Lent 1A-- Tests

Text: “1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” (Matthew 4:1)

Whose test?

When the last three movies in the Star Wars franchise were released, there was a lot of criticism. People didn’t have an issue with the acting or the quality of the filmmaking. The problem was slightly different. The problem was with the basic story, itself: “We’ve already seen these movies before.” Some of the details were changed, but the basic plot was the same as the plot of the first three movies. There was a lot of truth to that criticism. Both start out with the bad guys chasing a little droid across a desert planet because it has information stored in it that everyone wants. They went from a death star in the first movie to a planet that has been, essentially, turned into a death star in the first movie in the final series. The number of similarities really was quite large. There may or may not have been good reasons for going in that direction, but there was a lot of truth to the claim that we had seen those movies before.

You would be forgiven for saying something similar about this episode from Jesus’ life, as well. Especially for such a brief account— only 11 verses— the number of parallels to other parts of the Bible is quite stunning.

An important question to ask here is: Whose tests are these?

Stones to Bread

The first one is the most striking: Jesus is led out into the wilderness where He is tempted by His hunger.

At the very outset, we see Jesus following a very similar path to the Children of Israel being led by Moses during the Exodus. Would they trust God to provide for them?

Exodus chapter 14 records the crossing of the Red Sea. Chapter 15 records their song of celebration at the victory God had won for them. But would anyone care to guess how soon the people were grumbling against Moses, accusing him of leading them into the wilderness to kill them with hunger? Chapter 16. And not even late in the chapter. Chapter 16, verse 2. If they hadn’t come through the Red Sea on dry ground, their shoes would have still been wet, and already they’re complaining to Moses: “You have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger” (Exodus 16:3).

Whose test is this?

“Throw Yourself Down”

Not all of the similarities are quite so direct. The next one takes on a slightly different form, but the temptation is, essentially, the same.

Not only did the Children of Israel sin by grumbling against Moses, they also defiantly demanded water from God (Exodus 17:7), making it a test: “If God does not do what we demand, then there is no God among us, then his promises amount to nothing.”

Again, they sinned by showing a lack of trust.

And so the devil goads Jesus, saying, “Didn’t God say that He would command His angels to ensure that you would not even strike your foot against a stone?”

Whose test is this?

Worship Me and I Will Give You Every Kingdom

The third temptation, again, is not as overtly similar, but it is most certainly the same.

Satan tried to ‘buy’ Jesus in the same way in which he ‘bought’ Adam and Eve: “Just do this one little thing that God has forbidden and I’ll give you everything you want,” the devil says.

“Just take a bite,” he told Adam and Eve, “and you will be like God.”

“Just worship me and you can have all of this back,” he told Jesus. “No need to suffer. No need to die. No need to shed your blood in order to redeem it for yourself.”

Whose tests are these?

And yes, there are other examples from the Old Testament that we could bring up— other, similar, passages to what Jesus endured. That’s exactly the point.

It’s not just that one temptation that the children of Israel faced that Jesus is enduring; it’s not just that one temptation that Adam and Eve faced that Jesus is enduring. It’s yours.

It’s easy for you and me to criticize the Children of Israel for complaining that Moses had brought them out of Egypt and through the Red Sea only to starve them to death. But do you trust God any better?

Martin Luther wrote that, at the time of the Reformation, all of a sudden everyone was afraid that they couldn’t afford to give enough in offerings in order to support a pastor— they wouldn’t be able to support themselves, they shouted— and yet, before the Reformation, they had been supporting ten clergy that Luther described as nothing but “pot bellies” because they couldn’t be bothered with actually teaching God’s Word.

The same thing is true today, isn’t it?

You worry that you don’t have enough to give offerings, but God has clearly given you enough to buy new trucks, to pay for travel sports for your kids, to go on expensive trips, to buy a house “up north....”

If you were there, in the wilderness with Moses, can you really say that it would have taken you any less time to grumble?

How many people have shipwrecked their faith on the demands they make of God? “If God’s promises were real, then....”

“…Then your business wouldn’t have failed”; “…then you wouldn’t have gotten sick”; “…then my family would still speak to me.” How many different ways do you end that statement?

And Satan doesn’t have to offer you all the kingdoms of the world in order to get you to bend the knee, does he? You’re willing to do that for a moment of satisfaction.

You’re willing to do what you know to be wrong in exchange for a moment of pleasure. You’re willing to do what you know to be wrong in order to get back at that person who hurt you. You’re willing to do what you know to be wrong in order to get ahead just a little bit.

He doesn’t need to offer you all the kingdoms of the world. Not anywhere close.

The first thing we need to observe is that these are not His tests. They’re yours.

His Test

It was not His test, but He chose to take it.

Unlike you and me, He trusted the Father to give Him everything He needed.

The Father had led Him into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit. He would not abandon Him there.

He knew who He was and He knew who the Father was. There was no need for childish tests.

There was no chance of Him grumbling or complaining at what God gave Him or what God withheld.

He sought the Kingdom of God without fail.

He would not and did not cut corners in pursuing that kingdom.

But today is not just about your test that Jesus was willing to subject Himself to. It’s also about a far greater test that the Father had for Him.

What Jesus did against Satan is truly impressive. It is astonishing. The ease with which He overcame the devil is amazing. But it doesn’t hold a candle to the test that the Father would put Him through.

When the time came for His test, there would be no one to even quench His thirst, let alone His hunger. All He would receive was sour wine to drink at the hand of one of His executioners.

Arguably, even that was more about extending His pain than relieving His thirst.

When the time came for His test, even though He could have called twelve legions of angels to His aid, He would go willingly into His enemies’ hands.

He would show that He was the Son of God—not by throwing Himself from the pinnacle of the temple, but by allowing Himself to be led to the cross. There would be no one to protect Him, no one to defend Him. He would not just strike His foot against a stone, His feet would be pierced— along with His head, His back, His hands, and His side. He endured it all because it was His Father’s will.

When the time came for His test, one of the countless kingdoms that Satan had shown Him (and falsely offered Him) would unjustly convict Him and put Him to death. And, through the blood that was shed, He would redeem for Himself a people from every nation, tribe, people, and language.

But, in due time, His Father would feed Him again. He ate some of the fish His disciples had prepared on that Easter Sunday in order to prove to them that He had risen.

The angels were held back from protecting Him from the hands of sinful men, but they did not miss the chance to declare on Easter morning, “He is not here, He is risen, just as He said!”

And, on account of what He suffered, the Father “9 ...has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).

Your Test

The Good News today is that Jesus is not simply your example on how to overcome Satan, He did it for you.

He faced that test and overcame it because you could not. Your sin— your failure in those tests— He took from you in exchange for His perfect righteousness. On the Last Day you will be judged on His perfect obedience.

He has redeemed you, a lost and condemned creature, purchases and won you from all sin, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death that you may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true.

He gives you your daily bread— all that you need to support this body and life— and, if that were not enough, He gives you even more so that you can share in the joy of caring for those around you and the privilege of supporting the work of God’s Kingdom.

And even when He tests you— when He seems to be holding back the money or the health or whatever else it might be that you need— it is only to teach you that you can trust Him.

He sends His angels to guard you against evils that you will not know until the Last Day.

And, just as they were waiting with eager anticipation of the day when they were able to stand at His empty tomb and proclaim to the world, “He is not here, He is risen!” His angels are waiting just as eagerly for the day when they are finally able to gather you to His throne and to His side.

He has prepared a place for you in His Kingdom, which has no end.

The tests certainly sound familiar. And you will continue to face them as long as you are in this life— but never because you have something to prove to God, but because God wants nothing more than to prove to you all that He has given you in Jesus Christ.