The First Sunday of Lent - February 14, 2016

This past Sunday was the First Sunday of Lent for 2016.  Unfortunately, the video didn't turn out well at all so I've decided to not upload the video to YouTube, nor use it on the blog.  So instead, I'll just touch a bit on what I felt were the highlights of the sermon.

First, here is the scripture that we explored on Sunday.

Luke 4:1-13 New Revised Standard Version
The Temptation of Jesus
4:1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” 4 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’”

5 Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 Jesus answered him, “It is written,

‘Worship the Lord your God,
    and serve only him.’”
9 Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written,

‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    to protect you,’
11 and

‘On their hands they will bear you up,
    so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”
12 Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 13 When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

The first temptation that Christ is subjected to in the story from Luke is to turn stone to bread in order to feed his bodily needs.  The irony here is of course that Christ is so very, very well known for his feeding miracles and table fellowship; why now is he so reluctant to perform a miracle to feed himself?

In the Gospel of Matthew in the Fourth Chapter we find Christ elaborating upon his statement about bread.  In Luke he states only that 'man does not live by bread alone', but in Matthew he adds 'but on every word that comes from the mouth of God'.  Christ is not in the wilderness to perform some physical cleansing, rather he is in the wilderness for spiritual reasons.  His focus during this time is not on feeding himself physically with bread, but rather to grow from a closer relationship with his God enhanced by the focus that is acquired through the discipline of fasting.

The thing we need to bear in mind is that none of these three temptations are actually out of line.  The first is a feeding issue, again Christ is very well known (and we need to emulate him as best we can) for his feeding miracles and table fellowship; it's a simple fact that it's nearly impossible to talk to someone about spiritual needs until you've addressed their physical needs and often emotional needs as well.  The temptation of turning the stones to bread is that he is in the process of fasting to prepare himself for his upcoming ministry. To turn the stones to bread would be an entirely self serving act and he is preparing to set off on an entirely selfless ministry for God. Now is not the time for feeding miracles, now is the time for self reflection, prayer, fasting and spiritual growth.  That is why in Matthew's Gospel Christ goes on to state 'but on every word that comes from the mouth of God', alone in the wilderness he has bigger things afoot than his simply earthly needs, this is simply not the time nor the place for feeding miracles.

The second temptation is the gifting of all creation to Christ if he bows down and worships Satan.  The irony here is that Satan cannot offer Christ what is not already to be his once he has descended from the cross.  Here again, we see an element of timing.  In all good time God will hand to Christ His Kingdom here on earth, a Kingdom that I personally believe is here and now and not something to come on some later date.  But, here Satan tries to offer a shortcut, an easy way out, Jesus is having nothing to do with it, he knows that all good comes in God's time and in God's timing.  We simply cannot rush God's time schedule, no matter how impatient or selfish we may be.

The third temptation is offered by Satan in the form of a quote from the 91st Psalm, to which Jesus quickly points out this misuse of scripture.  To throw himself from the Temple in the hope that Angels would attend to him would be a public display of his Messiah-ship ahead of the God determined time schedule.  Once again, we have a element of timing.  Jesus understands the temptation to strike out on our own and to try and short cut the things that need to be accomplished, to try and avoid the lessons that need to be learned along the way.  All things, in God's time and not our own.  Soon enough, the world will recognize Jesus as the Christ, but not here at this juncture in the wilderness.

One of the things that springs to mind upon reflection upon Jesus and his time alone in the wilderness is why does he the son of God need to spend time in spiritual preparation, prayer and fasting?  Shouldn't he be ready and rearing to go?  Well, the answer to this is that we need to remember that Jesus was fully human.  In order to be fully human, he had to be in the position of needing to learn.  He simply couldn't be in a state of 'all knowing' or he wouldn't be human, and we know that he wasn't in this state of 'all knowing', when he remarks that 'only the Father knows' when asked about the timing of the end times.  Another place where we see Christ's need for learning and spiritual growth is found in the book of Hebrews.  

Here we read:  Hebrews 4:14-16 New International Version (NIV)

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

He can empathize with all our weaknesses because he has experienced them in a fully human capacity.  Christ understands what we endure because he has learned what it is like to be human. A being that is 'all powerful' cannot understand what it is like to be a weak and pitiful human being without having walked in that being's sandals so to say.

Thankfully, we worship a God who saw fit to come to earth and experience first hand what it was like to be imperfect and flawed just as we are.  A God whose grace extends to all because He knows intimately just how much we need (though undeservingly) His grace and mercy (not to mention love).

One final thought, whereas Jesus wrestled with Satan in the wilderness, we need to bear in mind that all too often the Satan we combat is our own selfish and impatient human nature.  We can learn much that we can apply to our own lives if we look at the Satan in this Gospel story as being our selfish human condition.  Certainly, this aspect of our nature fills this role of Satan very, very well.  I am often fond of reminding others that if we want to see Satan, all we need to do is look in the mirror... if you're honest you'll see him lurking there. I'm thoroughly convinced that it's this 'adversary' in the mirror that we need to be the most concerned about on a day by day basis.  Never, ever give into the temptation that the vision in the mirror holds forth... all good comes from God and in God's perfect timing.

Remember to be a blessing to someone today!

In His Mercy & Grace!
Roy

Woodlawn Christian Church, Lake City, Iowa