Sermon Luke 4.1-13

Four priests were spending a couple of days on retreat preparing for Lent. On the first evening they decided to tell each other their biggest temptations.

The first priest said, “Well, I am so very embarrassed to confess that but my big temptation is racy pictures. Once, instead of the Church Times, I bought a copy of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.”

“My temptation is worse,” said the second priest. “I’m afraid it’s gambling. One Saturday instead of preparing my sermon, I went to the races to bet on the horses, and I lost all the previous week’s Sunday collection.”

“Mine is worse still,” said the third priest. “I sometimes can’t control the urge to have a drink. Just last week, finding not one bottle left in the rectory, I actually broke into the sacramental wine.”

The fourth priest who was usually very talkative indeed, was suddenly very, very quiet. “Sisters and brothers, I hate to say this,” she said, “but my temptation is worst of all. I love to gossip – and if you will all excuse me, there’s a few phone calls I’d like to make!”

Oscar Wilde famously said “I can resist anything but temptation” . A line I think many of us could probably relate to (at least sometimes)!

The very nature of temptation is that it is so hard to resist – it‟s designed to make you give in.

Temptation is linked with the ides of doing something that we shouldn’t- something forbidden or banned, something dangerously elicit.

Rarely do we think of someone tempting us to do good! Can you imagine – “Go on ! Why don‟t you give away your best coat to that poor, cold homeless person on the street, go on – you know you want to!”

No, the little whispers in our ears are more likely to be encouraging us to think that we can get away with a tiny white lie or with “borrowing something‟ that isn’t ours without asking permission, maybe eating that tiny chocolate bar or drinking just that one glass of sherry that we gave up for Lent.

“It won‟t do any harm” the little voice says.

Well, of course that‟s what the serpent told Eve about eating the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden and look what that led to!

I’m sure you will have seen the comic book portrayal of a person being tempted – the one with an angel hovering on one side of them and a little red demon on the other side.

The battle ensues with the demon tempting the individual to do something bad and the angel reminding them of the consequences and trying to convince them to do right.

It’s portrayed as a battle between good and evil as are many of the stories in books, films and television dramas – an all too familiar tale.

In biblical thought ‘to tempt’ means to test something or someone to determine or demonstrate their worth or faithfulness. Or it can mean an attempt by Satan to invite a person to sin, like in our comic book example.

The gospel passage we read today was about Jesus being led into the desert by the Holy Spirit in preparation for his ministry. Luke places this event after Jesus’ baptism – the event where he was acknowledged as God’s son and God’s love and acceptance of him was publicly proclaimed ‘You are my son, whom I love, with you I am well pleased’.

Luke also lists Jesus’ lineage here as if to emphasise his credentials to us, the reader.

We are told Jesus fasted for forty days and nights – and that number, the number forty, is a significant number in other parts of the Bible too – remember Noah and the flood when it rained for forty days, what about Moses who was up the mountain for forty days, Nineveh was given forty days to repent and Israel spent forty years in the wilderness being ‘tested’.

It’s at this time, when he is hungry, that the devil comes to tempt Jesus. Bible commentators often see Jesus essentially being challenged about three things in these temptations: his identity, his means of obtaining the kingdom and his use of power. They are all temptations to doubt Gods will and intention for Jesus’ life and ministry.

The first temptation is about his identity and his use of power. He is being asked to prove who he is by using his God-given power and authority to turn the stones into bread – to meet his own physical need, but also to use miracles to prove his identity. It’s as if the devil is saying “Come on, use what you’ve got to get what you want”, but Jesus responds with words taken from scripture – he doesn‟t enter into an argument or discussion : declaring “It is written: Man does not live on bread alone’. In Matthew these words are added “but on every word that comes from the mouth of God”.

Jesus’ need to eat is not a sin, but how he obtains what he needs is important.

Jesus recognises that God will provide and he needs to trust him to provide what is necessary and Jesus understands that he doesn’t need to prove who he is by miracle working – that is the wrong way to establish his identity. Jesus is willing to wait – to do his father’s will is his bread.

In the second temptation Jesus is taken to the mountain top –traditionally, a place of prayer and of God‟s presence.

A shortcut is offered to him – that he can have all the kingdoms of this world if he worships Satan. Jesus sought to establish a kingdom –God’s kingdom on this earth.

Many of his parables illustrated what this kingdom was like. Jesus wasn’t seeking to be king of the kind of kingdom he was being offered by Satan.

Jesus answered again with a sentence from Deuteronomy. It is written ‘worship the Lord your God and serve him only’.

The same sentiment echoed in the Lord’s Prayer that Jesus taught his disciples – Our father who art in heaven, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’

What Jesus taught and modelled to his disciples was servant leadership – that the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and offer his life as a ransom for many. Obedience to his Father was his ministry.

In the third temptation Jesus is led to the highest point of the temple in Jerusalem – the place where his earthly ministry would end. The devil questions his identity again “If you are the son of God…” and using scripture, tempts Jesus to put God’s word to the test by throwing himself from the rooftop.

What a sensational event it would have been – a dramatic sky jump without a parachute and God sending his angels to the rescue. Another shortcut being offered – a sign to prove he is the Messiah and God‟sGod’s son– – what a fantastic way that would be to launch his ministry.

But Jesus responds again with the word of God “Do not put the lord your God to the test”.

Not only is Jesus not prepared to ‘prove himself’ in the wrong way, he is not going to ask God, his father, to prove himself either.

On the cross, once again Jesus is challenged by bystanders with the same temptation – “If he is the son of God, let him ask God to come and rescue him – to prove he is who he says he is”.

He resists right to the end continuing to obey and trust God – not demanding to be rescued from the cross.

Luke ends the passage by telling us that when the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

This suggests that he will be back. That Jesus will continue to face temptation to take the easy way, the shortcut, to doubt who he is and use his power to prove his identity.

Satan is tempting him from taking the way of the cross, he is tempting him to abandon his true mission and ministry – but Jesus resists – there is no shortcut to salvation. He will be challenged time and time again, particularly by the Pharisees, about his identity, his teaching, his authority and his use of power.

He will also face the cross and that will require all these temptations to have been overcome before the ultimate testing of all – he will have to trust he is doing his fathers will, even when he no longer feels his father’s presence.

Why have you forsaken me? he cries out on the cross, before commending his spirit to his Father in trust at the last breath. He was tempted but he never gave in, he never sinned, he proved his faithfulness and was worthy to win our salvation for us.

We are eternally grateful he did it God’s way, not his way, not the way Satan was tempting him to go.

It’s no accident that the gospel reading for today is the temptation of Christ – we wouldn‟t be looking forward to Easter today, there would be no Lent if Jesus had yielded to those temptations.

We are in the days of Lent – forty days – they are a time of preparation for us – to recount all the suffering, but also to have one eye on the glory of the resurrection.

We are invited to ‘walk with Jesus’ through this time – as disciples we too are called to the way of the cross.

There are no shortcuts for us –  no easy life just because we are Christians. We are loved, we are children of God but our trust in God – who he is and who we are will be tested.

In difficult times – we may be tempted to do things our way – to doubt our identity as children of God, to put God to the test, to find another God to worship who doesn’t make demands of us.

But there is always an opportunity to choose the right pathway – to trust our heavenly Father. There is no shortcut to the victory and glory of Easter without passing through the pain and sorrow of Lent.

Lent gives us time to discover our identity afresh as children of God, to re-establish our trust in Him for our needs to be met, to reaffirm our trust in Him for our salvation. Committing ourselves anew to obedience and living the kingdom life are ways we can respond to the call to be his disciples.

I pray you have a blessed and holy Lent and that you are drawn closer to Him who is our saviour and our redeemer – Amen.