February 26, 2023
Pastor Gunnar Ledermann
Matthew 4:1-11
Matthew 4:1-11
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Everyone needs food. You need to eat to live. If someone says that you do not need food, they are lying. Everyone needs to eat, and if you eat good food and good portion sizes, then you will feel good. And, if you eat bad food and bad portion sizes, then you will feel bad. Food gives us life and God gives us food, and these three are often talked about in the Bible.
This morning we read about food, life and God in our Old Testament reading from Genesis 3. Genesis 3 is the history of Adam and Eve, the first people to whom God gave life, being tempted by another one of God’s creatures, a fallen evil angel called the devil or Satan. The devil used food to take away life and a good relationship with God from Adam and Eve. We hear how the devil did this in Genesis 3,
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
Genesis 3:1-3
The devil used food to discredit God. Devil means slanderer, which is someone who uses lies to ruin another’s reputation. The devil misquoted God to Eve. He made it sound like God wanted Adam and Eve to be denied food, an idea with which the devil continued to run with making implications about life and death, and their relationship with God who may be keeping back blessings from them. Eve kept listening to the devil, while Adam, who was with her, kept silent. The slanderous doubt the devil tempted Eve with led her and Adam both to eat fruit from the one tree out of many that God told them not to eat from bringing sin into the world to be passed down through each generation. In this and every situation, it is important to know what was said by God. In Genesis 2, we read,
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
Genesis 2:15-17
What was said by God allowed Adam and Eve to eat from every tree, but one. He gave them more than enough food. He gave them all they needed for life. He showed them his love by providing for them and gave them a way to show their love for him by keeping a very simple command. But Adam and Eve did not use what was said by God to defend themselves against the devil and the deadly results are still felt today.
The devil is still tempting people, you included. But you are no match for him. He has more experience, he knows the Bible better, he does not sleep or need food to survive. He knows how to tempt you. He knows your sins lead to death and hell. He knows hell is real. And if you already knew all that, good. And if all of that frightens you, good. And if you did not know all that or do not care, then the devil is smiling at you, which is bad. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had everything going for them, but they still lost their battle against the devil. You have inherited their loss, sin and death. You have lost the battle against the devil’s temptations many times, but God is also in this battle.
Weeks ago, at the beginning of the Epiphany season, we heard God the Father and Holy Spirit confirm Jesus as the Chosen One to save us at his baptism. Today is the first Sunday in next season of the church year, Lent, and we pick up with Jesus right after his baptism in our Gospel reading from Matthew 4, 1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. The Father and Holy Spirit had just spoken the truth about Jesus’ identity and purpose at his baptism. He was the Chosen One, the Christ, but this was not just a title. Immediately, God set up a confrontation between Jesus and the devil to defend his title as the Chosen One to save the world.
One aspect of the confrontation revolved around food. We continue reading in Matthew 4, 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. All of us can understand how Jesus would be hungry after forty days and forty nights of fasting. Most of us are irritated if we are late to lunch or miss an afternoon stack. So, we read, 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Here the devil is referred to as the “tempter.” He offered relief to Jesus and used facts in his temptation citing Jesus’ hunger and his power as God to create something to satisfy that hunger. The tempter made refusing his temptation sound foolish, but 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Jesus replied with what was written in Deuteronomy 8. He replied with the established Scripture, which reveals God’s will and the truth. God had sustained Jesus for forty days and forty nights of fasting, and he could do that for another forty days and forty nights if need be. Jesus rejected the temptation to distrust God to provide for him. Instead, he trusted God to provide him with physical and spiritual life.
When Jesus kept his trust in God to provide, the devil twisted Jesus’ trust into a temptation. Next, we read in Matthew 4,
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
Matthew 4:5-6
This time the devil tempted Jesus to be overconfident in God and backed up his temptation with Scripture. Then, 7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, Jesus replied with what was written in Deuteronomy 6, and modeled using one part of Scripture to clarify another. The devil referenced Psalm 91 which was written to comfort to God’s people with his promise to protect them in all their regular daily activities. It was not written to encourage reckless, unnatural behavior. So, Jesus did not tempt God by recklessly jumping off the highest point of the temple. Instead, he respected the laws of nature God created like gravity and the physical limits of the human body.
The devil then attacked Jesus’ purpose. We read in Matthew 4, 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” The devil knew Jesus had come to save the world. So, the devil offered him the world if he would bow and worship him in private, rather than suffer betrayal, public humiliation, beatings and agonizing death on the cross. Then, 10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” Jesus commanded the devil to leave. He addressed him as “Satan” meaning adversary or enemy. And again, he defended himself with what was written in Deuteronomy 6. Jesus came to serve God alone. It was God’s will for Jesus to suffer and die for our sins. It was said even back in the Garden of Eden just after Adam and Eve fell into sin as we heard in our Old Testament reading from Genesis 3, 15 “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” These words remain true because the devil hates mankind, the devil hated Jesus and Jesus crushed the devil’s power by dying and rising from the dead. Satan’s attacks on Jesus were by extension an attack on all people because he came to represent the world. Jesus defended the world with what was written, and he stomped Satan into the ground.
Jesus saved you by resisting temptation. In today’s New Testament reading from Romans 5, Paul explained, 15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Through Adam, we inherited sin and death, but through Jesus we are given the gift of grace. Paul continued, 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! Through Jesus, we are given righteousness and therefore life. God’s gift of Jesus’ righteousness to us means our list of distrust, overconfidence and falling into temptation has been replaced with Jesus’ trusting, obedient and sinless life. Finally, Paul wrote, 18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. The one temptation in the Garden of Eden condemned all people to hell, but Jesus’ innocent sacrifice on the cross and resurrection saved us from sin and gave us righteousness bringing life to all people.
After forty days and forty nights of temptation in the wilderness, Jesus had proved his power. He told the defeated devil to leave. Our Gospel reading from Matthew 4 concludes with the words, 11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. One evil angel tempted Jesus, but then multiple angels came to minister to him. Jesus trusted God and his Word to defend him. He did not give in to temptation. What has been written in the Bible is there to defend you. It is the truth of your Savior Jesus. He is your defense for life, plus a multitude of angels. Plus, God provides you with food each day. The main takeaway from Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness is not, “What do I do when tempted?” (which is reply with Scripture). No, the overarching takeaway from Jesus’ temptation is “What did Jesus do for me?” The answer is he resisted temptation, and by God’s grace he made that what was written about you. Jesus lived a righteous life to make you righteous like him. Stanza 3 of the hymn, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” says this about the devil, “He’s judged; the deed is done; one little word can fell him.” God loves you; he destroyed the devil’s power, and he provides you, body and soul, with life now and forever because Jesus defended us with what was written. Amen.
