FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT
Series A
1 March 2020
Genesis 3:1–21
Romans 5:12–19
Matthew 4:1–11
O Lord Jesus Christ, You lead Your ancient people through the wilderness and brought them to the Promised Land. Guide the people of Your church that following our Savior we might walk through the wilderness of this world toward the world that is to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.
The Lord Jesus Christ Is Our Champion against Satan
Following His Baptism, Jesus is “led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matt. 4:1). As He takes upon Himself the curse of our sin and sets Himself against our enemy, He trusts His Father’s voice and waits upon His Father’s hand for all things. The devil questions His sonship, but the beloved and well-pleasing Son remains faithful and lives “by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). Jesus patiently suffers hunger in His mortal flesh and returns to the dust whence man was taken, and by His pain He brings forth food for all the children of men (Gen. 3:18–19). By the sweat of His brow, we eat the fruit of His cross, even as our nakedness is covered by His righteousness. Although all people live in bondage to death through the trespass of the first man, Adam, all the more “have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many” (Rom. 5:15). His righteous obedience “leads to justification and life for all men” (Rom. 5:18).
A Mission in Humility
Rev. Dr. Daniel J Brege
D Min. M Div
The author of the epistle to the Hebrews informs us, He was tempted in all things as we are, and yet was without sin (Heb. 4:14). Though such temptations happened throughout Jesus’ life, they were especially apparent at the beginning of His ministry and at the end. The beginning was marked by an outward effort of Satan, as recorded in today’s Gospel. The temptation at the end of His ministry was marked by His crucifixion.
The only way the Son of God could be tempted as we are tempted is by becoming man, but that would not be sufficient. He also had to humble himself so He could and would feel and carry the attacks of our misery, pain, trials and ultimately our death. Such attacks tempted Christ to deny His Father—as they tempt us to deny God.
Unlike our temptations, Christ was tempted by Satan to deny His salvation-work of humbling Himself. Jesus was thus tempted to use His powers as the Son of God to escape painful attacks and temptations. Thus when Christ humbled himself and really and truly felt the gnawing pain of hunger, in His humiliation He must not use His divine powers to turn a rock into bread. At the temptations recorded in our Gospel, Satan knew full well that if Jesus even momentarily exited His state of humiliation, His work for our salvation would come unraveled. If anything stopped or hampered His work of humiliation Jesus would have been proven to be a fake, a phony. His self-humbling uniquely consisted of not using His divine powers to personally help Himself when facing trying situations; He had to deny Himself, even to the point of death.
There are several counterfeit versions of the Christian faith that maintain that Jesus never really died, or that He did not feel pain while He was tortured to death. If He did not remain in His state of humiliation this would be reasonable. If Jesus had turned the rock into bread why then wouldn’t He remove all pain from His crucifixion? If the Son of God overrode His humiliation, if He made any effort to miraculously deliver Himself, His work for our salvation would rightly be seen as a sham. But He remained in His state of humiliation, feeling and absorbing our misery and death.
Christ was also tempted by Satan to deny His Sonship. Satan introduced His temptations by stating, If you are the Son of God, then… Did Jesus really believe His Father who just days before had avowed at His baptism, This is my beloved Son? Christ would trust His Father’s word no matter what evil befell Him. We too in our Baptism are told that we are sons of God (e.g. Gal. 3:26,27). The devil will likewise tempt us to deny that we have been brought into God’s family and that we are each children of God. But in Christ we confess, God’s own child, I gladly say it, I am baptized into Christ (LSB 594).
Finally as the Son of God hung upon the cross, deserted by God and man, the tempter again spoke (through godless men): …save yourself. If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross…let Him now come down from the cross, and we shall believe in Him (Mt. 27:40b, 42b). Humbling himself to a selfless death was the only way to carry our misery, pain, trials and death, and then reverse them in resurrection; it was the only way to reverse these horrible results of sin, as well as sin itself.
Now Satan does no less with us. When things go bad we are tempted to think God doesn’t care. We are tempted to doubt whether we really are God’s sons. But even though we falter, we are already victorious. We are baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection. Our victory has been won.
A Mission in Humility
Rev. Dr. Daniel J Brege
D Min. M Div
The author of the epistle to the Hebrews informs us, He was tempted in all things as we are, and yet was without sin (Heb. 4:14). Though such temptations happened throughout Jesus’ life, they were especially apparent at the beginning of His ministry and at the end. The beginning was marked by an outward effort of Satan, as recorded in today’s Gospel. The temptation at the end of His ministry was marked by His crucifixion.
The only way the Son of God could be tempted as we are tempted is by becoming man, but that would not be sufficient. He also had to humble himself so He could and would feel and carry the attacks of our misery, pain, trials and ultimately our death. Such attacks tempted Christ to deny His Father—as they tempt us to deny God.
Unlike our temptations, Christ was tempted by Satan to deny His salvation-work of humbling Himself. Jesus was thus tempted to use His powers as the Son of God to escape painful attacks and temptations. Thus when Christ humbled himself and really and truly felt the gnawing pain of hunger, in His humiliation He must not use His divine powers to turn a rock into bread. At the temptations recorded in our Gospel, Satan knew full well that if Jesus even momentarily exited His state of humiliation, His work for our salvation would come unraveled. If anything stopped or hampered His work of humiliation Jesus would have been proven to be a fake, a phony. His self-humbling uniquely consisted of not using His divine powers to personally help Himself when facing trying situations; He had to deny Himself, even to the point of death.
There are several counterfeit versions of the Christian faith that maintain that Jesus never really died, or that He did not feel pain while He was tortured to death. If He did not remain in His state of humiliation this would be reasonable. If Jesus had turned the rock into bread why then wouldn’t He remove all pain from His crucifixion? If the Son of God overrode His humiliation, if He made any effort to miraculously deliver Himself, His work for our salvation would rightly be seen as a sham. But He remained in His state of humiliation, feeling and absorbing our misery and death.
Christ was also tempted by Satan to deny His Sonship. Satan introduced His temptations by stating, If you are the Son of God, then… Did Jesus really believe His Father who just days before had avowed at His baptism, This is my beloved Son? Christ would trust His Father’s word no matter what evil befell Him. We too in our Baptism are told that we are sons of God (e.g. Gal. 3:26,27). The devil will likewise tempt us to deny that we have been brought into God’s family and that we are each children of God. But in Christ we confess, God’s own child, I gladly say it, I am baptized into Christ (LSB 594).
Finally as the Son of God hung upon the cross, deserted by God and man, the tempter again spoke (through godless men): …save yourself. If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross…let Him now come down from the cross, and we shall believe in Him (Mt. 27:40b, 42b). Humbling himself to a selfless death was the only way to carry our misery, pain, trials and death, and then reverse them in resurrection; it was the only way to reverse these horrible results of sin, as well as sin itself.
Now Satan does no less with us. When things go bad we are tempted to think God doesn’t care. We are tempted to doubt whether we really are God’s sons. But even though we falter, we are already victorious. We are baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection. Our victory has been won.
Matthew 4:1–11
The Temptation of Jesus in the wilderness
Matthew 4:1
Τότε ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἀνήχθη εἰς τὴν ἔρημον ὑπὸ τοῦ πνεύματος, πειρασθῆναι ὑπὸ τοῦ διαβόλου.
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
Matthew 4:2
καὶ νηστεύσας ἡμέρας τεσσεράκοντα καὶ νύκτας τεσσεράκοντα ὕστερον ἐπείνασεν
And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
Matthew 4:3
καὶ προσελθὼν ὁ πειράζων εἶπεν αὐτῷ• Εἰ υἱὸς εἶ τοῦ θεοῦ, εἰπὲ ἵνα οἱ λίθοι οὗτοι ἄρτοι γένωνται.
And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
Matthew 4:4
ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν• Γέγραπται• Οὐκ ἐπ’ ἄρτῳ μόνῳ ζήσεται [b]ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ παντὶ ῥήματι ἐκπορευομένῳ διὰ στόματος θεοῦ.
But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Matthew 4:5
Τότε παραλαμβάνει αὐτὸν ὁ διάβολος εἰς τὴν ἁγίαν πόλιν, καὶ ἔστησεν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸ πτερύγιον τοῦ ἱεροῦ,
Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple
Matthew 4:6
καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ• Εἰ υἱὸς εἶ τοῦ θεοῦ, βάλε σεαυτὸν κάτω• γέγραπται γὰρ ὅτι Τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ ἐντελεῖται περὶ σοῦ καὶ ἐπὶ χειρῶν ἀροῦσίν σε, μήποτε προσκόψῃς πρὸς λίθον τὸν πόδα σου.
and said 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, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
Matthew 4:7
ἔφη αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς• Πάλιν γέγραπται• Οὐκ ἐκπειράσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου.
Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Matthew 4:8
Πάλιν παραλαμβάνει αὐτὸν ὁ διάβολος εἰς ὄρος ὑψηλὸν λίαν, καὶ δείκνυσιν αὐτῷ πάσας τὰς βασιλείας τοῦ κόσμου καὶ τὴν δόξαν αὐτῶν
gain, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
Matthew 4:9
καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ• Ταῦτά σοι πάντα δώσω, ἐὰν πεσὼν προσκυνήσῃς μοι.
And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”
Matthew 4:10
τότε λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς• Ὕπαγε, Σατανᾶ• γέγραπται γάρ• Κύριον τὸν θεόν σου προσκυνήσεις καὶ αὐτῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις.
Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”
Matthew 4:11
τότε ἀφίησιν αὐτὸν ὁ διάβολος, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἄγγελοι προσῆλθον καὶ διηκόνουν αὐτῷ.
Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
Matthew, portrays Jesus as fasting as a righteous Jew should. He also has a different ordering of the Tempter's trials, placing the temptation to worship Satan as the culminating episode in the scene, one that calls for Jesus not just to reject the specific temptation, but the Tempter himself.
Satan's temptations get immediately to the core question of Jesus' identity, calling into question his relationship with God by beginning with the provocative, "If you are the Son of God."
Individually, each temptation invites Jesus to turn away from trust in God in a different way.
In the first, the devil invites Jesus to prove his sonship through a display of power; that is, by establishing his validity and worth through his own abilities.
In the second, the temptation is to test God's fidelity.
In the third -- more an out-and-out bribe than temptation -- Jesus is promised all the power and glory the earth can offer if he will give his allegiance and devotion to the Tempter. In each case, Jesus rejects the temptation and lodges his identity, future, and fortunes on God's character and trustworthiness.
Identity is again the focus of the Tempter in the scene of Jesus' temptation. "If you are the Son of God," Satan begins. In other words, "How do you know you are God's Son?" Hence the core of the temptation: "Wouldn't it be better to know for certain? Turn stone to bread, jump from the Temple, worship me...and you will never know doubt again. You will know. You will be sufficient on your own." The temptation is the same, but Jesus responds by refusing to establish his own worth and identity on his own terms but instead remains dependent on God. Jesus knows who he is, that is, by remembering whose he is.
Perhaps faith, that is, doesn't do away with the hardships that are part and parcel of this life, but rather gives us the courage to stand amid them, not simply surviving but actually flourishing in and through Jesus, the one who was tempted as we are and thereby knows our struggles first hand. This same Jesus now invites us to find both hope and courage in the God who named not only him, but all of us, beloved children so that we, also, might discover who we are be recalling whose we are.
Throughout the scriptures, the wilderness represents a place of preparation, a place of waiting for God's next move, a place of learning to trust in God's mercy. For forty days and nights Jesus remains in the wilderness, without food, getting ready for what comes next.
Forty: the days and nights that Noah and his family endured the deluge on board the ark, after which God made a covenant never again to destroy the earth with a flood (Gen 7:4, 12; 8:6; 9:8-17);
Forty: the days and nights Moses fasted on Mount Sinai as he inscribed the words of God's covenant for the Israelites (Exodus 24:18; 34:27-28; Deut. 9:9);
Forty: the days and nights Elijah fasted in the desert before receiving a new commission from God (1 Kings 19:8);
Forty: the years the Israelites wandered the wilderness in preparation for their arrival in the Promised Land (e.g., Exodus 16:35; Deut. 2:7);
Forty: the days of the season of Lent as Christians participate in Jesus' ministry and follow his way toward the cross.
How might we make ourselves ready for the way of the Lord in the places we are called to be?
To what mission is God calling the church? What is needed for your congregation, corporately and individually, to be prepared.
What happens in the wilderness does not stay in the wilderness; rather, it plays again in the life and ministry of God's beloved son (Matt 3:17). The answers are different on different occasions, but the choices are very much the same:
Jesus refuses in the desert to turn stones into bread to assuage his own hunger, but before long he will feed thousands in the wilderness with just a few loaves and some fish (Matt 14:17-21; 15:33-38), and he will teach his disciples to pray to God for their "daily bread" (Matt 6:11).
He refuses to take advantage of his relationship to God by hurling himself down from the heights of the Temple, but at the end of his earthly ministry he endures the taunts of others (Matt 27:38-44) while trusting God's power to the end upon the heights of a Roman cross (Matt 27:46).
He turns down the devil's offer of political leadership over the kingdoms of the world, and instead offers the kingdom of the heavens to all those who follow him in the way of righteousness.
Focus Questions
1. Billy Graham said, "It is unnatural for Christianity to be popular." Do you agree?
2. What setting helps you notice "how small and perishable you are"?
3. How often, and how, do you make room for God in your life?
4. Do you think all suffering should be relieved as soon as possible? Why or why not?
5. Is there a difference between being "nice" and being "holy"?
_____________
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition. Copyright © 2010 by Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software
ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Schnorr Von Carolsfeld woodcuts, ‘Satan tempts Jesus’© WELS permission granted for personal and congregational use
LCMS Lectionary notes © 2016
Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis
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