Pastor Timothy Patoka 1 Sunday Of Lent: March 10, 2019 Jesus, Our Tried And True Champion Luke 4:1-13 st
1) The Devil Tries To Entice With Temptations 2) Jesus Is The Triumphant Champion A few years back, there was a trend on social media where people would sarcastically post their problems and frustrations with the tagline: “first-world problems.” Perhaps you did this yourself. While I never posted anything on social media, I did go along in spirit. After enduring a red-eye flight or an overnight bus trip where I wouldn’t get much sleep, I would take a mental picture of myself with the tag line “first-world problems” as the caption. I still get the occasional chance to do it whenever I forget something like to pack my lunch in the morning or to fill up on gas when it’s convenient. While these problems are annoying, they are truly “firstworld problems” in that they ultimately aren’t troubling. Yet even in a blessed country like our own, we are not exempt from deep and troubling problems. There are people in need of life’s bare necessities, people whose hearts have been ripped apart from messy break ups or losses of loved ones, people who struggle with mental illness and perceive reality differently because of a chemical imbalance. These problems aren’t limited to first-world nations. They are found in all countries and in all times. In our verses for this morning from the Gospel of Luke, we see our Savior who is going through a problem that is not a “first-world problem.” He find him in one of his weakest moments while he walked on earth – 40 days in the wilderness without companionship or food. Without a doubt, he was feeling the effects of hunger. And not just with a growling stomach, but also with the other things that come from prolonged time without food (i.e. slowed thinking, mood swings, desperation for food). If there were ever a time that Jesus was going to slip up in his mission to be our Savior, this would be one of those times. And so, the Devil came to work his evil will. Yet, despite his hungered weakness, Jesus would defeat the Devil and show that he is our tried and true champion. 1) The Devil Tries To Entice With Temptations When Jesus was baptized 40 days before in the Jordan River, the Holy Spirit publicly anointed him as the Son of God (Luke 3:22) and then promptly brought him out into the wilderness. After Jesus’ 40-day long fast was over, the Devil came to Jesus with 3 enticing temptations so as to trick Jesus into sinning. His first temptation was this, “‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is written: ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’” (Luke 4:3-4) Of the Devil’s 3 temptations, this is perhaps the most misunderstood. You may be wondering, “why was it a sin for Jesus to miraculous feed himself?” The act of eating itself wasn’t a sin. Rather the temptation was that 1
Pastor Timothy Patoka 1 Sunday Of Lent: March 10, 2019 the Devil wanted Jesus to use his divine power for selfish reasons. First of all, to confirm his identity as the Son of God (which both the Devil and Jesus already knew to be true and didn’t need confirmation of the fact), and secondly to put earthly priorities before his godly priorities. Jesus responds to the Devil with the words of Deuteronomy 8(:3) to show that a person’s life should first be about godly priorities and then about earthly priorities. If Jesus were to have miraculously satisfied his 40-day long hunger at this moment, he would have fallen victim to the Devil and sabotaged his mission to be our Savior. st
But the Devil wasn’t ready to give up yet. So, “the Devil led [Jesus] up to a high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. The Devil told him, ‘I will give you all this power and the glory of these kingdoms, because it has been entrusted to me, and I can give it to anyone I want. So, if you worship me, it will all be yours.’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is written: ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’” (Luke 4:5-8) Besides showing us that not only is the Devil real, but that he is also the most powerful force in this world next to God (Ephesians 2:2), we see the Devil’s second enticing temptation – all the power in the world given for a simple act of idolatrous worship. Now this may seem like a foolish thing for the Devil to offer to Jesus. But consider what Jesus has in front of him still – 3 full years of walking on earth full of hardships, heartbreaks, and bittersweet moments. Jesus had the opportunity to bypass all those sufferings before most of them ever began. Yet Jesus, knowing full well what was going to happen to him in those next 3 years, resolutely quoted the 1st Commandment (specifically Deuteronomy 6:13 and 10:20) and denied the Devil’s enticing temptation. The Devil had one more temptation up his sleeve. “The Devil led [Jesus] to Jerusalem and had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple. ‘If you are the Son of God,’ he said, ‘throw yourself down from here, because it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you.’ And, ‘they will lift you up with their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ Jesus answered him, ‘It says: ‘You shall not test the Lord your God.’” (Luke 4:9-12) You see the Devil’s intelligence in this last temptation where he adapts his tempting tactics by including his enemy’s defense by quoting from Psalm 91. Again we have 2 prongs behind the Devil’s temptation. First of all to again challenge Jesus to prove his divine identity. But secondly to prove that Scripture is true in all it says. Yet Jesus wisely sidesteps the Devil’s challenge and shows us how to understand Psalm 91 with the words of Deuteronomy 6(:16), “You shall not test the Lord your God.” The Devil tried his best to waylay Jesus from his mission of salvation. Yet even in one of his weakest moments, Jesus still triumphs over the Devil as our champion. But would we fend off the Devil if we were given the same temptations? I don’t think so. Not even if we had full stomachs and the comforts of civilization. The Devil tempts us in the same ways he tempted Jesus in the wilderness. Like that first temptation, the Devil tempts us to 2
Pastor Timothy Patoka 1 Sunday Of Lent: March 10, 2019 put earthly priorities before godly priorities. How often does our pursuit of the American dream of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness override our pursuit of the godly dream, that is, the salvation of all sinners through faith in Christ? We frequently misuse the talents and treasures that God has blessed us with to primarily serve ourselves instead of first giving back to God and then enjoying the bountiful remains. Like that second temptation, the Devil tempts us to take the easy way through life instead of bearing our cross or waiting for heaven’s joys. No one likes to suffer, especially if it’s because of persecution. We know what God promises to us in heaven. Yet it is hard to be patient for those promised blessings when we see what we could be ours now if we fudged the lines a bit or lived mostly Christian lives. Like that third temptation, the Devil tempts us to distort what God’s Word says so it supports what we want it to say. The danger with false teaching is that it is usually based on half-truths that are then taken too far. What misconceptions have you had about the Christian faith that were corrected once you learned more of what your God tells you in the Bible? Where have you held God accountable for things that he hasn’t said or promised? We don’t do so well against the Devil and his temptations, whether they’re the three modeled here or the countless others he uses. st
2) Jesus Is The Triumphant Champion The problem with the Devil’s temptations is that they are not isolated incidents. One temptation leads to another and, if left unchecked, can drive a person completely away from their Savior. By ourselves it’s only a matter of time until we give into his enticing temptations hook, line, and sinker with only ourselves to blame and suffer for it. Yet the Devil doesn’t have a 100% success rate when tempting people. With each of the temptations that he enticed Jesus with, he was defeated with a simple truth from Scripture. Miraculously turn stones to bread so as to satisfy a 40-day hunger? Nope, we are to prioritize God first and then this world. Give someone else the praise that is fit for God alone so as to get limitless power? Nope, we are to worship and serve God alone. Jump from the temple so as to prove that the Bible can be trusted? Nope, we are not to put God to the test with willful or sinful decisions. When we look at Jesus’ triumph in the wilderness, our purpose is not to moralize the temptations and extract a handbook of Christian living. Rather it’s to realize who we have on our side as our triumphant champion. Jesus is and always will be victorious over the Devil! Even in his weak moments like after 40 days of isolation and hunger in the wilderness. The only thing the Devil could do at that moment was leave Jesus and wait for another opportune time to come back and try again (Luke 4:13). While the Gospels do not record another time when the Devil tempted Jesus like this again, we can certainly think of Jesus’ time leading to and on the cross as such an opportune time for the Devil to try again. But even in what was truly Jesus’ worst moment, when he was hanging on a cross, Jesus still triumphs over the Devil. Because the one was hanging on the 3
Pastor Timothy Patoka 1 Sunday Of Lent: March 10, 2019 cross was more than a victim of injustice and discrimination, he is the Son of Man who lived as only the Son of God can. He was perfect in every thought, word, and action. When he was on that cross, he bore the brunt of all people’s sins and the full punishment that we deserve for our failure to say no to temptations. So that when Jesus said, “It is finished” (John 19:30) he was declaring that his years of humility, weakness, and sufferings were over. Salvation for us was won, the Devil was forever defeated. And from Jesus’ resurrection and on, we see Jesus as he truly is – our triumphant champion in whom we trust. Not only do we trust in his power over the Devil and all other evil forces, but also in his promise that those who believe in him are forgiven of all their sins. They will be in heaven, receive all that God has promised in his Word, and be free from temptations forevermore. st
You and I may complain about “first-world problems” that in reality aren’t really problems. Many people suffer from real problems which affect every aspect of their lives. Our Savior too was no stranger to small and large problems alike. After he fasted 40 days in the wilderness, the Devil enticed him with 3 temptations in hopes of tricking him in one of his weakest moments on earth. Yet no matter what angle he used, our Savior triumphed over him. It is this same Savior whom we have the privilege to call our own. He has the power and knowledge to defeat the Devil at his very own game. We don’t do so well against the Devil’s temptations. While we know we should go to God’s Word in those tempting moments, the Devil will outsmart us by coming to us in our weak moments or in ways we may not realize are dangerous. Yet we have nothing to fear from the Devil. And that’s because we have our tried and true Champion with us. When we repent of our sins and our failures to say no to temptation, we go to a Savior who too has been tempted like us. When we ask for his forgiveness, we receive his declaration that we are at peace with God by the same person who won our salvation and the same person who beat our old, evil foe. May the Lord strengthen us in his Word so that we may defend ourselves from the Devil’s temptations. And may he bring us joy in repentance knowing that we have a tried and true champion on our side. Amen.
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