Luke 4:1-13
Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.Through most of the year the lectionary is arranged so that the Old Testament reading and the Gospel topics are similar, and the Epistle generally goes through high points of the remaining New Testament books. This week whether intentional or not the epistle reading (Rom 10:8-13) really highlights an important fact of the Gospel reading.
In this section of Romans, Paul focuses on the Word of God. He emphasizes the power it has when we believe in our hearts that the Word is true. In biblical terms the heart is not just the place for emotions but the place of intellect and will, which is why Paul speaks of the Word in our hearts. In essence that we have faith in the Word as God's inerrant sharing of wisdom.
With that in mind what can we glean from the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness?
After His baptism Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit and lead into the wilderness. Why go into the wilderness? Why not just head for the nearest village and begin to teach?
The fall of man was through Adam and one sin. For salvation their needed to be a new Adam that was without blemish. Jesus must be without sin to fulfill the His Role as the new Adam.
As Luke shows us several times in his gospel and in Acts Jesus never shrinks from confrontation with Satan and is always victorious. What better place to show Satan his lack of power than the wilderness? When are we most vulnerable to temptation, when we are alone? We do things that wouldn't be done if we knew people were watching or were with us for support in times of trial. Jesus is placed in this vulnerable position to know first-hand our challenges.
As if it's not enough to just be alone Jesus is alone for forty days. That is still not enough vulnerability. He also is without food for those forty long days.
I have a hard time going for an hour without thinking of food let alone not eating for forty days.
It would appear that Satan has waited to the very end of the forty days to tempt Jesus. We don't know what happened before this point but I doubt Satan was that patient. My guess is that as in much of scripture we don't get a minute by minute detail of events only the events that show an important lesson for us.
Jesus is in such a weaken state that we would recognize it to be the weakest a human being could be, alone and starving. Even with Satan having the greatest advantage Jesus is still victorious over him. What is most significant is that Jesus relied on the providence and promise of God the Father. He doesn't use His own power to battle Satan. Jesus uses the ultimate weapon to defend himself and defeat Satan, the Word. To each of Satan's enticing temptations Jesus used scripture like a sword to cutoff the attack.
The Evil One was soundly defeated and withdrew to wait for an opportune time. As we read in the gospels there were many minor skirmishes between Jesus and his followers and the minions of Satan. The next major battle starts in the Garden of Gethsemane and ends Easter morning with the victorious resurrection of Jesus.
As Lutherans we believe in the three solas grace alone, faith alone, and scripture alone. Our faith is in the inerrant Word of God that recorded prophesies of a coming messiah and the fulfillment of the prophecy in Jesus Christ.
In Ephesians 6 we are instructed to put on the armor, carry the shield, and wield the sword. Jesus demonstrated the weapon that can be used by anyone when attacked by Satan. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. As surely as I'm standing before you today you will come under attack.
Everyday Satan looks for opportunities to attack us and make us stumble. What should we do then, run in fear? No we should call on the name of Jesus and the mighty Word of God. Each of us can use the Word as a sword to cutoff the attack by the evil one. He will flee believers wielding the power of scripture. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
I must warn you though that just quoting scripture is not effective. Satan knows scripture better than we ever will. It's believing every promise of scripture that is the true power of the Word.
Case in point Satan tried to deceive Jesus by quoting from Psalms 91. He tempted Jesus to through himself from the top of the temple because the angels would not let Him be injured. The quote is accurate but Satan put his own spin on it to make it sound like something it is not.
As a congregation we can have every confidence in the Lord. If we are true to the Word and the mission of Christ He will bless our efforts. Failing congregations all have similar characteristics. Likewise growing congregations have similar characteristics. First and foremost they are true to the Word and live it. Second in some way their mission fits into the scheme of the great commission; preaching the good news and baptizing in the name of the triune God. Third they reach out to those in need physically, emotionally and spiritually. I believe we are exhibiting those three characteristics in this place, and all for the glory of God.
A small congregation just starting out does run into some challenging problems. We have encountered a few already. Resources are few, available time seems short, talking to new people is uncomfortable, and reaching out to new people is even more uncomfortable. But when it comes right down to it, if our relationship with God is right, He will bless us and guide us.
Have no fear Jesus walks with us each day. All we need to do is call on Him and the mighty power of the Word.
In the name of our risen Lord and savior Jesus Christ, Amen.
