The First Sunday in Lent – Vicar Lehne sermon
Text: St. Matthew 4:1-11

In Christ Jesus, who resisted every temptation for our sake, dear fellow redeemed:

There are many times throughout our lives when we are given tasks that are seemingly impossible. In school, a teacher might give us a test that seems to have too much information on it to remember. Or at work, we might find ourselves having to do a task that seems too big to finish by the time it’s supposed to be. But no matter what these seemingly impossible tasks are, we are usually able to find a way to accomplish them.

Jesus had his own task that was seemingly impossible, and it was far more difficult than anything we have to face. He had to live a perfect life, which didn’t just mean keeping God’s law perfectly; it also meant resisting every temptation that the devil threw at him. This task wasn’t impossible for Jesus, because he is God, but what made it seemingly impossible was that no one can live a perfect life. But that was exactly why Jesus needed to resist every temptation in the first place, because we couldn’t. So, to accomplish this task, we hear in the beginning of our reading for today that “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (verse 1).

Jesus spent forty days and forty nights in that wilderness, and during that time, he fasted, not eating anything. It is at the end of these forty days and forty nights that we hear the first of the devil’s temptations. The devil said to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread” (verse 3). On the surface, there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with Jesus doing this. After all, God wants us to take care of our bodies. So, since Jesus hadn’t eaten for forty days and forty nights, what would be so wrong with miraculously turning stones into loaves of bread?

There are many temptations that the devil uses that sound perfectly innocent on the surface, but in reality, there is something sinister about them beneath the surface. In this case, the devil was trying to get Jesus to doubt God the Father. The devil was essentially saying, “God has led you out here into the wilderness and abandoned you. Since he hasn’t given you any food for the past forty days and forty nights, you clearly can’t trust him to provide for you. So, you should use your miraculous powers to provide for yourself.”

There are times when we can find ourselves wondering if God truly does provide for us. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6, “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:31–33). But it is still easy for us to worry about not having enough money to feel completely secure or about the prices for everything continuing to go up. So, what does the devil say to us? He says, “You should rely on yourself to provide for your needs.” On the surface, this sounds harmless. After all, there’s nothing wrong with relying on your talents to get things done in and of itself. But in reality, what the devil is saying to us is, “God has said that he will provide for you, but if that were true, then why don’t you have all the money and food that you need? You clearly can’t trust God to provide for you, so you should stop trusting in him and rely only on yourself.”

Unfortunately, we all too easily fall for the devil’s temptation to doubt that God provides for us. But Jesus did not fall for this temptation. He responded to the devil by quoting Deuteronomy 8:3, saying, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (verse 4). Jesus trusted that his Father would provide him with everything that he needed, whether that was food or strength to carry out his mission to save you. When the devil finished tempting him and left him, God sent his angels to minister to Jesus, giving him what he needed to be sustained. And later, when Jesus prayed to his Father in the Garden of Gethsemane, “there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him” (Luke 22:43). And with that strength, Jesus endured the mocking from everyone around him; the suffering from the beatings, flogging, and crucifixion; all of the sins that you committed; and even hell itself for your sake. He endured them all so that all of the times that you put your trust in yourself instead of in God would be forgiven on the cross.

Jesus’ trust in God the Father remained unwavering. So, the devil decided to lean into that with his next temptation. He took Jesus up to the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “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’” (verse 6). This time, the devil was essentially saying, “Prove that you trust completely in God and prove that God can truly be trusted by throwing yourself down from here. After all, doesn’t God promise to protect you from all harm in his Word?”

As Christians, this is a trick by the devil that we have to be extra careful of. He loves to use the faith that we have in God against us and twist our understanding of the Word. By doing so, he makes us doubt what the Bible says, as well as God himself. If something has gone wrong in our lives, such as a loved one getting sick, the devil says to us, “Didn’t God say that he would make all things work out for your good? You should make him prove it by demanding that he heal your loved one.” So, we end up saying prayers in which we wrongfully put God to the test, such as, “God, if you really love me, you will heal my loved one of his sickness.” Then, if things don’t work out like we wanted them to and our loved one either gets worse or ends up dying, the devil says to us, “God didn’t answer your prayers. How can God’s Word be true if he let this happen to you?”

The devil can easily twist God’s Word in a way that gets us to demand things of him that he never promised he would do and doubt him when those things don’t end up happening. But the devil didn’t fool Jesus. He knew that the devil was twisting the Word. So, Jesus responded by using the Word correctly. He quoted Deuteronomy 6:16, saying, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test” (verse 7). Jesus did not believe that the Father would do things for him that he never promised. He always believed that the Father’s will would be done. And the Father’s will was done when Jesus hung on the cross and died for your sins. As horrible as it was that Jesus had to die on the cross, God used it for your ultimate good. Through the sacrifice of his only begotten Son, the Father forgives you all your sins, including the times when you wrongly put him to the test or doubt him. And one day, you will get to enter the gates of heaven and be with God forever, which is the ultimate good that God can and will give you.

Once again, the devil had failed to lead Jesus into temptation, but he had one last trick up his sleeve. This time, “the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory” (verse 8). How the devil managed to do this, we do not know. We just know that he did, after which he said to Jesus, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me” (verse 9).

This temptation doesn’t seem to be as tricky as the other two. The first one sounded harmless, but it wasn’t. The second one appeared to be using God’s Word correctly, but it wasn’t. This one, by comparison, sounds like an easy temptation to resist. After all, the devil was telling Jesus to fall down and worship him. But this temptation was still just as tricky as the others.

The devil knew that Jesus had left his throne in heaven to live as a man, a man who was not only hated by his own people, but would also have to suffer and die if he wanted to sit on his throne again. So, the devil was offering him an easy way out. He was essentially saying, “This mission that you’re on will only bring you further pain and suffering. You don’t have to go through with this mission any longer. You can have your victory in the world right now. All you have to do is fall down and worship me.”

The devil attempts to lead us into temptation in similar ways. He knows the pain and suffering that we endure here on Earth. So, he promises to offer us a way out, while at the same time promising us things that we want. The devil says to us, “What has being a Christian done for you? Is your life truly any better off than everyone else’s? The only difference between you and them is that they get to do what they want, and you don’t. So, why not give up on being a Christian so you have the things that truly make you happy?” Temptations like these may not tell us to give up on being a Christian, but may simply say that it’s okay to pursue the things of this world that we want. But whenever we want to pursue something in this world over God, we are essentially saying that we don’t want to be Christian anymore. We may think that this is a temptation that we could easily resist, but it is a temptation that is just as tricky as the others that we face, because all too often, we would prefer to have the things of this world over the spiritual blessings that God gives us.

Thankfully, even though we all too easily give up on God, Jesus did not give up on his mission. Even though he knew that his mission would end with him suffering and dying on the cross for your sins, he continued with his mission anyway out of his great love for you. He loved you so much that he was willing to set aside his glory and lay down his life for you. Because Jesus did this for you, not only did he return to his throne in heaven, but he won you heaven as well, which is better than anything you could have in this world.

Sometimes it can be hard to believe that heaven is yours. After all, the devil has tempted you in every way that he possibly could, and you’ve failed to resist his temptations more times than you can count. You have failed to live a perfect life, and as punishment for your failure, you rightfully deserve to be thrown into the fires of hell for all eternity. But you have a Savior who understands your weaknesses and has lived a perfect life in your place. As Hebrews 4:15 says, “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.” Jesus succeeded in every way that you failed. He resisted every temptation that the devil threw at him, not for his own sake, but for your sake. He resisted the devil’s temptations so that he could be your Savior and win your forgiveness. He won that forgiveness for you on the cross, and he brings that forgiveness to you through his Word and Sacraments. Even though it is impossible for you to live a perfect life, eternal life in heaven is yours because Jesus has accomplished the impossible for you.

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 woodcut by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, 1794-1872)