Sermon: People of God, in this gospel lesson we will see that Christ is victorious over Satan, and as a result, we are victorious over the tempter when we answer temptation as Christ answered. Let us pray.
Prayer: May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our Kinsman. Amen.
As we enter into the Lenten Season we begin considering the temptation of our Lord Jesus Christ. In our study of the Beatitudes –some weeks ago– the eighth beatitude assured us that we will be persecuted for righteousness’ sake. Jesus speaks with full authority because He himself was persecuted; He himself suffered the temptations of the evil one. Peter makes this quite clear when he says that “your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”[1] In the great temptation of Matthew four, we have the roar of the adversary versus the roar of the Messiah.[2] The Messiah roars words of truth; the adversary roars words of deception.
Our Lord became man, so that he might taste death for everyone[3], but before tasting death, He endured temptations and persecution, and scorn. All these things were necessary, so He might become the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.[4] Jesus was led into these temptations in order to be tested by the Father. But this is not just any testing; it is the very heart of the ministry of Jesus. The wilderness testing is a sign that if Jesus defeats the devil, then all other accusations and temptations in his earthly ministry will also be defeated.[5]
The passage begins by stating that Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the Spirit. What preceded this event in Matthew’s gospel was the baptism of Jesus.[6] I addressed Jesus’ baptism some weeks ago and I mentioned that Jesus’ baptism was the beginning of His priestly work. In baptism, the Spirit comes upon us and we are called to be priests to the world;[7] those who reconcile the world to Jesus Christ. Baptism is the beginning of our priestly work. But we need to remember that the Christian story is not “before Jesus I had problems, but now with Jesus I have no problems,” rather, the Christian message is “before Jesus you had problems, and after Jesus you may have greater problems.” What is crucial to understand is that problems or no problems, in Christ we are secured; united to Christ we are kept from falling. We need to grasp that though we are in Christ, united to him by faith through our baptisms, yet life is not going to be untouched by problems and temptations. The very first mission of the baptized Christ was to overcome temptation.[8] Continue reading “Sermon: Matthew 4:1-11; First Sunday in Lent: The Devil’s Game: Seizing Kingship without Cross”