Passing the Test (Feb. 26, 2023) Matt. 4.1-11

This time of year, there come certain things that most students dread. Yes, it is time for state testing. The tests that are required to see if the schools are doing their jobs and to see if the students are learning anything. The tests are various and can sometimes be challenging to those taking them. There are those who do not test well and so they have great anxiety through the testing period. I remember taking tests like these and it is not a pleasant memory.

There are other tests that are given this time of year. One group of those tests are the ordination exams for the PC(USA). These exams are given on a variety of topics to see if a candidate is ready for ordination in the church. The exams cover theology, worship, polity, exegesis, and Bible knowledge. The last of these mentioned is the one that gives many students pause. It is a multiple-choice exam that covers the entire Bible, 2/3 in the First Testament and 1/3 in the Second Testament. One person quipped that if you grew up Baptist, then you had no problem. If you grew up Presbyterian, then you had better study up. I knew of many students for whom this exam caused more angst that all the others combined. Many failed at least once. It was an exam that tested many a student’s patience and resolve. But they persevered and in the end passed the exam.

Our text for today is about a test. Three in fact. One could even call them ordination exams. They are what we like to call the temptations of Jesus, but testing would be the more accurate term. To fully appreciate what is going on, we need to step back and take a look at the context of what is happening here.

Jesus was just baptized and a voice was heard telling those in attendance that this was God’s beloved Son. The baptism was given by John who recognized Jesus and was reluctant to baptize him, but in the end he was persuaded to do so. The Spirit came down like a dove and alighted on Jesus. It was a spectacular showing of who Jesus was.

And then the next thing we know, Jesus is being led into the wilderness by the same Spirit to be tested by the Devil. This seems odd to us. Why go out into the wilderness or desert to be tested? Wasn’t it enough that he had just been proclaimed the Beloved? And why be tested by the Devil?

But into the wilderness Jesus goes. He fasts for forty days and nights and in the end the text tells us that he was famished (this would hopefully be obvious to those listening, but one never knows). There is meaning to all of this. Matthew has been showing that Jesus is akin to Moses, though a greater one than Moses. So, the baptism would be comparable the parting of the Red Sea with Israel passing through and showing that they were God’s people. The forty days and forty nights would be comparable to the forty years in the wilderness that the Israelites endured. And then come the tests. Tests that would have again emulated what Israel went through in their wilderness wanderings.

First things first. The Devil comes. Now this is not the mustache twirling, red horned, pitchfork carrying image that we have all come to know. This devil would have been charming and probably fair to look at. He is also known as the slanderer or tempter. He is coming to test Jesus and see just what kind of man, what kind of Son of God is this that came to the wilderness.

Knowing that Jesus is famished he gives the first test by saying that if Jesus is the Son of God, then he should and could turn stones, of which there are many, into bread. One thing to note here is that the word if can be translated as since. Hear it this way: “Since you are the Son of God command these stones to become loaves of bread.” Craig Keener says this: “the devil invites Jesus not so much to deny his sonship as to act according to various worldly expectations for that role.”[1] There were expectations that the Messiah would come and bring bread for the masses, a new Manna as it were. There would be bread for the poor and needy, bread for all the hungry. This was a test to have Jesus attempt the miraculous, to make something out of nothing. But it was also an attempt to have him do redemption out of nothing, to have the Kingdom without the cross which is a temptation that we fall into today.

But Jesus, famished as he was, does not fall for it. He quotes scripture, Deut. 8.3, and says that no one can live on bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. There will not be miraculous bread and there will not be acclimation for doing such a deed.

So, the devil takes him to the highest pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem. There he himself quotes scripture, though out of context, telling Jesus that the angels will catch him if he were to jump off the pinnacle into the deep ravine that is there. This was a test of spectacle. The Messiah was said to be able to jump off the Temple when he came and no harm would come to him. That people would believe him to be the Messiah is the test here. But what does this mean to us who have no test like this one? Douglas John Hall gives a good summation of what is happening here to us today: “Our world is athirst for spectacle and the conspicuously heroic, as was that of the first-century Christians. Today, when most people feel invisible and superfluous, lost among the billions, the clever are able to turn this ancient longing into big business—the “cult of celebrity.” Our heroes do not have to jump off towers; they have only to appear tantalizingly sexy. With all that media attention, the most blatant exhibitionism can seem irresistible to the voiceless and the plain. The church has shown itself remarkably adept at exploring the possibilities of this temptation. Whether through cults of the saints, the exploitation of science-defying medical and other miracles, or the staging of huge media triumphs—above all by presenting Jesus himself as the ultimate celebrity—Christians have sought preeminence for themselves and their own religion.”[2] We like spectacle and have always done so. This is what the Devil is counting on and looks for Jesus to use his power as the Son of God, his privilege even, to show the world just who he is. Jesus refutes this offer by quoting Deut. 6.16, One must not put God to the test.

The final test is the most blatant. While the other two might require some persuasion, the third is without ambiguity or nuance. It is not a chance to show off powers or a spectacle, but to be a blatant grab for power. The Devil takes Jesus to a high mountain and there in what was probably a vision, shows him all the kingdoms of the world. “All this can be yours if only you worship me,” he says. Here we find a test where many Christians falter and I’m sure Jesus might have given it a second thought, like us knowing the answer on a test but second guessing ourselves for a few moments. Here was a chance to put all things to rights. Here was a chance to make Rome subservient to him and all the other kingdoms who lorded over Israel. But Jesus says “Out of my sight, Satan” and quotes Deut. 6.13 saying that one is to worship God and only God.

We fall into this trap of wanting the world to be under our control. “If only we could do… then this nation would be a Christian nation once again” is a phrase often heard. We want our vision of Christianity to be seen and heard. Hall again states what happens here: “As the term itself attests, Christendom was (and, where it still pertains, is) nothing more nor less than a quest for the ultimate domination (dom = dominion) of the Christian religion—not of Christ. There is still a difference! The pre-Constantinian church certainly knew that quest as a perennial temptation: the New Testament depicts the apostles themselves as falling into that assumption frequently. However, with the adoption of Christianity by imperial Rome, …the search for power through proximity to (and pressure upon) political power became the dominant pattern of Western Christianity, including (let many of us admit it) most Protestantism.”[3] We all know the thirst for power and when we let it get the best of us then we have worshipped the Devil rather than God. Jesus was saying that only God is to be worshiped and only God is the true ruler of the world.

Passing the tests, Jesus is then waited on by the angels. The ones whom he could have called upon are now the ones who come to him and tend to his needs. After a grueling session with the Devil, Jesus is now ready to begin his ministry counting not on his own powers (many though they were), but on the power and grace of God.

How do we do when tested? We often claim, like Flip Wilson, that the “Devil made me do it.” Really? When we are tested, we hear the voice of the one calling us like a sirens song. In the Odyssey, Odysseus has himself bound to the mast of his ship and his men put wax in their ears. When he hears the song of the sirens, he begs his men to let him go to the sirens, but it would be to his certain death. The men, with their ears plugged, do not hear him but see him straining against the ropes and bind him more tightly. When we are tested are we like Odysseus or his men? Do we strain at that ropes to get away or do we plug our ears?

In Hebrews we are told that Jesus is like us when he was tested. But do we face the same tests that Jesus faced? We face many other tests. Maryetta Anschutz says this: “Temptation comes to us in moments when we look at others and feel insecure about not having enough. Temptation comes in judgments we make about strangers or friends who make choices we do not understand. Temptation rules us, making us able to look away from those in need and to live our lives unaffected by poverty, hunger, and disease. Temptation rages in moments when we allow our temper to define our lives or when addiction to wealth, power, influence over others, vanity, or an inordinate need for control defines who we are. Temptation wins when we engage in the justification of little lies, small sins: a racist joke, a questionable business practice for the greater good, a criticism of a spouse or partner when he or she is not around. Temptation wins when we get so caught up in the trappings of life that we lose sight of life itself. These are the faceless moments of evil that, while mundane, lurk in the recesses of our lives and our souls.”[4]

As we come to this time of Lent, a time of contemplation and reflection, may we see that Jesus as our example. One who went and contemplated on who and whose he was. May we continue to stand against the temptations that come our way so that we may pass the tests given. Amen.

[1]Keener, Craig S. Matthew. Vol. 1. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1997. Print. The IVP New Testament Commentary Series. [2]Bartlett, David L.; Barbara Brown Bartlett. Feasting on the Word: Year A, Volume 2, Lent through Eastertide (Kindle Locations 1832-1838). Westminster John Knox Press. Kindle Edition. [3]Bartlett, David L.; Barbara Brown Bartlett. Feasting on the Word: Year A, Volume 2, Lent through Eastertide (Kindle Location 1846). Westminster John Knox Press. Kindle Edition. [4]Bartlett, David L.; Barbara Brown Bartlett. Feasting on the Word: Year A, Volume 2, Lent through Eastertide (Kindle Locations 1901-1906). Westminster John Knox Press. Kindle Edition.