The Temptation of Jesus - Luke 4:1-13

“If you really are the Son of God.” There is no temptation greater than this for the Christian. With that sentence, with that temptation, Satan tempts the Christian to doubt his or her baptismal promise. He does it subtly, sneakily, subversively in ways to get you to doubt that forgiveness, salvation and eternal life are really yours. 

“If you really are a Child of God…”  He plants a seed of doubt: Well, I think I am… 
“If you really are a Child of God…” He drops a nugget of fear: Wait – have I lost my salvation?
“If you really are a Child of God…” He feeds an iota of machismo: Oh, yeah devil? Take your best shot…I’ve been confirmed!
“If you really are a Child of God…” He adds a splash of the inevitable: Well, everyone else is doing it…besides, I’m forgiven, so it’s no big deal.
“If you really are a Child of God…”  He twists the truth with innuendoo: Am I still a child of God, even after this?

The awful thing of this temptation, more than any other – towards physical, material needs to fill the desire for “enough”; towards false gods that promise all kinds of bread: sex, wealth, power, prestige, friends, revenge; towards empty promises of beauty and strength; towards selfish greed and arrogance; coveting your neighbor’s herd, or stealing answers from a classmate’s test, or saying terrible things about someone with whom you disagree, or lusting after someone else’s body – the awful thing about this temptation is that it creates shame and despair. Shame turns you in on yourself; despair leaves you alone. It turns you from Jesus.

He sings his siren song, trying to get you to turn away from your baptism, to turn away from the promises of God, to turn away from the cross of Christ, to turn away from faith that says Jesus’ death forgives even your sins. He wants to tempt you to the isle of idolatry. He’ll either puff you up so big that you think you don’t need God – you can handle this yourself – or he’ll crush you and leave you so broken that you think you dare not even implore God’s mercy for yourself. If you really are a son, a daughter, of God… Why, no child of God would have done such a thing. And he leaves you questioning, doubting, wondering, fearing…can Jesus forgive me?

“If you really are a Son of God…” Jesus’ temptation was about more than just bread, or power, or checking on the providence of God. This was a temptation against His baptismal identity. This is a temptation against His Sonship. It’s as if the devil is throwing the entirety of Jesus’ life and ministry against Him in the wilderness: Why, no Son of God would do such a thing…set aside His heavenly throne, descend from heaven, be humiliated by setting His divinity, taking on Himself a human body with human weaknesses; being born of a no-name woman in no-name Nazareth; living as an itinerant preacher with no house, no home, no family; no self-respecting rabbi would have a bunch of rag-tag fishermen as disciples; He certainly wouldn’t be betrayed by one of them, letting Himself be sold out for a slave’s price and then arrested for being true to His purpose; no Son of God would submit to earthly rulers and be murdered. No self-respecting Son of God would let sinful people condemn the sinless Son of God, would he?

Yes. Yes, He would. Jesus does all of those things. He does it because He must perfectly submit to the law with it’s demands for perfection, and to do it perfectly, unlike Adam and Eve, unlike you and me. And He does it so He is able to be tempted. 

The Bible teaches us that Jesus became man partly in order that He would fully know and understand what we, as human beings, must endure this side of heaven. In fact, the book of Hebrews reminds us “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,” (4:15). It is of great comfort to us that our Savior understands us. He’s not “up there,” arrogant and aloof, but he’s “down here” with us. He knows pain, and loss, and joy and pleasure. He knows the warmth of a friendship and the heartache of betrayal. He knows the wonder of watching children and the gut-wrenching pain of a father whose child is dying. He’s stood outside of a friend’s grave and wept. It is no small thing that Jesus sympathizes with us.

If that’s all that Jesus did – experience our weakness – that would have been a remarkable thing. This morning’s Gospel lesson gives us a slightly different perspective.  We also hear the narrative about how he in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Think about this: When you pray, “Lead us not into temptation,” you are praying to God through the One who perfectly, full-well understands what it’s like to be tempted.

These are real temptations Jesus faces, not just a façade. The temptation of bread, of power, of testing God – Jesus is being tempted away from His Sonship, from His purpose, from His cross.

When you go home, after your daylight savings time adjustment nap, open your Bible and read the last section of Luke 3. It’s the genealogy of Jesus. Now, that sounds boring…until you notice this: the genealogy concludes with Jesus being “the Son of Adam, the Son of God.” It’s interesting Luke leads us back to Adam, because the entirety of Jesus’ genealogy has one thing in common: all are under the condemnation of sin because of Adam’s sinful snack from the tree. From Adam, to Seth – Adam’s son – to Joseph – Jesus’ step-father – it’s a long line of sinners. But that line of sinners stops with Jesus. He remains sinless, perfectly resisting the temptations of satan, distinct from all of those in His earthly genealogy. Unlike Eve’s half-hearted answer against the devil, when Jesus is tempted, He doesn’t interpret God’s Word, He doesn’t twist it, He doesn’t add to it or omit it when He’s tempted. He simply speaks the Word: “Man shall not live by bread alone; you shall worship the Lord your God; you shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”

Yet, Jesus receives the sinner’s punishment of all those before Him and after Him. Although He fulfilled the Law perfectly, although He does not surrender to temptation, He must die. God makes Him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us. Our sins are laid upon Him – all of those times we give into satan’s tempting lies, willingly or accidentally, intentionally or unknowingly, in strength and in weakness – each and every one of them is placed upon Him. And He dies, sinless and perfect while at the same time drenched in our sins and unclean. He dies for you. It’s interesting…the devil tempts Jesus with “If you are the son of God.” Even the centurion knows who Jesus is: Truly, this Man was the Son of God. 

And you, dear friends in Christ, you have been baptized into this Man’s death and you have been raised with His resurrection. You also have had those powerful words spoken over you with water and word, “You are my beloved son; you are my beloved daughter.” Don’t let the devil tempt and leave you in despair, wondering and doubting if this is true. I always find it remarkable that Jesus’ temptation occurs immediately after His Baptism and He is even led into the desert to be tempted by the Holy Spirit. Even in this temptation, He is never alone. The Spirit of God is with Christ. The Spirit of God, given you in your baptism, leads you from here out into the wilderness as well. You are never alone as you face temptation. Too, remember that your Baptism is never a one-and-done thing. Your Baptism is a constant: it’s an ongoing event, renewed day by day, through faith in Christ as your Savior. The life of Baptism is one of repentance, acknowledging your sins and lamenting the surrender to the temptations that you to have done them. There’s no “the devil made me do it,” here. They are yours. But, repentance doesn’t just leave you there, wallowing in guilt. Repentance also trusts that Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man, is your savior. He took your sins and took them to the cross and then drug each and every one into the grave with Him. And when He rose on Easter, your sins did not rise with you. They are buried from God’s sight forever.

Know this: being tempted is not a sin. The devil wants you to think that, that since you’ve been tempted, you’re already guilty so you may as well go ahead and go all-in. That’s not true. Remember – He was tempted…but was without sin. Being tempted isn’t the sin; surrender to it is. But don’t fall for the idea that there’s a line in the sand, that you can dance with temptation up to that line and be just fine. Just don’t cross that line. That’s a temptation in and of itself. I guess in a perfect world, we could always clearly see where temptation stops and sin starts, but we aren’t in a perfect world, and in the heat of the moment we don’t think clearly and faithfully enough to see that mark. Besides, the problem with lines in the sand is that the sand shifts – just when you think you’re safe, the sand shifts underneath and you find yourself across the line. 

So, what does the child of God do when tempted? What do you do when you realize satan is tempting you? When he does that, follow the footsteps of Jesus as the Spirit led Him into the wilderness. Do what Jesus did: turn back to the Word. Surround yourself with Truth so you recognize lies. And then pray. What should you pray? The Lord’s Prayer. In the 6^th Petition of the Lord’s Prayer, we pray “Lead us not into temptation.” I used to think this was praying God would protect us from being tempted from sinning. While that’s true, if that’s all we think when we pray this, we’re missing the greater meaning behind it. Immediately before this, in the Fifth Petition, we prayed “Forgive us our trespasses.” The longer I serve as a pastor, and the more I care for hurting souls, the more I believe that these two petitions go together like this: “Don’t let us be tempted that our sins aren’t forgiven.” 

Temptation is sneaky. Salvation is certain. The devil knows your name and he calls you by your sin. God knows your sins, yes; but in Christ, He calls you by name: His Son, His Daughter.