The text for this morning’s message comes from the Gospel of Mark, the first chapter:
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”Thus far the text.
The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
Dear Friends in Christ,
Today is the first Sunday of Lent. This is a season that began last Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, and will continue for the next 6 weeks, and ends in that ultimate culmination of joy, that ultimate time of God’s care and provision, that celebration and feasting time of Easter, that day when Jesus Christ, God in flesh Himself, was raised from the dead, up from the grave that He entered on that very Good Friday. It’s a time of reflection. It’s a time of meditation. It’s a time of pondering. It’s a time of sorrow. It’s a time of fulfillment.
Lent, which is a festival time that the early Church began to celebrate goes for 40 days from Ash Wednesday to Easter, minus Sundays, which are seen as mini-Easters. After all, during this time of great sadness, we still have joy in Christ, we still are forgiven of all our sins, the Church still will celebrate the Lord’s Supper, the Church will continue to baptize and teach and preach. That ultimate act of Jesus Christ which is fulfilled on Easter Sunday is foreshadowed in each of these Sundays that we meet during this time.
And that is what today is all about: foreshadowing of fulfillment. For instance, in the Old Testament lesson, we have the story of Isaac, with the most poignant part being the statement, “God will provide the Lamb…” And who is this Lamb but the Lamb of God Himself, Jesus Christ? For Abraham and Isaac, they did not yet know that the very sacrifice that God demanded, in fact, the very sacrifice that each and every sacrifice that was done in the Old Testament times foreshadowed, would be the sacrifice of God’s own Son on the cross for the sins of the world.
In the Gospel lesson, we hear of Jesus being tempted in the desert for 40 days. This is a long time. I like food. I like to eat food. I really can’t go more than a couple hours without eating. But Jesus went 40 days without food and water. I don’t know how Jesus did it, but to say that this is an exaggeration is wrong. No, I choose to believe that Jesus did indeed fast in the desert while He was being tempted for all 40 days.
Think of all the times that this was foreshadowed: Moses was in the desert with all of Israel for 40 years, being tempted to sin by their own sin and by the workings of the devil and still being cared for by a loving Father.
Moses spent 40 days on top of Mount Sinai being taught by God all the Laws God demanded His people follow perfectly, all the Laws that Jesus Himself kept perfectly, not only in the desert, though certainly there, but through His entire life.
Think of the 40 days and nights that God has shut Noah up in the ark, sending wrath and destruction through water upon the face of the earth, just as God took all water from Christ during His desert time and how Christ destroyed sin by obeying God perfectly, averting the wrath of God.
Think of the 40 days we so recently heard that Jonah declared on the city of Nineveh for them to repent, just as Jesus had 40 days to submit to the will of God perfectly.
All these “40s,” all these times we find through the Old Testament point towards the time of Christ. It is certainly true that God has a preoccupation with the number 40. Whenever you see the number 40 in the Scriptures, think of a time of tribulation, a time of trouble, a time of testing. But think, too, of a complete time, for when 40 days are come and gone, there is completeness. God, in these times of tribulation, trouble, testing, always brings about a time of restoration, renewal, revival.
And that’s what Jesus tells us here in the Gospel lesson, isn’t it? Immediately after Jesus was tempted in the desert, He goes about all of Galilee, preaching that now the time has been fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand.
So, what does this mean?
We know that we on our own can do nothing good. Look around you. Look at the world today. We are besotted with drunkenness, lewdness, debauchery of all kinds. We go to war. We hate our neighbors. We gossip ad nauseum. Are these good things? Do you think people go into their lives thinking, “Oh, I know what this world needs to make it better! More liquor! More sex! More nakedness!” Of course not, only the most evil of families raises their children to desire to grow into something that disgusting. No one seeks to be drawn into the pornography industry unless they are already objectifying their own bodies, flaunting them for all to see and all to have. No one seeks to take a slave unless they already devalue human life. No one seeks to have an affair unless they already don’t love and cherish their own spouse.
Well, maybe we do actually desire evil. Maybe we are evil, sinful, awful, horrible people. Maybe we sinners, even if we should only remember the small sins we commit, should realize they are only part of the problem. We commit sins, but that doesn’t make us sinners. Committing sins, that’s an issue. That’s a problem. But the action of sinning doesn’t necessarily mean that you are becoming a sinner. It means that you already are, already have been, already will be. You are born a sinner. You are conceived a sinner. We are evil people, you and I. We, on our own, can do nothing good.
This deserves death. I mean, really, do you expect that by your own innate goodness, by your own attempt to live a good life, God will accept you? By God’s own Law, we are guilty. I haven’t kept it perfectly. You haven’t kept it perfectly. We are blasphemous, adulterous, lying, cheating, stubborn, selfish, stiffnecked people. We are people who hate that God has given us the Law to live by. We despise God’s Law. We stink at keeping it, so we try to reject it.
And we can reject it. God has given us that ability. But do you know who can not reject God’s Law? God. God has given it, God has created it, God must uphold it. And God will judge sinners by it. God’s Law is holy just as God is holy and it must be upheld, it must be respected, and it must be fulfilled. If you were to be judged, on your own, today, how would you hold up to it? It would be the same as me: I would receive a guilty verdict. I would be thrown into the lake of fire. I would go to Hell.
Thank God, however, that we are not on our own. We are not standing in this life alone and lonely. We have the mediator between God and us. We have an advocate for us in Jesus Christ. He has fulfilled the Law. He has fully kept it. He has spent His 40 days in the wilderness being tempted, looking at sin, determining its worthiness, subsisting on nothing but the Word of God, which is more valuable than food, more precious than water, and better than life itself.
In the Epistle lesson, James tells us that God cannot be tempted, and in God’s own essence, in His own substance, in His own reality, outside of the world that He has given us, this is true. But, Jesus Himself broke this mold, He took on flesh, allowing Himself to experience everything that His creation feels and is tempted by. God cannot be tempted by evil, but Jesus Christ was tempted and felt tempted indeed. But Jesus endured. Jesus relied on God and God alone, not by His own man-made power, but by the power of God that came to Him through the Spirit, through the Words of the prophets, through the Law. Jesus knows that Law and obeys it fully.
Why did He do this? Jesus did this all for you, that you, a horrible and evil sinner, may be redeemed. Jesus, in His temptation, resisted all temptation for you, that, when you sin, when you submit to temptation, when you fall away, you may know that you are not alone. You have a Savior, who has gone to the cross in your place, a Savior who has died for you and who was resurrected for you that you may be forgiven and be granted the benefit of Jesus’ perfect and sinless life.
His resistance of temptation is granted to you. His perfect life is granted to you. His perfect obedience is granted to you. Good sinners, good saints of Christ, you are given all the benefits of Christ so that, when you sin, you may declare to God, “I am forgiven! You have promised me in Christ that I am forgiven!” Oh, and it pleases God to forgive you.
God has foreshadowed this forgiveness in Christ throughout His Old Testament. Every time our ancient fathers turned from God, God still and yet had mercy on them, seeking their repentance and forgiving them their sins. And now this time is fulfilled! Now this time of forgiveness is fulfilled and is here! God in Christ Jesus has died for your sins and has forgiven you, earning you eternal life!
And what of now? What happens when you are tempted, for you will be tempted? I leave you with words from our beloved Martin Luther:
“We must know [that we are forgiven] and be guided by it when we must step forth to preach and confess the Word. Then indeed we shall find out [how this vexes both the world and ourselves] when the devil himself will attack you and show you how hostile he is to you, in order that he may bring you into sorrow, impatience, and heaviness of heart, and inflict every plague on you. Who [tempts you and brings you sorrow]? Surely not Christ or any good spirit; it is the accursed, desperate enemy. He shoots such darts into your heart… because he is hostile to you for being a Christian. He cannot suffer that you are known as a Christian, that you cleave to Christ, or that you speak or think a good word about Him. He would like to embitter your heart with sheer venom and gall, and cause you to blaspheme: “Why did He make me a Christian? Why do I not desert Him? Then I would at least have peace!”
“Therefore be prepared, so that when you experience and feel these temptations either in [how you live out your vocational role] or especially in your heart, you can confront the devil and say: “Now I see why the devil assails me in this way. He wants to scare and drive me from my [role], from my preaching, my confession, and my faith, and to make me despondent. He does not want me to expect anything good from my Lord Christ or to praise, honor, or call upon Him. For the devil is Christ’s sworn and declared enemy. But I despise you and your power, you accursed devil. I am determined to defy you and to preach and praise this Man all the more, to comfort my heart with His blood and death, and to put my trust in Him, even if you and all hell should burst asunder.” This you must learn and practice if you want to remain with Christ. For the devil strives to tear us away from Christ. And it is the nature of our flesh to pay Christ no heed but even to hate Him, whom we should really accord every honor and should cherish as our heart’s comfort and joy.”
Brothers and sisters in Christ, repent. Your sins are forgiven. The time is fulfilled. Forgiveness is here. Cherish Christ. Cling to Him. Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand. Your sins are forgiven. Amen.
Now may the peace that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment