In Every Way That We Are

In Every Way That We Are – Deuteronomy 26:1-11, Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16, Romans 10:8b-13, Luke 4:1-13

After his baptism, “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.”

It rarely surprises people to learn that there is a character in the gospels that promises you can have everything you want when you want it. Who promises you that you can do anything and accomplish anything that you really want to do. Who promises you that you will be safe and secure no matter what. Yes, indeed, there is someone in the gospels who promises all of that and more. What is perhaps surprising is that the person in the gospels who promises that you can have everything, who promises that you can do anything, who promises absolute safety – the person who promises these things is the devil.

Jesus is baptized in the Jordan River. The Holy Spirit visibly comes upon him, Jesus hears the word of God spoken aloud: “You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.” And filled with the Holy Spirit Jesus leaves the river and goes into the wilderness. Just as the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea and spent forty years in the wilderness figuring out what it means to live as the people of God, Jesus emerges from the waters and spends forty days in the wilderness trying to get clear on what it means to be the beloved Son of God. And during those forty days, Jesus considers at least three possible ideas about his identity and his ministry and rejects them as not being from God, but from the devil.

The letter to the Hebrews says that Jesus “was tempted in every way that we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). And I don’t think that means Jesus was tempted to eat chocolate when he was on a diet. Perhaps he was, but the temptations that Jesus faced were central to his identity. And to ours as well.

“If you are the Son of God,” there’s no need for you to be hungry. There’s no need for you to be without anything that you want. You can create bread out of these stones. You are God’s beloved, so name it and claim it! You are God’s beloved child, and what parent does not want the best for their children? So whatever you want – ask and you shall receive! And if you don’t receive, could that mean maybe you’re not really God’s beloved child?

The most true thing about you – just as it was the most true thing about Jesus – is that you really are God’s beloved child. But that does not mean you get everything you want, when you want it. We are taught to pray to receive today our daily bread – to ask for what we need in this moment, not everything that we might think we want. And blessings beyond our daily bread are gifts to be shared with others, not private benefits for our personal enjoyment. But Jesus was tempted, as we all are tempted, to use his special status before God just for himself.

Then the devil showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant. You’re a gifted leader, Jesus. There is no limit to how far you can go, how great an empire you could build. You could raise the largest army, crush every enemy, defeat every opponent, you could rule the world. Look, I know you feel sorry for all of the suffering among all the nations today. But once you’ve taken over the world, think of how much good you could do!

It's interesting that the devil claims to have the power to give authority over the kingdoms of the world to anyone the devil wants, and Jesus doesn’t dispute this. The idea that the rulers of this world are all appointed by the devil may not be taught in political science departments these days, but I have to confess it’s not difficult to believe it right now. There’s more than one ruler in the world today who seems positively Satanic.

And even if there is a place for this-worldly power, if only to restrain evildoers from hurting even more people than they do, the power to rule and to command and to dominate other people ultimately is not the power of God, it’s not the way that God exercises power in the world. And so as tempting as it might be for Jesus, or for his followers, to aspire to rule the world, to aim for great accomplishments, to achieve mastery and build an empire and climb the ladder to success – Jesus thinks all of this would be a betrayal of what it means to be a child of God. The great ones in this world, Jesus will teach his followers, lord it over their subjects, but it cannot be that way with you. For the son of man comes not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

And then, the devil takes Jesus to the very top of the Temple in Jerusalem. “If you are the Son of God,” then jump. You know the Scripture. We just recited the psalm together a few minutes ago: “Because you have made the Lord your refuge, and the Most High your habitation, no evil will befall you, nor shall affliction come near your dwelling. For God will give the angels charge over you, to guard you in all your ways. Upon their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.” So, see, God will protect you. God won’t let anything bad happen to you. And when you jump, in full view of everyone, and God rescues you as God has promised, everyone will see who you are and fall to their knees in your presence.

And who doesn’t want to be assured that we are safe? Who doesn’t want to be certain that we are, in fact, the beloved child of God that God says we are? Who doesn’t want everyone to see and acknowledge God’s blessing for you?

When the devil comes to tempt Jesus, the devil isn’t wearing a red suit, with horns, and a pitchfork – that wouldn’t be a temptation for Jesus. Too obvious. And the devil doesn’t tempt Jesus with bad ideas – the devil doesn’t say to Jesus, hey, how about getting into highway robbery? That’s not a temptation for Jesus, he isn’t interested in any of that. But the devil is much more subtle that this.

The temptations Jesus faces in the wilderness are much more subtle than that. If you are the Son of God – if you are who you were told you were in your baptism, if you are in fact God’s beloved child – then you should expect everything you want when you want it, you should expect help to accomplish every achievement you choose, you should expect to be kept safe and secure from all harm and suffering. And when you don’t get those things – when you pray for something and you don’t get it, when you experience failure and setbacks, when you trip and fall and no angel protects you – you start to wonder, am I really who God says I am? And the devil’s work is accomplished.

Jesus sees through the devil’s temptations because Jesus knows how God works in the world. That God gives us what we need, not necessarily what we want. That God’s power is always exercised through the cross, not through the sword. That God does not want forced obedience but active faith.

I’ll give the devil his due, as they say – these are some pretty good temptations. I probably would have fallen for them. Christians down the centuries have fallen for these exact same temptations. We try to use God to get the things we think God should give us. We cuddle up to power and start crusades and before you know it you are saying – as more than one Christian leader has said in recent weeks – that Vladimir Putin is a good Christian because at least he’s against the gays. We go any lengths to spare ourselves suffering and the disapproval of our neighbors and so we tolerate and ignore the suffering of others lest it disturb our sense of peace and self-esteem. As I say, I think the devil would succeed in getting me to buy into all three of these temptations.

But not Jesus. Jesus is so grounded in his relationship with his Father that he sees through all three temptations and rejects them. So the devil gives up, withdraws, and – Luke tells us – waits “for an opportune time.” Some say the devil comes back at the very end, when a voice is heard from the crowd on Calvary with those all-too-familiar words: If you are the Son of God, come down from that cross. Others say that the devil waits to offer those temptations to the body of Christ, to those of us who try to follow Jesus and embody his presence in the world, thinking that we will be easier marks. And we probably are.

During Lent we are given an opportunity to try to take on more of the mind of Christ. On our own we are no match for the devil, but Jesus invites us to learn from him how to see these temptations for what they are, how to resist, how to live what it means to be God’s beloved.