Lent 1 Invocavit – Pr. Anderson sermon
St. Matthew 4:1-11 “The Lord’s Test, or Testing the Lord?”
February 18, 2024 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
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We humbly ask You, O Lord, by the mystery of our Savior’s fasting and temptation, to endow us with the same mind that was in Him toward all evil and sin; and give us grace to keep our bodies in such holy discipline that our minds may always be ready to resist Satan and obey the promptings of Your Holy Spirit; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, now and forever. Amen. (The Lutheran Liturgy, companion altar book for The Lutheran Hymnal, p. 85)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Rom. 1:7, etc.)
The sermon text for today is taken from the 4th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew. We read selected verses in Jesus’ name:
Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these I will give You, if You will fall down and worship me.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.’”
Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to Him.
These are Your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us by Your truth, Your Word is truth. Amen. (Joh. 17:17)
In Christ Jesus, who uses the Word of God to beat back the attacks of the devil, telling him that the first commandment clearly states “You shall have no other gods, which means, “We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things, dear fellow redeemed:
If I would tell you that we are going to have a pop quiz from the Christianity 101 Class that we recently went through and we were going to do it right now, how would you feel? You would feel anxious right? Your blood pressure might be starting to rise. This might even be bringing flashbacks to when you were in school, and your teacher uttered the exact same words. It doesn’t have to be pop quizzes, taking tests in general makes us anxious. I still remember the tests from seminary. As tests are used for the mind, the Scriptures teach how God tests us. “The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the LORD tests hearts (Proverbs 17:3). As the Lord tests the hearts of men, He does it for our good. How often do we take the tests in a positive manner, or do we find ourselves testing God with what we desire? Like those tests in school, failures can occur. Our text for today teaches us about the Lord and His tests as Jesus is tested and tempted by Satan in the wilderness. Tests and trials that He overcomes for us.
Not long after the Holy Spirit descended as a dove onto Jesus’ shoulder does it then lead our Lord into the wilderness. Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” Jesus was just called “My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” (Matthew 3:17) by His heavenly Father. When men are given titles, they are to reveal and prove this title among the people. The heavenly Father wills this test. Is Jesus up for such a task? He has only just begun His Father’s work and He is being sent to go head-to-head against His archenemy! Most people need training for such a task, you work your way up a ladder to have such a fight. Jesus is no ordinary man, and this is no ordinary fight. This match has been destined since the Fall in the Garden and what is taking place is only round one.
Jesus has been tempted by the devil for 40 days and nights. He hasn’t had sleep, food, or drink. The Devil comes in with a temptation of note. A temptation that he has already succeeded at tempting two humans with. The temptation of food. Something that is good, pleasing to the eye, and desirable. When people are hungry, their judgment can become impaired. They use their stomach to do the talking. God knows this as Israel complained to God when they were in the wilderness because they did not have food to eat and water to drink. The devil is hoping to catch Jesus in a moment of weakness just like the Israelites. He points out Jesus’ strengths. If He is the Son of God as the Father said on the riverbank, then Jesus can make Himself food with a miracle.
Jesus is not using His stomach to do the talking. But He answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Jesus understands the first test. This temptation centers on trusting in God above all things, that God will provide. How often we hear those words ourselves and fail to listen because we are using our stomach and brains to think instead of going to what God says in His Word. Jesus points out to the devil that food ultimately does not sustain us forever. It is God’s Word that is needed for all eternity. The Gospel gives us eternal life. Jesus thwarts this temptation as He tells His disciples early on in His ministry, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). As true God, as the Word made flesh, Jesus is sustained even if His body hungers like ours.
That burning hunger is hard for us to endure. Most of the time we read and hear this text and we try to make excuses for ourselves. “Obviously Jesus is going to beat the devil because He is Jesus, I’m going to just give in anyway because I’m a sinner.” What we need to understand is that no matter how small the temptation is, how small the lie is, if we give in to what the devil wants, that condemns. God does not give us a pass on temptation, no matter how small we may think it is. When we think that way, we see how similar we are to our first parents. Was there really any harm eating a piece of fruit? It is easy to get mad at God when trials come our way. When the devil tempts us, we get so mad as to why we gave in, in the first place. God tells us that He gives us a means to escape, but we fail to use the door. If we manage to find the means of escape out of one temptation, the devil is ready to give us another. Like Jesus, he tells us to jump. It’s easy to search our lives and see how many times we have jumped, thinking to ourselves, “well I will just indulge this sin for a little while, God will come and rescue me, right?”
As we fail so often and are like Adam pointing our finger at God for our failings, like Adam and Eve, God points us to our sins. Jesus preached the same message of John, He preached God’s law, a message of repentance. Once the people saw that they have sinned and have no hope in themselves then Jesus points to Himself and says, “Look what I have done for you.” The devil told Jesus that He could just jump off of the temple. Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” As the devil tries to twist God’s Word to make a point, Jesus fires right back what Scripture truly says. God’s Word sustains and God is with and will protect those who are in the Word. We should not actively seek trouble or flirt with temptation. God’s Word pushes the devil back.
It seems harsh that God would send His Son to go and fight against the devil at the beginning of His ministry. The Lord’s test is done to reveal just how ready Jesus is up for the task. The devil is completely outmatched by the Word made flesh. The devil has gone to His first two attacks against Adam and Eve and Jesus pushes them aside. He does not engage in quelling His hunger and He does not test the Father’s help. Jesus stays grounded in the sustaining power of God’s Holy Word. The same Holy Word that promised of God sending His Son to be the Savior of mankind. The Savior is recognized in this account as the archenemy of God is swiftly defeated.
That defeat is seen in the last temptation. Satan is hoping to tempt Jesus to quit this path. What better way to avoid the cross, avoid the pain and suffering that comes by just bowing down and worshiping Satan to receive the kingdoms of the world. This is the king of all temptations. The first commandment should be ringing in your ears. Well unfortunately for Satan, the kingdoms of the world are not his to give. It’s just another lie. Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.’” Jesus endured the devil and his temptations for 40 days and nights and enough was enough. The father of lies has no standing and he has no power over the Son of God. Jesus with His authority sends the devil away. The devil has lost round one.
Jesus has just started His public ministry and the devil made Him look at the elephant in the room. He wanted to deter Him. Jesus looked past the devil, and He looked at all the temptations that you have fallen to. The devil has convinced you of so many lies, and wants you to dwell in your failures. Jesus wants you to dwell in Him. You hear about this showdown because Jesus wants you to see that He did not question God, He felt all your temptations, and He beat the devil’s tests which keeps Him on the path of the cross for the sins of the world. Jesus takes the devil on in round two, humbly walking the path of suffering, dying on the cross for you. Your failures of the devil’s temptations are washed away by the blood of Jesus who felt your temptations and never gave in.
With the cross to come, the devil is sent away, defeated in the first round. “Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to Him.” All the things that the devil tempted Jesus with for Him to do it on His own, God takes care of Jesus, just as Scripture says He will. And God takes care of you too. There will be things that test you in this life. St. Paul tells you how hard the Christian life can be. “As servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger” (2 Corinthians 6:4-5). It will be hard, but as God tests you, you find your strength and comfort in His Word as Paul says these are overcome, “by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God” 2 Corinthians 6:6-7a). The power that is revealed in the cross where Jesus washes away your sins and His life counts as yours in which these works flow.
This is what we want to hold on to. Christ is working through our lives to reach others. We are not alone. As God is with us, the devil will still try to tempt us. He wants us to fail. As these temptations come our way God again tells us that there is a way out. If we miss that way out, we acknowledge our failures, we don’t blame God, and we look to the cross where salvation is won. Jesus has beaten the devil’s temptations for us so we can put our trust in Him. St. Paul tells us the comfort we have! “We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything (2 Corinthians 6:8b-10). Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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