After his baptism, Jesus,
full of the Holy Spirit,
returned from the Jordan
and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,
where for forty days
he was tempted by the devil.
Jesus has been fasting
for forty days
when we get these three specific temptations.
The devil,
the one waging war
against the goodness of God’s creation,
appeals to Jesus’ humanity
on more than one level.
He attacks his vocation,
his calling and mission.
“If you are the son of God…”
he taunts twice.
He attacks his patience
and whether Jesus can do things
in God’s timing
rather than his own.
Can he wait to eat
until his fast is over?
Or will he turn stones to bread?
Can he wait until the fullness of time
when all things are put in submission under him?
Or will he take the fast route
and get the power through
the devil
ahead of schedule?
Can Jesus gain people’s faith and trust
by preaching the Good News of God’s redemption?
Or will he win it only
by showing works of power?
Jesus hasn’t preached a sermon.
He hasn’t done any miracles.
He hasn’t gone into the synagogue
and proclaimed that Isaiah’s promises
have been fulfilled in his hearing.
He’s barely been baptized,
been proclaimed by a voice from above
to be God’s son,
and then gone off by himself
to fast and pray.
And he’s tempted
to short circuit God’s plan.
We’re not just faced with temptation,
when we are adopting special disciplines
like we may have for Lent.
Temptation is all around us,
and it’s sneaky.
I don’t want to rage about
what the world is coming to
these days —
having studied enough church and secular history
to know that the world is always falling apart
and it always seems like the end
and this new crop of the youths
is always the absolute worst.
Temptation is sneaky
because how often does it come with
a glowing neon sign flashing
“Bad decisions,
this way!”?
Who places one more bet
or has one more drink
or doesn’t go home when they should —
with who they should —
thinking
“I am so excited
to blow my life up!”?
Or closer to home,
surely always punching Nazis
is a good effect —
but how does it sit with my commitment
to following Jesus’
non-violent way of love?
There’s a reason the aphorism
is that the road to hell
is paved with good intentions.
What tempts us most
to deviate from following Jesus
and keeping the rule of life
that is our baptismal covenant
usually draws us
because we want good outcomes.
We not only want good outcomes,
we probably want them now.
As Jesus is tempted in our passage from Luke today
he’s doing a few things at once.
Notice that each time
he quotes scripture at the devil.
Those quotes
demonstrate that God the author and perfecter of our faith
is in control.
This series of temptations,
on the whole,
demonstrates the same.
Justo Gonzalez
has an excellent analysis
about how in this series of temptations
Jesus the New Adam
is playing a role
in God’s redemption plan.
Adam is tempted to eat and does.
Jesus is tempted to eat and resists.
Adam is tempted to “be like God”
but he was already like God.
He and Eve were created in God’s image.
Jesus is tempted to have what is already his —
the kingdoms of the world —
and resists.
Adam is tempted to eat of the fruit
to show his own worth.
Jesus is tempted to show that he is the son of God
by having angels save him —
and he resists.
Through Jesus the Christ,
God is restoring humanity and all creation
to perfect relationship with God
and one another.
Sin is what separates us from God and one another,
and sin is where the roads of temptation lead.
As Jesus resists the devil’s temptations —
despite his hunger
despite his possible self-doubt
God is making things right.
When the devil offers Jesus temptations
appealing to his frailty,
to his humanity,
to his best intentions
Jesus answers with quoting Scripture.
We’re not Jesus,
and we all know that.
The gospels, however,
aren’t just history books,
and the scriptures of both testaments
are more than nice stories.
The Holy Scriptures
of the Old and New Testaments
contain all things necessary for salvation.
We’re not Jesus,
but the scriptures invite us to follow him.
They invite us to go into times and places
of aloneness —
that’s another sermon —
and listen to God.
The Church reminds us at least annually
to not only remember our sin
but to think about
how to better follow Jesus.
Facing temptation
is just part of being human.
As Paul writes to the Romans,
when we face temptation
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
shall be saved.”
As Martin Luther wrote
in “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”:
And though this world, with devils filled,
should threaten to undo us,
we will not fear, for God has willed
his truth to triumph through us.
The prince of darkness grim,
we tremble not for him;
his rage we can endure,
for lo! his doom is sure;
one little word shall fell him.
One little word shall fell him.
The name of Jesus the Christ,
God’s chosen one.
As we continue on our Lenten journeys
and as we discern our congregation’s call
we’ll face temptations
to deviate from following Jesus.
As we keep moving through our lives,
regardless of who the president is,
but especially in the uncertainty
that’s staring us down right now
we’ll face temptations
to deviate from following Jesus.
We don’t do it alone,
and “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
shall be saved.”
O Holy Christ,
Your burdens are light
But your blessings are heavy
Almost too weighty to bear
There’s a hook in this meal
To receive is to follow
And you won’t always say where
What fool would dare follow you?
Amen.