St. Matthew 4:1-11 Dearly beloved,
The temptations that Jesus faces in the desert are of utmost importance for the Christian. We have to acknowledge right off that when a person is baptized he or she immediately enters the battles lines against Satan. This gospel is comprehensive in that it shows the church what lies ahead for everyone who abides in Christ. When a person becomes Christ’s child, then the devil jumps in to seize an opportunity to snatch that person away from Jesus. It is Satan’s way of continually striving to take what is rightfully God’s own possession. In this gospel are three temptations pressed and placed on Jesus. These three temptations are common to what the Christian will face in the world, as well. What is easily lost in the gospel is how this all comes to pass. “Then Jesus was lead up into the desert by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil.” It is the Holy Spirit’s prompting that brought the Son of God into the desert. This is for the church to ponder. The Christian does not journey in this world alone. The Holy Spirit abides with her. But the temptations will come to pass. Are you ready for them? We might like to think that we are ready, but the first temptation put to Jesus is a word of caution for us. Jesus who is hungry is told by Satan, “If you are the Son of God, then tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus shows us how to respond to temptations--with the Holy Scriptures. The church is to learn from the selection that Jesus makes in quoting Holy Scripture: “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Jesus’s reply is instructional for the church in content. We are not to be tempted to live for the bread of this world....money, food, fine things, job opportunities, prestige, honor, and more. This is quite a stumbling block for Christians. We long for the bread of the world and we use it as an excuse for not living by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. How so? We don’t go to church because we say we only have Sundays to rest from a busy work-week or we have a string of busy weekends ahead of us. We neglect the Scriptures and prayer because we say we are too busy caring for our kids’ needs. We work more in order to keep up with finances and provide more for our children, and we devote our time to other things that we think will benefit our children more in the long run than the word of the Lord. But some of you say, “This isn’t me. I go to church. I pray. I read the Bible.” But wait, there is more. Satan tempts a second time. This time, Satan decides to follow Jesus’ example and quote the Holy Scriptures, as well. Satan quotes from Psalm 91:11, but he leaves out part of the verse. The verse says in Psalm 91, “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” But Satan only quotes, “For he shall give his angels charge over thee,” thereby leaving out the clause, “to keep thee in all thy ways.” Satan doesn’t want Jesus to do what the heavenly Father has ordained, in this case for Jesus to suffer in the desert. Satan wants Jesus to perform an unnecessary miracle that is not according to the plan of the heavenly Father. Satan twists holy scripture in an effort to change God’s divine plan, much like he had done in the Garden of Eden as he came as a serpent to tempt Adam and Eve. The heavenly Father’s plan for Jesus in the desert was to suffer. To understand how this second temptation applies to the church, we must understand the response of Jesus to this second temptation. Jesus, again, quotes Deuteronomy: “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord, thy God.” God spoke this to Israel in the Old Testament because they had sinned against Him. Their sin was tempting God by an unbelieving murmuring against Him since He was not removing their distress immediately. The context, interestingly enough, was Israel’s wandering in the desert. They were thirsty and there was no water, so they turned on Moses. The people responded to Moses that it was he, Moses, who had brought them out of Egypt to have them die in the desert. They became so much against Moses that they were ready to stone him. Christ’s suffering in the desert was to show a greater victory. We can also conclude that Israel’s suffering in the desert was to show God’s greater victory in their lives, as well. We, too, must be careful that we do not stray from God due to our own suffering and hardship. Many people falsely conclude in the midst of suffering that God either doesn’t exist or God doesn’t love them, neither of which is true. God allows us to suffer in order that we may seek Him and thereby grow in Him through the precious gospel that lightens our hearts and souls. But the third temptation looms overhead. Satan takes Jesus up a high mountain and shows Jesus the world and its kingdoms. “All these things I will give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.” This, too, is a temptation that Satan places before Christians. Who do you fear? Who do you worship? Luther says, “We should fear, love and trust in God above all things.” To fear God is a matter of the heart. Faith in God is a necessary component to the Hebrew concept of fearing Him. Whether our days are happy or filled with hardship and suffering, our hearts are with the Lord and our devotion is with Him. At the end of the temptation, Jesus responds, “Depart from me, Satan, for it is written, ‘you shall worship the Lord your God and Him only you shall serve.” Serving God is devotion, worship, prayer, praise, and living for Him. But, we, as these temptations demonstrate, fail. These temptations rend each one of us. Either we put the bread of this world before God, or we grumble at His plan for us, or we serve all too often the wrong things instead of Jesus. We are broken. But the slight and easily missed teaching from the temptation of Jesus is that He was victorious in the desert. He conquered where we fail. Satan has tempted us with variations of these temptations put before Christ, and we have fallen flat. But our Lord and Savior--God in the flesh--shows Satan, the evangelists, the disciples, and all the world that He wins each and every victory over Satan. You abide in this Jesus. You were baptized into His blood; into His death; into His resurrection. We see in this gospel a sign of things to come for us. Jesus wins the greatest victory over Satan on the cross. His death is our victory. His suffering is for our peace. He dies that we may live. Jesus redeems, that we may thereby hope. Jesus lives that we may rest. Jesus pulls us from the snares and traps set before us and renders us holy, loved, and righteous because we live and abide in the bread of heaven. Amen. -- Rev. Chad Kendall Trinity Lutheran Church Lowell, Indiana www.trinitylowell.org
