Genesis 3:1-21; 2 Corinthians 6:1-10; St Matthew 4:1-11
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
“If.” One little word. Two letters long. It would never be a word in a spelling bee. You would never look it up in a dictionary. Who looks up conjunctions? It’s in the ESV about 1500 times, but you never stop to ponder its meaning. That word comes forth from your lips all the time - “if” - but its so common you never think about it.
But that little word on the wrong lips can spell disaster and spiritual ruin for man. That little word on the lips of a cunning liar, can shake the confidence of even the strongest Christians and make them lie awake at night in a cold sweat. That little word on the lips of a diabolical enemy like Satan, is like a knife in the hands of a serial killer who knows with expert precision where to apply the pressure to get the quickest results.
You heard from Moses how that crafty creature slithered into the paradise God had made and said to the woman, Did God actually say . . . It is as if he said, “If God is so good, why is He holding out on you?” “If you eat of it, you will become like God.” And they took from the Tree and ate.
You remember the number that slanderer did on Israel during their 40 years in the wilderness. It was as if he said, “If God meant good for you, why aren’t you eating like you did in Egypt?” And they grumbled against the Lord God who saved them from slavery. “If God really remembers you, why isn’t He doing anything for you here in the wilderness?” And they forsook the Lord God who rescued them. “If your God is the only God, they only one worthy of trust in your heart, why aren’t you feeling His love a little more?” And they hardened their hearts and rebelled agains the God who opened His heart and choose them to be His privileged Firstborn.
That crafty foe has used that little word on you too during your forty years, during your time of testing here on earth. Are you aware? Do you realize the number he does on you? “If God rally cares, why are you in debt, underemployed, sick, angry, unhappy, downcast most of the time?” “If God really gave a hoot about your situation, why does He let your misery linger on for so long?” “If you are really a child of God, how could you have done that?” “If you are really forgiven, why does your heart always feel so much guilt?”
One little word, expertly placed, and a staunch Sola-Scriptura believing Lutheran can lie awake at night trembling in his bed. One little word and our confidence in the Gospel can be easily shaken. That one little word, timed just right, can overpower the “strongest” believer and make him look like a 100-pound weakling. If God expelled Adam and Eve into the wilderness and cursed the whole universe because of their sin; if He was so displeased by Israel’s lack of faith that most of them never made it to the Promised Land, why, or even how can we make it?
Though devils all the world should fill,
All eager to devour us,
We tremble not, we fear no ill;
They shall not overpower us.
This world’s prince may still
Scowl fierce as he will,
He can harm us none.
He judged; the deed is done;
One little word can fell him. (LSB 656:3)
That “one little word,” is “liar.” Satan may love the word “if,” but Luther is teaching us here that he can’t stand the little word, “liar.” It fells him. That’s because he can’t stand the truth. He especially can’t stand the One who is the Truth and all those weaklings for which He came into the world to fight.
His lies and deceptions may have worked on Adam and Eve. They may have worked on Israel. They may work still on us. But they won’t work on the Valiant One, whom God Himself elected to fight and win for us. The One whom God the Holy Spirit drove into the wilderness after His Baptism in order to be tempted and tested for 40 days and 40 nights. You know from St James and the Small Catechism that God tempts no one. Not so here. God the Holy Spirit expelled Jesus into the wilderness, back to Adam’s exile, to Israel’s wandering, with the express purpose of Him being tempted by the Deceiver.
And He passed! In the wilderness the liar wielded his little word “If” and tried to do to Jesus what he so successfully did to Adam and Eve, Israel, and us - cut away trust and confidence in God and His Word.
If you are the Son of God . . . turn this stone to bread, throw yourself from the Temple, if you fall down and worship me I will give you glory. It was like a serial killer putting his knife into a mountain, a fortress; Someone whose faith and confidence in His Father’s Word and will was rock solid and unshakeable.
And where Israel failed, Jesus succeeds. For He is the people of God reduced to one Man. Out of Egypt He is the called Son who has been brought through His Baptism in the Jordan and thrown out into the wilderness, led by God the Holy Spirit. There in the desert Israel grumbled and complained, doubting God and His Word. Though He had led them through the Red Sea without getting their feet wet, drowning their enemies without their lifting a sword, they doubted if - there it is again! - He would feed them. And after He did, they complained about the manna and wanted more.
But here goes Jesus, through all of this, Israel instantiated, without manna and meat, without complaining, without grumbling, holding firmly to the Word of the Lord: It stands written.
Where Adam and Eve failed, tempted with food in the midst of a feast, Jesus succeeds, tempted with food in the midst of a fast. It is worth noting that fasting existed as a form of worship before the Fall into sin. To fast is simply to go without food. Adam and Eve fasted from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They did not take from its fruit and eat. In doing so they were worshipping the Lord their God who made them, who bestowed on them every blessing. They were living not by bread, or fruit alone, but by the very Word which proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.
But Jesus will not eat that which is not given Him by His Father. He will not dine with the devil, but remains in fellowship with His Father in the Spirit by the Word that goes forth from His mouth.
If you are the Son of God. But Jesus never forgets who He is. He does not succumb to the suggestion that God is not His God, the Father is not His Father, a loving Father, One whose will and purpose is somehow not good, but malicious. Through great endurance, in afflictions that we will never know, by hardships and calamities; in truthful speech and the power of God, through patience and the Holy Spirit, genuine love, Jesus is treated as an imposter and yet is the Truth. He never forgets who He is and who His Father is.
For He is the Valiant One who fights for us. The One whom God the Father would lead to the Holy City for an even greater fight. The main event in all of history. But for your sake, this time the Valiant One, was pleased to become the Weak One. He didn’t let Satan’s word games get to Him, but out of mercy and deep love for you, He let your sins get to Him. All so that He could carry them in His holy flesh and destroy them.
Your mistrust of His Word, your disobedience were enough to man you for eternity. But the Valiant One was pleased to become the Trembling One in the Garden, the Powerless One on the Cross as He bore God’s punishment for us as our Substitute. The Valiant One was pleased to become the Crucified and Buried One, seemingly defeated by a liar.
And if He doesn’t rise, the lair is right. If He doesn’t rise, we’re still in our sins. If He doesn’t rise, how has our victory been won? The Kingdom ours? How do we get His good gifts and Spirit? But “What If” is a game we don’t have to play. For just as God promised, the Valiant One rose from the dead, expertly applying pressure to Satan’s skull and crushing it and winning for us an eternal victory.
The Valiant One has joined you to Himself in Baptism and made you valiant. His good gifts and Spirit are yours in abundance. If God is for us, who can be against us? (Rm 8:31) The good Spirit preaches.
Do not be deceived, but comforted. If our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and He knows everything (1 Jn 3:20). He knows your weaknesses and is Himself your Strength and Tower; your Dwelling Place and Refuge.
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation (2 Cor 5:17). And you are, for you are baptized into the victory of the Valiant One.
If we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 Jn 1:9). And you are, for you have heard the Word of Absolution from the Pastor’s lips yet again.
And here is another word which fells that old liar: is. Take eat, this IS My Body; take drink, this IS My Blood. Here is food during your fast. Here is sustenance for your journey through the wilderness. He is by your side upon the plain. Despite the raging of the devil the Word remains. The Kingdom is yours. A Mighty Fortress is our God.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
“If.” One little word. Two letters long. It would never be a word in a spelling bee. You would never look it up in a dictionary. Who looks up conjunctions? It’s in the ESV about 1500 times, but you never stop to ponder its meaning. That word comes forth from your lips all the time - “if” - but its so common you never think about it.
But that little word on the wrong lips can spell disaster and spiritual ruin for man. That little word on the lips of a cunning liar, can shake the confidence of even the strongest Christians and make them lie awake at night in a cold sweat. That little word on the lips of a diabolical enemy like Satan, is like a knife in the hands of a serial killer who knows with expert precision where to apply the pressure to get the quickest results.
You heard from Moses how that crafty creature slithered into the paradise God had made and said to the woman, Did God actually say . . . It is as if he said, “If God is so good, why is He holding out on you?” “If you eat of it, you will become like God.” And they took from the Tree and ate.
You remember the number that slanderer did on Israel during their 40 years in the wilderness. It was as if he said, “If God meant good for you, why aren’t you eating like you did in Egypt?” And they grumbled against the Lord God who saved them from slavery. “If God really remembers you, why isn’t He doing anything for you here in the wilderness?” And they forsook the Lord God who rescued them. “If your God is the only God, they only one worthy of trust in your heart, why aren’t you feeling His love a little more?” And they hardened their hearts and rebelled agains the God who opened His heart and choose them to be His privileged Firstborn.
That crafty foe has used that little word on you too during your forty years, during your time of testing here on earth. Are you aware? Do you realize the number he does on you? “If God rally cares, why are you in debt, underemployed, sick, angry, unhappy, downcast most of the time?” “If God really gave a hoot about your situation, why does He let your misery linger on for so long?” “If you are really a child of God, how could you have done that?” “If you are really forgiven, why does your heart always feel so much guilt?”
One little word, expertly placed, and a staunch Sola-Scriptura believing Lutheran can lie awake at night trembling in his bed. One little word and our confidence in the Gospel can be easily shaken. That one little word, timed just right, can overpower the “strongest” believer and make him look like a 100-pound weakling. If God expelled Adam and Eve into the wilderness and cursed the whole universe because of their sin; if He was so displeased by Israel’s lack of faith that most of them never made it to the Promised Land, why, or even how can we make it?
Though devils all the world should fill,
All eager to devour us,
We tremble not, we fear no ill;
They shall not overpower us.
This world’s prince may still
Scowl fierce as he will,
He can harm us none.
He judged; the deed is done;
One little word can fell him. (LSB 656:3)
That “one little word,” is “liar.” Satan may love the word “if,” but Luther is teaching us here that he can’t stand the little word, “liar.” It fells him. That’s because he can’t stand the truth. He especially can’t stand the One who is the Truth and all those weaklings for which He came into the world to fight.
His lies and deceptions may have worked on Adam and Eve. They may have worked on Israel. They may work still on us. But they won’t work on the Valiant One, whom God Himself elected to fight and win for us. The One whom God the Holy Spirit drove into the wilderness after His Baptism in order to be tempted and tested for 40 days and 40 nights. You know from St James and the Small Catechism that God tempts no one. Not so here. God the Holy Spirit expelled Jesus into the wilderness, back to Adam’s exile, to Israel’s wandering, with the express purpose of Him being tempted by the Deceiver.
And He passed! In the wilderness the liar wielded his little word “If” and tried to do to Jesus what he so successfully did to Adam and Eve, Israel, and us - cut away trust and confidence in God and His Word.
If you are the Son of God . . . turn this stone to bread, throw yourself from the Temple, if you fall down and worship me I will give you glory. It was like a serial killer putting his knife into a mountain, a fortress; Someone whose faith and confidence in His Father’s Word and will was rock solid and unshakeable.
And where Israel failed, Jesus succeeds. For He is the people of God reduced to one Man. Out of Egypt He is the called Son who has been brought through His Baptism in the Jordan and thrown out into the wilderness, led by God the Holy Spirit. There in the desert Israel grumbled and complained, doubting God and His Word. Though He had led them through the Red Sea without getting their feet wet, drowning their enemies without their lifting a sword, they doubted if - there it is again! - He would feed them. And after He did, they complained about the manna and wanted more.
But here goes Jesus, through all of this, Israel instantiated, without manna and meat, without complaining, without grumbling, holding firmly to the Word of the Lord: It stands written.
Where Adam and Eve failed, tempted with food in the midst of a feast, Jesus succeeds, tempted with food in the midst of a fast. It is worth noting that fasting existed as a form of worship before the Fall into sin. To fast is simply to go without food. Adam and Eve fasted from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They did not take from its fruit and eat. In doing so they were worshipping the Lord their God who made them, who bestowed on them every blessing. They were living not by bread, or fruit alone, but by the very Word which proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.
But Jesus will not eat that which is not given Him by His Father. He will not dine with the devil, but remains in fellowship with His Father in the Spirit by the Word that goes forth from His mouth.
If you are the Son of God. But Jesus never forgets who He is. He does not succumb to the suggestion that God is not His God, the Father is not His Father, a loving Father, One whose will and purpose is somehow not good, but malicious. Through great endurance, in afflictions that we will never know, by hardships and calamities; in truthful speech and the power of God, through patience and the Holy Spirit, genuine love, Jesus is treated as an imposter and yet is the Truth. He never forgets who He is and who His Father is.
For He is the Valiant One who fights for us. The One whom God the Father would lead to the Holy City for an even greater fight. The main event in all of history. But for your sake, this time the Valiant One, was pleased to become the Weak One. He didn’t let Satan’s word games get to Him, but out of mercy and deep love for you, He let your sins get to Him. All so that He could carry them in His holy flesh and destroy them.
Your mistrust of His Word, your disobedience were enough to man you for eternity. But the Valiant One was pleased to become the Trembling One in the Garden, the Powerless One on the Cross as He bore God’s punishment for us as our Substitute. The Valiant One was pleased to become the Crucified and Buried One, seemingly defeated by a liar.
And if He doesn’t rise, the lair is right. If He doesn’t rise, we’re still in our sins. If He doesn’t rise, how has our victory been won? The Kingdom ours? How do we get His good gifts and Spirit? But “What If” is a game we don’t have to play. For just as God promised, the Valiant One rose from the dead, expertly applying pressure to Satan’s skull and crushing it and winning for us an eternal victory.
The Valiant One has joined you to Himself in Baptism and made you valiant. His good gifts and Spirit are yours in abundance. If God is for us, who can be against us? (Rm 8:31) The good Spirit preaches.
Do not be deceived, but comforted. If our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and He knows everything (1 Jn 3:20). He knows your weaknesses and is Himself your Strength and Tower; your Dwelling Place and Refuge.
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation (2 Cor 5:17). And you are, for you are baptized into the victory of the Valiant One.
If we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 Jn 1:9). And you are, for you have heard the Word of Absolution from the Pastor’s lips yet again.
And here is another word which fells that old liar: is. Take eat, this IS My Body; take drink, this IS My Blood. Here is food during your fast. Here is sustenance for your journey through the wilderness. He is by your side upon the plain. Despite the raging of the devil the Word remains. The Kingdom is yours. A Mighty Fortress is our God.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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