Sermon for 2/22/26

Sermon 2-22-26 1 Lent Mt. 4:1-11

The first line of our Gospel reading today is: “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil”.

That is a pretty heavy statement. Think about it. Jesus was led by the Spirit of God into the middle of the desert, to be tempted by the devil. Matthew implies it was God's will: Jesus was led. Why in the world would God do something like that to His only Son, “in whom He is well pleased”?

This story could be considered one of the most powerful of the Gospel stories because it had to come from Jesus' own mouth. There were no witnesses in the wilderness except for Satan himself, and he's not a contributing editor. The story of the temptation of Jesus is in all three of the Synoptic Gospels. Mark makes only a passing mention of it while Matthew and Luke go into great detail.

The English word “tempted” here is derived from the Greek word peirazo (verb) or peirazein (adverb) which should more probably be translated to English as “tested” or “to test”.

The English word temp is likely to bring up a negative connotation, such as trying to entice a man to do the wrong thing. It is unthinkable that God would try to make any man do wrong. The word devil is more commonly found in later New Testament writings. It could also be interpreted here as the slanderer in Greek.

The people who live in the Mediterranean world live by a deeply rooted belief that the world is occupied by spirits, whose numbers are too large to count. Those spirits act in unpredictable ways and their main objective is to interfere with daily human life.

Even today the people of that area rely on amulets, formulas or symbols to ward off attacks from spirits. Go to Amazon, you can get a really nice Italian sterling silver evil eye bracelet for forty bucks. Free shipping if you're a Prime member. The people in that area of the world still paint their window frames and door jams blue or red to ward off evil spirits.

Matthew's reading we have today immediately follows Jesus' baptism by John. The line just before this reading begins is: “and lo, a voice from heaven, saying “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased”.

Every Mediterranean knows and knew what was going to happen next. Spirits will test Jesus to see if those words are actually true. And Jesus is led into the wilderness, for forty days.

Forty days in the bible is a round number. It doesn't mean thirty-nine plus one, it just means “a long time”.

Forty days is a parallel. There are lots of parallels in this story. Moses was on the mountain with God forty days. He lived in Egypt and Midian forty years each. Elijah fasted forty days. The Israelites wandered forty years. Forty days and nights of rain. There are over one hundred and thirty mentions of forty in the Old Testament alone.

The test is a parallel as well. Adam was tested in the Garden of Eden, he failed. The Jewish people as a whole failed, hence the forty days and forty nights of rain. The Israelites were tested during their Exodus, they failed, even though God provided manna and quail for them to eat during their sojourn.

Jesus didn't get manna and quail to eat during His test, He fasted. Fasted for forty days and forty nights.

There are several types of fasting mentioned in the bible. Normal fasting, no food, just water. Partial fasting, absolute fasting, day long fasting, etcetera. Jesus probably used the “normal fasting” method, Matthew says, “And afterwards He was famished”. He doesn't say Jesus was thirsty.

Matthew's purpose in this story is to present Jesus as the faithful and obedient Son. Mediterraneans put a great deal of stock in a son who is faithful and obedient to his father. We have here a textbook example of that.

He walks away from a large group of His relatives and friends where there is food, water and shelter to wander around a desert alone and does without food. That is what His Father wanted Him to do. And He was tested.

Then on the thirty-ninth and a half day, the tempter came. I just threw that in there.

“If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread”. In that part of the world the ground is littered with roundish stones that resemble the loaves of bread the people baked in their homes. The first test.

This test has multiple parts. “If you are the Son of God” means prove to yourself and to me, the devil, you have the power to do miraculous feats of magic. Use that power for your own benefit and satisfy your hunger. You and I will both know then that you are the Son of God.

Jesus refuses. Throughout the Gospels Jesus never uses the power He is given for His own benefit. He quotes Deuteronomy, chapter 8, verse 3 in His defense. “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God”.

The devil changes tact. He takes Jesus to the highest point of the Temple in Jerusalem and offers a second test. “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down”.

This one also has more than one part. The devil also quotes scripture in the challenge. Psalm 91, verses eleven and twelve. “For He will give His angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash you foot against a stone”. That psalm is a meditation on God as the protector of the faithful.

Again Jesus refuses and again quotes Deuteronomy in His defense. Chapter six, verse sixteen: “Do not put the Lord your God to the test”.

And a third time the devil tries to persuade Jesus to stray from the will of God. He shows Him the riches and majesty of the entire earth. Here Satan does not use “If you are the Son of God”. This story assumes he actually possesses all the kingdoms of the world, maybe he does. Again Jesus turns him down with a quote from Deuteronomy, chapter six, verse thirteen: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only”.

Jesus' tests were not temptations to sin, but tests of loyalty and faithfulness. He really proved to be the beloved Son, with whom God is well pleased. Amen.