Luke 4:1-13
1 Lent C
Luke 4:1-13
No sooner that you sit down at your desk,
the Vice-President of the company walks into your cubicle. “Son,” he says, “I
have an offer for you. How would you like to be my right hand man? If you
listen to me, you can find yourself using the Executive Washroom today. No waiting
around for years and paying your dues. I can move you into a corner office
today. Sound tempting?”
Well, sure it does. Who wouldn’t be tempted
by such an offer? “What do I have to do?” you ask. “Oh, not much,” he
answers. “Just give me your complete loyalty. Be ready to stab anyone and
everyone in the back. Give up all your principles, and think only of yourself. Think
it over. I’ll be back at an opportune time.” And with that, he is gone.
It’s your first day. What do you do?
When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the
wilderness, it was his first day on the job. Forty days earlier, he had been
baptized, and then driven out into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit. There, he
prayed and fasted for forty days and nights, in preparation for his ministry. And
then, he was tempted by Satan. We begin the season of Lent by looking at the
Temptation of Jesus, and how the three temptations offered to him by Satan
might be temptations for us, as well.
We’ll call the first temptation “Stone into Bread.” What it is, is the
temptation to use power for the wrong
reason. Satan says to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, command this
stone to become a loaf of bread.” If you are the Son of God, you can do
it. What Satan is trying to do is to get Jesus to doubt himself just long
enough to misuse his power in order to prove his identity as the Son of God.
Jesus was certainly hungry after forty days in the wilderness. And he knew that
many in the world were hungry, and would continue to be hungry. Use your power,
Satan says, to feed the hungry. What’s the harm in that? You’ll be a hero to
them. They’ll love you.
But Jesus does not want people to love him
just because he can feed them. Jesus wants us to come to him because we belong
to him, not because he has something for us. He wants us to come to him because
our souls need to be in his presence, not because our bellies need to be
filled. We do need bread to live, but more than that, we need to have our souls
filled with the spiritual food that Jesus offers.
And so Jesus, quoting scripture, rejects
Satan’s first temptation with these words; “One does not live by bread alone.”
Hungry as he is, and fully knowing the hunger of the world, Jesus will not be
tempted to use his power for the wrong reason.
Let’s call the second temptation, “Serve the Wrong Master.” What it is, is
the temptation to idolatry—the
temptation to worship someone or something other than God. Satan shows
Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, and says to him, “I’ll give you all of this if you
will worship me.” It’s an easy short-cut to the top. No pain, no
suffering, no Passion. Rule the world in one easy step—exchange your loyalty to
God for loyalty to Satan, and it can all be yours. What do you say?
Once again, Jesus quotes the scriptures, and
answers, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” Jesus
will not be seduced by Satan’s offer of the easy way out. If he is to rule the
world, it will not be by serving the wrong master.
After forty days in the wilderness, on his first
day on the job, Jesus has withstood two powerful temptations. He has refused to
use his power for the wrong reason, and has refused to serve the wrong master.
Satan will have to try something else.
Maybe a change of venue will give Satan an
advantage. Since he can’t tempt Jesus out in the wilderness, he transports him
to the pinnacle of the
Satan has gotten smarter in his encounter
with Jesus. He has seen Jesus quote the scriptures in order to avoid
temptation. Now Satan uses the scriptures for his own purposes; “Go
ahead, jump,” he says. “For it is written, ‘He shall command his
angels concerning you, to protect you.’” Jump, if you dare. After all,
God has promised that his angels will be waiting to catch you. Do you believe
God or not?
Jesus responds with another verse from
scripture; “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” You do not test a promise of God. You do not
try to accomplish it by your own means, even if those means are backed up by
scripture. After all, even Satan can quote scripture. The Word of God is not
something to be manipulated for our own purposes.
Three times Satan has tempted Jesus, and
three times, he has failed. The trial is over for now, and Satan departs, until
an opportune time. He’ll be back.
On his first day on the job, Jesus faced
some difficult temptations. He overcame them, and went on to do his work. But
temptation followed him all the way, just as it follows us.
When Jesus was determined to go to
When Jesus was dying on the Cross, a Roman
centurion taunted him saying, “If you are the Son of God, jump down from
that cross and save yourself.” This sounds hauntingly familiar to
Satan’s challenge to Jesus to jump from the pinnacle of the
Jesus was tempted throughout his life, as we
are. And so today, on the First Sunday of Lent, I want to remind you of this;
There will be times when you find yourself in the wilderness, trying to make
your way through. Temptation will come along and offer you the wrong answer,
the wrong choice, the wrong use of power, the way to popularity, the wrong
partnership. At times like these, may you remember what Jesus did.
He didn’t turn those stones into bread. He
fed himself on the Word of God. He didn’t render service to Satan. He obeyed
his Father in Heaven. He didn’t fling himself on the rocks. He wanted no one’s
approval but God’s.
And this, I
suppose, is the twist ending of Lent.
If Jesus saves
himself, he cannot save you. AMEN