Luke 4:1-13 - It's Really Tempting - March 6, 2022

When was the last time you were really tempted? Tempted to do, say or think something that you know you shouldn’t; tempted to defy God’s Word and will? I’m guessing that most of us don’t have to think back too far. On the other hand, if you can’t think of the last time you were really tempted – then that’s an even bigger problem. It means that you’ve given up the struggle; you’ve given in to your sinful nature and the devil has you. But back to the original question: what was the nature of the temptation? Were you tempted to place something or someone before God in your life; to keep your faith quiet and hidden; to prioritize Netflix over devotion and prayer; to disrespect parents and others in authority; to harbor hatred or grudges in your heart; to lust after someone who is not your spouse – maybe just a pixelated image on a screen; to file a shady tax return; to slander or gossip about others on social media; to covet someone else’s house, car, family or life? Maybe you only have to think back to earlier this morning when you were tempted to stay in your nice warm bed or skip church for a nice, long brunch or maybe you’re being tempted right now to tune me out because it’s not pleasant to be forced to look into the mirror of the law. Temptations are all around us…and they often come from directions and at times we don’t expect. So many things in this fallen world are really tempting. And so is our text for this morning.

It's really tempting that Jesus wasn’t really tempted. I mean, he’s true God isn’t he? Isn’t that what God himself declared at Jesus’ baptism? You are my Son (Luke 3:22). And how Luke’s genealogical record of Jesus ends: the son of Adam, the son of God (Luke 3:38). (Both of which, probably not coincidentally, Luke places right before Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness.) And doesn’t James 1:13 state categorically that God cannot be tempted by evil? How can this even be called a temptation? Where’s the struggle in the almighty God facing off with a fallen angel? But the Bible is also clear that Jesus is also true man, as we heard in Hebrews, that he is one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are (Hebrews 4:15). So which is it? Is Jesus the untemptable Son of God or a vulnerable flesh and blood human being? The Bible’s answer is: both. The Bible doesn’t tell us to understand or reconcile these seemingly irreconcilable truths; it tells us to believe and confess them. The point is that, if we’re tempted to pass over Jesus’ temptation as if it were just a simulation, just make-believe, we’re wrong.

These were real temptations. Jesus felt just like you feel when something, some sin is really tempting. His mouth watered; his heart fluttered; he ached like you ache when something you really, really want is dangling right in front of you – and you know you shouldn’t have it but you still really want it. Luke tells us that at the end of forty days without eating, Jesus was hungry – so it was obviously really tempting for him to make a loaf of bread for himself…even more tempting than it is for you or I to snag one of those warm cheese curds out of the bag on your way home from Culvers.

In the same way, it was really tempting for Jesus to bow down and worship the devil in order to gain all power and authority in the world – after all, hadn’t God promised Jesus rule over all the kingdoms of the world (Psalm 2)? Do you see how alluring, how appealing, how tempting this would have been for him? All the authority he had been promised – but no betrayal, no denial, no whips, no spit, no mocking, no condemnation, no shame, no nakedness, no cross, no hell, no death. The devil offered Jesus all the power and glory of Easter without the pain and shame of Good Friday. It was really tempting.

The third temptation, however, had to be the worst of all. The devil says if you are the Son of God…throw yourself down from here, because it is written: “He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you.” And, “they will lift you up with their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” Put yourself in Jesus’ shoes for a moment. At your baptism God the Father and Holy Spirit both testified to the truth that you are God’s beloved Son. And then, almost immediately, that same Holy Spirit leads you out into a wilderness to be starved and tempted by the devil for forty days. Throughout all three temptations, the devil seems to be the one in control. He’s the one leading you from the wilderness to a high mountain to the pinnacle of the temple. Would you really feel like the beloved Son of God if your own Father allowed this to happen to you? Certainly Jesus must have ached for some external sign that he was still God’s beloved Son. Certainly it was really tempting to force his Father to put his money (that is, his promises) where his mouth was by stepping off of the temple.

Jesus is both true God and true man; the son of Adam and the son of God (Luke 3:38) – but these were real temptations, real battles between himself and the devil. What’s important to note is that Jesus didn’t defeat the devil as the Son of God but as a Son of Man. Jesus didn’t use any miracles, no divine power or privilege or prerogative to call upon legions of angels that he had as God. He entered the battle armed with nothing more than we have. He had his baptism which testified that he was indeed God’s beloved Son. He had God’s Word that sustains us where bread alone never will; no matter how much you have. He had the Old Testament which testified throughout that it was necessary for him to face suffering before entering glory; that the cross had to come before the crown. These were all that Jesus used to resist the very real temptations of the devil. Jesus didn’t overcome the devil by using his divine powers; no, he overcame the devil simply by quoting the book of Deuteronomy three times.

It’s really tempting to believe that because Jesus is God there was no real tempting going on or that it was easy for him to overcome the devil. It’s also really tempting to believe that Jesus is essentially providing us with a DIY example of how to defeat the devil ourselves. It’s really tempting to think of Jesus as our great example here and try to develop a step-by-step program for dealing with temptation. There’s no doubt about it, the devil tempts us in much the same way as he tempted Jesus. The devil tempts us to fill our bellies, that is, satisfy whatever fleshly desires we have, now; to sacrifice our morality and integrity – that is, to disobey God’s will and instead obey the devil’s – in order to attain wealth and power and glory, now; to test the limits of God’s promises in order to find proof that I really am his child, now. In other words, the devil’s temptations can be boiled down to this: sex, money, glory, power, popularity and health. Admittedly the temptations vary according to our age – but these are the temptations that are common to everyone – including you and me.

So it’s really tempting to believe that we’re supposed to use what Jesus does here to defeat the devil as an example. To think that we’re supposed to pick up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17), and use it to slay the devil just like Jesus did. If you’re tempted to believe that, first consider this: 1) If perfect, sinless Adam and Eve were not able to overcome the devil, what makes us think we can? 2) If Peter, who was with Jesus in the flesh, could go from being blessed by God on account of his good confession to being Satan and denying Christ, what makes you think that you will fare any better (Matthew 16:13-23)? Here's what Martin Luther had to say about doing battle with the devil: “Do not argue at all with the devil and his temptations or accusations and arguments, nor, by the example of Christ, refute them. Just keep silent altogether; turn away and hold him in contempt. For no one conquers the devil by arguing with him, since he is incomparably more clever than all of us” (LW 10:182).

Ok, so then what’s the point? What does Jesus’ temptation have to do with our daily battles with the devil? It doesn’t tell us that we are lined up behind David, just waiting our turn to go head-to-head with Goliath. It tells us that we are spectators watching as our David, Jesus, defeats our enemy for us. This story doesn’t tell us how to conquer the devil; it tells us that Jesus has conquered the devil for us! In other words, Jesus is reversing what happened in the Garden of Eden. Humanity’s biggest problem isn’t that Russia invaded Ukraine or that racial tensions are high or that men and women are constantly talking past each other. Humanity’s biggest problem is that sin entered the world through one man and death through sin (Romans 5:12). Adam was a perfect man, in a perfect world, with a perfect wife by his side, surrounded by a paradise of food, water and life – and he gave in to the devil’s temptations. Jesus, the perfect man, in a fallen world, with no one by his side, in a wilderness devoid of food, water or life – withstood the attacks of the devil. Paul explains the result: just as one trespass led to a verdict of condemnation for all people, so also one righteous verdict led to life-giving justification for all people. For just as through the disobedience of one man the many became sinners, so also through the obedience of one man the many will become righteous (Romans 5:18-19).

This is called Jesus’ active obedience. Jesus actively kept all of God’s laws, perfectly. Without this, we would still have the Law of God hanging over our heads shouting: “Do this perfectly if you want to be saved” – when we know perfectly well that we haven’t and can’t keep it perfectly. More important, without Jesus’ active obedience, his passive obedience – his suffering and death are meaningless. If Jesus didn’t lead a perfect life than he was only suffering and dying for his own sins, not ours.

These words assure us that because Jesus stood perfect against the devil, when the hammer of God’s wrath, judgment and damnation came down on him – it was our sins that were being paid for. What we see Jesus suffering and enduring in Lent, he does for us; for me, for you. Jesus is paying for every time I’ve given into my sinful, fleshly desires. Jesus is paying for my sin of seeking sinful shortcuts to money and pleasure and power. Jesus is paying for my sin of trusting medicine, science and exercise to preserve my life when it’s really the Word of God. And when we see Jesus forsaken by his Father on the cross it is proof that the Father will never forsake us.

It is really tempting to twist what Jesus did in that wilderness into what I must do to withstand temptation – but if I could do that, then I wouldn’t need Jesus. An example doesn’t do me any good. I need a Savior. When real temptations come – and they will: when your mouth waters, your heart pounds and the urge to reach out for that forbidden fruit is overpowering – you don’t have to try to be like Jesus and fight with the devil – because you will lose every time. Instead, run away from the devil and run to Jesus. When tempted, don’t think about the bread you don’t have but the Bread of Life you do in Communion; don’t think about the hard things like sickness and suffering that lie before you but the crown of glory Jesus has already won and given you in Baptism; don’t think about testing God’s love for you, hear the assurance of his love in the Absolution.

In short, resisting temptation isn’t about asking yourself what Jesus would do but about holding up what Jesus has done and delivered to you in Word and Sacrament as your shield. Even the devil himself can’t overcome that. Amen.