1. Please pray with me. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our Redeemer. Amen. The message from God’s Word this 1st Sunday in Lent is taken from Luke 4:1-13 and is entitled, “The Big If…” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. To excuse our sin by saying “I’m only human” is to ignore the noble name of Jesus, who is truly human, but without sin, and to hand the devil the victory. To remember and to cling to our sonship through the holy name of Jesus, a name our God has given us and a name our Savior shares, is to see through the devil’s big “IF” whenever he tries to pull it on us. It enables us to win over Satan as Jesus did.
3. “IF” we are sons and daughters of God. . . God spoke the honored name of Jesus to us in our baptism. Through him we are sons and daughters of God. In each of the three episodes here in Luke 4 the devil attacks the word of sonship God declared not only to Jesus, but to Israel who came out of Egypt before him, and to each of us through and after him. “IF” we “are all sons of God through faith” by our baptism “into Christ,” then we are not helpless victims in our temptations any more than Jesus was in his. “IF” Jesus was “tempted in every way, just as we are” (Heb 4:15), and he is with us, as he promised (Mt. 28:20), then we can rely on God’s Word to protect us against the devil’s lies, just as Jesus did. He did so “without sinning” and he can rescue us from our sins. Yes, he has rescued us from our sins. Through his active obedience he is the victor over Satan and ultimately over all temptation.
4. The Father declared it to Jesus. When Jesus heard his Father pronounce him “my beloved Son” from heaven, it was the public announcement that Jesus is God’s Son from eternity, chosen for a life and work pleasing to God. The Holy Spirit filled that name, “Son of God,” with honor that framed his whole life.
5. We hear that name for ourselves, for it is our honor too in God’s eyes. If the only name we have is from our parents, then we can rightly say, “I am only human.” Then we are stuck in slavery to sin. That’s what theologians call “original sin.” Lost and dead is what we are. The devil doesn’t need to tempt us then. He already has us. Then we have to make ourselves important, be noticed, compete for glory, defend our name against our critics, cover our failures with lies and excuses, and hate those who get ahead of us.
6. But “IF” God has named us with Jesus as “my beloved son” and “my beloved daughter,” realize the wonder! We have not only our bodily life from God, but also God’s own name on us from heaven. We have been baptized into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We know God as our Father, and Jesus as our Savior. We don’t need to prove anything about ourselves, or rank ourselves, or feel superior to anyone! Our life has its meaning and worth from God! His promises surround us, to give us daily bread and deliver us from evil. Our glory comes not in what people think of us, nor in what we do. It’s not earned. It’s a free gift of his grace bestowed upon us from our loving heavenly Father.
7. We will also be tempted in particular ways like Jesus was. Like in the wilderness—a long dry time, when God’s love and care seems to have failed. The wilderness happened immediately to Israel, God’s “first-born son” out of Egypt. It happened to Jesus, led there by the Holy Spirit. It can happen to us, one lonely burden after another, cries unheard, prayers seemingly not answered. Then comes that “other voice,” like the snake of Eden. “You thought that voice-from-heaven name was great, did you, Jesus? What good is it now? Here, try eating this stone! What kind of Father is it who, when his Son is crying for bread, leaves him among stones? (Mt 7:9). If you have power, use it! Use it for yourself! Aren’t you the Son of God?”
8. In that crisis God spoke again. A verse came alive to Jesus from the Scriptures: “Man does not live, on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Mt 4:4). His bodily life may suffer from hunger, but God’s word of honor and calling would be his life still! And so it was, as you know his story. For us too, the holy name of Jesus is a rock through any wilderness testings. We need not fall into self-pity or rage, against God. We remember our Savior’s name, love the Father who spoke it to us, give thanks, and trust his care for us still. We will make it through, and so be a light in the world’s darkness.
9. Tempted on the mountain—when dreams fail and the kingdom God promised doesn’t seem to come. John the Baptist’s ministry of the word was going nowhere—arrested, head chopped off by a cheap king, God apparently not saving him at all. Jesus’ ministry seemed to be going nowhere either. People who rallied to him had in mind only a Christ-king who would summon angels to help, thus exalt Israel over all nations. “Don’t be a fool, Jesus!” the devil said. “The kingdom of sonship and love you talk about will never happen. Nobody understands you, nobody is listening. You will end up dead, like John. Here, see all those kingdoms and their glory? They are mine; so I can give them to you! Do it my way, get in there and fight as your people want you to!” The devil tempts you that way too. He says, “The glory you have by God’s word and name is empty. Real glory is competitive, winners over losers. Those ahead of you are the enemy. Get in there and fight!”
10. But Jesus defines the kingdom and its battle by another word of God through Moses: “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” “Worship” is to receive everything in life as pure gift. “Serve” is to live by God’s wisdom and do his will. People are not the enemy. They aren’t slaves to be dominated, they are the “neighbor” whom Jesus will love as himself. That is the only “kingdom of God” he knows or wants to know.
11. Tempted on the pinnacle—when God asks us, his children, to do what looks mad and impossible. The pinnacle of the temple was in full view from Gethsemane. In that garden, the Father would ask his “beloved Son” to deliver himself up to those who would arrest him, condemn him, and crucify him. But now, the devil mocked God, saying that, if angels would rescue him, wouldn’t that be a fitting spectacular sign of the Son of God? Wouldn’t that be a better show than a cost of failure. So, “IF” we are named “my beloved son” and “my beloved daughter” in our baptism too, as Jesus was, think of a moment when our love for God and neighbor might summon us to do something that seems unfair, mad, asking too much, that might even get us killed—like when Jesus invites us to “sell everything we have” and follow him, or “lose our life” for his sake and the Gospel’s.
12. But Jesus heard his Father speak again, by Moses out of the Scriptures: “You shall not, put the Lord your God to the test.” We shall not make ourselves God’s judge, or pronounce him crazy, by complaining that he asks too much. Hard and threatening as his will may seem, we do it. Our faith may tremble, but we stand up to the impossible mountain anyway and command it to move (Mt 21:21). We walk tall and honorably. And we win! God’s name is hallowed and his kingdom comes. We don’t face temptations alone. The one who defeated Satan is at our side, sword in hand. He who shares with us his victory over sin and death, shares with us also his victory over Satan. Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life everlasting. Amen.
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