February 26, 2023 Lent 1 The Sunday of Jesus’ Temptation
Lent 1
Matthew 4:1-11
February 26, 2023
Theme: We’re in a spiritual war against the devil but we have the strong Christ and strong weapons of Word and prayer.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
How many times have you said something like this, “Wow! I never realized how many….!?” When we moved to South Dakota and felt like something was really missing we said, “Wow, we never realized how many trees there are in IL.” We didn’t notice them. We’re often oblivious to things. You get glasses and you start to look around at people, “Wow, I never realized how many people wear glasses or contacts.” You buy a blue Ford Focus and say, “Wow, I never realized how many blue Ford Focuses there are around. They’re everywhere.” You decide to cut down on sugar and start looking at the nutritional labels on all the food you eat, “Wow, I never realized that sugar is added to almost everything I eat.” Many things go unnoticed by us.
And that includes the devil. Christians like you and me need continual training and instructing and encouraging so that we’ll keep seeing the devil’s work more and more and say, “Wow, I didn’t realize how many times the devil is tempting me and shooting his arrows at me. And I didn’t realize how many parts of my life are actually spiritual battles against Satan.” This Sunday of Jesus’ temptation is another Sunday to get you to notice and realize the devil working all around you. Because if you notice him working, then you can shut him up and his lies. Because you have Christ who has already taken away the devil’s power. And you have the Word of God and prayer which are weapons to drive the devil away.
You may not always realize it but you’re an enemy to the devil now. When you’re baptized into Christ, you’re marked as an enemy. He puts his tracers on you. It’s like when you realize just how often Google is tracking your movements, “Wow, I didn’t realize.” Well, the devil is tracking you because you’re baptized into Christ and he wants to take every opportunity to turn your heart away from Jesus.
Our reading, Matthew 4, starts immediately after Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River. When Jesus was baptized, He was taking His stand with us against the devil. And sure enough, the devil went after Him right after He was baptized. Matthew 4:1, “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”
Now you might notice very correctly, “Why does it say the Spirit led him to be tempted?” Does God actually “lead us into temptation” even though we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “lead us not into temptation?” Remember, this is all getting to that question that we’re always asking, “Why is God allowing this to happen?” And yes, the Spirit did, in fact, allow Jesus to be tempted by Satan. He allowed that for us and for our good. Jesus showed us how to defeat the devil.
And yes, God does often allow you to be tempted by the devil. He Himself doesn’t tempt you. God doesn’t tempt anyone. But He does allow suffering and discipline and temptation because He loves you and would strengthen your soul. He allowed Job to be tempted. He allowed David to be tempted. And He strengthened them. But here’s the promise of 1 Corinthians 10, “No temptation has overtaken you that isn’t common to man. God is faithful, and He won’t let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He’ll also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
So yes, God may allow temptations but Jesus was tempted in every way that we are, yet without sin. That’s Hebrews 4:15. And God promises not to leave or forsake us, but to provide the way of escape. He gives us strong weapons against the devil—Christ Himself, the Word of God, and prayer.
Now, why “into the wilderness”? Aha, take special note, Christians. The devil will often work the best and hardest on you when you’re alone. When you’re “in the wilderness”. He loves to get you alone, maybe at night when you’re in bed and he gets you fretting and worrying and getting angry. Maybe when you’re alone in your room and you’re on your phone or computer. Then he’ll attack with fury. No Christian should go alone. We must be together, the family of God. We must be here together in the Divine Service but also, outside of the Church service, watching and caring and praying for one another.
Now the next verse we’re told that Jesus has fasted for forty days and forty nights and now He was hungry. Now here’s another time for you to notice how the devil works. He waits for the opportune time. You’ll often say, “Wow, I didn’t realize all along that the devil was working on me.” Yes, he’s often working on you and waiting for the opportune time to strike. He’ll work behind the scenes for a long time waiting to attack you when you’re weak or vulnerable.
Now Jesus had fasted for forty days. How did He do that? Because He’s the Son of God. But at the end of it we also clearly see His humanity—He’s hungry. Hungry just like you and I become hungry. He’s tempted in every way we are, remember. He was hungry. His stomach was growling bitterly. He could feel His stomach twisting and turning in knots wanting desperately to be fed. But when the devil suggests that He turn rocks into bread to eat (which He could easily do), He refuses and says, “No! Man lives by God’s Word. God takes care of Him.”
Now, first of all, notice that God is the answer to all our hunger. God is the answer. Everything that you think you’re so hungry for and can’t live without—the truth is that God is what you’re really needing. Are you so hungry for a vacation? Sure, you can take a vacation and that’s okay but it’s really God Himself and the rest that He gives that will actually satisfy you. Vacations don’t last but God does.
Are you so hungry for food? For sweets? Sure, you can go have a cookie and that’s okay. But it’s really God Himself that satisfies us. Jesus says, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger.”
Are you hungry for money? For power? For sex? For gambling? For pleasure? Well, those are another story. Now the devil’s making an outright assault on you and it’s not okay at all to feed those hungers. Now you’re being led into sin and you’d better stop with Jesus and say, “No! Man lives by the Word of God.” All of your hungers are answered by God and God alone. So take all your hungers to Him. Psalm 107:9, “For He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things.”
Now notice another thing about this first temptation. The devil has a definite three stages to his temptations. First is the suggestion. He suggests to Jesus, “Why not turn these stones into bread?” Then secondly comes the desire which, of course, Jesus resists but we often don’t. He suggests it and then we start to desire it. Then third comes the consent which, again, Jesus will not give but we often do. You can’t stop the devil making all kinds of suggestions to you constantly just like you can’t hardly stop all the advertisements you see around you every day. But you can choose not to listen to his suggestions. By the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in you, a baptized child of God, by the Spirit of Christ Himself, you can say no to desiring his suggestion and you can say no to consenting to it. That’s where the battle is fought for us Christians.
And now then comes our victory. Yes, you can’t stop the devil making suggestion after suggestion. Yes, you can’t stop all the feelings of hunger. Yes, the Lord Himself will often allow temptations and suffering to come upon you. Yes, we need to look around and say, “Wow, I never realized how hard the devil is fighting against me.” BUT – Christ is your Champion! Your victory! He has not only taken the devil’s power away by His death and resurrection and by your Baptism into Him, but He also shows you the way to get rid of the devil with God’s Word and prayer.
Wow, I never realized how hard the devil’s fighting against me and tempting me. Yes, that’s true. But wow, I also don’t often realize how strong my Savior Jesus is and how strong His Word is against the devil.
Let’s take an image out of that hymn we just sang, “The Tree of Life”. The devil overcame Adam and Eve by a tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God allowed the temptation. Satan made the suggestion. And Eve and Adam desired it and consented. They were hungry and decided to find satisfaction in somewhere other than God. Now sin infects every one of us like a disease and we hunger for all the wrong things in all the wrong places just like Adam and Eve.
But God has given us a different tree to eat from now. The tree of Jesus’ cross. Verse 4, “Now from that tree of Jesus’ shame Flows life eternal in His name; For all who trust and will believe, Salvation’s living fruit receive. And of this fruit so pure and sweet The Lord invites the world to eat, To find within this cross of wood The tree of life with ev’ry good.”
So when the devil makes his suggestions and we find ourselves hungry, we say to him as Jesus said in John 4:32, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.” We have food to eat from the Tree of Life, the cross of Jesus. Food of forgiveness and peace and joy and love. Food that truly satisfies and fills us with good things. Food here in the Lord’s Supper, the body and blood of Christ, which fills our body and soul with the fruits of Jesus’ cross, the fruits of forgiveness and peace.
Wow, I didn’t realize how often the devil is attacking me. The other day when I was sick and feeling all was lost – he was attacking my soul. That time when I thought no one cared about me at all – that was the devil and his lies. All those times I think I’m worthless and can’t do anything right – that’s the devil punching me. Those times I’ve given in to sins that I know I shouldn’t do and don’t even want to do – that’s the devil shooting his bullets at me. When I have thoughts that God doesn’t love me and can’t ever forgive me for what I am, that’s the devil lying to me. When I’m hungry for power and money and pleasure—that’s the devil assaulting me.
But wow, I have a strong tower to run to and be safe. Wow, I have a powerful Savior Jesus Christ who wants to fill me with every good thing. Wow, I have powerful weapons, the Word of God and prayer, that I can arm myself with against the devil. Wow, I can stand with Jesus and shout, “Be gone, Satan! For it’s written, You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve!” Wow, God will send His holy angels to minister to us as we so often pray, “Let your holy angel be with me that the evil foe may have no power over me.”
We’re in a war with Satan—but wow, we have on our side all the answers in Jesus Christ.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.