Lent 1 Sermon

Lent 1 – March 9^th and 10^th, 2019 – Genesis 3 and Matthew 4:1-11

In the Name of Christ the Crucified +

“... and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” And there it is. There's the clincher – the final twist of Satan's temptation in the Garden. When you eat the fruit and strike off on your own, you'll get to do what you want, you will get to say what is right and what is wrong, you will know – you will experience to the fullest – good and evil. And Adam and Eve ate, and ever since then, sinful man has been foolishly telling God how to do His job. Think of the endless amount of complaining we do about God. Think about how often our friends come sauntering up to us, “How come God would let this happen”. Think about how often we ourselves complain and think that we ourselves would know better than God. And thus we knew, we experienced evil – thinking we know better than God. That's what evil is, and all the misfortune that spins out in the world since stems from and flows from man thinking he knows better than God. And Garden falls apart, and life turns into death, and the ground begins to bring up thorns and thistles, and pain increases. This isn't the punishment of a mean or capricious God – it's just how our sin broke things. That's just how evil works, and we choose evil.

Yet even as God spells out in blunt terms how things are broken, even as we are tempted to grouse at Him and blame Him, the LORD makes a promise. The LORD looks at Satan who had messed with His good creation, and the LORD says to Satan, “I will put emnity between you and the woman, between your offspring and her offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” I'm coming for you Satan. I'm coming for you, and I am going to fix this mess that you've tempted Adam and Eve into. I'm coming for you and for death and this little wicked kingdom you've ruined for yourself. And yes, it will hurt Me, but I will crush you, and I will win.

And many, many years later, the LORD God stepped forth into the wilderness. You realize that this is who Jesus is, right? The same LORD God who would walk with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day, who dressed down Satan after the fall, who promised salvation – that same LORD became Man, and He took upon Himself all the junk and dreck that the fall had unleashed on His creation – His beautiful garden that was good now turned into desert and wilderness where there's nothing but thorns and thistles. And why does Jesus go there? Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. To be tempted by Satan. To do battle with the Devil. To succeed where Adam and Eve failed.

And so Satan comes on up, and he says, “If you are the son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” Hear the temptation rightly. Satan doesn't doubt that Jesus is who He is. The demons all recognize Jesus all the time. Satan knows Jesus is God – that “if” isn't doubt. Jesus, you are God – why would you do something as stupid as fast for forty days? Why, you can just whip up bread on a whim. Why suffer – don't be so stupid God. So why is Jesus fasting – why is He suffering? But He answered, “It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'” Do you remember the Garden, Satan – where I spoke and things were – I called forth trees and there were trees and I gave them to Adam and Eve and they ate? They ate because My Word gave them food – but then they listened to you and ignored My Word, and they would be given to hunger and driven by their appetites. They would work and sweat for their bread. And so, I will suffer with them. I will share in their suffering – but even more than that, I will be the Man who lives by the Word of God. I will not serve My Belly. That's not who God is – the LORD God is not ever self serving. So no, I will not serve Myself – I will obey the will of the Father and grind you under my heel, Satan.

Do you see, my friends? To be sinful is to be selfish. It is to do what seems immediately good in your best interest regardless of the cost, regardless of what God says. And that is how we are tempted even to this day – to do what we want when we want, regardless of what God says and regardless of how it impacts our neighbor. And there in the wilderness, Jesus Christ, True God and True Man, resists that temptation.

So Satan tries again. Then the devil took Him to the holy city and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple 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.'” Well, fine Jesus – but You're God. What good is a scrawny God suffering out in the desert? Tell you what – here's what a “god” should be like – tossing around power and might. Picture it – right here in the middle of the services while everyone is here, You jump, the angels show up, every one sees it, everyone knows that You are God and awesome. Why not, since you are the Son of God after all?

Jesus said to him, “Again, it is written, 'You shall not put the LORD your God to the test.'” Did you think that was the point of Divine protection – so man can go and do any crackpot stupid idea and then grouse at God about how there shouldn't be any consequences? Really? You think it's good to play chicken with God? Is that what you think God is – some Andrenaline Junkie who needs to go skydiving with an angelic parachute? That has nothing to do with loving God. That has nothing to do with the Word. That has nothing to do with serving the neighbor. That's utterly selfish and dumb. Why would I call something that dumb “good”?

Again, my friends – Jesus resists. It's not about acquiring human glory. It's not about fame. It's not about our ideas of what a god should be like or how god should be treated. We don't get to make those decisions – that's up to God. He speaks and we are to listen. And we aren't to use His Word as a cover for our own stupidity or wickedness. But that is something that we have excelled at since the fall – how much wickedness and stupidity goes on in the name of God? But right there Jesus resists that temptation.

One final card left to play in Satan's hand – the one that always would win for him. Again, the devil took Him up to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these I will give You, if You will fall down and worship me.” Did you note the shift? No longer is there a “if you are the Son of God” - now it's just time for Satan to cut a deal. You want sinful man, you want this world – fine – you can have them. Just let me be in charge big J. Worship me. And the thing to realize, dear friends: this is a serious offer from Satan. Sin had made us Satan's property – his to do with as he pleased. Here you go Jesus – you can have your humankind without suffering, without fasting in a desert, without any heads getting crush or heels getting bruised. I'll let you be the king of this dying world – just let me be it's god.

Did you hear it, from Satan? He wants to be god. He wants to be worshiped. And you know what – our sin means we want to be god, we want to be worshiped, we want our word to be law. Sin drives us down that same path as Satan – that path that cries out, “I'll give you anything and everything, just let my will be done.” Oh, think of all the stupid bargains and trades that sinful man will make, that you yourself have made. Just to get that something that you thought you would want, and you get it and it's empty and not all it's cracked up to be. That's sin spilling forth.

And Jesus says, “No.” Jesus chooses the cross. Jesus chooses to suffer and die – Be gone, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only shall you serve.'” The Word of God is fulfilled. It happens. And Jesus will make sure that it does. Because here's something you may have missed or not noticed in what Jesus says. Man shall not live by bread alone. You shall not put the LORD your God to the test. You shall worship the LORD your God. We hear those phrases as commands – these are what I am supposed to do so I better get cracking and do it otherwise God will be angry.

Too late. “Oh, I better do it” – that ship's already sailed. We've already confessed our sin, our fault. You and I, we've lived ignoring God's word, and we put Him to the test, and we fear and love and trust in other things above Him all the time. That's what sin is. But you know what? Jesus is God, and His Word is how it is. And what did He say? Man shall not live by bread alone. Shall not. That's future tense – the day is coming when man is not going to live by bread alone – the day is coming when they will no longer fight for scraps but I will take away their sin and they will see Me and know that they live by My Word. I will fix things, I will make a new heavens and a new earth and it will be good again. And do you know what it will be like for you, dear Christian, in the life of the world to come? You shall not put the LORD your God to the test. You will never end up wanting to do something stupid or push the boundaries, because you will know that all that He gives you is good. And you know what else? You shall worship the LORD your God and Him only shall you serve. The day will come, when you will rise to new life, and you'll no longer serve your belly or your whims or your fears or your passions, but you will simply and only serve God, and once again, as it was in the beginning, it will be good.

Because that's what Jesus is going to do. Because that's why God becomes Man. Jesus comes to wreck havoc and destruction upon Satan and Sin and Death – He strides on into the middle of sin and death and rips it apart from the inside, obliterates it, with His own death upon the cross and His resurrection. And why? Because He's God. And He promised. Because He loves you and there's no way He's going to let Satan have you. He has crushed Satan's head for you, and because of this, because of His love for you, you shall live by His Word free from sin and all evil. Because that's who God actually is. God is not some thing of our own devising and desiring – rather, He is the Creator who is determined to do good to you and for you. And there He stands – having defeated Satan and His temptations for you. And there He will go, fighting down demons and sin and even death for you. And He does this now in you – for you are His baptized child, for you receive His own Body and Blood to strengthen and forgive you. And He shall do this for you forever, you shall see it in full in the resurrection – and that is His promise to you. In the Name of Christ the Crucified +