Matthew 4:1-11 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only God.’” Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. What might the devil represent in your life? I'll leave that for you to ponder.
He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came.
Notice that the tempter, i.e., temptation didn’t come right away. When we start on a journey, most of the time we start out strong, but after we’ve been going a while, and a weakened by the stresses of the call, or the mission; and maybe get to missing the way things were- before- before we got into all of this; when we get tired- or homesick, or afraid, or even bored- that’s when the tempter comes.
He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” In other words, just quit- you don’t have to do this... and you know what? Jesus could have chosen to quit! God would have still loved him- God still loves us whether or not we do anything for God. I need to say that out front. Because there have been times in my life that I have been called to do something- and I knew it- but I decided to feed my hunger and turn the stones into bread; there have been times when I let the tempter convince me that my own comfort and security was more important than what God was calling me to. And I know that sometime in the future, I will do that again. I will take the warm rolls and coffee to feed my hunger or my own self pity instead of staying strong as Jesus did- and I have to know I will be loved either way. That’s the promise I cling to every day- because choices like this come every day.
Can you think of a time when you chose bread over stones?
But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” And we hear Jesus, our Lord, our mentor, our living example of what to do when things get rough- respond the way we all hope to. And this goes back to something we were talking about a few months ago, and how important and beneficial it is to memorize scripture- so when that pain is burning in the pit of your stomach- you remember the words that bring you comfort, or healing. Can you think of one verse that you have memorized? Why not speak it now? And if you haven’t just say “Nothing can separate us from the love of God.”
Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”
As much as the first temptation was difficult- this one even more so. How difficult it is not to abuse the freedom God gives us. As children of God, we are loved- “just the way we are no matter what.” The apostle Paul tells us, "all things are permissible-" "there is freedom in Christ-" "if you are going to sin, sin boldly!” Here is what I know: though God will surely catch us when we fall, so we will not dash our foot against a stone, and though God is there for us each and every time we step outside the boundaries of what we are supposed to be doing, and will help us each time we mess up, and pick us up each time we fail- there are things that we are not supposed to be doing as disciples of Christ. And this isn’t a judgment on anyone.
What does the Lord require of us? To do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with God. There is such temptation to ignore those things, and do instead the things we we know are wrong! For each of us, they might vary, but come on, you know, for example, when someone comes up to you to gossip, you can either jump off the gossip cliff and yes, God will catch you- or you can claim the scripture to love one another as you love yourself- and not to judge, lest you be judged- and walk away- no need to put God’s faithfulness to the test. Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”
Oh money, power, things- all the things we delude and distract ourselves with- things that the world, the tempter- tells us will bring us happiness and fulfillment. And really, this is one of those where we all have lines to draw- how much stuff is a reasonable amount? How much can I have without being called gluttonous? It’s OK to buy just one more TV isn’t it? Because I really love to watch the food network while I’m making dinner. But the point isn’t how much you have. It’s being tempted into selfishness- to secure for you all of the things we think will ensure a happier life, instead of looking to God for that assurance. Because once we count on anything but God to sustain us, protect us, and enrich our lives, we become guilty of idol worship-
What are the things that you have worshiped this week, or anytime, other than God? Take a moment and acknowledge those things- for this is the main theme of Lent- this is how we focus and ready ourselves to meet God anew during Holy Week. It’s how we practice discipleship- by acknowledging the things we have put before God, and how we can make God first in our lives.
“Away with you, Satan!” Jesus says at this last temptation, “for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only God.’” 11Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him. How do we allow angels to wait on us, after temptation is over? You know we have to allow it right? Easy to isolate after something we have been facing- it’s easy to want to curl up and try to minister to ourselves, or maybe let Ben and Jerry’s or Jack Daniels help. But if we are still long enough to notice, God really does send angels to us. When have you seen an angel- and did you allow that person to minister to you?