Seeking Transformation in Temptation

Luke 4:1–13 ESV

1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’ ” 5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’ ” 9 And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ 11 and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” 12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Introduction

Every year, the first Sunday in Lent begins with the temptation or testing of Jesus by Satan in the wilderness. The three synoptic gospels all have versions of this encounter. Matthew and Luke’s versions are longer and more detailed than Mark’s, but it is present in all. Why would we begin the Lenten season with the same story every year?

We have just come out of the season of Epiphany where we learned the ways in which the Word made flesh of Advent and Christmas reveals himself to the world as God incarnate in real and tangible ways. Epiphany begins with baptism of Jesus where he is identified as the Messiah and the Son of God, and it ends with the Transfiguration of Jesus where Jesus then sets his eyes toward Jerusalem and the cross and the same voice declaring familiar words from his baptism.

Lent is the season of repentance and preparation for the greatest Epiphany of Christ - the resurrection. Over the next six weeks, we will spend time with Jesus and his disciples as they make their way to Jerusalem. Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and the call to remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return. It is a reminder that in a world that tries to hold on to this life with everything it has that we are nothing more than dust. All the stuff we accumulate in life is stuff that will fade away. It is a reminder that we must hold on to that which is eternal and lasting - namely Jesus Christ.

So, when we get to the first Sunday of Lent, we read the story of Jesus’ temptation and think that it is just another depressing story. We want to go ahead and get on with Easter because it is exciting and joyful. Ashes, sin, temptation - those are things that we just want to forget about. Resurrection is where it’s at!

But that’s not real life, is it? Temptation and testing happen every day. We all have moments when we have to reassess where we are and what we are doing because we realize we are not headed in the right direction. The Holy Spirit prompts us to do something different. Sometimes that means going into the wilderness and tangling with evil within and without. It means that we have look deep within ourselves and see the stain of sin that lingers because we want to hold on to some parts of our old life because it makes us comfortable. But in the end, it just withers us away.

Confronting the reality of our situation is what this first Sunday is all about. It is in the confronting of the temptation that we learn how transformation can really take place in us so that the image of Christ will shine brightly within us.

1. We are transformed in temptation by obedience to God’s word. (vs. 3-4)

Jesus is sent out into the wilderness by the prompting of the Holy Spirit as a way to prepare him for the ministry that is ahead. It is also a call back to the time of the Israelite’s wilderness wanderings for forty years.

The first temptation or test is one of hunger.

Luke 4:3 ESV

3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

Matthew and Luke are clear that these tests come at the end of the Jesus’ time in the wilderness. Mark is a little less clear. This particular test reminds us of the Israelites first entering the wilderness and wanting the delicacies of Egypt.

Exodus 16:3 ESV

3 and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

Jesus rejects the attitude of Israel. He responds with a quotation from Deuteronomy 8:3

Deuteronomy 8:3 ESV

3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

The wilderness wanderings required the Israelites to be humble and obedient. The same is true of Jesus. Where the Israelites failed, Jesus succeeded. The Israelites did not trust God. Jesus did. He knew that provision would be given to him in God’s time and by God’s initiative. He chose obedience over the quick relief of hunger pangs.

Do we ever long for something more? Do we think back to times gone by and want them to return? I recently read an article that said that COVID-19 has re-framed our minds to long for nostalgia like never before, and my generation, Gen X, is the generation that has been effected most by this longing for different times.

The Israelites lived in the past. Jesus looked to the future. Knowing that his obedience and humility meant something more than just him not doing what he had the power to do and turn stones into bread. Instead of displaying the kind of power that he could have, he chose humble obedience as the way because he knew that his obedience would bring us salvation.

2. We are transformed in temptation by the proper worship of God. (vs. 5-8)

The second temptation that was faced by Jesus began with Satan showing him a bird’s-eye view of all the kingdoms of the world. There is not a place on earth that can do that so we must believe that it was a vision or a rhetorical phrase. The point is that Satan is tempting Jesus to be ruler of the nations without having to go through the suffering of the cross. Satan claims that he is the one who has the power to hand over all the world to Jesus. However, just as in the Garden, Satan twists God’s word to try to lead astray in Luke 4:6

Luke 4:6 ESV

6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will.

Jesus knows the devil’s schemes and retorts back by quoting from 1 Samuel 7:3 and Deuteronomy 6:13 when he says,

Luke 4:8 ESV

8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’ ”

This rebuttal from Jesus comes at a point in Deuteronomy where Israel has repeated failed to worship God properly. The generation that came before had worshiped the golden calf at Sinai and this generation that is about to enter the promise land will have to face the temptation to worship the Canaanite gods.

Jesus’ words come just after Moses shares the Shema, which is repeated several times a day by Jews -

Deuteronomy 6:4–5 ESV

4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

This temptation strikes at the heart of the loyalty of Jesus to the Father. We must look at the promise that is given about Jesus in Psalm 2:8

Psalm 2:8 ESV

8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.

This psalm is a messianic psalm that points to the rule of the Messiah over all the world. Because Jesus is divine and the Son of God he is already entitled to rule and reign over all things. All authority and power is his. What the devil is offering him by worshiping him is inferior to what Jesus already possesses.

We must know that when we worship anything other than the Lord we are displacing him with something that is inferior. When we spend more time focusing on the things of the world than we do in worship, we are staying where we are. There is no transformation that can take place. We cannot truly be who God has called us to be as his people. We are still dead in our sin.

We can be tempted to worship other things and gain prestige in this world. But that temptation must drive us to the worship of the one true God who is over and above all things. We must take seriously what Moses says to the Israelites that we must worship the Lord alone and only him. For he is worthy to be worshiped and praised.

3. We are transformed in temptation through our faith in God. (vs. 8-13)

Romans 10:17 ESV

17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Romans 12:2 ESV

2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

In the final temptation, Satan takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem. There was a rabbinic tradition at the time of Jesus that the Messiah would reveal himself on the roof of the temple. Again, he tries to twist scripture by quoting from

Psalm 91:11–12 ESV

11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. 12 On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.

In doing so, he is trying to goad Jesus into proving that God will protect him by jumping from the top of the temple. It is a way of trying to sow doubt in Jesus’ mind to see if God will truly protect him. But Jesus replies again from Deuteronomy:

Deuteronomy 6:16 ESV

16 “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.

It combats the temptation, but also shows how Israel once again failed God when they tested him at Massah when they had no water to drink in Exodus 17:1-7.

The temptation is to prove the truth of God’s promise by putting him to the test. However, a person of God does not need to put God to the test because he has faith that God will act. By giving into this temptation, Jesus would have shown a lack of faith in God’s promises.

We, as God’s people, have been promised much by God. It is tempting for us to test God when things do not go the way we wish. We can try to bargain with God in such ways as the people did in Massah in Exodus 17:3

Exodus 17:3 ESV

3 But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

We can have this same kind of attitude in our hearts. But we must remember what Paul tells us in Romans 10:17

Romans 10:17 ESV

17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

We must lean on Christ in those moments of temptation to blame God and to test him. We must have faith that whatever is happening that God will see us through it and give us the strength to endure. It can be easy for us to be as the Israelites were. But when we give into this kind of temptation, it will lead us further from God and his promises for us.

Paul tells us in Romans 12:2

Romans 12:2 ESV

2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Testing in our lives will lead us to know what God’s will is for us. But in order for that to happen our minds must be transformed from the ways of the world to the ways of God.

Isaiah 55:8–9 ESV

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

As Christians, we rest in the fact that God’s ways are greater than our own. We trust in him and place our faith in him no matter where we are in life. He will be the one that leads us through

Conclusion

In the end, the temptation and testing that Jesus faced was not the end of everything that Satan would throw at him. We are told only in Luke that Satan departed for a more opportune time. Some people believe that time was in the Garden of Gethsemane. No one really knows. But what we do know is that Satan will always be seeking ways to tempt us and try to lead us astray. Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 5:8

1 Peter 5:8 ESV

8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

He will continue to try to lead us away from God but we must remember that the testing and temptation are places in our lives where transformation can happen if we trust and rely on God in those moments. Temptation can be overcome through the power of the Holy Spirit. When we walk in obedience to God’s word, worship him alone, and have faith fully in Christ, we will walk in the Christian perfection that God transforms us to walk in.

Confession and Pardon

Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him, who earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace with one another. Therefore, let us confess our sin before God and one another

Congregation prays together:

Merciful God, we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart. We have failed to be an obedient church.

We have not done your will, we have broken your law, we have rebelled against your love, we have not loved our neighbors, and we have not heard the cry of the needy.

Forgive us, we pray. Free us for joyful obedience, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hear the good news: Christ died for us while we were yet sinners; that proves God's love toward us. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!

Congregation:

In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!

All:

Glory to God. Amen.

Passing the Peace

The Great Thanksgiving

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is right, and a good and joyful thing,

always and everywhere to give thanks to you,

Father Almighty (almighty God), creator of heaven and earth.

You brought all things into being and called them good.

From the dust of the earth you formed us into your image

and breathed into us the breath of life.

When we turned away, and our love failed, your love remained steadfast.

When rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights,

you bore up the ark on the waters, saved Noah and his family,

and made covenant with every living creature on earth.

When you led your people to Mount Sinai for forty days and forty nights,

you gave us your commandments and made us your covenant people.

When your people forsook your covenant,

your prophet Elijah fasted for forty days and forty nights;

and on your holy mountain, he heard your still small voice.

And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven,

we praise your name and join their unending hymn:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,

heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ.

When you gave him to save us from our sin,

your Spirit led him into the wilderness,

where he fasted forty days and forty nights to prepare for his ministry.

When he suffered and died on a cross for our sin, you raised him to life,

presented him alive to the apostles during forty days,

and exalted him at your right hand.

By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection

you gave birth to your Church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death,

and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit.

Now, when we your people prepare for the yearly feast of Easter,

you lead us to repentance for sin and the cleansing of our hearts,

that during these forty days of Lent we may be gifted and graced

to reaffirm the covenant you made with us through Christ.

On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread,

gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said:

"Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you.

Do this in remembrance of me."

When the supper was over he took the cup,

gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said:

"Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant,

poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."

And so, in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,

we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving,

as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ's offering for us,

as we proclaim the mystery of faith.

Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.

Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here,

and on these gifts of bread and wine.

Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ,

that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.

By your Spirit make us one with Christ,

one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world,

until Christ comes in final victory, and we feast at his heavenly banquet.

Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church,

all honor and glory is yours, almighty Father (God ), now and for ever.

Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be Thy name.

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

As we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil:

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power,

and the glory, forever. Amen.

Breaking the Bread

Because there is one loaf, we, who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. The bread which we break is a sharing in the body of Christ.

The cup over which we give thanks is a sharing in the blood of Christ.

Giving the Bread and the Cup