The First Sunday in Lent - Invocabit - February 21, 2010

The Church Season of Lent,
The First Sunday in Lent - Invocabit,
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (February 21, 2010)
One Year Series

“Tempting God’s Word”

Readings:
Psalm 118:1-13
Gen. 3:1-21
2 Cor. 6:1-10
Matt 4:1-11

Sermon Form: Deductive

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 4th chapter of St. Matthew, especially the following verses.

Matthew 4:1-11 (NIV)

1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” 10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” 11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Jesus was lead by the Holy Spirit into the desert to be tempted by satan. There in the desert Jesus has been without food and water for forty days when satan came to Him to ask his first question. A bit different from the first time we heard satan make a tempting offer. The first time was indeed not in a desert, with no food or water, rather the first time was in the Garden of Eden. There in the garden satan tempted Adam and Eve who had streams of living water, food in abundance and they were not yet scarred by sin, they had bodies that were still the perfect image of God. Ironic isn’t it that satan does not really care upon which battle grounds he chooses to fight. Satan attacks Adam and Eve standing in abundance, he attacks Jesus who has a lack of abundance having given up all human sustenance for forty days. But, quite frankly, the nature of the offer is the same in both places, a temptation for something which satan does not really own, for satan is

Tempting God’s Word

The timing of when this temptation of Christ was immediately after Christ’s baptism. In fact Jesus had just come up out of the water, and was immediately led out into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit. He does not struggle, He just walks out into the wilderness, unbelievable, Christ is going out their to fast for 40 days and 40 nights, and He does so willingly. For forty days and forty nights is the same amount of time that the rains came down in the time of Noah, and only eight survived the flood by the grace of God. I’m not sure many of us would survive that kind of fast. Quite frankly I’m not sure we couldn’t or wouldn’t fast for forty hours let alone 40 days.

But Jeus Christ does, for He goes out into the wilderness without food or water and not surprisingly, “He was hungry.”(v. 2) Think of the great temptation that was faced in this fast. Forty days and forty nights without food. This is an extreme fast to be sure. And certainly you would think after this much time the body and mind would be very weak. And so we must ask ourselves, “How is it that Our Lord is able to live forty days without any nourishment or water?” Well, it is either that He does use a part of His Divine rights and powers as a Man, or, more likely, God the Father sustains Him, and thus He endures His desert time as a Christian, in faith, waiting on the Lord. Jesus is hungry, and He is weary.

And so it is with a life of faith. It is not simply that God does not give us more than we can handle. You’ve heard that saying over and over, and you probably believe that it is in the Bible. Search the scriptures, you will not find those words, but what you will find are these words, “13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”(1 Corinthians 10:13) Not the same at all, for it doesn’t say that you will not be given more than you can bear, what it says first is that “God is faithful” then scripture says that He will not let you “be tempted beyond what you can bear.” Quite different actually, the focus first is on God, who is faithful. And you know that, in fact we often repeat these words together, “I have sinned against you in thoughts words and deeds, by what I have done and by what I have left undone, but HE who is faithful and just.” It is God who is faithful, it is God who gives us Christ as a way out from our temptations.

The saying nothing more than we could bear is a hard one, but when we hear that it is no temptation more than we could bear, that is beyond our imagination. But look first to Christ for temptations beyond imagination. After forty days Jesus Christ was indeed tempted by satan, but that temptation was not more than He could bear. In fact we know that Christ bore the weight of much greater challenges than the ones satan could offer.

In the world we live in nothing seems to be beyond our grasp, certainly temptation presents itself daily in our lives. We are tempted to sin against our neighbors by slandering them, by thinking ill of them, by not speaking about the in the kindest way and people are tempted to sin with their neighbor too. We are tempted bend rules and break laws when it convenient for us, and then we enforce those same rules and laws if those actions would gain us the upper hand. Sadly, we are tempted to give up on ourselves, when faced with sickness or physical challenges, we’re tempted to give up and give in to despair. We’re tempted to say that no one knows the physical pain I experience, no one knows the mental pain I endure, no one knows how hard I struggle to avoid sin, no body knows my pain, nobody knows my sorrow. And when we’ve fallen to temptation, placed ourselves by our own actions, thoughts, words, or deeds into a desert of sin with no hope of any way out...how could that pastor say scriptures say that I will not been tempted beyond what I could ever bear. We say that because when we’re truthful to ourselves, we’ll admit that we have fallen to temptation.

The answer is that our Lord Jesus Christ, in His holiness, perfectly kept the Law as a Man. Jesus recognizes your pain and sorrow, he recognizes that you face death and the temptation from sin from every corner. Jesus Christ sees you standing in the midst of the desserts we call this world, surrounded by sin and temptation and He joins Himself to us. Christ sees this world clearly, His eyes are clear of the planks and specs which cause our eyes to be blurred, Christ’s eyes are not compromised by the inherited sin of Adam.

But all this does not make the temptation by satan easier for Jesus. Nor does it make our temptations any easier. It just simply makes them different. Christ’s temptations are all the more degrading. Yet He submits to these sorrows and degradation for our sake. Imagine the devil acting as though Our Lord would kiss his feet. Quite frankly the devil treats us with much more respect than that. The comforting thing, ultimately, is not simply that Jesus resisted temptation to show us that it could be done, or that He endured some great trial, but that He has succeeded as our substitute. When faced with temptation beyond what you can bear, know that Jesus bears all your temptations, for you.

To be tempted is not sinful, or otherwise Jesus would have sinned. And when we are tempted by Satan and the world, that is not sin on our part. But, it does become sin if and when we yield to temptation. We differ from Jesus in that we have a sinful flesh. Our lives are a constant battle is between the new creation which we assumed in our baptism, and our old Adam remains in our flesh. By faith in Christ the Christian resists every impulse of the flesh. Like Christ he employs the Word of God.

In this time of Lent where we focus on repentance, we recognize that we are sinners who have been justified by faith in Jesus. And so we are also encouraged in this time to turn from sin and to follow our Savior in doing what is right. We can learn from Jesus how to overcome the devil, temptations, and sin but we cannot do it by our own reason or strength. Christ gives us the victory over all the temptations of this world and brings us to Himself. It is He, Jesus Christ, who is the only one who can do it and we thank God, for Him alone. Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
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