Matthew 4:1-11; 2
Corinthians 6:1-10; Genesis 3:1-21
In the Name of the Father and of the
+ Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus was not tempted in the wilderness
by the devil so that He might provide you an example of how you can resist temptation.
On the contrary, Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by the devil for you,
in the place of Adam, in your place, for Adam’s failure to
resist temptation in the Garden, and for your failure to resist temptation
every day since. Thus, Jesus is not your sensei, but He is your substitute. He
is not your mentor, but He is your mediator. Jesus is not demonstrating for you
how to wield the Word of God as a weapon, but He is the Word of God become
flesh demonstrating that He has won the victory for you. Therefore, do not take
away from today’s Propers encouragement and confidence that you have the
weapons and the skill to fight the devil with the Word of God. You fool! Satan
knows the Scriptures exceedingly well, exceedingly better than you ever will,
and he uses them against you in such a way that you don’t know which end is up!
Rather, take away from today’s Propers this comforting and encouraging fact:
Jesus has won the battle that Adam lost, the battle that you lose daily still.
He has won this battle for you who
trust in Him and are baptized into Him. And so, His victory is your victory.
You are victorious over sin, death, Satan, and hell, already, now, not because you can wield the Word
of God like a weapon and defend yourself, but because the Word of God made
flesh, Jesus Christ, has defeated the devil in the wilderness in obedience to
God the Father for you and for all humanity.
Jesus’ victory over Satan in the wilderness demonstrated His trust and
obedience to the LORD for you so that
His victory on the cross would be payment for the debt you owe because of your
sin, your failure to trust and obey God the Father, His Word, and His
commandments.
Jesus was lead into this temptation,
this confrontation, and this battle with the devil by the Holy Spirit
immediately following His baptism by John in the Jordan. St. Mark, in his
Gospel, states that the Spirit literally threw
Jesus out into the wilderness like a lamb breakfast for a hungry lion. This was
the LORD’s will for His Son Jesus, that He face temptation by Satan, in hunger
and in thirst, stripped of all physical, mental, and emotional strength,
relying upon nothing but the Word of the LORD alone for you. In this way, Jesus became the Second Adam and was
victorious where the First Adam failed. In fact, the scene and situation were
completely the opposite: The First Adam had plenty to eat and to drink, was in
a lush and perfect paradise garden, was physically, mentally, and emotionally strong,
and had never suffered in any way nor faced any temptation of any kind. And
yet, at the first word he heard that was not from God, he rebelled, he sinned,
and he fell. In contrast, Jesus, the Second Adam, had fasted for forty days and
He was hungry and tired and weak when He faced temptation by Satan. Yet, Jesus
overcame Satan because He refused to trust the word of the devil over the Word
of His Father and LORD. Further, Jesus’ victory over Satan was not in His
fighting him offensively, wielding the Word of the LORD like a weapon, but Jesus’
victory was in the fact that He took refuge and defense in the mighty fortress that
is the Word of the LORD.
Jesus did not choose this battle any
more than He chose His cross, but the Holy Spirit chose this battle for Him as
well as the cross He would bear for you. Likewise, you do not choose the temptations
and the spiritual battles you face, nor the crosses you bear, but the LORD, by
His Spirit, chooses them for you. The Christian’s life from baptism to the
grave is nothing other than a daily duel and battle with the devil, the world,
and the flesh. Immediately after Baptism, you were placed by the Holy Spirit
into the wild, wanton world and subjected to all manner of temptation, trial,
and tribulation. Again, Jesus was tempted, not that He might provide you an
example of how to resist temptation and overcome, but Jesus was tempted for you, in your place, and was victorious
that you might bear temptation more easily.
The LORD tempts no one, but He does
permit temptation to befall you with the promise that, with the temptation, He
will always provide a way of escape that you will be able to endure it.
Sometimes the way of escape is easy, a simple choice that you make. Other
times, as with the martyrs, the way of escape may be your death. But, always,
always, the way of escape is faith and trust in Jesus, the Word of God made
flesh, who has suffered Satan’s greatest temptations as a man and persevered
through them, even through death, and emerged victorious. He did not do this as
an example for you that you should go and do likewise, but He did this for you,
in your place, as your scapegoat and Passover Lamb, as your champion, your victor,
your Redeemer, and your Lord. You can endure all things through faith in Him
who is your strength.
Temptation, affliction, trial,
tribulation – This is a painful reality that is all too near for the life of
Christian saints in this fallen world. The Germans have a great word for it – anfechtung, which means spiritual attack. Thus, St. Peter exhorts
you saying, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon
you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice
insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad
when his glory is revealed.” In your temptation, affliction, trial, and
tribulation – in your anfechtung and
spiritual attack – you “share Christ’s sufferings.” Moreover, Christ shares and
shoulders your sufferings with you. You can endure all things through faith in
Him who is your strength. And, do not forget that, as the Holy Spirit threw
Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, so is your baptized life
lived in the spiritual wilderness of this fallen, sin-infected, broken, and cursed
world. The LORD knows the anfectung
you suffer and He permits it, He wills it to befall you. However, “He who knows
all your woes knows how best to end them.” He uses all your trials and
tribulations for a good you cannot know, a good that He promises you in His
Word and has sealed you in through your baptism into Christ and faith.
St. Peter also warns you that, “Your
adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to
devour.” But, why does he roar? No lion roars as he stalks his prey; they would
hear and be alerted and run from the danger. Ah, but the lion, the devil, roars
because he is mortally wounded. Jesus our champion and victor has already
defeated him in the wilderness and on the cross! Now Satan roars and rages in
furious, blinding rage and hatred attempting to take down any, and all, that he
can. But he can only do this by means of lies and deceptions. For the truth is
that he is already defeated, he is a toothless and clawless lion. Do not fear
him, but fear God, trust in His Word, cling to Christ and your baptism into him
and do not let go. The worst the devil can do to you is kill you, but even then
the victory belongs to Christ who has been raised from the dead, the first
fruits of those who trust in Him.
Truly, the chief temptation you face at
the hands of the devil is the same temptation our First Parent’s faced in the
Garden: Will you listen to God, or will you listen to Satan? Will you trust in
God’s Word and do His will, or will you trust in your reason and your will and
be your own god? You know what Adam and Eve’s choice was. They wanted knowledge
and wisdom, they wanted to be better than God created them, they wanted to be
gods. But, they rejected the Word of Truth and they believed in a lie. The
knowledge they gained, the knowledge of good and evil, was only the knowledge
of a choice other than good, other than God. Freely they chose evil, and they
did not become gods, but their god became Satan and they began to die. The
temptation you face at the hands of the devil is the same: Will you listen to
God, or will you listen to Satan? Will you trust in God’s Word and do His will,
or will you trust in your reason and your will and be your own god? Don’t
believe the lie, but hold fast the Truth. Jesus lives! The victory’s won!
Believe it and own it and live.
And, to aid you in your pilgrimage
through the barren wilderness of this fallen, broken, and cursed world, your
heavenly Father provides you the cleansing water of Holy Baptism and His Word
of Absolution, His faith-creating and sustaining Word of Life, and the
life-giving body and blood of your champion, your victor, and your Redeemer
Jesus Christ in bread and wine. Truly you have greater gifts and providence
than did our First Parents in paradise! Moreover, you have the gift of the Holy
Spirit of God who counsels and comforts you as you go. Remain in His gifts.
Receive His gifts and keep your lamps full with the Spirit-given gift of faith
and you will persevere and endure through the worst your adversary can visit
upon you.
In
the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
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