Temptation

Good morning. Welcome to Church of the Advent. If you are new here, my name is Dan Bielman. I'm an associate pastor here.

Our senior pastor, Tommy Hinson, is in town this weekend, but he is somewhere else.

He and two other members of our congregation belong to the Institute for Cross-Cultural Ministry.

They belong to a cohort which is exploring ways to better welcome our neighbor, to love those different than us.

So you can be praying for the three of them this weekend. They're hard at work.

This morning, we are continuing in the book of Luke. Did you know we were in the book of Luke? We're in the book of Luke.

We started actually at the Lessons in Carol service with the nativity passages from the book of Luke.

And we're continuing through the life of Jesus according to St. Luke.

And we come to quite the epic passage.

And before we dive into this passage that depicts the battle, that recounts the battle between Jesus and our great enemy, Satan, in the wilderness,

I'd like to prepare us in two ways.

The first thing I'd like to do is to show you an icon.

This icon is called the Christ Pantocrator, or Christ Almighty.

It is one of those common religious images in Orthodox Christianity.

And it's one of the oldest.

And this particular painting, this particular version of this icon,

is the oldest surviving example of the Christ Pantocrator.

It's found at St. Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai Desert.

You'll notice the Gospels in his left hand, and the sign of teaching made by his right.

Now, a curious feature of this icon is the face, which we can zoom in to.

You'll notice the asymmetry there.

One half representing the divine nature of Jesus, and the other half the human nature.

Now, icons are meant to teach, to instill virtue, and to remind people looking at them of various things.

This icon reminds us of Christ's two natures.

He is both fully God and fully man.

We must remember this when we read about this epic battle between Satan and Jesus that we heard about in the book of Luke.

Now, it's easy to write off these temptations as really being temptations.

I mean, they couldn't have been all that difficult.

Jesus is fully God, after all.

There's no way he was going to sin.

But he's also and completely, fully man.

The writer of Hebrews states that he had to be made like his brothers in every way.

He didn't merely resemble humankind.

He was, in every way, in all things, in all respects, fully human.

With a fully human mind, and a fully human body, and fully human desires.

Yet, without sin.

So, when we read that he was tempted, he really was.

Truly.

Tempted.

The second thing I'd like to do is some imaginative work.

Not imagine, like, things that aren't, like, fairy tales and fantasies and such.

But the kind of imagination you use when you try and remember what color is your mother's eyes, right?

Human beings have the gift of imagination.

Being able to see things with our mind's eye that we can't with our physical eyes.

So, let's do that.

Because Jesus was fully man, the writer to the Hebrews writes that we do not have a high priest who was unable to sympathize with our weaknesses.

But one who, in every respect, has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

So, if he can sympathize with us, I'd like to suggest that because he was fully human, we can sympathize with him, too.

In other words, because he was fully human, he probably stubbed his toe or banged his shin.

He definitely got hungry.

We can sympathize with those things.

We can sympathize with missing a meal, right?

Or missing a day of meals.

That's reasonable.

We can sympathize with maybe three days.

How far can we extend that sympathy?

So, if you're comfortable with this, I'd like you to close your eyes.

And just try and remember the hungriest you have ever been.

Or a moment you were just really hungry.

Perhaps you were on an intentional fast.

Perhaps you just skipped a couple of meals.

How did you feel?

Do you remember feeling weak?

Did you have a headache?

Did you have any cravings you found difficult to resist?

Do you remember feeling impatient or moody?

Do you remember it being very difficult to say no to something?

Did you find it difficult to be good?

Now imagine an extreme version of that.

Jesus fasted 40 days.

It is rare but possible for a human to survive that long.

He would have literally been dying, crippled by both hunger and the difficulty of saying no to temptation.

Do you ever remember having difficulty saying no to something while your body was weak?

So he wasn't, you can open your eyes.

He wasn't immune to temptation.

But quite the opposite.

C.S. Lewis writes,

A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means.

This is an obvious lie.

Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is.

A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later.

This is why bad people in one sense know very little about badness.

They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in.

We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it.

And Christ, because he was the only man who never yielded to temptation,

is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means.

So let's dive in.

As we look at this passage,

instead of looking at each temptation separately,

and it's broken down quite nicely for a three-part sermon, right?

Three temptations.

I will resist that temptation to do it that way.

We're going to look at what these temptations had in common.

We're going to see how Jesus resisted temptation.

And we're going to learn something about Jesus.

So we're going to look at temptation, resisting temptation, and the person of Jesus Christ.

Let's pray.

O Lord God, grant your people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil.

And with pure hearts and minds,

to follow you, the only God,

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God,

now and forever.

Amen.

Okay, let's look first at what all these temptations have in common.

There's a few running threads.

What is so tempting about temptation?

The first thing we notice is that Jesus was tempted to doubt God's word.

Just before this account in chapter 3, verse 22, we read,

the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in bodily form like a dove,

and a voice came from heaven.

You are my beloved son.

With you I am well pleased.

Jesus wastes, excuse me,

and Satan wastes no time questioning those words.

Chapter 4, verse 3,

if you are the son of God.

Did God really say that?

Jesus, did the Father really say that to you?

Did he really mean it?

Can you trust him?

Are you sure you're the son of God?

And Jesus heard this temptation all the way to the cross.

One of the criminals who hanged by him said,

are you not the Christ?

Save yourself and us.

Are you not the son of God?

Are you not the Christ?

Those around the cross said,

are you not the Christ?

Save yourself if you're saving everybody else.

And now you get this too, don't you?

You doubt God's words.

You doubt what God says about you.

I do.

Dan, are you really a child of God?

Does he really delight in you?

Does he really love him?

Does he really love you?

I mean, you really trust him?

You trust what he says?

Did he really say he'll never cast you away?

And this has been the tempter's strategy

from the very beginning of time.

To doubt God's word.

In the Garden of Eden, he asks Eve,

did God actually say,

you shall not eat of any tree in the garden?

Do you really trust God, Eve?

Now, if the tempter's not getting us

to doubt God at his words,

he's tempting us to misuse

or mishear his words.

And the third temptation,

we read in verse nine,

and he took him to Jerusalem

and set him on the pinnacle of the temple

and said to him,

if you are the son of God,

throw yourself down from here,

for it is written,

and then Satan quotes Psalm 91,

he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you.

And on their hands,

they will bear you up

lest you strike your foot against a stone.

Satan lays the groundwork for temptation

by getting us to doubt the words of God

or by twisting the words of God.

And then he tempts Jesus

to ignore the will of the Father.

Ignoring the will of the Father.

Then he tells Jesus,

turn these stones to bread.

Remember how hungry Jesus is, right?

Dying.

Literally,

dying of hunger.

In and of itself,

it would not have been wrong

to transform the stones to bread.

Elseward,

Jesus transforms water to wine.

But here,

Satan is tempting Jesus

to forego trusting in God

for his provision.

And to use his divine power

to serve himself.

The temptation appeared innocent,

as it usually does,

but it was in fact

a spiritual temptation to sin

because as the incarnate Son of God,

Christ had come to do

the will of the Father

and God's will alone.

Nothing else.

Christ was tempted

to provide for his own material needs

apart from the will of the Father.

Furthermore,

Jesus is tempted

to force the will of the Father.

In the third temptation,

he was to throw himself down

and have God command his angels

to bear him up.

And Jesus responds

by using the words of God

in response,

you shall not put the Lord,

your God,

to the test.

In other words,

temptation is like that, right?

We put ourselves

in precarious positions

and expect God

to rescue us.

I mean,

an obvious example

would be an alcoholic

who walks through a liquor store

and asks God

for the strength

to resist

buying liquor.

He should not have been

anywhere near the liquor store,

right?

A few people got together

last night.

I wasn't there.

My wife was there

celebrating Andre

Vander Westhoesen

earning his master's degree

and Ellen Vest

told a pretty great story

about a boa constrictor.

A woman who

got a boa constrictor

from a little baby boa

and nurtured the boa,

felt a connection

to the boa constrictor

and would sleep

next to the boa constrictor

and the woman

know that the snake

was, you know,

feeling the feels too

because it would like,

you know,

stretch out,

you know,

and cuddle up to her.

You know,

over time,

like,

the snake got bigger

and bigger

and things didn't change

and the woman

talked to,

I believe,

a veterinarian

or a zoologist

or some kind

of animal expert

and told the person

about the snake

and the zoologist said,

you have to get rid

of that snake

immediately.

What the snake is doing

is sizing you up

and every day of its life

it's been sizing you up

to see if it can eat you

or not

and one day

it's going to be big enough

and it will

and this is what we do

with temptation,

right?

We cuddle up to it.

Now Snopes says,

and Ellen pointed this out

to me too,

that that's not exactly

a reptilian behavior

but it is the behavior

of temptation.

Like,

we cuddle up to it,

right,

ignoring our peril

and then when it's too late

it devours us.

It devours us.

We tempt God,

we test Him

by getting too close

to temptation,

too close to the guardrail

instead of staying

as far away as we can.

So lastly,

after twisting the word

of God

and tempting Jesus

not to follow His Father's

will exclusively

or to force the Father

to act,

Jesus was tempted

by idolatry.

Now what do we know

about idolatry?

We know that

we attempt

to

derive

value

and pleasure

and worth

and meaning

and fulfillment

from created things

instead of our Creator.

This is what

Jesus was being tempted

to do.

He was being tempted

by the great life,

by all the kingdoms

of the world

and all their glories

and all He had to do

was to bow down.

You know,

I don't know why

He would have been

tempted.

First,

the kingdoms really

do ultimately

belong to Him

and second,

why would He bow down

to Satan?

But we know

because it says so

that He was tempted.

Satan probably

appearing as

a beautiful

giver of gifts.

Jesus tempted

to idolatry

but He resisted.

He resisted

unlike the nation

of Israel.

He resisted

idolatry.

And how did He resist?

So how did He resist

temptation

after being set up

by the twisting

of God's Word,

the temptation

to do His own will

rather than the Father's

and the temptation

to idolatry?

Well,

we see from the outset

and from start to finish

that Jesus relied

on the Holy Spirit.

We read in chapter 3

that the Holy Spirit

descended on Him

in bodily form

like a dove.

And then in chapter 4,

Jesus,

full of the Holy Spirit,

returned from the Jordan

and was led by the Spirit

in the wilderness

for 40 days.

Then after the temptations,

Jesus returned

in the power

of the Spirit

to Galilee.

It's instructive, right?

That the Son of God

would rely on God.

If He who was God

relied on God,

then how much more

should we?

Yet how much

do we rely

on ourselves?

When things get

really hard,

we, yeah,

we rely on God.

We have to.

But all the rest

of the time,

we do rely on ourselves.

I do.

I do.

So much of what I do

feels manageable.

Getting up,

out of bed,

making breakfast,

managing children,

and greeting my wife,

driving to work.

everything seems,

feels manageable,

but I don't rely

on the Holy Spirit.

When I get nervous

about playing music

in public,

and I do,

every week,

how much do I rely

on my training

or my instincts

or my abilities

instead of praying?

How about that?

How much do I pray,

Holy Spirit,

would you guide me?

Would you help me?

Yeah, I understand

as we are all understanding

that so much needs

to be done

about justice

when it comes to race

and injustice.

And I feel like

I need to conjure up

the right things to say

and the right things

to do.

And I'm concerned

about how I appear

on this issue

instead of just saying,

Holy Spirit,

make me into the person

that can have

this conversation.

Holy Spirit,

give me the kind

of heart

that listens.

Holy Spirit,

come.

We see that Jesus

relied on the Holy Spirit

and he relied

on the words

that the Holy Spirit

inspired.

He didn't try

to out-clever Satan.

He went right

to Scripture

and so should we.

It's okay to ask

what would Jesus do.

Memorize Scripture,

the more the better.

The church

throughout its history

has recognized

the need

to respond

to temptation

with the words

of God.

St. Ambrose

wrote,

Therefore,

the Lord

first remitted

the debt

of the ancient wrong

in order

that having shaken

off the yoke

of captivity,

we may learn

to overcome

our faults

with the help

of the Scriptures.

Isaac Watts

wrote that Scripture

is the judge

that ends

all strife

where wit

and reason fail.

Scripture

is the guide

to everlasting life

through all

this gloomy veil.

O may thy counsels,

thy Scripture,

mighty God,

my roving feet

command,

nor I forsake

that happy road

that leads

to thy right hand.

So we looked

at temptation,

how Satan

twists

the words of God

and how

he gets us

to do our own will

and not the will

of the Father's.

And we learned

about how

to resist temptation,

about yielding

to the Holy Spirit,

relying on the words

of Scripture.

So let's look

at Jesus himself.

Let's see Jesus

here.

We're going to see

three things

about Jesus.

The first

is that

Jesus

is the true

Israel.

Just as

Israel

was led

out of

captivity

through

the waters

of the Red Sea

and followed

the pillar

of fire

and was led

by the pillar

for 40 years

in the wilderness.

So Jesus

was led

through the waters

of baptism,

led by the Holy Spirit

for 40 days

in the desert.

Israel

complained

to God

about God's

provision

of manna,

but Jesus

trusted God

to provide

for him.

Israel

wasted no time

committing idolatry

in the desert,

fashioning a golden

calf and bowing

down to it,

but Jesus

forsook

the kingdoms

and glories

of the world

to obey

his Father

alone.

Israel

tested God

demanding the Lord

provide water

at Massa

and Moriah,

but Jesus

would not put

his Father

to the test.

You see,

Jesus succeeded

where Israel

failed.

Jesus

is the true

Israel.

We learn

that Jesus

is the true

Messiah.

The Messiah

in Jesus' day

was expected

to turn

manna

into bread,

just as Jesus

was tempted

to do.

The Messiah

was expected

to bring

the kingdoms

of the world

under Israel's

subjection,

just as Jesus

was tempted

to do.

And the Messiah

was expected

to perform

a wonder,

like flying around

like Neo

from the Matrix

through the streets

of Jerusalem,

just as Jesus

was tempted

to do,

but Jesus

knew that

his road

as Messiah

was not that

bringing glory

to himself,

but first

walking the road

of suffering

all the way

to the cross.

This was the road

of the true Messiah.

And we learn

that Jesus

is the true

Son of God.

The very first

Son of God,

Adam,

he failed

in the garden.

But Jesus

resisted

temptation

in the wilderness.

The good news

for us

is that

though we inherit

the guilt

of the first Adam,

we are imputed

the righteousness

of the second Adam,

Jesus.

Listen,

perhaps this sounds

like really academic

at this point.

It is beautiful,

I think,

how all these

threads of Scripture

just dramatically

come together

in this passage

about Jesus

and Satan

in the wilderness.

But this means

something for us

very personally.

We've talked a lot

about temptation,

how to resist it,

and you might be thinking,

oh, I'm the guy

from the C.S. Lewis quote

that gives in

after five minutes.

Actually,

that would be giving me

a lot of credit,

usually five seconds.

And does God

really love me?

I give in

all the time.

Surely,

he's given up

on me.

Well,

on one hand,

it's worse

than you think.

You are actually

more sinful

than you could

ever possibly

imagine,

more given

to temptation

than you could

ever

fear.

fear.

The good news

is that

the Father

loves you

more than

you can

dare to dream.

Because he was

the true Adam,

because he was

the second Adam

and the true

Son of God,

all of that

obedience he did

in the desert,

resisting

for 40 days,

resisting Satan,

all the suffering,

all the righteousness

that he had,

all the favor

that he got

from the Father

when the Father

pronounced,

you are my son,

with you I am

well pleased.

He gives to you.

It is yours

through union

with him.

So when he looks

on you,

he says,

you are my daughter,

with you I am

well pleased.

You are my son,

with you I am

well pleased.

Yeah,

you gave in

after five seconds.

You are my son,

with whom I am

well pleased.

And he went

to the cross

so all the

punishment

and sin

that is yours

is now given

to Jesus.

He takes that

on himself

as one who

was fully God,

able to bear

the sins of the

world on his

back.

For you,

Jesus,

fully obeyed

the will of his

Father.

For you,

Jesus chose

the road of

suffering

and the cross.

And for you,

Jesus rose from

the dead.

And he gives

new life

and he gives

you the

Holy Spirit

that you can

now live

for him.

In the name

of the Father

and of the Son

and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Let's pray.

Lord, we do

confess,

we give in

so quickly,

so easily.

Lord, we need

your Holy Spirit.

Lord, we need

your Holy Spirit.

So Holy Spirit,

come.

Holy Spirit,

fill us.

Holy Spirit,

give us your power

to resist,

to say no

to the things

that tempt us,

to say yes

to our Father.

Holy Spirit,

would you please

do as you

are promised

to do

and remind us

today

as we come

to your table

that we indeed

are your adopted,

the Father's adopted

sons and daughters.

Jesus,

thank you for

obeying for us.

thank you.

Amen.