Text: St. Matthew 4:1-11/Genesis 3:1-21/2 Corinthians 6:1-10
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
The battle is about faith. The battle is about whom you will believe. For you will believe either the Words of God or you will believe the words of the Deceiver. There is no middle ground; no room for agnostics. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” And to say one doesn’t know is already to side with the Deceiver.
God speaks His Word. Is it to be trusted or not? Are we to receive the grace of God in vain? That is ultimately the only question that matters.
Eve had heard God’s words. Her priest-husband had faithfully delivered them to her. She knew that God had marked that one tree off-limits. Adam had even put a hedge around it: Not only don’t eat from it, but don’t even touch it. It’s like when you tell the little ones, “Don’t put anything in the outlets!” It’s for their protection; for their good. In the day that you eat of it you shall die.
The Deceiver, who is a liar from the beginning, starts by implanting doubt about God’s words. “Did God really say?” And then the old Liar moves on to blatant contradiction: “You will not surely die.” And then he promises something more: “The day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Who will be believed? It is a battle of words. Eve, and Adam with her, made their choice. They took the risk of listening to the words of the Deceiver. It seemed best to them; clearly God had held out on them. He had created this tree that was good for food and pleasing to the eye – but withheld it from them. So they stretched out their hands and ate. They took that which God had not given.
And then in horror they discovered what happens when you turn your back on God, when you ignore what He has said, when you listen to the Deceiver and act in a way which seems best to you, only to discover that it was actually the Deceiver’s way. C.S. Lewis portrays the wicked foe as a beautiful, yet harsh queen; a seductress; ready to lure you away, tantalize you, and then the first to shame you and decry you as worthy of God’s wrath and displeasure.
God had said, In the day that you eat of it, you will surely die. He did not lie. He never does. Maybe you expected them to drop dead, fruit in hand. I think Satan did. I think he assumed the entire creation would implode, would be completely undone.
But there is more to death than the gradual and inevitable corruption and decay of human bodies. Death is also unbelief; the rejection of God’s Word and so God’s life – not being in communion with He who alone is Life. Adam and Eve turned from faith in God, who is Life, and from His Word, which gives life, and plunged themselves and all their descendants with them into death. “All mankind fell in Adam’s fall; one common sin infects us all. In guilt we draw our infant breath and reap its fruits of woe and death” (LSB 562:1, 2).
And the fruit of Adam and Eve’s death is that they can no longer fear, love, and trust in God above all things. Nor do they trust each other any longer. Fingers are pointed in blame; always away from self. It’s always someone else’s fault. The woman YOU gave me, SHE gave me of the tree, and I ate. The serpent, HE deceived me.
In response come the words of curse and judgment, crashing down upon them: You are dust, and to dust you shall return. Even as you heard this past Wednesday. The day of ash; of dust. Notice what it is that God tells the serpent he will eat all the days of his life: dust; the very material of man.
Yet even with the words of judgment comes a word of promise. A word about the woman’s Seed, a word about a bruised heel; a word about the crushed head of the serpent. A word of hope. “One little Word can fell him.”
They are banished from their home, for mercy’s sake. For they have eaten of the tree of death. Now, lest they reach our their hand and eat from the Tree of Life and live forever, separated, severed from God – in grace He exiles them to wander the cursed ground, this perpetual wilderness.
But His promise accompanies them; He’s by their side upon the plain, calling them to trust in the Seed of the Woman and what He would accomplish for them. All the while the Deceiver constantly calls them to put their trust in anything and everything except the promise of the One who had exiled them.
Which brings us to the Gospel reading. Nothing has changed, yet everything is changing. The Seed of the Woman has come, the Virgin-Born, the long promised One, wandering the wilderness. And in slithers the Deceiver, up to his old tricks. He broke Adam and Eve’s trust in God, so now he seeks to break this Man’s trust in God.
He does it with words. Satan is always preaching. But his sermons are always twisted half-truths and disguised lies. He seeks to draw you away from the Word of the Lord that endures forever.
The Father had just declared Jesus to be His beloved Son in His baptism at the Jordan. Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted. And Satan now invites Him to doubt that Word of God. “Some fine beloved Son you are! He sends you here in the wilderness to starve. Wake up and smell the bacon, Jesus. No one is going to look after you in this world. You have to look out for yourself. You rained manna from heaven; make bread from these stones!”
It’s not a matter of proving He’s God’s Son. Satan knows He is. Jesus knows He is. It’s a matter of trust. “Do I trust God to provide me with daily bread?” And so Jesus responds, It is written, that is, God has spoken, man shall not live by bread alone. Man lives by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Jesus was saying, “I trust my Father; to His Word I will cling; His Word sustains life and I will not doubt Him.”
So Satan tries another tactic. “So, you trust your Father? Great. I’m all for trusting your Father. Here, show everyone how much you trust your Father. Jump! They’ll all believe in you when they see how your Father’s angels rush to hold you up in their hands so you don’t even scrap your foot.” If ever you doubted that false-preachers exist – here is the Deceiver taking up the promises of God into his mouth, misquoting Scripture passages, in order to twist them and use them against true faith.
But Jesus will not give into this temptation either. He does not need to show off His trust in the Father; to demonstrate it as though it were something He was uncertain of. He takes the Word of God at face value: You shall not put the Lord your God to the test. His heel is not meant for stones, but will be dashed against the head of the Serpent.
Now Satan is desperate. He has never repeatedly attacked and failed like this before. He pulls out all the stops. He shows Jesus all the glory of the world’s kingdoms in an instant; he is, after all, this world’s prince. “Yours!” he cries. “All yours! I’ll give them to you, for just one, one little thing: kneel down here in front of me and worship!”
But the response comes, Away with you, Satan. It is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve. And what does it mean to serve God? But to cling to His Word despite all else.
Satan is defeated by the Man who would not let go of God’s Word; who clung to His promises, whose trust in His Father was unshakable. He wins the battle here in the wilderness. He conquers where Adam failed. He is the Second Adam. But this was only the skirmish before the great war. As the Deceiver once overcame by a tree, so by a Tree he would be overcome. Poetic justice.
For this Second Adam goes to offer Himself as sacrifice for His Eve. He was unshakable in the wilderness. He was again unshakable in His trust of His Father in the Garden. And then again upon the Cross where He would be bruised and bleed and die precisely to fulfill the Word and promise of His Father: to crush the Serpent’s head.
Your battle, dear Christians, is no different. Will you believe the Word and promises of God? Or will you give heed to the lies of the Deceiver? He spoke His Word concerning you in your Baptism: “My beloved child, whom I love.” He speaks His Word to you in the Holy Absolution: “I forgive you all your sins.”
For you do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with your weaknesses, but One who in every respect has been tempted as you are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb 4:15-16).
His throne of grace is here: His Altar. It is also His Tree of Life. The cherubim has been removed. The gate stands wide open. Here He speaks His Word of promise; here you have the weapons of righteousness; you come as dying, and behold, you live; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.
He speaks His Word and Satan is sent packing. His angels minister to you; even as they will bear you home to your eternal Eden, where hunger shall no longer plague you, and you shall dwell secure, in the glorious worship of the Son, who with the Father and the Spirit, is one God, now and forever. Amen.
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
The battle is about faith. The battle is about whom you will believe. For you will believe either the Words of God or you will believe the words of the Deceiver. There is no middle ground; no room for agnostics. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” And to say one doesn’t know is already to side with the Deceiver.
God speaks His Word. Is it to be trusted or not? Are we to receive the grace of God in vain? That is ultimately the only question that matters.
Eve had heard God’s words. Her priest-husband had faithfully delivered them to her. She knew that God had marked that one tree off-limits. Adam had even put a hedge around it: Not only don’t eat from it, but don’t even touch it. It’s like when you tell the little ones, “Don’t put anything in the outlets!” It’s for their protection; for their good. In the day that you eat of it you shall die.
The Deceiver, who is a liar from the beginning, starts by implanting doubt about God’s words. “Did God really say?” And then the old Liar moves on to blatant contradiction: “You will not surely die.” And then he promises something more: “The day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Who will be believed? It is a battle of words. Eve, and Adam with her, made their choice. They took the risk of listening to the words of the Deceiver. It seemed best to them; clearly God had held out on them. He had created this tree that was good for food and pleasing to the eye – but withheld it from them. So they stretched out their hands and ate. They took that which God had not given.
And then in horror they discovered what happens when you turn your back on God, when you ignore what He has said, when you listen to the Deceiver and act in a way which seems best to you, only to discover that it was actually the Deceiver’s way. C.S. Lewis portrays the wicked foe as a beautiful, yet harsh queen; a seductress; ready to lure you away, tantalize you, and then the first to shame you and decry you as worthy of God’s wrath and displeasure.
God had said, In the day that you eat of it, you will surely die. He did not lie. He never does. Maybe you expected them to drop dead, fruit in hand. I think Satan did. I think he assumed the entire creation would implode, would be completely undone.
But there is more to death than the gradual and inevitable corruption and decay of human bodies. Death is also unbelief; the rejection of God’s Word and so God’s life – not being in communion with He who alone is Life. Adam and Eve turned from faith in God, who is Life, and from His Word, which gives life, and plunged themselves and all their descendants with them into death. “All mankind fell in Adam’s fall; one common sin infects us all. In guilt we draw our infant breath and reap its fruits of woe and death” (LSB 562:1, 2).
And the fruit of Adam and Eve’s death is that they can no longer fear, love, and trust in God above all things. Nor do they trust each other any longer. Fingers are pointed in blame; always away from self. It’s always someone else’s fault. The woman YOU gave me, SHE gave me of the tree, and I ate. The serpent, HE deceived me.
In response come the words of curse and judgment, crashing down upon them: You are dust, and to dust you shall return. Even as you heard this past Wednesday. The day of ash; of dust. Notice what it is that God tells the serpent he will eat all the days of his life: dust; the very material of man.
Yet even with the words of judgment comes a word of promise. A word about the woman’s Seed, a word about a bruised heel; a word about the crushed head of the serpent. A word of hope. “One little Word can fell him.”
They are banished from their home, for mercy’s sake. For they have eaten of the tree of death. Now, lest they reach our their hand and eat from the Tree of Life and live forever, separated, severed from God – in grace He exiles them to wander the cursed ground, this perpetual wilderness.
But His promise accompanies them; He’s by their side upon the plain, calling them to trust in the Seed of the Woman and what He would accomplish for them. All the while the Deceiver constantly calls them to put their trust in anything and everything except the promise of the One who had exiled them.
Which brings us to the Gospel reading. Nothing has changed, yet everything is changing. The Seed of the Woman has come, the Virgin-Born, the long promised One, wandering the wilderness. And in slithers the Deceiver, up to his old tricks. He broke Adam and Eve’s trust in God, so now he seeks to break this Man’s trust in God.
He does it with words. Satan is always preaching. But his sermons are always twisted half-truths and disguised lies. He seeks to draw you away from the Word of the Lord that endures forever.
The Father had just declared Jesus to be His beloved Son in His baptism at the Jordan. Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted. And Satan now invites Him to doubt that Word of God. “Some fine beloved Son you are! He sends you here in the wilderness to starve. Wake up and smell the bacon, Jesus. No one is going to look after you in this world. You have to look out for yourself. You rained manna from heaven; make bread from these stones!”
It’s not a matter of proving He’s God’s Son. Satan knows He is. Jesus knows He is. It’s a matter of trust. “Do I trust God to provide me with daily bread?” And so Jesus responds, It is written, that is, God has spoken, man shall not live by bread alone. Man lives by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Jesus was saying, “I trust my Father; to His Word I will cling; His Word sustains life and I will not doubt Him.”
So Satan tries another tactic. “So, you trust your Father? Great. I’m all for trusting your Father. Here, show everyone how much you trust your Father. Jump! They’ll all believe in you when they see how your Father’s angels rush to hold you up in their hands so you don’t even scrap your foot.” If ever you doubted that false-preachers exist – here is the Deceiver taking up the promises of God into his mouth, misquoting Scripture passages, in order to twist them and use them against true faith.
But Jesus will not give into this temptation either. He does not need to show off His trust in the Father; to demonstrate it as though it were something He was uncertain of. He takes the Word of God at face value: You shall not put the Lord your God to the test. His heel is not meant for stones, but will be dashed against the head of the Serpent.
Now Satan is desperate. He has never repeatedly attacked and failed like this before. He pulls out all the stops. He shows Jesus all the glory of the world’s kingdoms in an instant; he is, after all, this world’s prince. “Yours!” he cries. “All yours! I’ll give them to you, for just one, one little thing: kneel down here in front of me and worship!”
But the response comes, Away with you, Satan. It is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve. And what does it mean to serve God? But to cling to His Word despite all else.
Satan is defeated by the Man who would not let go of God’s Word; who clung to His promises, whose trust in His Father was unshakable. He wins the battle here in the wilderness. He conquers where Adam failed. He is the Second Adam. But this was only the skirmish before the great war. As the Deceiver once overcame by a tree, so by a Tree he would be overcome. Poetic justice.
For this Second Adam goes to offer Himself as sacrifice for His Eve. He was unshakable in the wilderness. He was again unshakable in His trust of His Father in the Garden. And then again upon the Cross where He would be bruised and bleed and die precisely to fulfill the Word and promise of His Father: to crush the Serpent’s head.
Your battle, dear Christians, is no different. Will you believe the Word and promises of God? Or will you give heed to the lies of the Deceiver? He spoke His Word concerning you in your Baptism: “My beloved child, whom I love.” He speaks His Word to you in the Holy Absolution: “I forgive you all your sins.”
For you do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with your weaknesses, but One who in every respect has been tempted as you are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb 4:15-16).
His throne of grace is here: His Altar. It is also His Tree of Life. The cherubim has been removed. The gate stands wide open. Here He speaks His Word of promise; here you have the weapons of righteousness; you come as dying, and behold, you live; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.
He speaks His Word and Satan is sent packing. His angels minister to you; even as they will bear you home to your eternal Eden, where hunger shall no longer plague you, and you shall dwell secure, in the glorious worship of the Son, who with the Father and the Spirit, is one God, now and forever. Amen.
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