunday in Lent, we read of this wilderness event early in Jesus’ ministry. For forty days he is fasting in that harsh and lonely terrain.
You may be aware that Jesus’ time in the wilderness parallels the experience of ancient Israel, when they wandered in the wilderness for forty years. In one sense Jesus is Isreal in a nutshell, Israel personified and yet unlike Israel, Jesus is the one true Israelite – the one who gets it right.
I’m sure you can probably recall how many times Israel got it wrong in wilderness of Sinai, and if there was one common temptation Israel faced as they wandered those forty years, that temptation was to grumble and complain about almost everything. And as you know, they gave in to that temptation all too often.
You can almost hear them expressing the same sentiments over and over again: “Why is God making this journey so difficult for us?” “Why is God giving us the same food every day!”
Now fast forward to Jesus’ situation in the wilderness and what is his response? Just imagine, he literally had nothing to eat during those forty days, and it was within that growing hunger that Satan came to tempt him. However, unlike Israel Jesus would be faithful. He would not grumble or complain.
It’s pretty easy to think of Jesus as some superhero, some Marvel comic character who never has to eat or go to the bathroom, who isn’t like us with all our neediness. But when we confess that Jesus is both truly God and truly man, this means that he had a very real body, with the same needs and desires that you and I have. So naturally this prolonged fast made Jesus very hungry. And this is exactly when the devil strikes, just as he strikes us when we’re vulnerable.
The devil said to Jesus,
“If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
Let’s pause here for just a moment because there’s a lot here to consider. Starting with that little word, “if.” What does the devil mean by, “If you are the Son of God?” Is the devil denying that Jesus is the Son of God?
In our English translation it might sound like: “If you were the Son of God–which you aren’t–then. . . .” I understand that in the original Greek there is a way to say that kind of “if”, but this is not it. No, the devil is not that in your face. He’s far more subtle and likes to more often, come in the back door or the side door.
When the devil says “if” he is not denying that Jesus is God’s Son. Instead, it’s quite the opposite. The devil knows full well that Jesus is God’s Son and so this “if” is more like our “since”: “Since you are the Son of God,” then. . . .” And this sets Jesus up for what follows.
You see, the devil’s temptation is not in proving or disproving that Jesus is the Son of God, but in doing something about it. “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
Notice the subtleness of the temptation: “So God says you’re his Son, does he? That’s what he said at your baptism, wasn’t it? ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.’ Well, if you’re so beloved, then why has God sent you out here into this God-forsaken wilderness? Why is he letting you go hungry like this? What kind of ‘loving Father does this? Doesn’t God’s Son deserve better than this?”
That’s how the devil operates, kind of from the side, usually not head-on. The devil wants you to doubt that God really cares about you. He wants you to get the wrong idea about God. He wants you to believe that God is some mean old grouch who’s holding out on you and wanting to spoil your fun. Isn’t that how the devil worked on Adam and Eve.
Perhaps like the similarities between Jesus forty days in the wilderness and Israel’s forty years in the wilderness, now there’s a kind replaying of that original temptation. In fact, in Luke’s record of Jesus ancestry, he traces it all the way back to Adam. So maybe he wants us to have that episode in mind and make the comparison between Adam and Jesus. Jesus as the one true man, the second Adam, the one who overcomes the devil and gets it right.
Again, just think of the similarities between these two accounts. Adam was in a garden. Jesus is in a wilderness. The devil comes at Adam and Eve somewhat indirectly, wanting them to doubt God’s goodness. And he comes at them through–guess what–food, something to eat. “You know that tree there, the one God told you not to eat from? Why would he do that? Why would he tell you not to eat from it? I mean, it looks like a perfectly good tree. And, hey, didn’t God put you in charge of this place?
Then why would he not let you eat from this one tree? Is God is holding out on you. Does God really care about you. Now look at that fruit there. Doesn’t it look good? Go on, you know you want it. Come on, take matters into your own hands. Go for it!”
Hasn’t Satan come at you sometimes that way? Does the devil whisper in your ear like this? I bet he does because this is his standard M.O. – modus operandi. He wants to get you to doubt God’s goodness, to doubt God’s word, to be your own God, to make your own decisions about what’s right for you, because you deserve it. It’s what you want, isn’t it?
The temptation is always to be your own God, to be independent of that mean old guy in the sky who wants to spoil your fun.
And I guess you can take some comfort in knowing that you’re not the first to fall for it. Adam and Eve fell for that temptation–and that was a big fall! Upon them fell the curse, and death came into the world so that we hear those words: “Dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” That’s our destiny because of sin.
Death comes down to us. But Jesus came to reverse that curse, to do something about the sin and the death and all the misery that comes in its wake.
So, this is the devil’s play out there in the wilderness. He wants to stop Jesus before he gets started saving people. And he tries to use the same slippery approach on Jesus that seemed to work so well on Adam. You can almost hear him…“God doesn’t care about you. You’re hungry. You’re entitled. You can do something about it. Go for it. “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.
And it all starts with that one little word, “if.” It’s the little word that sets up the big trap to follow. If God cares about you, then why is he letting you suffer like this? If God loves you, then why is your life so miserable? Maybe he doesn’t love you.
Or what about all those other “ifs.” If God forgives sins, then why not go ahead and sin some more, since God will forgive you anyway?
It’s such a deception because there’s always a little grain of truth in the devil’s set-up. But then he twists it and uses it to lead you off in the wrong direction. It only takes a deception of leading you one degree off course to take you down a path, a hundred miles away from God.
Well, to the devil’s little word, “if,” Jesus has some little words of his own: “It is written.”
You see, Jesus doesn’t even stop to consider the devil’s temptation; rather, he stops it cold in its tracks. “It is written.” It stands written, and you can take your stand on what is written. And what is this written thing that Jesus is referring to?
Well, it is God’s Word. God’s word is a sure thing, a solid footing. God has spoken. His word is true. Don’t listen to the devil’s lies and half-truths. Instead, shut him up and shoot him down. And the way you do that is through that reliable and trustworthy word of God. “It is written.”
“It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone,’” Jesus says. You see, there’s more to life than just feeding your belly and satisfying your own desires. To do that apart from God’s word and will would be to fall into the devil’s trap. But Jesus doesn’t fall for it.
On the other hand, we too often do. But you know what, that is why Jesus came. To do what we don’t do, what we so often fail at.
You see, Jesus is our representative, our stand-in, our Champion going out to do battle for us. Jesus does what we don’t. He refuses temptation, stops it cold in its tracks. He is the man who will say no to the devil! Adam didn’t. We don’t. But Jesus does for us.
And here is why it is so absolutely vital and necessary that Jesus does this. Remember how we so easily get distracted by all those temptations so that we end up on the path to hell rather than the path to salvation. Jesus, on the other hand, does not get diverted from what he came to do.
You see, Jesus came to reverse the curse of sin and death, to change our course and the devil wants to keep him from doing that. Jesus came to save you. The devil doesn’t want that to happen. He’ll do anything to keep Jesus from accomplishing his mission for us.
So, the devil plays on Jesus’ status as God’s Son, in order to get him to use his sonship to serve his own desires. The devil tempts Jesus with all the kingdoms of the world–which Jesus is entitled to and will end up getting eventually, but the devil wants to offer him a much easier path to get them than the hard road of the cross.
Thanks be to God, that temptation doesn’t work. Jesus answers him, “It is written.” The devil tempts Jesus with the offer of quick success and power and popularity. “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself off the temple where everybody can see you, and they will surely acclaim you as the Messiah–which is what you want, isn’t it? God will surely protect you. After all, you are his Son.” “If you are the Son of God.”
But Jesus has his own little words: “It is written.”
Jesus will not be deterred or diverted from the road he has taken, the way of the cross. For that is the only way Jesus could accomplish his mission and save sinful mankind; to save you and me.
Jesus took no shortcuts or sidesteps or easy ways out. It was straight ahead, full speed ahead–that was the way for Jesus. He went to battle with the devil as your divine Champion. And he won! And he gives you a share in his victory. Jesus would let nothing stop him from doing what he set out to do, which is to go to the cross, to carry your sins on his back—that sinless back that would endure flogging and beating for your sake.
Through thick and thin Jesus remained faithful to his Father’s mission. And this is the good news of God’s Word for you today. Nothing can stop our Savior from reaching his goal – from reaching his goal for you!
And reach it he did! On that cross all of your sins were paid for; and because God’s own Son died for them in your place. The curse of death that comes from sin has been reversed, as Jesus’ resurrection proves. Your enemy, the devil, has been defeated.
That doesn’t mean that Satan has stopped tempting us. Indeed, he continues to work, day and night, luring us away from the truth.
However, when he comes at you with his temptations, you can say like Luther, “ I am baptized.” I am saved! “Take it up with Jesus, devil! He is my Champion because I know he stopped you in the wilderness, he defeated you on the cross, and he will stop you–and stomp on you–here and now and forever.”
At the same time, we can also cry out to Jesus: “Help me, Lord! You are stronger than I am! Lead me to the Rock that is higher than me. Help me to stand on your completed work; to trust Your Word, your promises. Help me to say with you, Lord, ‘It is written.’”
The devil comes at us with his little word, “if,” twisting and turning the truth, planting doubt and leading us astray. But Jesus comes out on the field of battle as our Champion, and he comes with those little words of his own, “It is written.”
I end with words from that great Lutheran anthem we sang at the beginning of the service …
This world’s prince may still
Scowl fierce as he will,
He can harm us none,
He’s judged; the deed is done;
One little word can fell him.
Jesus!
It is written…
Amen.