Sermon Tone Analysis

The promises that Satan made to Jesus were not empty.

They were deceitful.

But they were not empty.

Jesus could have done all those things.

After fasting in the desert for a while, his empty stomach is aching and hollow.

And Satan knows that.

The adversary knows what Jesus’ physical weakness is in that moment and the liar knows what Jesus is capable of doing.

Once his ministry begins, Jesus will make water into wine.

He will feed thousands with nothing more than a little boy’s lunch.

Surely this Jesus can make stones become bread to fill his aching empty stomach.

The lie is not that Jesus could do this thing.

The lie is not even that Jesus needs physical sustenance of some sort.

The lie is that God will not provide it when the time is right and that Jesus therefore should handle it himself outside of the promises of God.

Jesus, very God, could have made the world bow to him right then.

Satan knows that.

The adversary knows Jesus’ divine capabilities and the liar knows what the people expect Jesus to be.

It could have all been his kingdom at that very moment.

He could have come sweeping into Jerusalem like the military, political savior the people were hoping for and squash the Roman authorities in an instant.

The lie is not that Jesus could do this thing or even that the people would lift him up and celebrate him for doing it.

The lie is that God does not already have something even more astounding in the works and that Jesus therefore should do what the world expects and sweep in as a political and military hero.

Jesus healed countless people suffering from every sort of ailment imaginable.

Jesus said to Lazarus – who was rotting and stinking in his tomb – “GET UP”. . .

and Lazarus. . .

got. . .

up.

Three days after his own death, Jesus lived.

Jumping off the top of the temple would have been no big deal.

Again, the lie is not that Jesus could do this thing.

The lie is that Jesus should do this now to reveal his glory by saving himself rather than revealing himself by saving others.

Satan did not tempt Jesus with anything outlandish or impossible.

Satan did not tempt Jesus with things that were outside of his reach as the Son of God.

Satan tempted Jesus with things that were attainable and that were just true enough to be very dangerous.

Things that were true in the realm of the world around them even if they went against the words of Scripture.

Jesus replied to Satan’s seemingly reasonable suggestions with the words of scripture.

Jesus replied to Satan with not just any words of Scripture, but with the words of eternal promises made by God.

Promises, that one often must wait for, but truthful ones that outlast and outshine the deceitful promises made by Satan.

In each of these temptations posed to Jesus, the lie is more about the timing and who is in charge than about the thing Jesus is asked to do.

Satan doesn’t try to “trip Jesus up.”

He doesn’t tempt him with outlandish things that one could never picture Jesus doing – murderous rampage or some grave violence or theft – he simply tweaks the timeline of the truth just a tiny bit.

But Jesus, knowing the promises of Scripture, knowing all the words that had been passed down to God’s people for their guidance, protection, and direction, sees the discrepancies in the suggestions that the adversary makes and calls them out.

“Yes.

I’m hungry.”

“Yes.

I can turn this rock into bread.”

“But no.

I cannot break this fasting time – this sacred communion with God – I cannot end it early because the spiritual importance of it outweighs the physical need for having a little bit of dinner right now.”

“Yes.

I am the Son of God.”

“Yes.

I can make all these kingdoms bow to me right here and right now.”

“But that’s not how this is meant to shake down – these people and all their children and grandchildren to come have an eternity that I have to consider.”

“Yes.

I could jump off this tower right now and be totally fine.”

“Yes.

I’m here as a revelation of God’s love and glory and the revelation of God’s love and glory is very, very important.”

“But no.

This is not how God says that is meant to happen.”

Jesus doesn’t just know the Scripture and use it as rote argument against Satan either.

Jesus knows that the path God laid out isn’t easy by worldly standards.

He knows that it’s a harder road to walk.

But to say yes to these requests, to give in to the just-true-enough suggestions that Satan makes, would be to say no to the eternal things of God.

It would be to say no to what really matters.

It is not just Jesus’ memorized knowledge of God’s promises and scripture that enables him to resist these temptations – it’s his trust that these promises are real.

These promises are true.

He knows them and he believes and relies on them.

These promises are worthy of his trust and his faith.

It is not will power or knowledge that resists these temptations – it is his faith.

The promises that Satan makes to us are not empty.

They are deceitful.

But they are not empty.

That is what makes them so hard to resist.

Temptation is more than just giving in to doing something bad.

Resisting temptation involves more than just not doing bad stuff that’s on the list of bad stuff not to do.

The most dangerous temptations are not the outlandish ones that are clearly lies.

The dangerous ones are the ones that are just true enough to be appealing or to look completely true.

The dangerous ones are the ones that are just true enough that the world has bought into them.

Satan fills the air around us with lies and partial truths – with these almost true and entirely deadly lies.

They are just true enough, have just enough grounding in reality, that they are hard to separate from the truth.

“If you just work harder and buy another car, then you’ll be truly happy.

God wants you to have everything you need, after all.”

“Once you get that promotion, you’ll finally have all the respect you need and then you’ll really be worthwhile in this world.

God wants you to know how great you are.”

“It’s his own fault he’s homeless, you don’t need to help him.

If he wanted to, he could get help.”

“It’s none of your business, turn away.

You just have to pray for them, you don’t have to get involved.

Someone else will help.”