First Sunday in Lent
February 10, 2008

Matthew 4:1-11 [Temptation of Christ in the desert.]
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, gIf you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.h But he answered, gIt is written, eMan shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.fh Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, gIf you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, geHe will command his angels concerning you,f and geOn their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.fh Jesus said to him, gAgain it is written, eYou shall not put the Lord your God to the test.fh 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, gAll these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.h Then Jesus said to him, gBe gone, Satan! For it is written, eYou shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.fh Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

When Jesus called his disciples he said, gFollow me.h He even said, gTake up your cross and follow me.h Then he said to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. But he did not say gFollow meh when he went out into the desert for 40 days and 40 nights, and I am glad that he did not make us follow him. Let me tell you why.

First of all, a forty day fast is a long time to go without anything to eat. Even if I didnft die of starvation after a week or so, Ifd be so hungry that all I would think about is food. For example, I would see a rock and think it was the shape of a loaf of bread, a dinner roll, a dumpling, a cookie. It would not take the temptation of the devil for me to imagine things like that. In other words, a fast is supposed to be a spiritual, religious experience, I think that for most of us however, it would be hard to overcome the physical hunger.

Then out in the wilderness, there is danger to worry about. There are wild animals like poisonous snakes and wolves and lions. There is the cold and heat. How could I sleep at night with out worrying about the dangers? Or worrying about my family at home? Could I overcome those fears by fully trusting in God? While wandering around in my weakened state, I might slip and fall off a cliff. Would God send his angels to protect me and save me? I would really want to know. Would I want to test God to find out?

The biggest problem would be the boredom. I have driven my car though Death Valley in California, I have ridden through West Texas, I have driven the length of Kansas and Wyoming. There are miles and miles of the same thing. At first it is new and interesting. But after 200 miles, you begin to wonder why you are wasting our time driving rather than flying. After two weeks in the wilderness of Israel, it would be pure boredom. Then we might wonder about Godfs plan. Why not take the fast route? Worship the devil, die, and get it over with! However, the biggest problem is not the boredom, but it would be to go for forty days without Jesus with me. It would be very hard to try to go forty days on my own without the help of God. I do not think I could do that. I pray everyday. I see God in my life nearly every day. To be in a wilderness for forty days without seeing God, I think I would break. I am afraid that my faith would fail. Sometimes some Christians are in a spiritual wilderness for years. How can they keep faith? People struggle for decades against pain and disease and oppression and war and calamities. People wait for years for God to answer them. It is really a saint who can resist the devil and keep faith in God.

Jesus was in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights. At the end of that time, when he was at his weakest, the devil came. What gave Jesus the power to resist the temptations of the devil? It was the Word of God. gIt is written, eMan shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.fh It was the Word of Godfs promise. eHe will command his angels concerning you,f and eOn their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.f The devil knew the promises of God, just as well as Jesus did. And Jesus had such a firm faith in that promise that he did not need test it. eYou shall not put the Lord your God to the test.f And Jesus also knew the plan of God. He knew that way to receive all the kingdoms of the world and their glory was not by becoming the servant of the devil, but rather by defeating the devil on the cross. gBe gone, Satan! For it is written, eYou shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.fh Jesus was declaring that he would worship only the Lord his God and faithfully serve him only.

How did Jesus survive for 40 days in the wilderness? It was by living on the bread of life which is the word of God. It was by trusting in the promises and protection of God. That is how we survive the wildernesses of our faith, too. When temptations and trials last for 40 days or 40 years, we can survive by trusting in the Word and Promise of God. That is why prayer and Bible reading are so important for a Christian. That is why we memorize Bible passages and hymn verses or praise songs and Sunday school songs. It is so when we are in the wilderness without a Bible book or hymnal, we remember the Word of God. We could be in our car or shopping mall or at work, temptation not to trust God might come, then we remember the promises of God, like those words Jesus spoke in the Wilderness. We remember that God has a plan for us. The wilderness is not the end, even if it is discouraging or boring or dangerous.

Rather than wait for the Bread of Life, there will always be the temptation to eat a worthless rock. But for a Christian, the Lordfs Prayer reminds us daily of Godfs love. gGive us this day our daily bread. Lead us not into temptation.h

The devil was not finished in the wilderness. He will tempt Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. The cup of suffering will be hard to drink, but Jesus will follow the will of God. He will tempt Jesus on the cross. Come down and save yourself, then we will believe in you. But Jesus knew the love of God and the plan of God. And so he resisted the testing of the devil. He died on the cross but on the third day he rose from the wilderness of death. He lives forever.

And so finally, when we are in our wilderness of sin and doubt and pain and sorrow and fear and danger, we know that Jesus is with us. We follow him. He will be with us always, whether in a wilderness or a paradise, till the end of the world.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church

Sermon Index