Tempted for Us

In Nomine Iesu
Matthew 4:1-11
March 5, 2017
Lent 1A

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus~

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. That’s how this morning’s holy gospel begins. But it’s important to know what had happened just prior to that. Before the wilderness, before the temptations,

before going toe-to-toe with the devil—Jesus was baptized. Jesus was still dripping wet with Jordan River water when He was ushered immediately into the wilderness. First Jesus was baptized; and then Jesus was attacked.

You—the baptized—should learn from that. Your baptism is the most important event of your earthly life. There in water and the Word you were born again. There at the font your sins were forgiven. You were rescued from death and the devil. You became an heir of everlasting life. But among all the momentous and glorious ways you were blessed and changed by your baptism, one word of warning should be added. Your baptism—and the faith it brings—serve to make you a target—a target for temptation. The devil has you in his crosshairs. His goal is not merely to get you to break a few of God’s commandments. His goal is the destruction of everything good, especially your faith in Jesus Christ. So today—the first Sunday in Lent—we would do well to listen and learn from Jesus about temptation. He was tempted in every way, just as we are, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15).

In the wilderness Jesus was alone and isolated—and hungry from a forty-day fast. He is now a prime target for the devil. The devil, like any good predator, looks to attack the solitary, isolated, weakened sheep. He found a way to corner Eve in the garden. He seeks to isolate every baptized believer—at home, alone, away from other Christians, away from the church, separated from the Word of God and the Holy Supper.

This is why Luther never counseled troubled Christians to seek solitude. Solitude and silence were viewed as great spiritual achievements in Luther’s day—especially in convents and monasteries. But solitude was not a spiritual solution for Luther. He knew from his own experience how the devil seeks out the believer in isolation from other believers. Luther’s deepest doubts and anxieties swirled around him when he was alone and separated from others. That’s why his counsel was always to seek out the company of other lively Christians—to tell few jokes over a stein of good beer. Gemütlichkeit and fellowship are good for the soul and helpful for battling temptation.

So it is that the devil begins his assault against Jesus while the Lord is alone and weak and deliriously hungry. Not surprisingly, first temptation concerns the appetite. If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread. There were likely lots of stones there in the Judean wilderness. Turning them all into bread might have been like a trip to Breadsmiths on Silver Spring.

When it comes to hunger, there’s some little spot inside our brains that controls all our appetites. There’s a pleasure center deep within the gray matter that causes us to crave. Unfortunately, that pleasure center, like the rest of us, is corrupted by sin. It can turn our appetites—life’s little pleasures—into big addictions and idolatries. A trip to the casino for fun turns into an insatiable desire to wager larger and larger sums of money for the thrilling chance of winning more. A quick click through a few porn sites becomes a necessity—a gateway into darkness—an escapade into adultery—a despising of God’s gift of marriage. There’s the happy buzz of alcohol—the drug-induced high that leaves us feeling low and always needing more. Appetites become idols. They can dominate us. They can rule over us. They can ruin us. Yet how we hate to deny our appetites. Fasting? That’s a foreign concept for most of us.

Not so with Jesus. The Son of Man came not to be served—not to serve Himself—not to tend to His own appetite—but to serve you and give His life as a ransom for many. He came to deny Himself and take up His cross for every addicted, idolatrous sinner. Jesus subjects Himself to virtual starvation in the wilderness. But by His hunger, you are filled. As your sacred substitute, Jesus speaks the Word in your defense: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Jesus turns back temptation number one. One small step for the God-man; one giant leap for mankind.

Temptation number two quickly followed: If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. And then, just to sweeten the deal, the devil quotes from the Bible. He knows the Bible better than any of us. He quotes a carefully selected snippet from Psalm 91: He will command his angels concerning you . . . they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. The devil is tempting Jesus to test God—to test His Word and promises. Is God true to His promises? Will God really do what He says? Let’s put Him to the test and find out. So take a flying leap, Jesus, and let’s see if the angels catch you!

But God’s Word can’t be tested and proved. That’s not the way of faith. God gives His Word and His promises; and all we can do is believe them. You can’t prove that God created the heavens and the earth in six days; you can only believe it. You can’t prove that you are a child of God; you can only believe it through the power of your baptism. You can’t prove the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. You can only believe it. You must simply take God at His Word. Don’t test it. Don’t twist it. Trust it. You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, says Jesus. One small step for the God-man; one giant leap for mankind.

But the devil doesn’t surrender. He takes Jesus to a mountaintop to show Him all the kingdoms of this world and their glory. This is the big prize—the big enchilada. This is what we all aspire to: power, riches, and glory. It can all be yours, Jesus. Never mind that messy business of the cross. You can have it all now—already today. Just worship me. It’s the temptation of idolatry. As bread is to the empty stomach, so are wealth and power to the empty soul. They promise everything: long life, peace, happiness, contentment, comfort. We’re willing to sacrifice most anything for power, wealth, or glory. Not only our lives, but the lives of others too. Even the unborn are sacrificed to wealth, power, and convenience. We will gladly bow down and worship whoever promises us the power and glory that we crave. But how reluctant we are to bend our knees and bow down to worship the one Man who willingly emptied Himself and made Himself nothing, so that He might give you everything.

There would be only one route by which Jesus would take His rightful place on the throne as king of kings and Lord of Lords. There would be only one very narrow way by which Jesus would indeed rule over all the kingdoms of this world. It would happen only as He would hang as a corpse on a cross—cursed and forsaken by God the Father—bearing the filth of your sin. Only by dying and rising would Jesus come to be in charge and in control, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—in heaven, on earth, and under the earth—and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus refuses the devil’s deal for your sake. His worship is pure; and His purity is yours through faith. He refuses to fall down and worship anyone other than His Father. He refuses to be “superman,” but instead becomes the Man of Sorrows—the broken, bleeding, dying man who rules heaven and earth by crucifixion and resurrection. And all of it for you and for your salvation. One small step for the God-man; one giant leap for mankind.

As bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, Jesus conquered the devil. And in Jesus—through faith in Jesus—you conquer too. When it comes to the temptation of Jesus, you’re not a fan in the stands cheering as Jesus pounds the opposition. No, you, the baptized, you are in Christ. In Jesus, we ALL go toe-to-toe with the heavyweight champion of hell. When Jesus steps into the ring with the tempter in front of Him, you step in with Jesus. What you cannot do, Christ has done for you. Just as by Adam’s sin we all became dying sinners; so in the perfect obedience of the Second Adam you have become a holy and righteous child of God. Satan will not have the last word where you are concerned. And don’t you be tempted to think otherwise.

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