Lent 2011 Week 1

Lent week 1 year A

The temptations of Jesus.

"Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:   “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.' Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him."

Everyone is tempted to sin, almost daily, if not hourly. It is part of our fallen human nature but, Jesus is human in all ways but sin we are told in the letters to the Hebews. Something different is going on here. Here Jesus, at the outset of his ministry, is confronted by the devil with all his power. Before the temptation story we can see that Matthew setting the scene before us. By this point in the story of Jesus as told by Matthew, the birth has been recounted, the Magi have come to visit the child, the family has fled to Egypt, Herod the Great has ordered the killing of the infants as a way to eliminate the predicted threat to his power, and following his death the family has
returned to Nazareth in the Galilee region. Jump forward 20 years or more and then John is baptising in the desert.

Matthew hasn't included all this lightly. Images of the desert, the reference to Egypt, the king killing all the baby boys and Jesus escaping must have recalled to the Jewish Christians reading these stories the story of the Jews in the desert. There they were tempted for 40 years, Jesus is tempted for 40 days. 40 is a symbolic number. The difference will be crucial though for the salvation of humanity. The Israelites failed most of the time, they sinned, they repented and they fell again, as we sin, repent and then fail again. The beauty is though that we know this story has a happy ending. Jesus suffers, is crucified for our sins but rises to make it all right again. It doesn't mean that the path of life will be free from suffering. If only! Rather it is an encouragement that Jesus has done the hard part for us, that he will be with in every temptation and fall, in every tear of repentance and in every cry of joy, and then again with the next fall and rising up. God never promised us an easy time, that's what we want. God tells that he will be with us, and not to be afraid

Each time the devil tempts Jesus you have to think that the devil is pretty smart in his dealings with Jesus.  After all, he’s been around for thousands of years.  He knows God’s promises.  He knows Jesus.  When he says in the first temptation, If you are the Son of God, he can't be questioning Jesus’ divinity.  He knows Jesis is God's son but is he playing on Jesus' frail humanity? The slight niggle in all of us that we are not worthy enough or good enough. That slight doubt at the back of the mind that maybe we are deluded in our belief in being made in the image and likeness of God. The worry about how can God really love us, sinners as we are. What any of that going through Jesus' mind, he must have been hungry, he hasn't yet used his power, he hasn't proved himself to his Father perhaps. What does it matter if he shows the devil what he can do? The devil tries to get Jesus to imitate Adam, to wonder, “Did God really say…?” But Jesus knows he is loved truly by his Father, he doesn't need to resort to magic tricks. he knows that God alone gives life and knows our every need and want. He is the bread of life, why be satisfied with crumbs in comparison. At this point in the story then, it's Jesus 1 - the Devil 0.

Plan A has failed so the devil turns to Plan B. Lifting Jesus to the highest point of the temple, a dizzying height of almost 500 feet, he tells Jesus to jump.  After all, “Didn’t God say that His angels…will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone”? Rather than doubt God, the devil wants Jesus to trust that God will save him, even when he does an incredibly reckless thing. The devil is saying to us as well as Jesus, “Jump!  He’ll catch you!”  But God hasn’t said, “Jump from a building and I’ll catch you.”  What He says is that He will work out all things for our good.  What He says is that He has given us talents and treasures to use to take care of our life and those around us.  This isn’t a lack of trust in God, but recognition that God has indeed already provided us with all we need to get througn life. We don't need spectacular miracles to show that we believe in God. Life is gift from God, life is a miracle, we don't need any more proof. Jesus knows this and is willing to trust God even in the face of a great height, a height he will face again on the cross. We are called to trust in God too, even when perced on a great height!

Then the devil lays down the last card, the stakes are raised. Finally, the devil lays all his cards on the table and asks Jesus and therefore us to disobey the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me.” Satan promises Jesus and us power and glory.  He promises success and money. But breaking the first commandment leads to breaking all the rest. Jesus knows this and we know it. The devil offers Jesus an easy way out of all the suffering to come, the insults, the persecutions, the betrayal and finally the death. No pain - no gain? No way he says, no pain - all gain! He says, “Go ahead, cheat from your employer's expenses – he won't miss the money’!”  He says, “You love her, don’t you, do it. Whjat the wife soesn't know won't hurt her!” "Have one more drink, no one will get hurt if you drive after a few." We could write down our own lines the devil offers us.

But the devil is a liar.  He lies to humanity.  He lied to Jesus.  He lies to you.  Like the people of God before us we fall for his lies.  We love ourselves.  Why not? We love the world.  We love our sinful flesh.  Because it feels good, we do it!  We do it, because we want to ignore the Word of God. It's not wonder, the way of the cross is painful, but it leads to better things. Keep walking this Lent, keep remembering that even when we fall.  God wil be there to help us – through Jesus.  Jesus stands in our place.  He lives for us.  He was tempted for us. He conquered temptation for us.  He obeyed God’s commands and laws for us.  And when He died on the cross, He died for our sins.

6 weeks to go...!