Tempted: Lead Us Not

Luke 4:1-13

New Living Translation (NLT)

4 Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, ² where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.

³ Then the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.”

⁴ But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.’”

⁵ Then the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.⁶ “I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,” the devil said, “because they are mine to give to anyone I please. ⁷ I will give it all to you if you will worship me.”

⁸ Jesus replied, “The Scriptures say,

‘You must worship the Lord your God
    and serve only him.’”

⁹ Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! ¹⁰ For the Scriptures say,

‘He will order his angels to protect and guard you.
¹¹ And they will hold you up with their hands
    so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”

¹² Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”

¹³ When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came.

I saw this quote several places last week, but I could never find a source.  “Temptation will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.” There’s a lot of truth there. I think I might change one word, though. I would change “will” to “can.” I mentioned this last week, but I wanted to reiterate the point this week.  Temptation does not equal sin. Temptation can lead to sin, but it is not the same as sin. 

We are continuing our series of sermons on temptation. We are in the midst of Lent. Lent is a season of reflection, a season of repentance. Traditionally, it was a time when new Christians would prepare themselves for baptism. In the early church baptisms all took place on Easter. So Lent, the season leading up to Easter was spent preparing those new converts, spiritually and theologically. It was a time of learning, a time of fasting, and a time of prayer. But not just for those catechumens, as they were called. The early church, just as we do now, saw the baptismal covenant as a 3 party covenant. It is a covenant between the person being baptized, God, and the church. And each time someone is baptized, we renew our own baptismal covenant. So, Lent was a time of preparation for everyone, not just for the new converts.

Lent consists of the forty days leading to Easter, not counting Sundays. This number is not by coincidence. Those forty days of fasting, prayer, and reflection are meant to echo the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness – fasting, praying, preparing for his coming ministry; and being tempted.

This scripture is traditionally read on the first Sunday of Lent. It’s used to begin Lent in order to remind us of those 40 days Jesus spent fasting and praying and preparing himself for his ministry as we begin a time of fasting, prayer, and preparation. It is also meant to remind us that, as we read in Hebrews 4:15, Jesus can relate to us, can sympathize with our weakness, because he endured every temptation we experience, except he did so without sin.

So, as we continue our series on temptation we look to the example of Jesus and this series of temptations to try to answer some of our questions about temptation. What is temptation? How do we resist temptation?

First, I want look at what this text teaches us about temptation. Then I’ll make some observations about this passage.

There are 3 things we learn about temptation from this passage.

1)    Temptation does not go away, even when we are at our most faithful. The opening verse of this passage tells us that Jesus is filled with the Holy Spirit. But still he faces temptation.

2)    Temptation doesn’t go away, even when we’ve conquered it. The last verse, after Jesus shoots down all of the Devil’s temptations tells us that the Devil “left until the next opportunity came.” He’ll be back.

3)    Temptation lies! Look at all the devil promises. He says he has power and can give it to Jesus. I saw an interesting observation about this passage. Look at the number of words the devil uses to tempt versus the words Jesus uses to turn him down. It’s almost 3 to 1. Misty and I watch a lot of detective shows. I’ve heard more than one of them say that when questioning a suspect, they know that the more words equals less truth.  

Here we have something that is actually unusual for the Bible. We have the personification of the Devil. The Old Testament typically talks about “satan,” which is a Hebrew word that means “opposer” or adversary. It is a noun used to refer to people and sometimes to divine beings. The book of Job and the third chapter of Zechariah talk about “ha-satan” or The Adversary. The notion of Satan as the personification of evil, doesn’t show up in the Old Testament Even when Satan is personified, he’s more a provoker than evil. In the New Testament, which is written mostly in Greek, we read about satanas, which is presented as more of a proper name. And we read about diabolos or the Devil. Diabolos means slanderer or false accuser.

This is closer to the modern conception of Satan. This personification of evil. This one evil guy who sort of runs the show trying to make us do evil things. Are you familiar with Flip Wilson? Flip Wilson was a comedian in the 70’s  he had a character named Geraldine. Her catchphrase was “The Devil made me do it.” She would do or say something questionable and when asked why, “The devil made me do it.” And that is the danger of our modern conception of Satan.

I’m not going to go into the reality or symbolism of Satan. Are there evil forces in the world working against us and against God? Yes. Does that mean we can make the Devil responsible for the bad things we do? I think that’s a cop out. I read this from a pastor in Minnesota, “People do evil things all the time for all kinds of tragic reasons. It hurts and it is hard. I don’t think it helps to blame the devil.” He wondered if “The Devil” serves as a hindrance to really understanding evil. The danger comes when we blame our wrongs on someone other than ourselves. We talked last week about temptation coming from our own desires, our own passions. That doesn’t mean that something external doesn’t ignite those desires. Maybe that is Satan, presenting us with tempting circumstances. But the true fight is with our own desires as Jesus demonstrates.

Which leads to the second observation I want to make. Jesus answers each temptation with scripture. But just like with the Devil, don’t think about this too simplistically. Knowing scripture verse for verse won’t lead you out of temptation. Notice in our passage, the devil himself quotes scripture. David Lose, a professor of preaching at Luther Seminary, wonders if Jesus “not so much quotes scripture to deflect temptation as it is that Jesus finds in scripture to words to give voice to his trust. Because at the heart of each reply is Jesus’ absolute trust in – and dependence on – God for his identity and future.” Which leads me to wonder, do I have that sort of trust? Is scripture something I use to prove my point or justify my actions, or is it something I use to see God in whom I place my trust? This passage comes down to that very word – Trust.

You may hear this story and feel completely unconnected. After all, this is Jesus being tempted in person by Satan. It’s not something many of us can relate to. And look at the temptations. “Turn these rocks into bread. I can put you in charge of all the world’s kingdoms. Jump, and prove God loves you.” Again, not exactly things we can relate to. Well, I disagree. I think these are the exact temptations we face day in and day out.

What tempts you? By what are you tempted? It’s Lent, a time of reflection, well, let’s reflect. What tempts you? You know how I’m tempted?

I’m tempted to write a sermon. I’m tempted to open my laptop and start typing. I trust in my mental capacity and my ability to write, so I can write a fine sermon. I’m tempted to panic when some unexpected need pops up. I trust in money. I trust stuff. “Turn these rocks into bread, then you won’t be hungry anymore. You can do it yourself.”

I’m tempted to do everything I can to make sure my world runs the way I want it. I want to be in control. I’m tempted to tell Bill what songs we should sing, I’m tempted to tell Sarah how the altar should look each week. I’m tempted to have control, to have power. I trust me, my instincts, my rule. “I can put you in charge of everything you see. It’ll be yours to rule and control.”

I’m tempted to wallow in my sorrow and pity. Sometimes people say hurtful things. Sometimes things don’t work out the way I want them to. Sometimes people I love die before I’m ready. Sometimes life is not as perfect as I think it should be. I trust in what I see and feel. “If you are a child of God, God will protect you. You’re hurting, are you sure God loves you?”

Aren’t those exactly the things Jesus is tempted to do and to feel? Trust in stuff. Trust in you. Trust in what you can see and feel. The temptation is to trust in me, to be in control, to do it myself. Instead of trusting God. The temptation is to forget who we are. Satan tells Jesus, “If you are the Son of God” trying to cause doubt about who he is. That is the temptation we face. We are tempted to forget our baptismal identity as a child of God.

Are there other temptations? Of course. We’re tempted to lie, to cheat, to steal, to kill. Name a commandment, and we’ve probably all been tempted to break it. But our call is not to adhere to a list of rules. Ours is a call to faithfulness – faithfulness to the purposes of God. We are called to trust in Jesus. I love that old song. “‘Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, and to take Him at His word; just to rest upon His promise, and to know, ‘Thus says the Lord!’ Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him! How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! O for grace to trust Him more!” So, I ask, do you trust in Jesus? Or do you trust in stuff, or in you, or in the world? When temptation comes, none of those will do for long.

Last week I introduced the first of 5 Rs for resisting temptation. Remember who you are. You are a child of God. You are a follower of Christ. To remember that, and to trust in that identity as a child of God, a follower of Christ, that is what leads to eternal life. And it won’t matter what temptation comes your way; you’ll know and trust that Jesus, who endured temptation is with you and will help you through yours. Do you trust in Jesus?