First Sunday in Lent
March 16, 2011
Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by Satan. There are three temptations recorded in the Gospel of Matthew. Today let’s look at just the first temptation, the temptation to turn stones into bread. First let’s see how Jesus was tempted, then see how we are likewise tempted.
After 40 days of fasting in the wilderness, Jesus was very hungry. Now if it had been me, I would probably have started to hallucinate. I would see a nice smooth stone and start to imagine that it looked like a loaf of bread. I would see a small, round rock and think it looked like a dinner roll. I would see French bread and pumpernickel and Danish pastries! And I would wish that I could have changed them into real bread. Now, Jesus was both man and god, so he could have changed the stones into bread. At the marriage feast in Cana, he changed water into wine, so he could have done it. Why didn’t he? I think it was because the purpose of the 40 day fast was to be tempted by the devil. He became hungry so that the devil could tempt him at the very core of human existence. After 40 days of eating nothing, food means the difference between life and death. The devil tempted Jesus to use his divine power to save his own life. “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” This same temptation will come again to Jesus. He will be mocked and tempted by people who tell him to come down from the cross and save himself, if he is the messiah. Will Jesus save himself? Will he trust God? Will God save him from hunger? From death? Will God provide him with food? With resurrection? And so the temptation is not about feeding himself, the temptation is about trusting God. And Jesus does not fall into the trap of the devil. Jesus trusts his Father in Heaven and quotes the Bible verse, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Like Jesus, we too are tempted to change stones into bread. Bread is not just that food made from wheat. Bread is everything we need for daily life, as Martin Luther explains in the Catechism about the Lord’s Prayer. “Daily bread includes everything that has to do with the support and needs of the body, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, land, animals, money, goods, a devout husband or wife, devout children, devout workers, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, self-control, good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.”
Well, I had written my sermon on Friday afternoon to this point and decided to take a break. While on break there was a big earthquake in northern Japan. The earthquake and the tsunami created a lot of damage. Some places looked like a wasteland. There was rubble and stones all over. And as a preacher I wondered if the devil was mocking Christians and saying, “If you are a child of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread, command that the damage be fixed by miracle!” The temptation is to doubt the love of God. The temptation is to doubt that God is protecting us. Can we trust a god like this who causes great destruction, so-called “acts of God”? Can God save people in this earthquake caused wilderness of destruction and death? This is like the second temptation of the devil. “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” Can we really trust God to protect us against dangers and calamities? Jesus said to the devil, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” But would God pass the test as our helper and Savior?
The temptation is to make bread from stones. Not only in the time of disaster, but all the time. We need something, and we want to get it. The fact is that we humans do not have the miracle power to do it. So to get our necessary bread, we have to get the things we want by different means. If we cannot do miracles, maybe we can do magic tricks. We can trick other people; we can use crooked means to get what we want. Cheat, lie, steal, bully, beg, nag, and the like. We can use honest means, too, of course. We can work and buy what we need. We can depend on people who love us.
The temptation is to make bread from stones when we are in the wilderness. When we are at the end of our strength and money and ability. When we are at our wit’s end and we do not know what to do. The temptation is no longer to make bread from stones; the temptation is not to straighten out our lives which are in a mess. We know that all we have is like impossible stone. We know that we can do nothing. The temptation is to give up. The temptation is to give up on God. But one thing that we do know is that if we give up on God we will be left in the wilderness for eternity. Where are we going to get the peace and confident trust that Jesus had?
Jesus said, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” At another time Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.” At another time Jesus gave bread to his disciples and said, “This is my Body given for you.” It is the Body given on the cross. At that time Jesus had perfect trust in God his Father. He trusted in the resurrection. He trusted in the forgiveness of sin. He trusted God in face of the temptation to come down from the cross and save himself. And since he stayed on the cross and died and rose again, we know that we can trust Jesus. We trust him to give us bread when our life looks like stones. We trust him to lead us to the Garden of Eden when life looks like a wilderness. We trust him to give us the eternal feast when life seems to be like hardship and fasting. We trust God’s Word of Promise, the gospel. That is what gives us life. To us that is the bread of life. Whether we are in the wilderness or paradise, whether we are starving or feasting, whether we are poor or rich, the bread of life that gives life meaning and hope is to know the love of God.
Amen.
Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church