Jesu Juva

“Return to Love”

Text: Matthew 4:1-11; Genesis 3:1-21; Romans 5:12-19

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

If you want to catch the big fish, use a big, juicy worm.

I’m sure the devil would have found Jesus on his own. In fact, I’m sure he already had. I’m sure he’d been tempting Jesus all along, all His life, as he tempts us and all people all our lives. No one is exempt.

But once Jesus is baptized, and the voice from heaven sounded This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased (Matthew 3:17), the Spirit, as we heard, leads Jesus out into the wilderness to dangle the biggest, juiciest worm of all before the devil’s hungry eyes - the very Son of God Himself! And the devil starts salivating, and circling . . .

Jesus Himself said, I am a worm and not a man (Psalm 22:6). Now, He meant it in a different way, that He was treated by His people more like a worm than a man. But the devil would certainly like to devour Him like a worm! This would be the biggest, juiciest victory of all! To bring down the very Son of God! So the wilderness temptations that we hear about today begin . . . Jesus all alone . . . Jesus tired and hungry . . . Jesus vulnerable . . . the devil must be pleased . . .

Perhaps this is the first takeaway for us here, when it comes to temptation: when and where is the devil going to pounce? Certainly, temptations will come at all times and in all places, like Jesus was surely tempted before this. But especially we should expect them when we’re at our most vulnerable. Maybe when you’re at a low point in your life when the devil can offer you an easy way out. Maybe when things are going well for you and you let your guard down. Maybe when you feel alone, scared, tired. The when and where, specifically, might be different for you than for me, but we all have those times and places. When the devil is going to start circling and licking his chops. Know when and where those times are for you. Don’t set yourself up for trouble! This was certainly one of those times for Jesus. But for Him, it was on purpose. He was set up, sent out, and dangled for you.

And so the temptations come. We’re told about three of them here, but surely there were more over the course of those forty days. For as Luke tells us, when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time (Luke 4:13). So I think likely there were more, but these three are particularly included for us here, to teach us. These three, after Jesus had fasted for forty days and forty nights, and when He was perhaps at His weakest and most vulnerable.

The first temptation is for Jesus to do what is reasonable, what makes sense, is completely understandable. You’re hungry, you’re the Son of God, make yourself some food! Why wouldn’t you? It’s okay. What’s wrong with food?

What are those kinds of temptations for you? You can disobey your parents! It’s completely understandable. They don’t get it. They don’t understand you. They’re old fashioned. They’re rules are dumb. It’s okay. You’re a teenager! You’re supposed to rebel. Or, don’t put yourself out for that person! They wouldn’t do it for you. They’re not going to appreciate it. You’re going to lose out, and for what? It’s not worth it. It’s completely understandable if you just mind your own business, go on your way. It’s okay. Someone else will do it. Or, how ‘bout this? God said what? No! That was for then. It’s different now. We know better now. Be reasonable. That’s unreasonable! You’re not hurting anyone. It’s reasonable, makes sense, completely understandable . . . It’s okay. Except it’s not . . .

The second temptation is for Jesus to be practical. A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do! You’re the Son of God, so jump off the top of the Temple here, and it’s gonna be great! The angels will come, the people will see, and you’ll be famous. They’ll acclaim you Messiah. You’ll be even greater than David and Solomon! It’s gonna work out perfect, Jesus. Be practical.

What are those temptations for you? The practical ones. The everyone-else-is-doing-it ones. The a-man-or-woman’s-gotta-do-what-a-man-or-woman’s-gotta-do ones. Fudging on your taxes isn’t really stealing. You need your “me time.” I need this more than they do. If I don’t, then what’s gonna happen? And God will protect me; He’ll forgive me. Life is hard enough - you gotta be practical! And frankly, what God’s asks isn’t always practical. So . . . you know . . .

And then that third temptation . . . that one seems a little hard to understand, doesn’t it? For why in the world would Jesus worship the devil? But if you know that worship is about receiving, receiving gifts from God and looking to Him for what you need, then this one makes a little more sense. It is to do what is necessary. Because clearly your Father isn’t giving you what you need, Jesus. You’ve been out here forty days and forty nights, all alone and without food. And where’s He been? But I’m here. I’m here for you. I’ll provide for you. Just ask. Just look to me. I’ll take care of it for you. I’ll take care of you.

These are First Commandments temptations. The people or things you fear more than God, the people or things love more than God, the people or things you trust more than God. The people or things you look to to give you what you need. To give you security, love, or good. The sins you do because you’re afraid. The sins you do because you love them. The sins you do because you trust what you think or what the world says more than what God says. The sins you do to save yourself, to save face, to save your life or what you want your life to be. You worship these things when you look to them and turn to them to give you what you need. That’s what the devil wanted Jesus to do.

Be reasonable. Be practical. It’s necessary. It’s how the devil tempted Eve in the Garden, Jesus in the wilderness, and you today. And Adam and Eve crumbled, and we crumble, but Jesus didn’t. Because against our own thinking and what makes sense to us and what we think works and the wisdom of the world stands the truth of God’s Word. The eternal, unbreakable words and promises of God. Only His Word creates life, gives life, sustains life, and saves life. So Jesus clings to the Word for His life. And - and more importantly, and especially - for your life. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

So Jesus doesn’t do what is reasonable, what is practical, what is necessary. You know what He does instead? He does what is loving. He lays down His life for you. He fights the devil for you and wins the battle you can’t. He becomes the big, juicy worm on the hook of the cross that the devil can’t resist. But just as unlikely, as we read in the Book of Revelation, that a Lamb battles a dragon and the Lamb wins, so here a worm battles the fish and the worm wins! Sinless, He dies, but His death atones for your sins win! And then His resurrection breaks open your grave - win! And His life takes you away from the devil - win! The devil wants you, but he can’t have you. For you belong to Jesus.

So you don’t have to do what the devil tries to convince you is reasonable, practical, and necessary, to save yourself, to save face, or to save your life - as I said Wednesday night, Jesus already did that for you. He already saved you. Now you get to live in His love and with His love for others. To live God-centered, Christ-filled, and Spirit-led lives. Strong in His Word and oriented in love toward others. Even when you’re in the wilderness. Even when you’re weak and vulnerable. Even when others are taking advantage of you. Even when you feel like a worm and not a man or woman. Because you are a baptized child of God, with whom He is well pleased, and wherever you are, and however you are, Jesus has been there and is there with you. And while He didn’t turn stones into bread for Himself, He does turn bread and wine into His Body and Blood for you. And just as He didn’t jump down from the Temple, He wouldn’t jump down from the cross either. Because He loved YOU more than His own life. Because He knew His Father would provide. In life and in death.

And so it is for you who are in Christ as well. For as the Apostle Paul said, the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. It abounds for you! And so as the angels came and ministered to Jesus in the wilderness, so also He sends His angels to minister to you in the wilderness of this world. Jesus fights for you and dies for you and saves you and feeds you and sends these high, heavenly beings to serve you. Which is pretty amazing.

But it is who God is. And so in the Garden, after His children sinned, spurning His Tree of Life and choosing what they thought was their own, He cursed the serpent and He cursed the ground but He did NOT curse His children. Yes, there would be consequences for their sin, severe ones. But He did not curse them, He promised to save them. He promised them a new Tree of Life. A new Tree and a new fruit. And in the fullness of time (Galatians 4:4), He sent His Son. To do that. To be that. For them. For you. And for all people.

The devil wants you to forget all that, or doubt it. But this season of Lent calls us back to faith and back to the fight. To renew us in the Word of God, and instead of doing what we think is reasonable, practical, and necessary, we do instead, like Jesus, what is loving. That we love the Lord our God with all our mind and with all our heart and with all our strength, and love our neighbor as ourself. And when we fall and fail and crumble - and we do, and will! - to turn NOT to ourselves and our strength, to the devil and his deception, or to the world and its slick ways, but to the one who didn’t crumble, fail, or fall. To return to the Lord our God, for He is gracious and merciful . . . and abounding in steadfast love (Psalm 145:8; Joel 2:13). To come here to our new Tree of Life and eat of its fruit. For only in Him is our life and the victory we need.

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.