Audio recording (sorry about the quality) Sermon manuscript: In both our Old Testament reading and our Gospel reading this morning we heard about temptations. In the Old Testament reading we heard about Adam and Eve being tempted in the Garden. In the Gospel reading we heard about Jesus being tempted in the wilderness. It is important to understand that with both of these temptations we are dealing with a different situation than what happens when we are tempted. The reason why the situation is different with both Adam and Eve as well as Christ is that we are dealing with people who were not “sold under sin,” as Paul puts it. Adam and Eve had not yet fallen. Christ was sinless and would remain sinless. But with both instances the people involved were free. This means that they were able to react differently to temptation than the way that we are able to react to temptation. After the fall into sin human beings couldn’t get back up on their own. The minds of Adam and Eve and all their children down to each one of us were darkened. We became turned in on ourselves, caring only about ourselves, and so we no longer could do anything other than sin. Even if it should appear that people are able to resist temptation, you can be sure that they are doing it for selfish reasons, unless they are being moved by the Holy Spirit. After the fall into sin, human beings lost the ability to defeat temptation. Temptation results in either the course sin, to which the person is being tempted, or it will result in a more refined sin like lying, pride, or self-righteousness. The only correct and godly way for a person to deal with temptation would for that person to burn with love for God, and that that love for god would be the sole reason for a person’s actions. The greatest commandment is that we should love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind. So if we are not reacting to temptation with this love as what motivates us, then obviously we are sinning—even breaking the greatest commandment. So if you are skeptical about the Bible’s claim that no sinner has reacted correctly to temptation, simply examine your own life. Perhaps you have been able to resist something that you knew to be wrong. Was the reason why you did this because you burned with love for God in every fiber of your being? I don’t think so. What probably prevented you was that you didn’t want to lose face in the community, or even you did not want to lose esteem for yourself. Probably the best that could be mustered up within ourselves would be a terror at the thought of God casting you into hell. That might be as close as sinners can get to reacting rightly. What you can be sure didn’t happen, is that you joined your will with God’s will because you love him so much. With the fall into sin we simply aren’t wired that way anymore. Instead, we are under the slavery of the devil. So both of the temptations that we heard about were received by people who are so different than us that we can’t understand what it was like. Adam and Eve were sinless up to that point. Jesus was sinless. But there is an obvious difference in how these two temptations turned out. When Adam and Eve were tested they failed. When Jesus was tested he succeeded. This is not a mere factoid, but has the broadest of implications. It also is not just something that has to do with Jesus, but is also applicable to us. The fact that Jesus met and defeated temptation is good news for us sinners, for whom there is no hope otherwise. The reason why this is good news is because the Law of God had to be fulfilled. What we’ve been talking about so far today is the way that we have not kept the Law and cannot keep the Law. Every time we are tempted, if left to our own devices, we cannot help but failto love the Lord our God with our whole being. If the Law of God were not fulfilled so far as we are concerned, then we are damned and bound for hell. That’s where evil creatures are supposed to go