Mark 1 12-15
Lent 1
Mark 1:12-15
March 9, 2003
“A Desert Storm”
This year George Bush the second has declared the nations of Iraq, Iran and North Korea as the axis of evil. Iraq, especially, seems to be his nemesis or arch-rival. The first Bush failed in his attempt to eliminate this enemy in a Desert Storm. Saddam Hussien was left in power continuing to undermine the stability of the middle eats and the world for the last ten years. Now the second Bush vows to do what the first Bush did not do – defeat the enemy and proclaim victory. It is yet to be seen how history will unfold. One thing is sure, whether there is a war or not, whether there is victory or not, evil and its influence will continue to exist in the world.
The battle against evil began ten thousand years ago in a most beautiful garden. Satan came and tempted the first man, Adam. He failed in his test. Satan was victorious over him and he was cast into the wilderness of the world, tormented by the wild beasts over which he was to have dominion. In the plush Garden of Eden, the first Adam was defeated by the ancient serpent. Adam and Eve fell when tempted and thereby plunged all of us into a reign by the true axis of evil, sin, death and the power of the Devil. Is there deliverance from such a foe? Who can stand against the enemy and free us from tyranny? Behold your Savior who comes to wage war, a Desert Storm, on your behalf.
Drip, drip, drip—the Jordan River water slowly trickled off our Lord’s wet head. The hot wilderness sand glued itself to his damp feet as He walked through the desert. Behind him was the River Jordan; in front of him the desert and ancient serpent lay in wait. Still drenched with baptismal water, Jesus marched into the desert of temptation. Heaven and hell, the axis of good and of evil were about to exchange blows.
There is the temptation to view the fight as a spectator, to yell and cheer for Jesus who is about to blacken the eye of the bully from Hades. This is not a spectator sport. It is not a battle fought by remote control. Because we are in Christ, as he enters the battle we enter it with Him. In Jesus, all humanity goes toe-to-toe with the heavyweight champion of hell. When this one Man Jesus Christ, enters the ring with the tempter, all men step in with him. Just as in Adam all humanity fell through temptation into sin and death, so in Christ all humanity will rise through obedience into righteousness and life. Because you are in Christ, you are not an audience; you are in the desert with Jesus, about to do battle with the Devil.
The devil heard the Father’s voice at the baptism of his Son. He watched him fast, he saw him hunger, so he devised a plan of attack. The other Gospel writers record that “the tempter came to him and said, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread’” (Mt 4:3). Do you hear what is suggested? The devil is saying, “If it is true, what that voice from the clouds said, are you the Son of God. The temptation is to lead Jesus to doubt who He is. In effect Satan is saying, “How can you, a poor Galilean carpenter, be the long-awaited Messiah? Who will ever believe you, Jesus? Do you see how subtle Satan is? He doesn’t tempt Jesus to do something wrong; rather he tempts Jesus to question who He is.
That same satanic mouth has dropped such doubting thoughts into our hearts, hasn’t it? At your Baptism too the Father said, “You are my son, you are my daughter, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” But does it always seem so?
One of the saddest conditions a person can face in life is amnesia, when one doesn't know who they are. Knowing our identity, who we are and whose you are, is vital. God wants us to remember that we are His dear children, born to Him in the waters of baptism. God wants us to be constantly aware of our identity. This is not always easy. When the bills pile up, have you wondered what use is the Father’s rich grace if you haven’t money to pay what you owe? If you are so loved by him, why did he allow you to be injured, to become ill, to spend hour upon hour in pain and misery? If God is good, why is life so bad sometimes? So goes the temptation to despair. Satan's primary objective is not getting us to do something wrong, something bad, but to cause us to lose track of who we are - to lose our identity – as God’s dear children.
But as it was with Jesus, so it is with you. Satan is luring you to turn from the trustworthy words of your Father to the fickle feelings of your human heart. Do not trust yourself; trust your Father. If he sent his own beloved Son to the cross, do not pretend that he will spare you crosses, sufferings, and pains. In all these things your heavenly Father is with you. In love he is bringing you, cross by cross, suffering by suffering, to the glory of the resurrection.
The ways Satan tries to convince us that we are not God's beloved children are most often subtle, clever and deadly. And these temptations, like the temptations of Christ, are far more insidious than any impulse to disobey the commandments. Consider this temptation of Satan, "If you are a child of God, then why don't you feel more like one?" It's deadly because sometimes we don't feel much like beloved members of God's family. The implication is that if you don't feel like one, then maybe you're not one. How about this terrible temptation, "If you are a child of God, then why don't you act like one?" Satan is filled with glee when we begin to ask these questions of ourselves.
When Martin Luther became depressed, he saw it as a temptation of Satan and he would turn to the ancient foe and cry out, “I am baptized. I am baptized.” He needed the assurance of his identity that he belonged to Jesus. He needed to be sure that even though his faith might waver, God’s all encompassing love would not. He needed the assurance that he was held firmly in the grip of God’s mercy. This assurance is ours also based on God’s Word. We too can say “I am baptized. I belong to Jesus.
In the desert Satan stormed on changing his battle technique against Jesus. He moves from saying IF to saying THEN. IF it is so that you are the Son of God, then prove it. If you truly are the Son of God, fill your empty belly with bread made from the stones of the earth. Satan, hungry for victory, swings his fist at the empty belly of our Lord.
But no more had the punch begun before it was blocked—not by human strength, not by willpower, not by argumentation, but by the Word of God. Jesus answered and said, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Mt 4:4). And the word that had proceeded from the mouth of God was, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” The temptation was not simply to turn rocks into food. Satan lured Jesus to turn from the trustworthy words of his Father to the fickle feelings of the human heart. But instead of turning stones into bread, Christ stuffed the stone of his Father’s Word into the devil’s open, tempting mouth.
Having failed in his initial assault, Satan attacks again, two more times. First he tempts Jesus to throw himself off the temple, trusting God to catch Him. Is the devil simply trying to break our Lord’s neck? No, he is far more sinister than that. He is tempting Jesus to have a false trust of God, to test Him when it is not His will. If your Father loves you so much, he will do anything to protect you, even sending His angels. So, throw yourself down from the temple. In other words, “put your father to the test.” This temptation of the devil is to abandon faith and live by sight. In essence He is saying prove that God will save you. But the scriptures tell us to “live by faith, not by sight”. Jesus responds, “Again it is written that thou shall not test the Lord thy God.”
Having been defeated in the first two rounds with our Lord, Satan stepped forward for one final and climactic effort. Satan holds prosperity and delight before him offering Jesus the world. The devil knew that Jesus knew what sufferings awaited him, so the devil said, in essence: “Because you are God’s Son, you deserve better than this miserable life; you deserve riches, honor, and glory. I can give all that to you, yes, all that and more if only you will get on your knees and worship me.”
But our Lord came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many—as a ransom for you. And if he came not to be served, certainly he came not to pursue wealth, fame, and glory! He came to “fear, love, and trust in God above all things,” and in so doing, to fulfill the Law for us. So he said, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only’” (Mt 4:10).
In the wasteland of the Judean wilderness, Jesus fought off the temptations of the evil one. Every fiery arrow shot from Satan’s bow was doused with the Word of God. Jesus stood toe to toe with our real arch-enemy as he resisted temptation for us. Do you see what our Lord has done in his conquest of Satan with all his temptations? He has utterly reversed the fall of the first man and has brought forward a new humanity, with himself being a new Adam, who bears in his own body the source of all true and lasting life. What you could not do, Christ has done for you. The tempter whom you could never defeat on your own—Christ has defeated. The new beginning that you could never create—Jesus has created for you.
The Lord Jesus fought this battle for you. His victory over the devil is your victory as well, for all that Christ accomplished has been reckoned to you as your very own. When you fall prey to the temptations of Satan, flee to the One who defeated Satan. Those who are in Christ Jesus cannot be harmed by the enticements of evil. As in Adam you died in sin, so in the obedient Christ you live. Repent and return to him. Leave the old Adam with his death, and come to the new Adam with all his life. He will receive and embrace you as his own. He who was tempted for you is never tempted to turn you away. His baptism is your Baptism; his conquering of sin is your conquering of sin; his crucifixion, his resurrection, his ascension are yours. What belongs to the head belongs to the body, and you are the body of Christ, living members of that Man Jesus who is also God. In Jesus, we have victory over our arch enemy, the axis of evil, sin death and the devil. In the first Adam and the fall into sin we were cast out into the wilderness of the world. Now, in Jesus Christ, we have victory in the desert which leads us back to the garden of God’s delight. Amen.