In the Wildnerness: Sermon Luke 4:1-13

Dear God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and feet and work through them; take our lips and speak through them, take our hearts and set them on fire for you. Amen

Here is a little story for those of you giving up sweets for Lent. A man was trying to lose weight and swore off sweets to aid in this goal. One day not too long after his decision he came into work with two dozen doughnuts. His co-workers asked him why he got donuts if he's trying to diet, and he answered, "Well, as I came to the corner where the donut shop was, I told God that if He wanted me to buy some donuts to have a parking spot open right in front of the donut shop. And on the eighth time around the block, there it was! ¨

As most of you know that one of the traditions in the season of Lent is to give up or fast from something that you love. It might be chocolate, coffee, or Mexican food. The meaning of this is not simply to be miserable, but to put away distractions that come between you and God. Lent lasts for 40 days, from Ash Wednesday to Good Friday, this excludes Sundays however, each Sunday in Lent is looked at as a “little Easter”.

In our story today Jesus spends 40 days in the wilderness. This number is significant because it references the 40 years the Israelites spent in the wilderness searching for the Promised Land of Canaan both of these also are represented in the 40 days of Lent. So Jesus has gone many days without food in the hot, desert Sun and is very weak and hungry at least physically and waiting patiently in the wings just for the right time to pounce is our old nemesis Satan. Satan has been waiting for this opportunity for a long, long time and now it has arrived. Just like a lion preys upon the weakest member of the herd, so Satan attacks when we are the weakest. Jesus’ temptation is very interesting theologically. If we really understand these temptations as literally taking place then we have a glimpse into Jesus’ humanity or humanness. Jesus could not be tempted if Jesus was not in some way human. Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit so that Jesus could prepare himself for his coming ministry. He was preparing himself for God’s plan. So at Jesus’ weakest physical point and with the voices of doubt and distress perhaps creeping up on him, Satan strikes.

The first temptation we can call rocks into bread. Jesus was hungry he hadn’t eaten in 40 days, talk about a crash diet. His body was weak; his stomach turned and cramped longing for something to fill it. Jesus was walking around talking with his Father, asking for strength to make it through and then *POOF* up pops the ol’ Devil. “Hey Jesus, What’s happening? Man, you look awful. What are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?” Then the Devil makes his move, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” The key word in this sentence is “If”. This changes the temptation from one of hunger to one of identity. We can assume that Satan knew full well who Jesus was that is why Satan was giving him personal service as it were. Satan was trying to wedge just a little bit of doubt in Jesus’ mind. “If you are who you claim to be then why can’t you satisfy your hunger? I mean if you can, why don’t you, it’s just you and me here Jesus’ I’m not gonna tell anyone.” Any one of us might have though seriously about that, especially if Satan waived a double bacon cheeseburger or a chimichanga in our face. But here again Satan is not targeting Jesus’ stomach but his mind. He is saying don’t depend on God for what you need, go out and get it yourself. You’ve got the power, so you claim, use it.

Jesus does not even blink. His reply is swift, firm, and Scriptural. “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’” He is quoting Deut. 8:3, the version in Matthew continues the quote with “…but by the word of God.” What is Jesus saying in this response? It is not Jesus saying “I’m not hungry”…he was hungry. Jesus was instead placing his full trust in God. Jesus is saying “I might be physically hungry, but spiritually my cup runneth over, I am filled to the brim with God’s love and God’s grace and I place my entire trust in that.” He asserts his identity as the Son of God, but also asserts that he is under God’s plan and although he might not understand why or how this is working for the greater good of God’s plan.

I don’t think any of us has ever been that hungry. However, we face the same temptation as Jesus did. We are always tempted to try to make our own way in the world, to depend on ourselves to survive. We say to ourselves, I’m going to leave God for Sunday mornings; I’ve got business to attend to. I’m not going to worry about what is right and just, I’ve got to worry about the bottom line. We are tempted with this every day. Our response must be like the one Jesus gave. I do not live by double cheeseburgers alone, but by the word of God, I live by trusting in God.

Let’s look at temptation 2, call this one “kingdoms of the world”. Satan had tried to tempt Jesus’ stomach and Jesus’ self-identity, both failed. So Satan changes strategy, he attacks Jesus’ will and strength to follow God’s plan. Satan takes Jesus up high, perhaps on a mountain top, perhaps in the sky on a cloud and shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, all the thrones of power. Satan tells Jesus, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please.” All the nations all the world could be Jesus’, he could literally rule the world. If he wanted peace on earth he could do it, he could cease all wars and conflicts an usher in a time of peace and tranquility all power would be his to do it. He could kick the Romans to the curb and the Jewish people would be free again. But…all Jesus would have to do is worship Satan. “Give a little love my way Jesus” Satan might say. Satan’s temptation is offering Jesus the easy way out. If we look in the Book of Revelation we see that Jesus will rule the earth in his return, but between that glory and Jesus’ current position stands one thing, the Cross. If Jesus was going to do it God’s way it had to be done through Calvary, if he wanted to rule the world in God’s plan, usher in peace God’s way, it meant the sacrifice of the Cross. Satan was offering Jesus a way out, a way apart from the Passion.

What is Jesus’ response? Once again it is swift, firm, and Scriptural this time from Deut. 6:13 “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” In this Jesus says, “I know what God wants of me, I know what I have to do, and although I might not understand why right now, I will follow and trust in the plan of God.” Satan offered ambition, but God desires trust and obedience. Jesus knew that sometimes the easy way, although perhaps promising on the surface, is usually not the best way.

Trusting in God is hard. When the bills stack up and the bank account is empty, it’s hard to trust in God. When the doctor comes in and says its cancer, it’s hard to trust in God. When our loved one lies dying in a hospital bed or lies in a coffin, it’s hard to trust God. We think why God why, we feel that there must be some other way some easier way than this. We have to trust in God’s plan even though we don’t know the outcome that is called faith. Faith is the evidence of things unseen the promise of things hoped for. We have to remember that and realize that the hard times only last a little while but God’s rewards are eternal.

These first two temptations were aimed at Jesus’ ability to trust in God and trust in God’s plan. Now Satan takes a different route and a different plan. Satan takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple Mount of Jerusalem and says if you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” Once again Satan challenges Jesus’ identity and title by saying “If” you are the Son of God, then does something that might seem unexpected he quotes the Bible, specifically Psalm 91:11-12. He is challenging Jesus using the very shield that Jesus had been using quoting Scripture. This is something that is very interesting to remember, Satan knows the Bible probably better than you do and can quote Scripture all day. Satan is asking Jesus not to switch his trust from God to Satan, but to put Jesus’ trust to the test. In other words, Satan is telling Jesus, “If you are who you say you are, then prove it, not just to me but to yourself. Come on, prove that God won’t let anything to happen to you.” There are some televangelists that play this trick. They say send me $1,000 to prove that you have faith that God will make good on your giving. They might say send me your life savings and God will double it through me. Take a leap off that bridge and trust God, if you don’t your faith is weak. But what is Jesus’ response to this accusation of weak faith.

Jesus response is again swift, firm, and Scriptural. He says “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” This is from Deut. 6:16. Don’t put God to the test. In other words, don’t purposely place yourself in a dangerous or foolish situation just to see if God will answer your prayer. God is not Santa Claus or a magic genie, God does not grant wishes but works within God’s own plan. Remember a few weeks ago I talked about the lead singer for the rock band U2 and how he said that he had asked a priest about why God wasn’t blessing his music even though he had prayed about it. They man said stop asking for God to bless what you want, but get into what God wants because that is already blessed. That is what Jesus did and that is what we have to do. We have to place our full trust in God. Trust is a vital part of any relationship and so we have to have trust in our relationship with God. However we cannot abuse that trust, but putting God to the test. That’s not being faithful. We have to rely on the promise that God will help us when the times get tough and although we do not understand why, God does not forsake us.

Jesus went into the wilderness for 40 days. Sometimes we wander aimlessly in wilderness in our own lives. At our weakest point, the ol’ Devil will try to trick us and tempt us, if we are not on our guard we might fail. How do we face these challenges? One way is to set aside all our distractions like we talked about for Lent. The best way before we even get started, we have to be like Jesus was, it is in the first sentence of this story, Jesus was “full of the Holy Spirit” and so we have to be full in the Holy Spirit. We place our hope and trust in God’s strength through the Holy Spirit and with that we can make it through any wilderness. As a pastor friend of mine says…Let Go our ourselves and Let God work in our lives. Let Go and Let God.

Let us pray…

Grant, O Lord,

that what has been said with our lips we may believe in our hearts,

and that what we believe in our hearts we may practice in our lives;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.