First Sunday in
Lent – Year C
February 17, 2013
Luke
4:1-13
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 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. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread." Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'"
Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 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. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours." Jesus answered him, "It is written,
'Worship the Lord your God,
and serve only him.'"
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, for it is written,
'He will command his angels concerning you,
to protect you,'
and
'On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'"
Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 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. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread." Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'"
Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 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. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours." Jesus answered him, "It is written,
'Worship the Lord your God,
and serve only him.'"
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, for it is written,
'He will command his angels concerning you,
to protect you,'
and
'On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'"
Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.
It’s hard to believe, but Lent is already
upon us, which means that in 5 weeks it will be Easter! And yes, it is early this year. The history of Lent is somewhat
fascinating. It’s something we probably
don’t think that much about, it’s just another one of those funny ways the
church has decided to break up the calendar.
So what is Lent?
Well,simply put, “Lent is a season of forty days, not
counting Sundays, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy
Saturday. Lent comes from the Anglo Saxon word lencten, which means
"spring." The forty days represents the time Jesus spent in the
wilderness, enduring the temptation of Satan and preparing to begin his
ministry (our text for today). Lent is a
time of repentance, fasting and preparation for the coming of Easter. It is a
time of self-examination and reflection.” “Today, Christians focus on
their relationship with God, with some choosing to give up something or to
volunteer and give of themselves for others.” [1]
In the early church, Lent was a time of preparation
for new converts. Easter was not only
the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection, the declaration of the new life that
Jesus had brought into being, but the time when new converts were
baptized. What better way to symbolize
the new life they were entering than to pass through the waters of
baptism? Lent was about getting oneself
ready for Easter, getting oneself ready for baptism, getting oneself ready for
the new life you were entering. Lent was
about coming face to face with the demons in your life, and declaring they
would not have power over you.
This morning we heard the story of Jesus
coming literally face to face with the prince of demons: the devil himself. There is always a desire when we read
biblical texts, to put ourselves into the story. We want to find ways of applying the text to
ourselves. Jesus was tempted, we also
are tempted, so the story is applicable to us too, right? There is truth there to be sure, but let’s be
really honest for a second. Not a single
one of us would be able to resist the way Jesus did. Not a single one of us would be able to. The story of Jesus in the desert, being
tempted by the devil is about Jesus, pure and simple. It’s about who Jesus is, who he understood
himself to be, what his mission, his time amongst us was going to look
like. It’s not about us.
One of the things about this passage I find
most interesting is the devil recognizing who Jesus is. Some translations record the devil saying, “If
you are the Son of God,” others have say, “Since you are the Son of God.” The original language is much closer to the
meaning of ‘since’. The devil begins his
argument by stating that Jesus is the Son of God. That changes things a little.
“Jesus, you’re the Son of God. Why are you suffering this way? You have great power, do something with
it. You know you want to. What would it hurt, it’s just a couple of
rocks? No one will ever know.” “Jesus, you’re the Son of God. We both have
an idea about what you’re here to do: transform the world, bring about a new
way of living. But, wouldn’t it be
easier if you could just rule over everyone and tell them, command them what to
do? I can do that for you. No suffering, no pain. You can still get people to see the wisdom of
your ways. Just, do it this way.” “Jesus, you’re the Son of God. Don’t you think God will take care of
you? I mean, you’re the Son ,
right? Why don’t you prove it? Can you imagine how many people would come
flocking to you if they saw God intervene to save your life? Everyone would see how special you are.” “What’s it going to hurt? You still get your goal of transforming the
way of life around here. You are the Son
of God.”
The devil certainly has a way with
words. When we are at our weakest, when
we are most vulnerable is when the devil shows up with his arguments. Feeling left out, here’s a group that will
accept you. Feeling poor, here’s a way
to make a quick buck. Feeling unloved,
here’s an easy excuse for “love”.
Feeling like you aren’t good enough, here’s a message that you are
better than you think you are.
When it comes to temptation and the skillful
words of the devil one of the great stories is the one we heard this morning
from the Old Testament. How Eve and Adam
(yes, he was there too) were tempted by the devil. There they were hanging out in paradise,
everything provided for them. And the
devil shows up and says they could have so much more. Sure, God has provided all they need, but
what if there were more? What if they
could grasp ahold of something, do something themselves to show that they were
capable of providing for themselves.
What if they could show God that they didn’t need him quite so much? I mean, they were made in the image of God,
why couldn’t they do what they wanted to do?
They had the power to take control of the situation, do things their
way.
Isn’t
the temptation of Jesus that same test?
Isn’t the devil telling Jesus that he has the power to take care of his
own needs? That he has the power to
ensure his own success? That the goal of
transforming the world, of making sure the message is heard by as many people
as possible, is what’s important, not so much the way you get there?
Jesus’
rebuffs the words of the devil, in much the same way that he responds to his
own insecurities in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Not my will, but thine.” Even after 40 days wandering in the
desert. Even knowing he had the power to
alleviate his own hunger and suffering, even knowing he had the power to make
the coming years way more enjoyable, he doesn’t do it. The words of the devil fail, where they
succeed in the Garden of Eden. Adam and
Eve’s failure to trust in God for all their needs, to say that God was enough,
caused life in the presence of God to change, brought about their expulsion
from paradise. Yet, Jesus’ trust in God
was the beginning of the restoration of life in God’s presence, in paradise
itself.
Last
week, our text included the directive from God to, “Listen to Him”. In Jesus we see someone listening to the
voice of scripture, to the voice of God.
There are voices that are always swirling around us, sometimes loudly,
sometimes softly, demanding our attention, urging and coaxing us to listen to
them. Are we listening to the voice of
God, or to other voices? Are we
listening to voices that stir within us, pushing us in different directions? What voices are tempting us?
Temptation
is not about making someone do something, it’s about pushing someone toward deciding
to do something they were capable of doing all along. The devil doesn’t make you do it; the devil
helps you find your way around the excuses and limits you have in place to
prevent certain actions and behaviors.
The devil makes us see the options, we choose to take the path. We choose not to trust in the promises of
God. Lent, trials and temptations,
growing in faith; it’s about learning to trust in God. It’s about learning to put God first in all
things. It’s about learning to put aside
our own desires for success and honor.
It’s about learning not to test God, to determine whether or not God is
there, whether or not God cares. It’s sort
of like marriage, as soon as one starts wondering or asking, "If you
really love me, then . . . ." then one is no longer living by the marriage
promise, but using it to manipulate the other. As soon as we start looking for ways to prove
God's presence, ways to prove God’s love, we are not living by God's word. We are no longer living by faith.
Obedience
doesn't come naturally, even to the best of us. But that's the reason the
season of Lent is so important. If we can learn to recognize the voice of temptation
during these forty days, perhaps we will be wise enough to know him when he
speaks during the rest of the year. God
desires us to put our trust in him completely, totally. There are so many things we could never do,
so many places we could never go if it were up to our own strength, our own
decisions.
Jesus
was in the wilderness, in the desert; alone but not alone, weak but not
weak. When he could have easily chosen a
different path, he chose obedience. In
the wilderness of our own lives, in the solitude of this holy season and
throughout the rest of the year and our lives, may we trust in God and the
grace he gives us, to choose not only who we are, what we will be and do, but also whose we will be. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment