Lent Landscapes - 1 - Facing Temptation

Scripture: Luke 4:1-11

Luke 4:1–11 NIV

1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’” 5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’” 9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; 11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

3/9/2025

Order of Service:

Announcements

Opening Worship

Prayer Requests

Prayer Song

Pastoral Prayer

Kid’s Time

Offering (Doxology and Offering Prayer)

Scripture Reading

Sermon

Closing Song

Benediction

Special Notes:

Standard

Opening Prayer:

God of wilderness and water, your Son was baptized and tempted as we are. Guide us through this season, that we may not avoid struggle, but open ourselves to blessing, through the cleansing depths of repentance and the heaven-rending words of the Spirit. Amen.

Facing Temptation

Perception

Temptation is often a matter of perception.

If we don’t want or need anything, it is hard for temptation to get a hold of us. That’s what Buddhism and some of those Far Eastern religions teach anyway. If we could all be so self-sufficient that we didn’t need anyone or anything else in our lives, we would be as close to God and as close to good as humanly possible. We might read this passage too quickly and assume this was the case with Jesus — that he had no needs or desires and was about to face temptation in ways we struggle to do so successfully.

However, we don’t have to read the Gospel accounts very far to find evidence of Jesus’s needs and desires. After all, He was fully human as well as fully God, and so even He could be tempted. He had all of our human weaknesses, but He also had the strength of God. That seems like the greatest contradiction, the biggest mystery of the incarnation. We measure things as either half full or half empty by our perception. How can something be entirely empty and completely full at the same time? Shouldn't those cancel each other out?

Yet here is Jesus, fully emptied of His own strength and taking on the devil himself because wherever Jesus went, He knew God was with Him. By the power of that same Holy Spirit that was in Jesus, we also know God is with us whenever we face temptation.

Hunger

God was more than just with Jesus. He led Him to and through this entire encounter. Verse 1 tells us that. There would come a day when Jesus was left truly alone, cut off from God. But this was not that day. This day, God was with Him each step of the way.

Luke tells us that the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness, and He fasted there for forty days. He wasn’t forced into this situation. He followed God’s lead and responded with faith in Him. He could have brought food for the journey. He could have turned back home when he got hungry enough. Forty days of fasting in the wilderness is more than enough for anyone, and no one asked Him to do it—no one except His Heavenly Father.

I expect Jesus knew that fasting would make Him physically weak. And I'm confident that He knew who would be watching and waiting. But none of that stopped Him. He didn't hedge His bets with His faith, trying to protect Himself from whatever the devil might throw at Him. No, the One who taught us to pray that God would not lead us into temptation trusted that God had already provided a way through it before He took His first step out of the Jordan River.

But His hunger was real, and that was the first place the Devil tried to pry Jesus away from that Holy Spirit that so filled Him with the presence of God. Our basic needs, our lower brain, however you want to consider it, these instincts and habits are not naturally attuned to God. They are trained to be selfish and self-sufficient. That's why we so often lose the power of being in step with the Spirit when we let the busyness and baseness of life crowd God out. And that is why Jesus modeled, and God calls us to fast at times. Sometimes we fast from food. Sometimes we fast from work. Sometimes, we fast from being at everyone’s beck and call, and we put all of our attention on God. And when we do, we don't expect to be finished in five or ten minutes.

It is the easiest thing in the world to feed ourselves. It is one of the very first skills this world teaches us. But as followers of Jesus, we know that when we get really hungry, really past hungry, that is the point that our encounter at this crossroads is just beginning.

Having

Luke tells us that the second temptation went deeper than just taking care of our basic needs. It was the temptation to skip to the end. Satan offered to give Jesus everything if only He would bow down to him. This temptation was more insidious than hunger and greater than greed. There are plenty of us who, if offered the kingdoms of the world on a silver platter, would turn it down as well because we wouldn't want the headache of taking care of it ourselves. Nobody wants to be in charge, and we get suspicious of those who claim to want it all.

But this is Jesus — King of kings and Prince of Peace, looking over the kingdoms of Jews and Gentiles, Conquerors and Slaves, mercenaries and merchants, and all the mess that this world is. Jesus looks at that, knowing that the answer to stop all of the suffering is as simple as handing him the crown. World peace is accomplished in a moment. All He has to do is admit that the devil had a better plan than God and submit to his authority, and the war would be over before Jesus shed a single drop of blood. But that is not God's plan. God's plan costs everyone more, and it costs Jesus everything. But it is the only plan that redeems the broken world. We are tempted to find peace on our own, but we cannot create anything. At our best, even with the devil's assistance, we can only slow down the inevitable destruction. Only God can bring true peace, and only in His way.

Doubting

As a final temptation, the devil questions whether God can and will protect Jesus long enough to fulfill the plan or if Jesus can accidentally mess it up by making a wrong choice. Are you sure this is a sure thing? Give it a test. Throw yourself down and see if God catches you now to save you for the cross later. Isn't that the basis of those trust fall exercises anyway?

But this test is not about trust; it is an expression of doubt. It sounds like a silly thing a child would come up with, but it is a deep philosophical conundrum meant to entrap God.

You see, if Jesus jumped and God did not catch Him, we would all have reason that God could fulfill the rest of the plan of salvation. It would prove that God sometimes drops the ball or chooses the wrong people. On the other hand, if God did send angels to catch Jesus after He jumped, it would make us wonder if Jesus even had a choice in what He would do. Or the rest of us, for that matter. Those same angels could be used to enforce God's will on us. There is no good outcome from that situation. And Jesus knew it because testing God is not trusting God.

Free

Jesus trusted God because He knew He was with Him and leading Him to and through this temptation. And the reward for that faith was twofold. First, the devil finally left Him. It was bad enough being hungry in the wilderness, but to be tormented by that tempter was more than anyone should have to deal with. And second, the angels came to minister to Him. They came to refill Him physically and spiritually — however, He needed to prepare Him for the next leg of the journey. He was free.

We all face crossroads where the devil lays out choices before us. Sometimes, they are easy choices that are clearly about choosing ourselves or loving God and others selflessly. Sometimes, they are hard choices that require us to intentionally take the hard road instead of the shortcut that is cheaper, easier, and will get us there quicker. Other times, there are no good choices, and we need to choose to sit and wait on God.

No matter what kind of choices you face in temptation when it comes across your path, the devil wants you to think that your choices ultimately do not matter. He wants you to believe that either God is too big or you are too small for this one decision to make any difference. Most of the time, he will give you these choices when you feel low, weak, tired, and vulnerable, and he will try to make you think you are alone.

But the most important thing we learn from Jesus is that we are never alone. God is always right there with us. And second, the choices we make do matter, even if we don't see it ourselves. Even if no one ever knows about your faithful choice, you will know, and God will know. And the devil will know that is territory that he lost in his hopeless war on God's people. And there will come a day when you face a bigger struggle than that. You will look back on that moment as a memorial of what God did through you to redeem your life in that moment, and you won't feel the need to fear for your life, to doubt God's wisdom, or to test His faithfulness in carrying you to and through this journey into eternal life. The miles on your odometer and the miles worn into your shoes will testify with your memories of God's unstoppable love for you.

Where are you facing temptation today?

Who can you turn and ask for help, reminding you and perhaps reminding them that we are never alone?

What are some of those crossroads where God led you through temptation into victory that you need to remember and celebrate with gratitude today?

Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus, thank you for becoming one with us when You became one like us. Thank you for facing temptation and showing us that we are never alone and always have a way out. Thank you for giving us the choice to follow You every day, every step of the way. Don’t give up on us. No matter how many times we fall or turn aside the wrong way, help us see Your guiding light and feel Your hand leading us home. We know You will never give up on us. Help us to have the faith to never give up on You. In Jesus, name. Amen.