Bigger than Bread

Common English Bible Chapter 4

4 Jesus returned from the Jordan River full of the Holy Spirit, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. 2 There he was tempted for forty days by the devil. He ate nothing during those days and afterward Jesus was starving. 3 The devil said to him, “Since you are God’s Son, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.”

4 Jesus replied, “It’s written, People won’t live only by bread.”

5 Next the devil led him to a high place and showed him in a single instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 The devil said, “I will give you this whole domain and the glory of all these kingdoms. It’s been entrusted to me and I can give it to anyone I want. 7 Therefore, if you will worship me, it will all be yours.”

8 Jesus answered, “It’s written, You will worship the Lord your God and serve only him.”

9 The devil brought him into Jerusalem and stood him at the highest point of the temple. He said to him, “Since you are God’s Son, throw yourself down from here; 10 for it’s written: He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you 11 and they will take you up in their hands so that you won’t hit your foot on a stone.”

12 Jesus answered, “It’s been said, Don’t test the Lord your God.” 13 After finishing every temptation, the devil departed from him until the next opportunity.

Introduction- Temptations

I always think it’s funny what it is that tempts a person, and what things might not tempt someone.

Some people are tempted to eat chocolatey sweet deserts, some are tempted by the salty side of the aisle.

Some people are tempted by drugs and alcohol, and some people manage to abstain their whole lives.

Some people are tempted by a regular coffee habit, and everyone else is just nuts.

Temptations are all about something that we think will be good for us, but we kind of know in the back of our mind it really isn’t.

Most folks aren’t tempted to loose 10-15 pounds, right?

You’re tempted by a fleeting pleasure, something that will feel good in the moment, but really only last for a moment.

They are unsustainable.

One of the greatest elements of Jesus’ life on earth is that the wholly human part of him experienced temptation the same as the rest of us do, except he did not sin.

And one response to that might be “Well of course. He’s Jesus!”

But I wonder if there’s a lesson in this story for those of us who want to fight just a little bit harder against the temptations we face on a regular basis?

I wonder if we could fight our temptations the way that Jesus did?

Bible Breakdown

Look back a bit-

Luke doesn’t make this easy for us.

Right before this story is Jesus genealogy, which even the most dedicated Bible scholar will tell you is the gateway to a solid nap.

But if you go one story back, you realize that the last time we see Jesus before the temptation story we read, we see him at the Jordan river for his baptism.

The baptism is the key.

Jesus comes out of the water, and the Spirit of God descends on him like a dove, and he hears a voice.

That voice says “You are my Son, whom I dearly love; in you I find happiness.”

Right from there, Jesus is led by that same Spirit in to the wilderness.

The Temptations

Stone to bread

Lent is a season where we fast for 40 days.

Some traditions will fast completely for 40 days.

Others like Catholics or even some of us Presbyterians will abstain from one or two particular things for that season.

Whichever it is, we likely got the tradition from this story in Luke.

Jesus gives up food for 40 days.

This is remarkable, isn’t it?

I don’t know that I could give up food for 40 hours, let alone 40 days.

The text says that after all this Jesus was starving, which is kind of a “No kidding Sherlock” piece of writing.

A word about Satan:

Ha-Satan is the literal Hebrew word.

In Hebrew Ha-Satan is the enemy, or the contrarian.

In Greek it’s Diablos,

which literally translated means “the slanderer.”

In either case, it’s essentially the liar.

And it really isn’t about the guy with the pitchfork and the horns and the weird tail.

Those are all images that come from our own popular culture.

The Devil really can be that small voice inside you that runs counter to whatever you know to be true.

Surely, that’s what’s happening here, right?

The voice of Satan says “If you are God’s Son, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.”

Which seems a bit weird, but in reality makes a lot of sense.

If you were in that part of the world, the stones actually kind of look like loaves of bread.

If you were without food for 40 days, you’d think about eating rocks too, wouldn’t you?

Jesus responds by quoting Deuteronomy 8:3

“He humbled you by making you hungry and then feeding you the manna that neither you nor your ancestors had ever experienced, so he could teach you that people don’t live on bread alone. No, they live based on whatever the Lord says.”

But still, I kind of wonder what the big deal with that temptation was?

For as obvious as it seems that someone would want to eat rocks, even and especially if you had the ability to turn a stone in to bread, it seems like it’d be a pretty easy temptation to say no to, right?

Strange.

All the kingdoms of the world

The Devil won’t give up though.

He takes Jesus to a “high place” and showed him all the kingdoms of the world.

Every one.

Everywhere.

The whole creation.

And the devil essentially says “All of this is mine, but I’ll give it to you if you just worship me.”

This leads to one of my favorite fails of all time, in this scripture calendar.

You should probably check who’s speaking in any given verse before you put it on your inspirational product...

And once again, Jesus responds with scripture.

Deuteronomy 6:13 “Revere the Lord your God, serve him, and take your solemn pledges in his name!”

This one makes a little bit more sense to me as a temptation.

The devil essentially offers to forfeit the cosmic battle.

If Jesus would only worship him, only once, the devil would reliquish his claim on all the kingdoms of the world.

Pretty dang tempting!

But still, Jesus says no.

Angels to protect you

The Devil’s going to try one more time, and this time he’s bringing a better weapon to the fight.

The Devil says specifically “If you are God’s Son, throw yourself off the temple.”

And then the Devil quotes scripture!

Psalm 91:11-12 “Because he will order his messengers to help you, to protect you wherever you go. They will carry you with their own hands so you don’t bruise your foot on a stone.”

Who knew that the Devil could quote scripture at us!?!

What’s hilarious is that where the devil stops.

Psalm 91:13 “You’ll march on top of lions and vipers; you’ll trample young lions and serpents underfoot.”

It’s almost like if you take a single verse of the Bible out of context, you could be in trouble...

Anyway…Jesus does the same thing again and quotes scripture back at the Devil.

Deuteronomy 6:16 “Don’t test the Lord your God the way you frustrated him at Massah.”

This one strikes me as an odd temptation too.

Maybe I’m afraid of heights, but even if I knew that angels would grab me on the way down, I don’t think that I would jump.

Turning stones to bread?

Worship Satan once to win the war?

Jumping off a building?

Those aren’t the temptations.

If you are the son of God

The first and third temptation start with an interesting phrase.

“If you are the Son of God...”

Remember that the story right before this, Jesus comes up out of the water and has an incredible experience of the Spirit

God himself says to Jesus “You are my Son, and I find happiness in you!”

The middle temptation is interesting too.

The middle line is what should have us all raising an eyebrow.

“The world has been entrusted to me and I can give it to anyone I want.”

Since when?

Since when has God entrusted the kingdoms of the world to the enemy?

So really, we come to find out that the temptations have nothing to do with bread, or angels, or worshiping Satan.

The temptations boil down to one essential question:

Can you believe what God says?

If God has told you that you are loved, can you believe that?

If God says that you belong to him, do you trust that?

If God says that God is still the ruler of the world, and that God will win in the end, does that guide your thinking?

Can you believe what God says about the world?

Can you believe what God says about you?

Apprentices

Keep your eye on the ball

Know what God says about you

Live like you believe it