2 Corinthians 6.1-10 + Matthew 4.1-11
Invocavit, the First Sunday in Lent
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
The author of Hebrews tells us, “We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb 4:15). On the first Sunday in Lent, we see Christ, our High Priest, tempted by the devil. But was He really temped in all points as we are tempted? The tempter came to Him and said, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” You cannot turn stones into bread. Neither can I. But turning stones to bread is just the outward form of the temptation. The temptation is really a demonic invitation to believe that God is not good to His Son and that the Son should take matters into His own hands. It’s as if the devil were saying, “God isn’t giving you what you need for this body and life. Go and get it yourself. You have the ability to do that. Is this how God treats the One He calls “My beloved Son?” You and I aren’t tempted to turn stones into bread because we cannot do that. But you and I are tempted in this same way. “If you are a child of God by Holy Baptism, if God is your loving Father, then why isn’t God giving you everything you need? Since God evidently doesn’t want you to have them, go get them yourself.”
This temptation, to assume God isn’t good to His children and that they ought to get for themselves what God denies, is a familiar one. It’s the basis of so many of our temptations. God isn’t giving us some aspect of daily bread that we want now. We’d like more money, a nicer house, more property, better health, a better boss, more companionship, and whatever else we need for this body and life. He allows His baptized children to suffer lack at times. He allows them to fall into need. And when He doesn’t, isn’t it tempting to think that God isn’t all that good, that He may even be evil at times?” When God withholds what you want, isn’t it tempting to take matters into your hands, to step outside your vocations and get for yourself what God isn’t providing? How often you fall to thinking that God isn’t good, that He is withholding good things from you, so that you covet what others have, what you should have, and then step outside your vocations to make it so?
Jesus will not allow Himself to fall to this temptation, though. He answered with the written Word of God—Holy Scripture. He says, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Food supports the body, but God can make people live without food. He did it before with Moses on Sinai and Elijah in the wilderness. But man cannot live without God’s word. The source of life for Jesus—the source of life for you—is God’s word. And this is why He allows you to fall into need. This is why He doesn’t always give you daily bread in the way you want it, and at times, even withholds its. The Scripture, the “it is written,” that Jesus uses in faith is Deuteronomy 8:3, where Moses wrote under God’s inspiration, “So [the Lord] humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.” God allows suffering, lack, and privation to come upon you so that you may know all the more confidently that God’s word is your source of life.
What about the next temptation? The devil takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the Jerusalem Temple and says, “If you are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written, ‘He shall give His angels chare over you,’ and ‘in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.” Again, the devil doesn’t come to you and tempt you to throw yourself off a high building to see if God will catch you. But this is only the outward circumstance of the temptation. The temptation is to put God to the test, to make Him prove His promises. You feel this temptation most acutely when you are tempted to sin and rationalize giving in to temptation because you know that you can always ask God for forgiveness later. But this is tempting God just as much as jumping off a high place and expecting His angels to catch you. Christ, again, answers from the written word—Holy Scripture. “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.” This time He quotes from Deuteronomy 6:16. He will not put God the Father to the test. He will not make Him prove His word. He will only trust His Word.
This temptation also offers an important insight into how the devil tempts us once we begin to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. At that point, he uses Scripture to rationalize the temptation. He uses Psalm 91, but he twists it. He leaves out words. David had written, “For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways” (Ps 91:11). The devil omits the second phrase, and the fact that psalm describes God’s protection of the one whose ways are God’s ways, those who make the Lord their refuge and dwelling place. What David wrote under inspiration as a promise of angelic protection for those who trust God’s word and walk in His ways, the devil mutilates into an admonition to put God to the test, which is not walking in His ways. This is vital for us to remember because so many Christians assume that if someone quotes Scripture, they must be trustworthy. It someone uses the Bible; they must be godly. But this isn’t the case at all. But Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light, even as his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness (2 Co 11:14–15).
What about the third temptation? “Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, ‘All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.’” The devil has not appeared to any of us in such a way and offered us the entire world in all its glory, power, and splendor in exchange for worshiping him. Nor would you bow down and worship him, because you belong to Christ. But you experience this temptation in other ways. Instead of the crass invitation to worship him, the devil offers you the best the world has to offer if you but live as he wants you to live. How much better would your life be if you lived as the unbelieving live? If you prioritize what the world prioritizes, you’ll gain the world. If you go along with the world’s way of thinking, you’ll be popular with others, because you’ll agree with them, and they’ll agree with you. But what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? (Mk 8:36), for that’s what will happen if you love your life in this world and pursue what it tells you the “good life” is. Jesus answers, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.” Again, Jesus uses the “it is written,” the Holy Scriptures of Deuteronomy 6:13.
Because He was tempted in all points as we are, He can sympathize with our weaknesses (Heb 4:15). He knows your weakness, because He assumed your flesh. He knows your temptations, dear saints, because He has experienced them in His own flesh. He shared in your temptations that He might be a good and gracious High Priest to you. He was victorious over your temptations so that He might give you His victory over the devil. If you fall to temptation, if the devil defeats you with his fiery darts, Christ your High Priest is present to absolve you of your sin. When He absolves you, He credits His victory over the devil to you, so that your sin is no more.
Not only does He absolve you and count His victory over the devil as yours, but He also leaves behind His example so that you may not be ignorant of the devil’s devices and know how to resist the devil so that He flees from you. Jesus, in our flesh, uses God’s Word. Just as man does not live by bread alone but every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, so man does not stand against temptation by his own strength but every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Christ used God’s written word—the Holy Scriptures. He didn’t use them as a magical amulet or incantation, so that the mere speaking the words drive away Satan. He uses them in faith, believing them and applying them to Himself. He has left this example for you and all whom God has called His beloved sons in holy baptism. To use God’s word, you must know God’s word. And while you can always know it better—and should make the effort to know it better—Christ’s rebuffs of Satan today are good places to start when you face the same temptations. When temptation arises, look to Christ. He has given you His victory already by faith, and by using God’s word in faith, your sympathetic High Priest will be victorious in you. Amen.
May the peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds Christ Jesus. Amen.
