6th March 2022 Lent 1
Luke 4 1-15
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone.” ’
Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, ‘To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’
Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” ’
Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written,
“He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you”,
and “On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” ’
Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” ’
When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.
Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
Reflection:
As we begin the next six weeks, the season of Lent, we enter a time of self-examination and repentance, a time of preparation for the transforming power of Easter. Today’s scripture readings focus on God’s provision and God’s protection. In the Epistle reading, Jesus assumes the role of protector and provider for all who confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in their hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus refers to Deuteronomy, and the devil quotes Psalm 91. The devil tries to trick Jesus, to tempt him…Temptation is not exactly the most joyful topic to preach on, but it is a reality of life.
It really doesn’t have to be bread, power, or safety. Temptations, come in many ways. In today’s reading the devil tries to seduce Jesus with the promise of bread when he’s hungry, the glory and power of all the world’s leaders, and the promise of rescue paired with the suggestion that God is not sufficient to keep Jesus safe. And all Jesus has to do in return is worship Satan.
Temptation in this story is bread, power, and safety. But it could be something else. Because perhaps the point we need to ponder is not the specific temptations, but rather the underlying nature of temptation itself.
I wonder then, is temptation is not so often temptation toward something – usually represented as doing something you shouldn’t – but rather is frequently the temptation away from something. Often it is the enticing away from our relationship with God and the identity we receive in and through that relationship.
You see, all too often Christians have focused on all the things we shouldn’t do. Lent brings that to the forefront, and the days of doom and punishment certainly remind us of what we should not do. Perhaps this has drawn us away from focusing on the gift and grace of our identity as children of God. Notice how each of the temptations in our Gospel reading seeks to erode and undercut Jesus’ confidence in this relationship with God and also undermine Jesus’ identity.
Jesus, however, is not to be deceived. Which is why when he is tempted with bread, Jesus responds with an affirmation of trust in God. The next temptation is perhaps more obvious, offering Jesus the power of the world’s leaders in return for Jesus’ allegiance and worship. But again, Jesus knows that his allegiance can only be given to the one from whom he has received his identity. Finally, the devil proposes that God is not trustworthy, and entices Jesus to test that relationship. But Jesus again refuses, quoting his foundation, the Word of God.
In each case, the devil seeks to undermine Jesus’ confidence in both God and himself. He seeks, that is, to erode Jesus’ confidence that he is enough, that he is secure, that he is worthy of God’s love. And in the face of these temptations, Jesus quotes the sacred story of Israel in order to assert that he is a part of that story and therefore he reaffirms his identity as a child of God. Grounded in the Scriptures, Jesus is reminded not only that he has enough and is enough but that he is of infinite worth in the eyes of God.
Bread, power, and safety. But temptation comes in so many ways and some of them quite subtle. It could be fame, beauty, success or wealth. The list is endless… On one level, we experience specific temptations very concretely, but on another they are all the same, as they seek to shift our allegiance, trust, and confidence away from God and toward some substitute that seems to promise a more secure identity.
Which is why I think this passage reminds us of the devil’s failed attempt to steal Jesus’ identity and also how often he attempts to rob us of ours as children of God.
When you consider the onslaught of media advertising to which most of us are so regularly exposed to - temptation is all around us every day. Nine times out of ten the goal of advertising is to create in us a sense of need and inadequacy, followed by the certain promise that purchasing a particular product will fill our need and fulfil our life.
I wonder how many of the messages from society seek to create in us insecurity, lack and fear. Particularly during the last couple of years, we have been threatened by loss of health, businesses suffering loss of livelihood, job loss, homelessness, weather events, fires, and so on … all threatening our security, our identity and our independence.
Every single day we are bombarded by messages that seek to draw our commitment away from the God who created and redeemed us. And yet our reaction to these should be to respond to the fact that we are called to remember that God loves us more than anything, he is faithful to us and he died to save us.
He loves so much that he sent his only Son into the world to take on our lot and life, to suffer the same temptations and wants, to be rejected as we often feel rejected and to die as we will die, all so that we may know God is with us and for us forever. Moreover, God raised Jesus from the dead in order to demonstrate that God’s love is more powerful than all the hate in the world and that the life God offers is more powerful even than death.
And this is the love and life given to each one of us in Baptism. Last Wednesday those who attended an Ash Wednesday service received the imposition of ashes on the forehead in the sign of a cross. The words ‘from dust you came and to dust you shall return’ were said to remind us that we belong to God, that our life here is mortal and that it is through the cross we have life.
How then does this relate to what is happening in the world today? How can we comfortably accept this gift of God for ourselves when around the world there is so much suffering, particularly in Ukraine? These people too are beloved children of God. And where does Psalm 91 come into play for them also. You know the bit about angels protecting them, watching over them?
Paul in his letter to the Romans writes:
‘because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.’
I suggest that Lent, beginning with Ash Wednesday is a key- The words ‘from dust you came and to dust you shall return’ were said to remind us that we belong to God, that our life here is mortal and that it is through the cross we have life. These words sober our meditations and remind us that we are children of the Lord most high.
Tempted in manifold ways to lose our faith in God and confidence in ourselves, we come to church to be reminded of, and given again, our identity as beloved children of God. In the face of so many assaults on our identity, in other words, we come to church to have that identity renewed and restored that we might live in the confidence of God’s abundant life and share with those around us God’s unending love.
Lent is often focused on self-denial, sacrifice, and resisting temptation. That is all well and good. But might we instead, or at least in addition, imagine that Lent could be an ideal time during which we remind each other of the love and grace of God poured out for us in the cross. Therefore, let us enter Lent with our eyes fastened on the cross because in that difficult image we perceive most clearly God’s empowering love for us and all the world made manifest.
God loves us and will keep loving us no matter what, and for this reason we are enough. I know that I need to hear this declared again and again, as in the face of all the messages to the contrary, that promise can seem so difficult to believe, and yet so vital to true life in abundance. Amen.