09 Mar Sermon – SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2025
Temptation and trials are times not only of testing, but of preparation. They are necessary exercises during which individuals establish their identity and confirm their character. But who wants to go through such times? No one. Yet we do and Jesus did.
When scripture says, “Being tempted for forty days,” it means that Jesus was tempted continuously for forty days. What we read today was the grand finale: three big plays in his overall game plan where Satan attempted to win by pulling out his very best and most tempting offers.
But listen to Mark’s version of events in chapter one verses twelve and thirteen. After Jesus was baptized, “The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.”
This brief account isn’t considered a summary of more elaborate versions, but is considered the way the story was originally told since Mark’s gospel was by all accounts, the very first one written. So what’s written in Matthew and Luke are considered embellished versions of Mark.
Just like finding out the truth via news feeds today sometimes amounts to a quest that can take effort on our part, several sources of the gospel need to be cross-referenced sometimes in order to get the entire story or at least the one the author aims to get across. It’s worth noting that the temptation of Jesus isn’t mentioned at all in the Gospel of John.
But before Jesus’ ministry begins, John does write about John the Baptist bearing witness to who Jesus is by having John the Baptist say, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,” and then also testifying that John the Baptist saw “the Spirit descend from heaven and remain upon Jesus, thus making the distinction that Jesus is the [only one] able to baptize with the Holy Spirit and [rightfully be called] the Son of God.”
The title Son of God is unique and one way that Jesus refers to himself over 76 different times in the Bible. He knew who he was and had no reason to doubt if he was or not as Satan seemed to imply by saying, “If you are the Son of God…” What he really wanted was proof that Jesus was the Son of God since the devil was not part of any conversation between Father, Son and Holy Spirit about how to save humankind from temptation and sins of Satan’s ilk.
Had Jesus proven that the title Son of God truly belonged to him by entertaining Satan’s temptations, it only would have proven his deity to Satan then he would have had to realize that none other than God himself was standing before him and would be his undoing on earth. He’d have had only a nanosecond of satisfaction thinking he’d tricked Jesus before realizing that he had nothing over him or on him with which to exert leverage or power.
Pastor Charles Stanley used to use the acronym HALT as a warning against sin. He’d say, “Don’t ever let yourself get too hungry, angry, lonely or tired. Jesus must have been all of those things after forty days of being alone and feeling deprived. Satan knows that human beings have their limits, that they will succumb to temptation more easily if they feel hungry or disgruntled, feel abandoned, forgotten or sleep deprived. We are human and probably would have taken Satan up on his offers, but we would not have been able to turn stone into a loaf of bread.
But we act out in other ways under Satan’s influence everytime we insist on over satisfying our whetted appetites, by grabbing at power once we recognize having the upper hand, by threatening harm to others and even ourselves when we don’t get our way or in an attempt to get our way. Every unkind act begins with feelings of hurt or deprivation, with feelings of being taken advantage of, unappreciated, unrecognized, unheard, unseen or unacknowledged.
That’s really Satan’s beef with God and us, that he’s not God’s favorite. Even when he was God’s most highly respected angel, that was not enough because Lucifer wanted to be God, to be worshiped and adored. That’s the aim of the gospel authors, to prove that Satan will always be jealous and do anything to mess things up for those favored by God. That includes you and I.
Now in the Lutheran church, we don’t talk much about Satan’s influence on us or his influence in the life of society, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a thing. Let today’s gospel lesson be a lesson and a reminder to all people. Satan’s aim is to lie, cheat and steal away God’s kingdom and God’s children from every blessing that God has in store.
When you shop online for things or read an ad in print, you have to check on an item’s availability, right? If it isn’t “In-store” or available online, you can’t obtain it, can you? You have to look elsewhere. If something is “sold-out” you can’t put it in your cart and there’s no use thinking about it unless you find another source or can get a raincheck, like in the old days.
No one knew better than Jesus what God had in-store for all God had created. In fact, Satan knew better than most just what God had. And he wanted it for himself. Satan didn’t want to share bread, power, authority, and glory with Jesus or even with his own demon followers. Satan only wants everything for himself. And with that Satan aims to destroy every other person’s chances of having what they need or what might make them happy.
That is why Jesus quotes scripture to Satan and it’s important to be able to quote scripture. I’ll admit, I don’t do that well, but I do read a lot of scripture and am pretty familiar with it. Another thing demonstrates is this: Don’t settle for less than what God intends to give you. Don’t aim to satisfy yourself the easy way or with the first thing available. Be prepared to wait a while because every time of trial is preparation for us to achieve something impossible unless we trust God to provide.
I don’t like waiting or doing without and God knows this, so I have to pray not to be grumpy, or act and do whatever I can the moment I figure out a way, get an idea, or discover that I have the means to solve my problems without involving God. Through the telling of this gospel story, we see Jesus be tempted like a man. And he overcomes temptation not by leaning into his divine nature, but by leaning into scripture.
We see Satan acknowledge Jesus as being full human by attempting to tempt him in ways common to every human being. He shares our needs: our physical need to feel satiated, our psychological need to feel esteem, our need to have emptiness filled, our egos stroked, our longing for relief from suffering granted. Satan knows that human beings have dreams where power, authority and respect are ours. In our very own prayers, don’t we dare God to do great things or to prevent bad things from happening?
Jesus in the wilderness is truly in a place many of us have visited here on earth: a place of exposure where barrenness and vulnerability surrounds us, a place of hardship, deprivation and grief which will reveal not only our weakness, but show us the greatest source of our inner strength.
Full of the Holy Spirit we are led with Jesus to a place where circumstances, time and trials will change who we are. We will emerge from that place stronger than ever if we don’t succumb to Satan’s plans to trip us up. In fact, we may take the very thing meant to trip us up and use it as a symbol of victory.
Take the notion of commanding a stone to bread and Jesus quoting that “One does not live by bread alone.” Then he himself becomes the bread of life. Sitting among his disciples, he would later take a loaf of bread, give thanks and break the bread while saying, “This is my body given for you.” What a lecture Jesus could have given Satan on making bread in the wilderness.
How equally ironic that Satan would claim to have “the kingdom, the power and the glory” of God to hand over and give to Jesus. He shows his whole handful of cards by saying, “If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” The kingdom, power and glory already belong to God’s only son who sits at God’s right hand.
Once you are sure of who you are, you won’t ever need to prove your identity. And when you trust God completely, you won’t need to test whether God’s word is true in every case. These things are certain: Doubt and fear are the realms of Satan. Let us pray.
Lord, we pray for the ability to trust you for all that we (and our loved ones) need. May the fullness of your Spirit sustain us through trials and may the truth of your word empower us with courage and conviction. Help us to defeat Satan’s plans with good thoughts and strong words of hope and wisdom. May we learn from Jesus that counterattack is unnecessary. We need only to stand firm and recall with boldness exactly who you are and how you made us to be or at least become. In your holy name we pray, Amen.