It Is Written

It Is Written 

Luke 4:1-13

     A consideration of the account of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness is a good way to start the Lenten season.  Since Lent is a time of meditation on our sins, it is comforting for us to know that even Jesus faced temptation.  The big difference is that we so often give in to the temptations of the devil but Jesus never sinned.  But we can certainly learn something from Him.  It was our sin that caused Jesus to have to come into the world to be the sacrifice to pay the price for us.  Therefore, this is a time of solemn reflection on our sins that caused Jesus to die.  

     This is also a time of repentance. Repentance actually involves several steps.  You first have to acknowledge your sin.  That can be hard for many people because your sinful nature has become so skilled at making excuses and denying the serious nature of your sins.  If you are not willing to be honest with yourself you will never feel the need to take the next step and be sorry that you have sinned against God and against others.  This is more than just saying the words that you are sorry that you did something wrong.  True repentance realizes that you have disobeyed God and you have fallen far short of what God expects of you.  Having acknowledged and confessed your sins, a repentant heart then will have a desire to remove that kind of sinful behavior or sinful attitude from your life through the power of the Holy Spirit.  You are reminded of your Baptism which gives you the power to begin each day anew.

     Lent truly is a time of repentance and renewal.  We have no better example of how to resist temptation than Jesus Himself.  As you heard in the Gospel reading for today, Jesus was tempted three times by the devil and each time He was able to throw that temptation right back by using the power of God’s Word.  The devil simply cannot stand up against the truth of God’s Word.  As we look more closely at what Jesus did in the face of temptation, may you learn to make use of the power of the words, “It is written.”

     When we look at the three temptations that the devil set before Jesus, we can see that those temptations were really the three basic kinds of temptations that the devil uses on all of us.  They fit into three categories.  The first was to turn the stones into bread in order to satisfy His hunger after fasting in the desert for forty days.  To do so would be to use His divine power for His own benefit to satisfy His earthly desires at a point in His life when He was preparing Himself for His earthly ministry.  You are often tempted to satisfy your earthly urges without giving any concern for the consequences of your actions for yourself and for others.  Instant gratification has become a way of life in our world.  Advertising tells you that you deserve to have everything and you need to have it now.  But Jesus countered that temptation by telling the devil, “Man does not live by bread alone.” He drew from the Scriptures a passage that tells us that our priorities are not always about satisfying our earthly desires.

           The second temptation was one that you face at one time or another to some degree. The devil offered Jesus wealth and power.  All Jesus would have to do is bow down and worship the devil.  What a temptation!  You would probably think through the implications.  Writers have had a field day with this one.  Plays, movies and operas have all explored the possibility of selling your soul to the devil in order to get the one thing they always desired.  Jesus on the other hand commanded the devil leave with the worlds, “It is written, “Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”
          The third temptation touches on a couple the basic sinful desires.  The devil tried to get Jesus to jump off the highest point of the temple in Jerusalem, telling Him that God would send His angels to catch Him.  Wouldn’t that create a buzz around Jerusalem!.  If Jesus could jump off the temple and land unharmed, He would be an instant celebrity.  He would attract all kinds of attention and be the biggest thing to hit Jerusalem since the days of David and Solomon.  Think of what that could do for His ministry.  He would have more followers than anyone else.  They would all think that He was something very special, maybe even the promised Messiah.  It could all happen if He simply would put God to the test and challenge Him to keep His promise to send angels to protect Him and see to it that He wouldn’t hurt Himself, even if it meant doing something foolish.  The devil even tried to use the Scriptures to make this temptation more attractive.  That tricky devil conveniently left out part of the passage.  From Psalm 91, he said, “He will command His angels concerning you to guard you, and they will lift you up in their hands.”  He left out the part that said,  “to guard you in all your ways.”  Jumping off the temple was not something that a person would normally do.  That would be foolish.  Once again you have to ask yourself, “Who would be helped by this miraculous event?”  No one would benefit except Jesus and we know that this was not have Jesus operated.

     Acceptance and fame may not be at the top of your list of desires but you are often tempted to put God to the test.  You try to make deals with God.  “God, if you would do this for me, then I will do something for you.”  Or you might say, “God if you really love me, then prove it by giving me what I want.” You are putting God to the test.  Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy 6, “It is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

      That was it.  The temptations were over at that point.  The devil was forced to leave but we know that he didn’t give up.  He continued to try and put roadblocks in Jesus’ way to try and prevent Him from carrying out His purpose of giving His life for us.

     What is most interesting is that Jesus resisted the temptations of the devil with the power of God’s Word,  In each case, Jesus drew from the well of God’s wisdom that had been revealed through the prophets down through the ages.  God had spoken to His people and addressed every aspect of life.  Jesus now was demonstrating for us the power of that Word.  You can use that same power to resist the temptations that come your way.  The Word of God has power because the Holy Spirit works through that Word.  It is the Holy Spirit who makes a difference in people’s loves.  He gives you power through the Word to come to repentance.  He gives you power through the Word to change your sinful patterns.  He gives you power through that Word to resist temptation and do good works.   

     The Word is easily available to you.  God has directed His writers to put His will in human language.  God has also guided the scholars and translators down through the ages to put the Word in understandable language so that anyone can hear or read His Word.  All you have to do is make use of that Word and you will be able to have that storehouse of wisdom that has the power of the Holy Spirit in it to help you through your life.  Think of what you hear in church.  You hear the Old Testament.  You have learned the Ten Commandments.  You have heard the writings of Paul and Peter and John in the Epistle lessons that tell you how to live your Christian life.  You then have heard the Gospel lessons that tell about the life and teachings of Jesus.  You have heard His Sermon on the Mount, for example, where He gave a commentary on the Ten Commandments.  He also spoke about various other aspects of Christian living like prayer and witnessing.  It’s all there in the Bible.  It is God’s Word.  When you are familiar with your Bible, you can also confront the devil by saying, “It is written.”

     You also know that there are times when you don’t use the power that God makes available to you and you fall into sin.  But God has blessed you by giving you not only His Law but also the Gospel in His Word.  He has assured you that all is not lost even though you have sinned and fallen short of what He expects.  He has sent Jesus to take your place under the Law and then also on the cross.  He died so that your sins could be forgiven.  He rose again to show you that you too can have new life now as well as life with Him forever in heaven.

     As a result, you can live with the sure faith that trusts in your Savior Jesus alone for  the forgiveness of your sins and that trusts in the power of the Holy Spirit, working through His Word, to guide and direct you throughout your life.  You can trust that His power is greater than the temptations of the devil.  You know that when the devil tempts you, you can follow Jesus’ example and confidently proclaim, “It is written…,” and then you can fill in the rest from your knowledge of God’s Word and through the power of the Spirit, the devil will have to back down until the next time.  What a great power God has given to you!  Amen.

Rev. Gerald Matzke

February 17, 2013