“Following our Lord on His Fast”

Luke 4:1-11

The inspiration for Lent being a forty day season of fasting and repentant preparation for the feast of Easter came from tonight’s Gospel story.  Jesus “was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days.”  Other key events in the history of God’s salvation took place over periods of forty days or years: the rains of the flood, Moses’ time with God on Mt. Sinai, Elijah’s journey to Mt. Horeb, and the wandering of the people of Israel through the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land.  But Lent, as a Christian season, looks back on our Lord and His fast and trial in the wilderness and it bids us to follow along with Him, repenting of the kinds of sins that tempted Him.

 Luke describes a trio of temptations aimed at Jesus.  Satan, or the devil, confronted Jesus first with a two-pronged attack.  "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."  Before being led by the Holy Spirit into the desert, Jesus was baptized.  In the waters of the Jordan River, Jesus embraced all of humanity by undergoing the rite of baptism proclaimed by John.  He had no need for its promised forgiveness, but He identified with us, His fellow humans, in our need.  Coming up from the water, Jesus was acclaimed by the voice of God His Father: "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."  

My beloved Son, my Son whom I love.  The devil seized upon that beautiful address to tempt Jesus.  "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."    If you are God’s Son, if, if, if!  “If” introduces question, suggests uncertainty, and invites doubt.  “So, are you really God’s Son, His beloved Son?  Ha!  God has a funny way of showing you His love; what kind of parent leaves his child alone in place like this without food or water?   If that’s really who you are, you can’t be waiting around for God to take care of you.  Look, you’re hungry.  Feed yourself!  Turn those stones into bread for yourself.  They practically look like loaves anyway.”

 Do you see the two parts to this temptation?  The devil cast doubt upon Jesus’ relationship with God the Father and upon the Father’s care for His Son, and then he challenged Jesus to accept and act on that doubt by taking care of Himself.  Hot, exhausted, and hungry, Jesus must have felt the pull of that temptation keenly.  We certainly know what it is like, for we aren’t just tempted, we have fallen for this lure of the devil.  How often do we find ourselves caught in worry about our financial well-being, struggling to make ends meet and afraid of going broke?  In more prosperous times, what do we dream about?  Keeping up with the Jones’.  Having all the money we need to buy all the things we want.  Anxiety presses us into desperate labor, and soon our faith in God’s care has given way to workaholism.

 The words Jesus spoke were a clear “NO” to the devil, and to us they are a call to repentance.  “It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone.’”   Jesus had already survived for forty days in the desert without food or water.  He was living because something other than created things like food was sustaining Him.  In faith, Jesus, though tried, looked to His beloved Father to care for Him. 

By what does man really live?  We live by God and His Word.  Jesus lived by His Father’s acclamation: "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."  We, however, are easily duped into trusting more in bread than in God for our lives.  Sin has molded us into people who long for material things more than our Maker, but Jesus resisted His temptation to free us from ours.  He leads us in a life of prizing God’s forgiveness and love more highly than all the treasures of this world.
 
The devil stubbornly continued his trial of Jesus with an offer.  He “took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, ‘To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’"   Old Testament promises declared that God’s Son would one day rule the world.  Psalm 2 declares: “I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.’"    Kingship was God’s promise; the devil simply offered Jesus His rule without any further delay.  “Be the King you were born to be NOW!  I’m the real one in charge here.  You want power and honor?  Bow before me and I’ll give you what you want.” 

 Be a king.  Be in charge.  Take control.  It sounds pretty good to us doesn’t it?  We spend much of our time planning and working to make our dreams come true, but it’s not easy is it?  It can be exhausting, frustrating, and ultimately hopeless to live by calling the shots in our lives.  Jesus’ reply to the devil shows us why.  "It is written, "'You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.'"   The devil’s offer of kingship is not good.  It comes at an exorbitant price.  It goes against the whole order of God’s creation.  The Blessed King of the universe is God.  To Him alone do all true authority and glory belong.  The power and honor the devil claims are dingy counterfeits.  Kingdoms built by selfish violence and greed are nothing in comparison with God’s eternal, almighty and gracious rule.   As Jesus resists Satan’s empty offer, He holds out His hand to us to help us to turn with Him from deceptive dreams of personal kingdoms on earth to lay down our crowns before God the Father who promises us His heavenly one.

 Satan had one more temptation to try on Jesus.  “And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, "He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ and 'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.”’"   Again the devil attempted to cast doubt on Jesus’ identity, but this time the miracle he challenged Jesus to perform to prove Himself was different.  Making the bread from stones that would have eased Jesus’ physical hunger was a private miracle, but jumping from the highest point of the temple in front of all those gathered in Jerusalem would have given Jesus an instant following of believers.  “It won’t hurt your mission to have all that popularity and fame will it?  A spectacle like that will be sure get your ministry off with a bang!”  To increase the appeal of this temptation, the devil even mimicked Jesus’ habit of quoting scripture to justify his challenge.  “God has promised you His protection; you can do this.  You should do this!  It would give God honor by giving Him a chance to show the people how faithful He is to His promises.” 

 Following Jesus can be lonely.  People around you don’t understand why you live as you do.  Nor do they really care to understand if you explain to them what you believe.  When it comes to spirituality if they are looking for anything, they are probably looking for something that seems to work for them, something that makes them look impressive to others, capable and successful.  A faith that leads us to confess our basic sinfulness doesn’t fit that bill.  People today want to have their sense of themselves built up, not torn down.  If we’re going to appeal to people with the Christian gospel, it seems that we need to adjust our message to make it more acceptable and attuned to our times.  Yes, Scripture declares us sinful, but let’s put the emphasis on the positive nature of God’s love for us, let’s stick to what makes sense to people today. 

 That’s really what Satan tempted Jesus to do from the peak of the temple.  “People want a superman for a messiah.  Give them a show!  God will back you up on this one; He has to keep His promise of protection.”   Hear Jesus’ reply, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”  We may feel lonely and misunderstood among our neighbors in the world, but we are not alone.  God is with us and He knows what we are going through.  We don’t need to experiment with our faith, tailoring it to the tastes of our times.  God works through His Word according to His will to call people to repentance and bring them to believe in Him.  It is for us to trust God, not test Him.  Jesus knows our struggle; He alone overcame such temptation.  He bids us confess our doubts and fears to Him, listen to His promises and persist in following His ways.  Salvation is God’s work; we are just His witnesses.

 One of Lent’s most life-giving lessons is revealed to us in tonight’s Scripture.  In Jesus we have a friend who knows firsthand the temptations that attack us.  In Jesus we have a Master whose wisdom trumps our enemy’s powerful deceptions, whose faith overcomes his damning doubts, and whose forgiving grace calls us to follow Him with our ears tuned to hear and trust His voice.  Jesus, our Savior, is our Pilot true. 

Jesus, Savior, pilot me
Over life’s tempestuous sea;
Unknown waves before me roll,
Hiding rock and treacherous shoal.
Chart and compass come from Thee:
Jesus, Savior, pilot me.  Amen.