“Three Temptations in the Wilderness”

Main point: Jesus shows us victory over three temptations.

Introduction

As we begin our season of preparation leading up to Easter marked by prayer, almsgiving, and fasting, we look at the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness by the Devil. 

I’d like to begin here: We - you and I, with our modern sensibilities - probably have a general idea that we should abstain from doing bad things and do good things - unless, of course, it’s inconvenient or makes us uncomfortable - then we might easily abandon our ideals and take the path of least resistance. But at minimum, I assume, we have an idea that we should do good things and abstain from bad things. This story today introduces an additional layer that we probably don’t often consider. Hear me: It’s an entirely different thing to think that there might be persons or forces that are actively trying to get us to do things that oppose the good and run to what is evil - forces that lead us to our demise instead of our true and best self - that is, our life in Christ. That, friends, is really leveling up. (Pause)

To think that there might be active opposition to us doing good on top of our common, everyday struggle, might be a new consideration for many of us. That particular consideration is an endlessly interesting topic to explore in one of our Adult Ed classes or monthly Coffee & Conversations after church, but, for now, I only want to raise the point, since we cannot get around it when we read our text. Jesus is tempted by the Devil. And, we see, he does not give in. He moves through the temptations victoriously. This gives us hope, that because Jesus has encountered temptation and has won, so we might do the same. 

So let’s go with the story given to us today.

We see three temptations. These temptations are not specific only to Jesus, as we will see. It would not be a good way to read the story to think, “OK, the next time I’m in the wilderness after fasting for forty days, I should really look out for the devil to tempt me with food. And if he does, well, I know exactly what to do. I’ll tell him ‘no’ because that’s what Jesus does and I want to be like Jesus.”

That would miss the point, wouldn’t it? Instead, what we see in these temptations are types. They point to deeper issues. They show us ways that we may be tempted in various circumstances - when the specifics might be different, but the core struggle is the same. I hope we can see that core struggle. So let’s begin…

Body

Temptation 1: The deprivation of daily sustenance.

It was after 40 days of fasting in the wilderness when the Devil came to Jesus to tempt him. I imagine Jesus was very, very hungry. I imagine you and I get hangary after more than a few hours of not eating. But anyone, even the best and the greatest of the world’s spiritual teachers, would be hungry after 40 days without food. 

Since Jesus’ discipline was linked to not eating food, this is exactly where the Devil begins his attack, because when you're hungry, you want food. 

A couple days ago, on Ash Wednesday, we talked about fasting. We said, fasting is a voluntary abstinence from food to remind us of our utter dependence on God. Our true hunger is deeper than food. Our need is deeper than daily sustenance. More even than food, we need God. And feeling the need for food points us to our deeper need for God in every area of our lives.

Jesus, when faced with temptation, doesn't forget his true need. By saying no to the food, Jesus declared again his dependence on God.

Jesus would not for one second declare bread what God declared a stone, even to relieve his hunger pains. He would not depart from perfect conformity to the will of God, even for reasonable, momentary relief. Jesus was content to declare by his actions his perfect dependency on the Father.