Darla Blatnik
Second Presbyterian Church
Sermons: February 3, 2008

"‘Lead Us Not Into Temptation’"

It’s hard to believe, at least for me, that it’s already February and that Ash Wednesday is in three days. Lent and, therefore, Easter are extraordinarily early this year. In fact, as one of you pointed out, the last time Ash Wednesday was this early was in 1913 and the time before that 1856. Nevertheless – late or early, here we are – transfiguration Sunday, the Sunday before we begin the journey through Lent to Easter.

In some ways, it seems that we were just at the manger and already we are being asked to think about following Jesus on the journey to the cross. As we anticipate Lent and the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, our text today from Matthew actually tells us about the final step before Jesus begins his ministry in Galilee. Several weeks ago in the verses immediately preceding today’s text, we heard about the first step, Jesus’ baptism. The heavens opened wide; the Spirit of God descended like a dove on Jesus; and a heavenly voice spoke of Jesus’ incarnation as God’s Son (Matthew 3:16-17). The baptism tells us that Jesus is the beloved, divine son. Today’s text, the temptation of Jesus, follows immediately after the baptism and tells us just what this incarnation means as it is played out the shape of Jesus’ ministry and of ours.

The first verse of today’s text, signals us to watch as part of God’s plan unfolds. "Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil" (Matthew 4:1). We know that God is as present in the desolate wilderness as when the heavens opened over the Jordan. What follows then is a message about God’s purpose in the incarnation, God’s purposes for the world in and through Jesus. So, let’s get started trying to understand the message. Let’s go through the temptations, the tests, one by one, and see what we can learn.

Temptation One: Immediately after being lead into the wilderness, Jesus fasted for "forty days and forty nights" (4:2) to prepare himself for what was ahead. Playing on the certain hunger that was to follow, the devil, the tempter, if you will, says to Jesus, "If you are the Son of God" turn the stones (plentiful in the hostile wilderness) to loaves of bread. The test is not for Jesus to prove his identity. This preposition "if" here actually assumes the identity – read maybe more clearly – since you are the Son of God, turn these stones into loaves of bread. "Yes, Son of God," the devil might be saying, "go ahead, I know you can do it. You can turn these stones into loaves, and there will be more than enough to satisfy your hunger." It may even be a fair implication that with these loaves (plural), the devil is saying there will even be enough bread to provide for the needs of others – a move certain immediately to gain followers in this land where most lived hand to mouth.

Sounds reasonable to me – the suggestion is simply to provide food for himself and perhaps others. The tempter wasn’t asking Jesus to commit some vile, loathsome act. After all, aren’t we all, much less the Son of God after his spiritual fast, entitled to eat? And, after all, it was God’s self who responded with manna to Israel’s demand for food in the desert after been freed from Egypt. Yet, Jesus resists where Israel could not and counters the devil with God’s very words of reminder to Israel, "one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord" (Deuteronomy 8:3). Rather than using his divine powers, Jesus, the man, the hungry man, rejected the devil’s temptation to do it his way.

Jesus didn’t give in to the temptation to begin his ministry by miraculously meeting a physical need, his or others, albeit a legitimate and basic need. The first message is clear. To follow Jesus is no guarantee that our physical needs, much less desires, will be met. Please, have no doubt that God provides. God just doesn’t provide to satisfy our beck and call. And, have no doubt that, in Jesus, God tells us that sharing our resources, caring, loving and providing for the necessities of others is part and parcel of being followers. As Jesus begins his ministry and as we begin to follow him, however, the message isn’t to follow Jesus because he promises to give us bread or give us this or give us that. The message at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry is that it is not a ministry about our needs. It’s not a ministry about self.

Temptation Two: The devil takes Jesus from the wilderness to the pinnacle of the temple square in Jerusalem and taunts him to jump so that the crowds of the temple can know he is the Son of God by watching as the angels save him from falling. "After all," the devil might be saying, "since you are the Son of God, God will surely protect you." The tempter even uses the poetic words of a psalm to bolster the claim that God will command his angels to bear Jesus up and protect him from harm, to keep his foot from dashing the stone (Psalm 91:11-12).

Well --- this temptation also doesn’t seem to be so wrong. After all, Jesus surely places his full trust in God. Yet, this isn’t a test of how much Jesus trusts God. It’s the devil, not God, who is pushing Jesus to make a show of himself in front of the crowd. This is the tempter’s plan, not God’s plan. In varied and some unexpected ways during his ministry, Jesus will define and redefine God’s power, not for Jesus’ own prestige, but according to God’s plan and for God’s purposes

Jesus doesn’t give in at the beginning of his ministry by invoking God’s death defying protection. Jesus responds, again using words of Deuteronomy (6:16), "‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’" The second message is clear. To follow Jesus, we are asked to take risks, but to be true to him not to bolster our own image. And, we take risks to follow Jesus with no guarantee of miraculous protection.

Yes, miracles are possible; miracles do still happen, even death defying miracles. As Jesus begins his ministry and as we begin to follow him, however, the message isn’t to follow Jesus because he promises to keep our feet from touching harm. The promise, the ultimate miracle, is God’s eternal love revealed to us when he came to us as Jesus Christ.

Let’s take a moment to briefly recap. Temptation one, the devil starts by asking Jesus to turn stone into basic bread in the wilderness. Temptation two, the devil’s taunt is to demonstrate an amazing death defying miracle at the pinnacle of the temple.

Temptation Three: Finally, the third temptation escalates, literally and figuratively, as the devil takes Jesus "to a very high mountain and [shows] him all the kingdoms of the world" (Matthew 4:8). And, here the devil whispers, "See all of this, it’s yours if you will fall down and worship me" (based on 4:9). The devil invites Jesus to have his power now, to rule the world now. Perhaps, we can almost hear the devil saying, "Hey, Jesus, just think how much good you could do as ruler here and now without waiting for God’s time, for God’s plan. Jesus, you want to do so much good and I can make you leader of all these kingdoms, right now." Interestingly, Jesus doesn’t dispute the devil’s claim that the kingdoms of the world are his to give Jesus. Jesus responds only with a very emphatic, "‘Away, with you Satan!’ for it is written," Jesus says, again echoing a message from Deuteronomy (6:13), "‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’" End of discussion; and the devil left.

"‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’" The shape of Jesus’ ministry was set. The mandate for our discipleship is clear. In his humanity, Jesus resisted what we had not been able to resist as human beings before. Where Adam and Even had failed in Eden (Genesis 3:5), where Israel had failed in the desert (Deuteronomy 8:2), where generations of believers had and continue to fail in their lives, Jesus succeeded in the wilderness, at the temple’s pinnacle and finally on the mountain.

Jesus chose to follow God’s plan even though some of the end results using the devil’s way may have looked deceptively the same. We know, for instance, that, during his ministry, Jesus did feed the multitudes and performed various miracles. Neither of these, however, defined Jesus’ ministry and do not figure into our response to follow him. We also know that Jesus rose to rule over the worlds, but after a cross, not through a promise to the devil.

The temptation text sets the stage for Jesus’ ministry and for ours. His ministry and our following in his steps, isn’t going to be free of struggle or free of pain. Our path in following Jesus isn’t going to be free of temptations to follow our own desires; temptations to use our God-given powers for self; temptations to test God with our basic, heartfelt needs; temptations to use the wrong means to achieve seemingly good ends. The devil left Jesus at the end of today’s text, but returned to Jesus several times, even following him onto the cross. The tempter returns to us still.

Until the final days, in whatever way we may experience it, evil will continue on; and, that’s just the way it is. We know, however, that, in Jesus Christ, the final victory is sure. God came as one of us in Jesus to face the evil of the human condition, died as one of us at the hands of that evil and rose again promising us the ultimate victory, declaring once and for all that nothing, "neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation" would be able to separate us from God’s love in Jesus (Romans 8:38-39).

For now, though, the devil, the tempter, the power of evil is still whispering, "O come on, ‘[y]ou can accomplish your goals, you can win the world, you can fulfill God’s purposes, [just] do it my way.’"^[1] And, this whisper comes in subtle and varied ways. And, what is the response to that whisper? Every time, the response remains the same, "Away with you Satan."

Of course, it’s easier said than done, to be sure. Yet, we do say away with you Satan as we worship, as we study scripture, as we pray. We say away with you as we unselfishly serve others in Christ’s name, be they friend or foe, near or far. We say away with you as we ask questions of faith and seek earnestly to hear the answers. We say away with you as individually we come together again and again to be Christ’s church, as imperfect as our efforts sometimes are in doing that. We say away with you when we continue to turn toward God and away from what we know is evil in the world even when it comes cloaked with good intentions.

We pray each Sunday, as we will in a minute, "lead us not into temptation." As we offer that plea, we also need to hear Jesus saying, "I understand, and I am with you. With me, you will win the fight. With me, you will find the way to "‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’" Glory be to the one living God who knows our struggles and is with us in them until the final victory is celebrated.

__________________________________
^[1] Jirair Tashjian, Lectionary Resources, "First Sunday in Lent," The Christian Resource Institute, www.cresourcei.org, October 24, 2007. Credit goes to this resource as guide for explaining the three temptations in my sermon.