St Matthew 4:1-11/Genesis 3:1-21/Hebrews 4:14-16
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
The Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. He, together with the Father and the Son, is worshipped and glorified. The Father eternally begets the Son, and from them the Spirit ever proceeds. It is the divine economy of the Holy Trinity that God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, work on your behalf, for your justification, redemption, and forgiveness.
It is not to be taken lightly, then, that Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the desert in order to be tempted by the slanderer. You are taught to pray, Lead us not into temptation, and promised, “God tempts no one.” But here, God the Holy Spirit who descended upon the Son at His Baptism, and the voice of the Father declared, This is My Beloved, now leads Jesus into the lion’s den, so to speak.
And after fasting forty days and forty nights, He was more than hungry. He would have been near death. Famished, irrational, emaciated beyond recognition. You who fast during Lent or follow the dietary edicts of your doctor to the letter, have never known hunger like this.
As it was with Eve, so it is with our Lord, Satan tempts with food. Yet his poisonous sermon is more than just, “Fill your belly. Why should the Giver of bread go hungry?” The similarity with Eve is more profound. In both cases the tempter was going after the Word of God. To Eve, Did God really say . . .? To our Lord, If You are the Son of God . . . “For if You truly are His Beloved, why would your Father let you starve?”
More is at stake than mere bread. The temptation is to reject the will of the Father and take for Himself what is good. But Christ is not sinful Israel. He is not cowardly Adam. He is not you. He does not grumble or complain. He does not slander God or question His provision. Israel did those things. We do those things. Israel grumbled about the care the Lord provided. We complain about the things God gives us. Israel wanted to return to bondage and slavery. We think that the slavery of our sin is actually freedom.
We are afraid to truly be free. Free of our sin and lusts and perversions, free of guilt and shame. Our slavery to sin becomes comfortable in a sick and twisted way. To be truly free means that we are completely and utterly dependant upon God, as we are taught to pray in the Our Father.
But Jesus is completely and utterly dependant on His Father. He perfectly submits to His will. Where bread is withheld, Jesus did not complain. Where it seemed as though God had abandoned Him, Jesus relied only on His Word of promise, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God.
Then the devil goes after our Lord’s piety. “Prove that You trust God; that You believe His Word.” And Satan misquotes Scripture. He is the master of a thousand arts; and he employs them all to get you to doubt God’s promises, even twisting those promises to suit his needs. Satan is adept at properly dividing Law and Gospel, only he does it completely backward! He lures you into temptation and sin by the seduction of a false Gospel, “You’re baptized. You’re saved. God won’t really be angry at this.” And then he is the first to turn and shame you with the Law. He is like Amnon, David’s son, who raped his sister Tamar, and then after doing so hated the very sight of her. The devil has violated us and then fills us with shame at what we have done.
But the angels serve you according to the holy will and ways of the Lord, not according to your insolent foolishness. Indeed He sends His holy angel, that the evil foe may have no power over you, but Again it is written, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”
Then the final appeal. “Bow down to me, receive the kingdoms and the glory of this world.” But Jesus won’t do it. He will not take what the Father has not given Him. He will not seize for Himself all authority in heaven and on earth. We would. We’d give a quick bow to the tempter to be mayor of the city, let alone emperor of the world.
Ultimately that is what all sin is, devil worship. For it takes from God what is rightfully His. Yet it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.” The devil leaves Him and the ministering spirits are sent to serve Him.
But here is what we usually don’t get: Jesus is not giving us an example, at least not primarily; as if we just do what He did and all will be well. Everything that Jesus did, He did for us, in our place, as our Substitute and Champion. Everything. He did nothing that wasn’t for us.
So also the temptation. He faced down the devil. And not only here, but throughout His earthly life, at all the times and in all the ways you are tempted, every one, yet without sin. The truth is that we don’t face down the devil in the same way that our Lord did. We can’t. We are always complicit in temptation because of the sin that infects us. Our Lord can hear the temptation and not sin. He has no desire for evil. He doesn’t imagine it. He simply rejects is because it is not in accord with the Word and will of God.
But it was in accord with the Word and the will of God that the Christ, the obedient Son, the beloved Son, should suffer for us, rebels and traitors and liars and cheats. And He submits to the Father’s will. He does not die in the desert, the Father did not abandon Him. He dies on the Cross where the Father does truly forsake Him and lets Satan have his way with Him. Still He does not give in. Still He trusts the Word and yields up His Spirit to the Father in complete and perfect obedience.
All this is for you. He is your example, the most excellent and perfect example; but more than that Jesus is your kinsman Redeemer, your Great High Priest who knows your weaknesses, your Second Adam who has purchased and safe guarded you, His Eve, His Bride. And risen from the dead all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him by the Father. His Word goes forth to make disciples of all nations by baptism and catechesis.
Here is the point of the temptation of our Lord: We don’t have to overcome the devil. We don’t have to suffer for our sins. We don’t even have to die. The Holy Spirit did this to Jesus on purpose, in our stead, for us, so that we would be spared. This is what pleases the Father. This is why He was anointed by St John in the Jordan’s filthy water. It is written, For the joy set before Him, Christ endured the cross, despising its shame. You are His joy. He is your mercy and your life.
One more thing to note: Eve fell by eating. Jesus resisted taking food from the devil in the desert. I have often said that in Holy Scripture who one eats with matters. A meal together is a sign of confession. You live not by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God. Here, the Word made flesh who eternally proceeds from the mouth of the Father, is your Bread. Here stones are not turned to bread, but you are made children and bread is the Body of Christ.
The Eucharist is the fruit of the Tree of Life, that is, His Cross, and by it the Father gives you to partake of His beloved Son, and you receive the Holy Spirit. You have fellowship, communion in the mystery of the Blessed Trinity. It is written, He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has life and I will raise him up on the Last Day. The devil cannot have you.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
The Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. He, together with the Father and the Son, is worshipped and glorified. The Father eternally begets the Son, and from them the Spirit ever proceeds. It is the divine economy of the Holy Trinity that God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, work on your behalf, for your justification, redemption, and forgiveness.
It is not to be taken lightly, then, that Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the desert in order to be tempted by the slanderer. You are taught to pray, Lead us not into temptation, and promised, “God tempts no one.” But here, God the Holy Spirit who descended upon the Son at His Baptism, and the voice of the Father declared, This is My Beloved, now leads Jesus into the lion’s den, so to speak.
And after fasting forty days and forty nights, He was more than hungry. He would have been near death. Famished, irrational, emaciated beyond recognition. You who fast during Lent or follow the dietary edicts of your doctor to the letter, have never known hunger like this.
As it was with Eve, so it is with our Lord, Satan tempts with food. Yet his poisonous sermon is more than just, “Fill your belly. Why should the Giver of bread go hungry?” The similarity with Eve is more profound. In both cases the tempter was going after the Word of God. To Eve, Did God really say . . .? To our Lord, If You are the Son of God . . . “For if You truly are His Beloved, why would your Father let you starve?”
More is at stake than mere bread. The temptation is to reject the will of the Father and take for Himself what is good. But Christ is not sinful Israel. He is not cowardly Adam. He is not you. He does not grumble or complain. He does not slander God or question His provision. Israel did those things. We do those things. Israel grumbled about the care the Lord provided. We complain about the things God gives us. Israel wanted to return to bondage and slavery. We think that the slavery of our sin is actually freedom.
We are afraid to truly be free. Free of our sin and lusts and perversions, free of guilt and shame. Our slavery to sin becomes comfortable in a sick and twisted way. To be truly free means that we are completely and utterly dependant upon God, as we are taught to pray in the Our Father.
But Jesus is completely and utterly dependant on His Father. He perfectly submits to His will. Where bread is withheld, Jesus did not complain. Where it seemed as though God had abandoned Him, Jesus relied only on His Word of promise, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God.
Then the devil goes after our Lord’s piety. “Prove that You trust God; that You believe His Word.” And Satan misquotes Scripture. He is the master of a thousand arts; and he employs them all to get you to doubt God’s promises, even twisting those promises to suit his needs. Satan is adept at properly dividing Law and Gospel, only he does it completely backward! He lures you into temptation and sin by the seduction of a false Gospel, “You’re baptized. You’re saved. God won’t really be angry at this.” And then he is the first to turn and shame you with the Law. He is like Amnon, David’s son, who raped his sister Tamar, and then after doing so hated the very sight of her. The devil has violated us and then fills us with shame at what we have done.
But the angels serve you according to the holy will and ways of the Lord, not according to your insolent foolishness. Indeed He sends His holy angel, that the evil foe may have no power over you, but Again it is written, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”
Then the final appeal. “Bow down to me, receive the kingdoms and the glory of this world.” But Jesus won’t do it. He will not take what the Father has not given Him. He will not seize for Himself all authority in heaven and on earth. We would. We’d give a quick bow to the tempter to be mayor of the city, let alone emperor of the world.
Ultimately that is what all sin is, devil worship. For it takes from God what is rightfully His. Yet it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.” The devil leaves Him and the ministering spirits are sent to serve Him.
But here is what we usually don’t get: Jesus is not giving us an example, at least not primarily; as if we just do what He did and all will be well. Everything that Jesus did, He did for us, in our place, as our Substitute and Champion. Everything. He did nothing that wasn’t for us.
So also the temptation. He faced down the devil. And not only here, but throughout His earthly life, at all the times and in all the ways you are tempted, every one, yet without sin. The truth is that we don’t face down the devil in the same way that our Lord did. We can’t. We are always complicit in temptation because of the sin that infects us. Our Lord can hear the temptation and not sin. He has no desire for evil. He doesn’t imagine it. He simply rejects is because it is not in accord with the Word and will of God.
But it was in accord with the Word and the will of God that the Christ, the obedient Son, the beloved Son, should suffer for us, rebels and traitors and liars and cheats. And He submits to the Father’s will. He does not die in the desert, the Father did not abandon Him. He dies on the Cross where the Father does truly forsake Him and lets Satan have his way with Him. Still He does not give in. Still He trusts the Word and yields up His Spirit to the Father in complete and perfect obedience.
All this is for you. He is your example, the most excellent and perfect example; but more than that Jesus is your kinsman Redeemer, your Great High Priest who knows your weaknesses, your Second Adam who has purchased and safe guarded you, His Eve, His Bride. And risen from the dead all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him by the Father. His Word goes forth to make disciples of all nations by baptism and catechesis.
Here is the point of the temptation of our Lord: We don’t have to overcome the devil. We don’t have to suffer for our sins. We don’t even have to die. The Holy Spirit did this to Jesus on purpose, in our stead, for us, so that we would be spared. This is what pleases the Father. This is why He was anointed by St John in the Jordan’s filthy water. It is written, For the joy set before Him, Christ endured the cross, despising its shame. You are His joy. He is your mercy and your life.
One more thing to note: Eve fell by eating. Jesus resisted taking food from the devil in the desert. I have often said that in Holy Scripture who one eats with matters. A meal together is a sign of confession. You live not by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God. Here, the Word made flesh who eternally proceeds from the mouth of the Father, is your Bread. Here stones are not turned to bread, but you are made children and bread is the Body of Christ.
The Eucharist is the fruit of the Tree of Life, that is, His Cross, and by it the Father gives you to partake of His beloved Son, and you receive the Holy Spirit. You have fellowship, communion in the mystery of the Blessed Trinity. It is written, He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has life and I will raise him up on the Last Day. The devil cannot have you.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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