The text this morning is from the Gospel according to Matthew:
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
Immediately following Jesus’ baptism, we are led with Him into the wilderness. This is the most we ever Satan speak, and his words are charming and somewhat alluring, but we see the testimony of Scripture: Satan is a liar. From Jesus’ baptism, we have heard the Father speak as the Spirit descended on Jesus that this is the beloved Son of God, but Satan would have that undone in your mind. He would have you turn from that knowledge. Never fear; Christ the Lord has undone Satan in our text.
Jesus, the Son of God, is taken immediately out into the wilderness. Whether this is some desert, or on some mountain in the Judean countryside, we don’t know. Either way, He’s there for forty days and forty nights, keeping Himself from all food and water though some miraculous means, that the devil might have an opening to tempt Him. After all, Matthew drops a line at which no one is surprised: He was hungry. I would be, too. Hey, I’m hungry after just a couple hours. We find it more than probable, then, that Jesus fasted almost in order than the devil might get a toehold and wiggle his way in.
His first temptation of Jesus hits on just that; God just spoke to you out of heaven and called you His Son–so, if you really are–turn these stones to bread. We kind of wonder at this, for it would have been no sin for Jesus to do that, but, when the devil tells you to do something, you need to do the opposite. The devil is never interested in your good, or even giving you what you need, so, if he suggests something, you should run the other way. Jesus does just that, saying that man shall not live by bread alone but by the Word of God. Jesus isn’t saying to eat the book in front of us, but that if we have the Word of God, then it is enough, even should we die of starvation.
Then the devil takes Jesus to Jerusalem, whether he walked him there or transported Him there, we’ll never know, but he walks Jesus to the highest place in the temple. The devil doesn’t just tempt Jesus with His identity anymore, but rather now quotes the Word of God to Jesus. It’s as if he’s saying, “Fine, you want to live by the Word of God, I’ll give you the Word of God.” Throw yourself down from this temple and God will protect you if you are the Son of God. But Jesus has an answer ready for the devil. Interestingly, with what we know about Jesus, it should carry a different weight for us. It’s not just that Jesus says you shall not put the Lord your God to the test, He’s telling the devil you will not put me, your God, O Satan, to the test. Jesus is Satan’s God, though the devil hates it. And Jesus doesn’t answer Satan with a long diatribe, but reminds Satan that God can indeed do whatever He wants, but Satan is only condemning Himself with these temptations.
Finally, the devil takes Jesus to the top of a mountain and somehow shows Him all of the world and all that they have. This is where the devil rules until he is put away into hell. He offers to give them all to Jesus if only Jesus will give the devil the power he has craved since he rebelled in heaven. But Jesus isn’t having it. He’s done with being tempted, He’s done with this fallen angel, and commands him to leave him, and reminds Him that it is Jesus who should be worshipped by the devil. And when the devil hears this, he cowers and runs away, leaving Jesus to go on with His ministry until the cross.
The event in Jesus’ life is so important that it’s written down for us three times in the Gospels. But why? After all, temptation is no sin. It’s no sin for us that an evil exists in the world, but only that we should engage with it. And we watch this event thinking that Jesus has no sin, why even bother tempting Him? Yet, obviously, the temptation is important, and it must tell us something.
We so often think of Jesus in the wilderness here recapitulating, that is, reliving but rightly, the time that Israel spent wandering in the desert. And that’s true. I think there are strong parallels here of that. But, go back to our Old Testament reading. This is Jesus undoing the temptation of Eve. This is Him undoing how Satan led humanity into sin by staying steadfast. Eve welcomes the serpent, Jesus casts him away. Eve hears Satan twisting the words of God, Jesus quotes them rightly. Eve listens to the devil denying God’s Word, Jesus holds them close to His heart. In the three temptations of Jesus over those 40 days, Jesus undoes all that Eve and Adam plunged the world into through His own obedience.
Jesus has undone the sin inflicted on this world. He does It by showing the strength that He gives to all who believe in Him. You have the power to resist temptation. You can turn away form it that you might live holy lives. Jesus does not leave you powerless in this life, but He has given to you the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit guided Jesus into the desert, He led Satan to Jesus, and He gave Jesus the confidence to persist in rightly answering the temptations of the devil. This same Holy Spirit lives in you, He dwells in you. Through the power of His might, you, too, can resist the devil and all his works and all his ways.
This passage is here to show you this, that through Jesus’ defeat of Satan, there is no attack he can level against you you cannot bear through the strength of Christ. It is true that all people have sinned, and that sin has come to us through one man, Adam. But, it is also true that righteousness and justification come through one man, Jesus. He stands as our advocate, being a greater Adam, in order that we might conquer temptation and live according to God’s Word. We do this because we have received grace and the free gift of righteousness through Jesus and what He has done.
Through His death, we have received the gift of God’s grace delivered to us, because we have been counted among the righteous. We have been judged holy, even though we sin. And, because of that, our sins are forgiven and we are given the promise of everlasting life. Through that joy, we are invited to life holy lives without fear. The temptations that assail us, we will give into them because we are weak. But, when we resist, not if we resist, but when we resist, it is by the power of the Spirit and we do it to the glory of God. We do not resist, we do not live in a righteous manner, to bring ourselves glory, but to give God glory.
His Law is good and right and true, and we would do well to obey even the smallest aspect of the Law. But, when we give in to temptation, when we we sin, we can look to the One who has beaten the temptation of the devil, the One who has conquered him through his cross, the One who, through His heal was bruised, crushed the head of the serpent nonetheless. And He did this for you, that you may have the justification that leads to life for all who believe. Through Jesus, many will be made righteous, and that includes you. You are made righteous, even when you fall like Eve. Jesus is the new and better Adam that all may escape that death and that all may have life in His name. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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