Introduction: As we work our way through the early chapters of Luke this winter, I will be pointing out the various places where our text for the week intersects with our Statement of Mission (found on the back cover of your bulletin). Two weeks ago, as we observed the shepherds’ exuberance to spread the word of the birth of Jesus, we considered how we might invite others into a relationship with Jesus through the sharing of our experience with him. Last week, we considered how Jesus, at his baptism, was given the tools for his mission, tools that we need as well – the grace of God and the power of the Spirit.

 

Today, as we read on in Luke and hear about the temptation of Jesus in the desert, we want to consider how this experience informs the part of our mission that calls us to live like Jesus. While we will not face the specific temptations he faced, we will, as we live as “sons of God,” be faced with trials that will cause us to think about how we are live in a relationship of trust with our heavenly Father. What Jesus reveals to us in the desert is that living as a son, or child, of God, involves resisting the urge to take shortcuts and instead, relying on the love of our heavenly Father and the power of the Holy Spirit to follow where God leads.

 

I. Led by the Spirit  

            A. As we begin, let’s first ask why it was that Jesus was out in that desert to begin with. It’s not because he was somehow dragged there by the devil. Instead, he was led by the Spirit of God into the desert in order to meet the devil, that supernatural adversary of God, (who, by the way, Luke knows all too well and feels no need to convince his readers of his existence). This, in other words, is an offensive move by the Spirit. He is bringing Jesus into a place of cosmic confrontation. It’s to be a “showdown in the desert,” where the divine will meet the diabolic.

 

            B. This time of being tempted by the devil will be for Jesus a time of testing, in order to see how he will respond. As one writer puts it: “… 4:1-13 is concerned with finalizing the establishment of Jesus’ performative competence prior to his actual assumption of public ministry in the service of God’s salvific aim” (Joel Green). Why do people write sentences like that?! What it means is that we will see how Jesus will use the tools he has just been given at his baptism for his mission. Will he seek to serve himself and rely on his own power? Or, will he rely upon the love of the Father and the power of the Spirit, serving, ultimately, us?  

 

            C. For be aware that behind this testing of Jesus are echoes of the failures of both Adam, and Israel, in their call to serve the human race. We are reminded of Adam in the genealogy of Jesus that Luke chooses to sandwich between the baptism of Jesus and his time in the desert. It ends with Jesus being identified as “the son of Adam, the son of God” (3:37). With this identification, we are not only informed that Jesus was to be the Savior of the entire human race, we are also invited to remember Adam’s failed attempt to remain faithful to God’s way during his own time of testing in the Garden of Eden. Then, during the temptations themselves, as we hear Jesus respond to each with a quotation from Deuteronomy, we are reminded of Israel’s experience in the wilderness after her rescue from Egypt. There, God’s “firstborn son,” as Israel was called, miserably failed her time of testing. She grumbled for bread, flirted disastrously with idolatry, and continually put God to the test. Against these echoes of failure comes the question, Will Jesus fare any differently? Will he be able to deliver us from the grip of the enemy and all that is false and destructive, or will we need to keep looking for another rescuer?

 

II. The Showdown

            A. The temptations, which lasted forty days, culminated in three, which were likely representative of the rest. Significantly, they are bookended by the question, the challenge, really, “If you are the Son of God . . .” What the devil wanted Jesus to do was to use his unique power to serve himself. Each temptation was really a shortcut, a way, seemingly, around the hard way, a way around the way of trust, a way to avoid the suffering of the cross and go right to the glory.

 

1. The first was a invitation to doubt the Father’s provision. “Jesus, you’re hungry. Jesus, you’re powerful, Jesus, why not just turn stones into bread and satisfy your physical needs?” Well, why not? As Jesus put it, “Man does not live on bread alone.” Jesus knew that there were other realities out there beyond the material. He knew that the best meal is the will of God, which is found in the word of God. The temptation was for Jesus to immediately fulfill his desires, not trusting that the Father knew what he needed.

 

Illustration: The reality of this one was brought home to me in a new way as I read a NYT account last week that spoke of a pastor who was leading a time of worship in a Haitian tent city. He gathered his hungry, injured, and grieving flock, encouraged them to lift their eyes out of the squalor in which they were fighting for their lives, and said, “Think of our new village here as the home of Jesus Christ, not the scene of a disaster. Life is not a disaster. Life is joy! You don’t have food? Nourish yourself with the Lord. You don’t have water? Drink in the spirit.” Were I there I honestly don’t know how I would react, but the pastor was certainly applying this desert experience of Jesus to the experience of hungry Haitians. Will we trust the Father to provide?

 

2. The second temptation Jesus faced was to worship someone or something other than God. Giving Jesus a vision of the kingdoms of the world, the devil promised to give them all to Jesus if he would only worship him. Jesus knew that all the kingdoms of the world were to be his, that he would sit on David’s throne, he would inherit an eternal kingdom (Lk, 1:33), but only as he went down the road of the cross. How much easier this “shortcut” would have been! But Jesus knew the dead end that it really was, so he responded, “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.”

 

3. Third, Jesus was faced with the temptation to doubt the Father’s goodness. “Is God really on your side?” the devil taunted. “Then throw yourself down from the highest pinnacle of the Temple and see if he catches you. Doesn’t he promise that his angels will guard you from all harm?” To which Jesus replied, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” God will be present, his angels will guard him, but the reality is that divine rescue, as portrayed in Psalm 91 (from which the devil quoted), may come through suffering and death, and not from them.

 

B. Thus, we see that Jesus trusted in the Father’s provision, he continued to worship him only, and he trusted in the Father’s goodness, even though circumstances in the desert might have indicated that he should do otherwise. Importantly for us, where Adam and Israel failed, Jesus remained faithful. In doing so, he proved himself worthy to be the rescuer of the human race.

 

III. Living as a Son

            A. Now, this rescue is not only from death in the future. Jesus is also, as we think of his experience in the desert, able to help us live and grow in the here and now, rescuing us from what is false and deceptive as we live as “sons of God.” Let’s think about that designation for a moment. “Sons” is what followers of Jesus are. For instance, in Galatians Paul writes that we are all “sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:26). And in Romans he reveals that “those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God” (Ro. 8:14). “Sons” is a first century legal term used in the Roman adoption and inheritance laws. It describes one who, when adopted, received full inheritance rights, just as a natural son would have had. When applied to our status as Christians, it refers to the fact that we, (both men and women) through our faith in Jesus, have been adopted into God’s family and now enjoy all of the rights, privileges, and obligations of a family member. It means that we are called to live as part of the family, taking on the family likeness. What does that mean for us in times of temptation?

 

1. First, we should not be surprised when temptations come. The journey to the Promised Land will not be smooth sailing. If will have its hard and stony and stormy stretches. We will face times when we will be tempted to grumble about God’s provision, when we will flirt with idolatry, and when we will want to put God’s goodness to the test. It’s a part of our growth into Christian maturity. During these times, our physical and emotional and psychological selves want and think we need all sorts of things to which God will call us to say “No.” Instead of saying “No,” we will think that would be far easier and far more beneficial to return to the slavery of sin, just as God’s people Israel thought about going back to Egypt.

 

2. Second, when these times come, we need to remember that we are not alone. Instead, we have a brother, a companion for the journey. He is Jesus, a family member who has not only walked the journey of temptation, but knows how to live victoriously over it.

 

3. Third, in times of temptation, we are not without resources. We, in fact, have the same resources at our disposal to keep walking and avoid the dead-end shortcuts as Jesus had – the love of the Father and the power of the Spirit.

 

a) Jesus rested in the love of the Father by trusting that, despite challenging circumstances, the Father had his best interests in mind.

 

Illustration: I know I’m late, but I’ve finally made it to the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series. I have been struck, as I read book seven, how often Harry realizes he must trust Dumbledore, who is a kind of a God the Father figure for Harry, and Dumbledore’s call on his life, even when and especially when it seems as if Dumbledore has not given Harry nearly enough information. The trust in his purposes for Harry, the mission on which he has sent Harry, and his overall love for Harry, are what keep Harry going when he is tempted to quit or go his own way.

 

So, saying “No” to temptation isn’t just saying “No,” it is also saying “Yes.” It is saying “Yes” to the love and purposes and mission of God.

 

b) Jesus relied on the power of the Spirit by wielding what Paul in Ephesians 6 calls the “sword of the Spirit,” that is, the word of God. He wielded on the truth of that word and its promises to beat back the devil’s lies.  

 

For what the devil would have us believe is a deception. He would have us believe that by succumbing to temptation, we will be happier. But God’s word helps us cut through the fog of those lies and helps us to see that the glory and goodness that God has in store for us is far greater than anything temptation’s many offers can provide.

 

How can we live and grow to be like Jesus? By trusting in the Father’s love, and drawing on the Spirit’s power.