Lent 1C
Luke 4:1-13

GOSPEL LESSON: Luke 4:1-13 [The Temptation of Our Lord]

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone.'"

The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'"

The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. For it is written:" 'He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" Jesus answered, "It says: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

Jesus was in the wilderness 40 days. He was tempted by the devil many times, but only 3 of the temptations are recorded in the Bible. These are 3 kinds of temptations that are common to all humans.

This is giving in to physical needs and desires and lusts, to be controlled by them; maybe the desire to live, just to stay alive. How many days could you survive without bread? If you wanted to observe a fast this Lent, how many days of lent could you go without chocolate or coffee or TV? A few years ago I tried to give up coffee for Lent. I lasted 2 days before I got the shakes and had to start drinking coffee again. Can this sort of temptation be controlled by a strong will-power? Maybe. But even AA knows that to survive the temptation of Alcohol, trust in a higher being, that is, prayer is necessary. It is handy to remember your Sunday School verses, like, "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."

If the first temptation is to let yourself be controlled by things of this world, then the second temptation would be to control the world yourself. There are people who want to control the world, to establish a world-wide order of some sort or another. They think their own system of government or ethical or religious way is the best. And of course, they would be the best person to lead such a new-world.

Most people would be satisfied, if not with controlling the whole world, then maybe their own part of the world. Or maybe, just to control things at work, or with their family, or even just themselves! Maybe to be in control of their diseases. Ah, to be in control!

It is more than the pride and honor and glory and riches, it is being without worry, without pain, it is being happy.

What would you be willing to pay to be perfectly happy? What would you be willing to sacrifice? What would you give to relieve the wrenching pain of a horrible type of headache? What would you give to relive the worry that literally shakes your body with fear? What would you give for a lifetime of perfect happiness? Would you sell your soul to the devil?

Jesus quoted the Bible passage that says, "Worship the Lord your God and serve him only." It is not control; it is service which brings perfect happiness. And Jesus served us!

Remember these two Bible Verses: Mark 10:45, "The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Philippians 2:6-9, "6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death -- even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name."

To test God means to make sure you are saved. This is the worst temptation of all. It only comes to believers or to people who are interested in becoming a believer. It may look like the first and second varieties of temptation, but it always starts with the words, "If you are the son of God........" "If you are really a child of God....." "If God is really your loving Father......." ......then "why?" "Why are your suffering?" "Why is there war?" etc.

Sometimes people want to see extra proof that God loves them. They want to test their faith. So, sometimes, they are not testing God, they are testing themselves!! And so they will probably fail, because they are testing themselves. But actually, our faith is not something we make ourselves, it is from God. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit! And so to doubt your faith is to doubt God. If you say, "Oh, my faith is weak," what you are really saying is that "God is weak, that his gift is weak." And that is why it is the perfect temptation of the devil. He is not tempting our self-control or character or ambition, he is tempting our relationship with God.

He said to Jesus, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here"....and the angels will save you. The angels will guard you and catch you before you hit the pavement below. Jesus well knew that the angels could have saved him, but he did not call for them to save him: not in the time of hunger in the wilderness, nor in the Garden of Gethsemane from being captured. He did not call for the angels to save him from the cross when the bystanders became like Satan and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself" (Luke 23:37). "He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God,'" (Matthew 27:43).

But because Jesus trusted in God so much, he did not come down from the cross. He trusted God to keep his promise to raise him on the third day. Which he did. And in that way Jesus overcame the Last Temptation and became our Savior.

He is our Savior because we are not like him. We do fall into temptation. We are not stronger than the devil. The devil even plays games with Bible Passages so that we can justify just about anything we want to do. But when we fall into temptation, we do not have to fall as far as hell. We have to remember one more Bible verse: John 3:16. "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." We have to remember the reason that Jesus withstood all the temptations of the devil. The temptation of the devil was to forsake the way of death on the cross. Jesus withstood the temptation so that he could suffer and die on the cross. Jesus withstood all the temptations of the devil in order to forgive us when we sin.

In order to forgive us when we are tempted with any temptation that may come to us, Jesus withstood the greatest temptations, 1, the temptation to have self-centered personal comfort, 2, the temptation to control of the whole world without pain or strain, and 3, the temptation that would lead him to lose faith in God.

And so, when we are tempted and our faith is tested, we know that Jesus understands our temptations, and so we can trust Jesus to know how much we need and desire forgiveness and we can trust him to forgive us also.

And so at the beginning of lent, we think about this and have great hope and peace.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church