Sermon March 5th, 2017 "The Temptation"

Photo by Christian Begeman, find his work at
https://www.facebook.com/prairiesanctuaries/

This past Sunday the Lectionary Scripture from the Gospel was Matthew 4:1-11.  Which is the very well known story of the 'Temptation of Christ in the Wilderness'.  This story is found in all three Synoptic Gospels, though the story in Mark is much, much condensed from what we have in Matthew or Luke. It would appear that Mark had one source for this story and that Matthew and Luke had an additional source (most likely the enigmatic 'Q' source), available to them in the construction of their Gospels.

I did of course address in the sermon the 'temptation' portion of the scripture, though I will confess a temptation towards eliminating that aspect entirely. The part of the story that we tend to gloss over is the 40 days of preparation and fasting prior to the temptation.  This timeline of '40' whether it be days or years pops up throughout scripture.

- Noah and his family endured 40 days and nights on the ark before God made a covenant with them.
- Moses fasted on Mt. Sinai for 40 days and nights as he inscribed the words of God's the words of God's covenant for the Israelite's.
- Elijah fasted in the desert for 40 days and nights before receiving a new commission from God.
- 40 is the number of years the Israelite's wandered in the wilderness in preparation for their arrival in the promised land.
- (This is only a partial list, there are more of course)

And 40 is the number of days (not counting Sundays) of Lent that we are to spend in preparation for Easter Sunday and the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus.

All too often, we humans want to fill-fill-fill... for us, being busy and going constantly is a sign of the importance of the work we are doing, and this contributes directly to our own sense of self-worth.  But the 40 days of fasting in the wilderness that Christ performed (and which is the example we are intended to follow during this Lenten season), was a time of emptying and not a time of filling.  It was a time of reflection and prayer, a time of pouring out what He had been up until that time, in order to be completely filled with the Spirit that had come down to Him at the baptism by John.

Let us try and spend as much time as we can during this Lenten observance emptying ourselves... letting go of what we would be, in order to take in and become... what He would have us be.

Be a blessing to someone today!

In His grace, glory and care,
Roy

Matthew 4:1-11  New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The Temptation of Jesus
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. 3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,

‘One does not live by bread alone,
    but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,

‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
    and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; 9 and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written,

‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’”

11 Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

Photo by Christian Begeman, see more of his amazing work at:
https://www.facebook.com/prairiesanctuaries/