Luke 4:1-13
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’ ”
Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’ ”
Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ”
Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time. (NRSV)
Grace to you and peace, from God our creator, from Jesus Christ our redeemer and friend, and from the Holy Spirit, our sustainer and guide.
There are no shortcuts in life. Have you ever heard that? Do you believe it?
We want to believe it. More often than not, though, shortcuts that seem like a good idea at the time end up making things worse in the long run. They end up costing more money or taking more time down the road or causing damage in ways unforeseen. Well, in today’s gospel, the tempter is offering Jesus some shortcuts to his ministry, and Jesus is not falling for it.
Let me set the scene. Jesus has just been baptized in the Jordan. He heard the voice of God say, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:22, NRSV) It is in his baptism that he receives word of his divine identity. We, Luke’s readers, knew that already because the angel told Mary it would be so back in chapter 1. But this is the first time Jesus gets to hear it. And then in the last of Luke 3 we have the genealogy of Jesus. This is his earthly identity. That is a literary interlude, but in terms of time sequence our passage today comes immediately after Jesus’s baptism. I will read the start of the passage again for you: “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished.” (Luke 4:1-2, NRSV)
Jesus was going home. He had just had this profound experience of the voice of God confirming his divine identity and he was returning to wherever he had come from, but he was redirected. Luke tells us he was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit, but let me assure you. He was led like a prisoner in leg irons is led. He didn’t have any choice in the matter. It was no meek leading of the Spirit that Jesus endured. He was propelled into the wilderness. Maybe we would even say the Spirit pushed.
And that shouldn’t be surprising. Who wouldn’t need a push to go into the wilderness and fast for forty days? Would anyone do that willingly? Casually? I doubt it. Not even the Son of God, with whom God is well pleased.
I have to say, I always thought Jesus was in the wilderness forty days fasting and at the end of it, when Jesus was really famished, the tempter came to him and tempted him. But a close reading of our passage tells us that the devil was tempting Jesus the whole time. I can believe that. Whoever fasts has to deal with temptation. There is the temptation to break the fast with some food items unexpectedly run across, or the temptation to give up the fast altogether when it gets hard. Those are the normal kind of temptations, but the temptations we have before us today — the three opportunities the tempter presented to Jesus — are a different breed of temptation altogether.
Remember Jesus had just come from his baptism where he was told by the voice from heaven, presumably the voice of God, that he was indeed the Son of God. Now the tempter is trying to sew seeds of doubt. “IF you are the Son of God…” he said. As if to say “Prove it!” Well, Jesus doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone. But our human tendency is to want to squelch any doubt that might be expressed by anyone about our calling or purpose or identity. We have to make sure they have an accurate assessment of us. We want them to know the truth of who we are. But a very wise woman once told me, “What others think of you is none of your business.” I was shocked when she said this, but it is true. I can try to manage their opinions and judgments but I am wasting my efforts. That will ultimately fail. People will think whatever they are going to think. Jesus didn’t have to prove anything to anyone, and neither do we.
And another thing, you see, the kicker here is that the tempter used bread… Something that Jesus was going to become known for before very long. Jesus would become known for multiplying the loaves; feeding the people. But this temptation was to feed himself instead of others. This is a temptation the Church always faces. There is always the temptation to turn our calling inward, to take care of ourselves, instead of turning toward others and caring for them. Our calling is to exist for the good of the world… not for our own comfort or benefit.
Next the tempter showed him all the territories of the world, claiming the authority to give them to Jesus… but that is a false premise. The tempter didn’t have the authority to give anything. It was a lie; an empty promise, and Jesus didn’t fall for it. The tempter is also a liar. It was all Jesus’s territory already, and yet it wasn’t. Jesus was at the beginning of his ministry. No one had heard of him yet. But it was all his, because it was all God’s.
But isn’t that just the way of the liar; to make us believe we don’t have something that we actually do have already. The liar would make us believe we don’t have enough or we aren’t big enough. But in God’s presence we ARE big enough. WE DO have enough. You need another example? Grace. God loves us beyond measure, but we don’t often feel it. We act as if we need to earn God’s love. We judge ourselves and others harshly forgetting they too are children of God, recipients of God’s grace. We are already promised salvation, but the tempter would have us believe there is a scarcity of Grace, that there is not enough to go around, that only a few people get it. But there is no lack in God, only abundance. There is nothing that is not ours already. But it is hard to believe that because the liar has been hard at work convincing us otherwise.
In each of these instances, Jesus resists the temptation presented by quoting scripture. “No onelives by bread alone” is from Deuteronomy 8:3, and “Worship God and serve only God” comes to us from Deuteronomy 6:4.
The church and the people that, like Jesus, are grounded in scripture, will be better able to keep to the task and calling we have been given. This isn’t about the authority of Scripture, however, it is about the interpretation of scripture, and we know this because now, in the third temptation, the tempter accurately quotes scripture to Jesus but twists its meaning by using it out of context.
The tempter takes Jesus to the roof of the temple and quotes from Psalm 91. You might know of that psalm from the popular song “On Eagle’s Wings.” The tempter quotes. ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” (Luke 4:10-11, NRSV) Jesus calls out this misuse of scripture. The tempter is twisting it to make it all about Jesus rather than about God’s gracious care. And that is maybe the hardest temptation to resist of all… the temptation to make it all about us. God is always at the center. That’s the good news. It is God’s grace that saves us, not our own actions or deserving. It is God’s power that created us and gave us life. Everything we have is a gift from God. Everything we do with what we have is because God has made it possible in the first place.
These three temptations were shortcuts and cheap imitations of Jesus’s ultimate calling and purpose, to bring the good news of God’s love to the world; to renew the people of God; to focus us on God’s power and not our own. But there are no shortcuts in ministry. Jesus knows that, and so should we. These three temptations are about where to put our trust. Will we put our trust in things or people or processes which will disappoint? Or will we trust in God, who alone, as the creator, has the power and authority to provide for us, but not only that, the will to give us everything we need. God is the One worthy of our worship.
Now we come to the last line of the passage. “When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.” (Luke 4:13, NRSV)
The tempter will be back.The tempter will not let up. Temptations will continue to plague us in this life. So we need to be prepared.
So as we start this season of Lent, and as we start this season of ministry together, there are some things we are going to be tempted by.
We might be tempted by the comfort of the familiar and how we have always done things.
We might be tempted to take the safe route to escape the fear of the unknown.
We might be tempted to substitute the ways of business for the ways of God.
There will certainly be temptations we haven’t even considered.
What is it time to let go of? What is it time to cultivate? The temptation to do what we have always done is great, and hard to resist. But now might be the time for something new to be planted and tended. Now might be the time to cultivate a new field or a new crop. We will have to figure that out together. And we will have to resist the tempter along the way.
In this time of silence, consider what keeps you focused on yourself and not God… and let that go. Consider what tempts you away from your awareness of God and pray for the will and the ability to cultivate some other habits that will turn you toward God.
silence for reflection
Please join me in prayer.
Holy God, come into our hearts and increase our faith. Inspire us in serving your people and being the church for the good of the world. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen
Blessings to you,
Pastor Karla
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Words To Live By 