Jesus Already Defeated Your Adversary.
The First Sunday in Lent – Vicar Anderson sermon
Text: St. Matthew 4:1-11
In Christ Jesus, who battled the devil and defeated Him, dear fellow redeemed:
After Jesus’ baptism He immediately went out into the wilderness to be tempted. The apostle Mark records that the Holy Spirit drove Jesus out. (Mark 1:12–13) This means God purposely brought Him out in the wilderness to face off against the devil. It wasn’t as though Jesus had second thoughts and needed motivation but that He consented to His Father’s will.
Not a moment is wasted as the first battle between the prince of light and the prince of darkness begins. Satan knew who Jesus was and since He was fully man the devil attempted to coax Him into sin. He also knew that Jesus would be feeling hungry after fasting for forty days.
Satan tried to use the bodies’ natural need for food to his advantage and it calls to mind how he used food in the Garden of Eden to trap our first parents Adam and Eve. Again the devil thought this was a perfect opportunity to strike. “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” He attempted to break the trust Jesus had in His Father. Then the devil says, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” Here he tries to use scripture to provoke Jesus into testing His Father’s promises.
When this also fails, he offers Jesus all power and authority over the kingdoms of the earth. This of course he has no right to offer and yet still foolishly taunts Jesus. He knows what Jesus must do to redeem the world and establish His Kingdom so he tells a lie to try and tempt Jesus away from this salvific work. As if to say, ‘just bow to me and I’ll make things much easier for you; you can avoid all the suffering you have ahead.’
The devil is called the father of lies and the inventor of sin, but these are just a few of his names. In our text Jesus calls him Satan, this comes from the Hebrew language and it means adversary, or in the more literal sense “one lying in ambush for.” In first Peter we hear, “be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) This fits the definition of Satan quite well, he is our “adversary” and he stalks us like a lion waiting to ambush its prey. Satan learns all our weaknesses and makes plans on how he is going to devour us.
He makes these plans against those who are baptized in the name of the Triune God. Once you are marked as a Child of God, Satan uses this mark as a target on your back. You are now his main rival and he will do whatever it takes to tear you away from God and drag you back into the wilderness of sin and death.
We are born with original sin, or as Luther refers to it, the “old Adam.” We have wicked thoughts and desires and without the grace of God temptation is impossible to overcome. No matter how hard we fight our sinful human nature gives in to temptation. St. Paul writes, “But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:3) While we live here on earth we are both saint and sinner. We have been justified by Christ’s work but our sinful nature still clings to us.
Because of this reality Satan’s assaults continue. He plants the seed of doubt. “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1) “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4–5) All it takes is for us to question God once and Satan has caught us in his trap; he’s already convinced us that we know better than God.
All of us have the innate desire to push the limits of sin, almost as if we fear danger and yet also have an odd fascination with it. We live in a culture that accepts and praises just about anything. They tell us, ‘go for it, as long as it isn’t hurting anyone else it’s not a big deal’. This impacts even the way Christians think, ‘just one more little look won’t hurt anyone, just a tiny bit more won’t cause any harm’.
We foolishly put ourselves in danger and think; I shouldn’t be here right now but I’ll be okay, I can take care of myself. We want so badly to be accepted by others or find the right spouse that we look for them in the wrong places. We think, ‘I don’t agree with what my friends do, but they’re all I have and I’ll never let myself become like them.’ We justify our actions and the people we choose to surround ourselves with because we don’t want to admit we are wrong and we tell ourselves lies to avoid the truth.
These thoughts come from the devil and from our own sinful flesh. When we act in these ways we test God and become our own god. (Deuteronomy 6:16) (Exodus 20:3) We arrogantly think we can keep from sinning even when we recklessly place ourselves in temptation. That’s like placing your hand in an open flame thinking you won’t get burned. Thankfully for our sake the Spirit brought Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted.
The wilderness is where Satan first tried to stop the work of Christ but it continued throughout His life. (Luke 4:13) Satan even used the disciples to try and trip Him up. Jesus said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to Me” (Matthew 16:23) and a later time the devil entered the heart of Judas Iscariot before he betrayed Jesus. (John 13:2)
Jesus was tempted in every way that Peter, Judas and you and me are. The writer to the Hebrews, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15) Being both God and man Jesus had a perfect human nature. He went into the wilderness fully capable of resisting all temptation and sin. Jesus didn’t need to make full use of His divine attributes to defeat the devil; He didn’t do any miracles to keep the devil at bay. Jesus resisted the devil’s attack as a perfect human with flesh and blood like you and me!
He is mankind in its perfection and defeated our adversary and all temptation, restoring what the first Adam lost. Jesus was sent into the wilderness and there He rebuked every temptation the devil threw at Him, so that you would be led out of the wilderness of sin into the life He won for you.
Jesus was winning salvation and giving you the right to call His Father your Father. He never desired to fit in with the world, instead He came to make you fit into His family, making you a child of God through faith in Him. Now you are a part of Jesus’ body the Church and there is nothing greater than that. He has clothed you with the garment of salvation and made you richer and more powerful than any earthly kingdom could offer!
He speaks to you through His Word and shows you that it does absolutely no good to be around people who add temptations to your life and entice you to sin. But it does a lot of good to stay connected to Jesus’ Word and Sacraments, through which He comes to strengthen you against temptation and fight for you.
We would have fallen for the devil’s tricks in the wilderness but thankfully God sent a perfect man to save us. The one who is good and holy never sought out danger or pushed the limits of sin. He never lied or needed to justify His actions. Jesus our warrior stood up against Satan and would not lose. He used His powerful Word to throw the devil back down to his rightful place of silence and incompetence.
“Jesus said to him, for it is written, ‘you shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve’” (Matthew 4:10). Our Lord resisted the temptation of putting His wants and needs above His Father’s and always faithfully served Him. He did this in service to you, for the times you wanted to go your own way instead of following God’s Word.
He depended on the Word for His strength and for His weapon to fend off the devil. Through His Spirit He gave you power over your enemy arming you with the same weapons He used against Satan. With Jesus by your side, you fight with, “the shield of faith, which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:16–17). He has also given the power of prayer; where you can ask for His help and He promises to answer.
Martin Luther writes, “If you try to help yourself by your own thoughts and counsel, you will only make the matter worse and give the devil more space. For he has a serpent’s head [Revelation 12:9], if it finds an opening into which it can slip, the whole body will follow without stopping. But prayer can prevent him and drive him back.” (LC; Part III, 111)
Jesus taught you in the Lord’s Prayer to run to your heavenly Father and ask that you not fall because of temptation, but be delivered from the evil one. You run to Him because you know it would be unwise to try and rely on your own power and He promises to help you.
Our Lord willingly entered into the wilderness of sin to resist for us all Satan’s temptation. When affliction and temptation come, because they will come, ask your heavenly Father to help you remind Satan what Jesus has already done to him. Jesus already defeated your adversary; the serpent’s head is crushed. You can fearlessly say as your Lord did, “Be gone, Satan.” (Matthew 4:10)
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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(picture from “The Temptation of Christ by the Devil” by Félix Joseph Barrias, 1822-1907)