Lk. 4.1 thru 13 Brief Textual Application

Brief Textual Application

Text:  Luke4:1-13, Deut. 26:5-10, Rom. 10:8-13

Liturgical Date:  1st Sunday of Lent, 2007

Calendar Date:  February 25th, 2007

Text’s Intention/Pragmatics:

            Luke is telling us the narrative of Jesus’ temptation.  He is giving us a detailed account of the devil’s attempts to dissuade Jesus from his task and Jesus’ faithfulness to the Father and how He remained obedient.  The text also is a testament to the power of the Spirit which descended upon Jesus in the previous passage and is guiding Him through the temptations the devil is amassing against Jesus.  In the end we see the first victory Jesus has over the evil one that opposes the work of the kingdom of God.  But we also see a “tag line” that is ominous.  That Satan “left Him until an opportune time.”

Text’s Mood:

            This is an account of victory!  Although ominous in the display of the power of the devil and his ways, we watch Jesus illicit the power of the Spirit and the Word of God against this power and achieve victory over the evil trickery.  Yet there is this underlying darkness with the threat of Satan’s return.

Text’s Genre and Purpose:

            This text is a narrative that displays the power of the Spirit and Word over Satan and reveals the obedient relationship between He and the Father.  It is a commentary on the conflict between Jesus and the power of evil and that this conflict is not over.

One Possibility for a Law/Gospel Dynamic:

            Show the very real temptations in our lives and the victory that we have through Jesus Christ and the power of the Spirit.

Goal for the Sermon:

      That the hearers are secure in their victory over temptation with Jesus.

One Unifying Image, Word, Metaphor, Phrase:

Proposed Sermon Structure:

• Powerful Temptation Story
• Real Life App./Common to Everyday Life in Sonoma County
• Objective: “Wow, I’ve been there, I’ve seen this powerful foe!”
• Our Temptations
• “The good life”
• (Mini story?)
• Respect/Pride
• (Mini story?)
• To test God
• (Mini story?) (Oops)
• Satan is powerful in our lives!
• He is a lion lurking outside our door
• What do we do in the face of such power? (Ugh)
• Temptations of Jesus
• Sustenance
• Narrative story
• Power
• Narrative story
• To test God
• Narrative story
• What did Jesus do?
• Obedience/Faith in the Father
• He says no to the powers and priorities that drive the world
• Guided by the power of the Spirit He summoned the power of the Word of God (Aha)
• We have this same call to obedience
• We also have this same power in the Spirit and the Word of God
• Practical story of this power guiding someone out of temptation (Yeah)
• There is more power to be had!
• This is only the beginning of Jesus’ walk to the cross
• He has only sparred with Satan with words, He will battle every effort Satan has in his bag of tricks and this will be manifested in action on the cross
• Jesus will take everything Satan has got and He will be victorious on Easter Day! (Wee)

• Are you afraid?
• Satan lurks outside our door like a lion with temptation
• Examples
• Taxes?
• Pride
• Rebel from God
• What does Jesus do?
• Link between last temptation and Deut. verse-He is going to worship God
• He is showing us how to beat Satan!
• He does just that on the cross “My God” He is perfectly worshiping and serving the Lord, His God only.  Jesus is perfectly manifesting “Sonship” through His obedience to God.
• He uses the power of the Holy Spirit
• He uses the Word of God