The Scripture for the Sermon

 4:1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,

  4:2 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.

  (tempted by devil)

  4:3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread."

4:4 Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'"

 4:5 Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.

4:6 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.

4:7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours."

4:8 Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'"

 4:9 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,

4:10 for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,'

4:11 and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'"

4:12 Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

4:13 When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Tempting as it is to confront all of us with the way we just ought to win over temptation, like Jesus. To preach us  out of our fallen-ness into accepting Jesus anew and don’t sin any more. Tempting as it is, I’m afraid that life, and our scripture, are a little more complicated than that – tempting as it is.

facing temptation begins in spirit. Vision quest? Time apart to move from preparation to mission and ministry. Time just after his baptism in Jordan by John & dove/spirit descending with messianic promise (this is my son, with whom I an well pleased)

40 days – sounds like a vision quest. And the vision comes with the things that might be possible, if only. If only it could be for self/power purposes.

 Who is the devil? Important question, because most of what goes on here is the sort of drive that happens with us without even being conscious that we’ve been tempted and remained in our fallen, sinful condition.

 Who is devil? Dualism? Counter to God, and then in fact the bad god? Are there two gods? That’s certainly not Christian or part of the jewish faith of Jesus.

Who is devil, then?

The satan, the adversarial position, a way to embody in our minds all the principalities and power of this world that so need to redemption. A way to come to grips with the way temptation works in us.

 Though the serpent in Eden is not identified there as either Satan or Devil, we are called to remember that scene as we meet Jesus in the desert of testing.

The first creation, Adam, offered the fruit of the knowledge tree, grabs and bites. Humanity knows good and evil, and knows itself as fallen from paradise.

Jesus answers as one keeping the discipline of the desert quest. “not by bread alone.” Life is becoming more completely human every time he answers. And we begin to see the satan falling, as it is written: ¹⁷The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” ¹⁸He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. ¹⁹See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you.

 (treading on the Eden serpent?)

 We begin to see, but then we have other needs and demands, so we don’t notice, and expect the world’s realm when he’s offering God’s realm.

The kingdoms: all the power and wealth. Have we turned Jesus into that kind of savior instead of the one who answered, “worship the Lord…”?

 Rush Limbaugh: bomb Iran, the people will cheer…

 Is he right about us? Or is Jesus?

Serve only God.

Defy nature. Suspend the law of gravity. No problem. the secret to flying without an airplane, you know – throw yourself at the ground and miss. Trouble is, the ground is big enough to help us all pass that test. The slanderer even quotes scripture to persuade.. 

But Jesus responds with the wisdom of the rabbis and his grandmother. Don’t put God to the test. Your role is to follow and show God to the people, not show God how to behave.

 (Abraham – tested, willing to sacrifice is heir. Did Abe fail his test? Was he supposed to answer, “Forget about it.” to keep faith with God’s promise of living heirs into all time? Jesus knows a stupid idea when he sees one. Don’t put God to the test.

And the seducer, the slanderer departs, exits, until an opportune time. Why does Luke have to slip that little gloss in. And what a way to end the scene. But, the whole Gospel story of Jesus, this good news is tied up in testing – to enjoy the power, or to yield into God’s eternal purposes. For instance, Jesus even says to Peter, “get behind me, you satan.” Not because his disciple and closest confidant is the devil, but because: tempting as it is, God has a greater purpose than you can see in the midst of the world’s tempting distractions. And Jesus will keep faith to give life, abundant, and eternal. Welcome him first. Let him help us through the temptings, as they are always around. but so is God’s realm.