Lead us not into temptation

Sermon for Lent 1 – Invocavit

2 Corinthians 6:1-10  +  Matthew 4:1-11

Today’s Gospel is about temptation. What is “temptation”? Temptation is the act of trying to get someone to sin against God, as the devil did with Jesus in the wilderness. Think for a moment about the very first temptation in human history: when the devil, speaking through the serpent, tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. The devil deceived her, that is, he convinced her that his lies were true. He misled her into false belief, to believe that God was evil, that He was trying to deprive them of something good, and to believe that disobeying God would lead to their happiness and not to their death. And he led her into the great shame and vice of willfully rebelling against God, doing the very thing God had forbidden. And there stood Adam, shamefully choosing to go along with his wife instead of obeying God.

Knowing how cunning the devil is, knowing that the unbelievers in the world won’t stop trying to get believers to join them in their shame, and knowing that we still carry around this sinful flesh that yearns to do the very things God forbids, the Lord Jesus taught us to pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Lead us not into temptation.” What does that mean? We learn in the Catechism: God surely tempts no one, but we ask in this prayer that God would guard and keep us so that the devil, the world and our flesh may not deceive us, nor mislead us into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice; and although we are troubled by these things, that we would, nevertheless, overcome and stand victorious in the end.

Did God lead Adam and Eve into temptation? No, He gave them every needed warning and every opportunity to not eat from the tree in the middle of the Garden. But He did put that tree there to test them, to give them the opportunity either to put Him first or to put themselves first, and Adam failed and ruined things for our human race. And so the Son of Adam (which is the same as Son of Man in Hebrew), our Lord Jesus, came to succeed where Adam had failed, to restore what Adam had ruined, to save our race as the perfect Substitute for our race. And so, in some ways, Jesus’ life had to mimic Adam’s life—and Israel’s life, which we’ll get to in a moment. Just as Adam was given the opportunity to either serve God or serve Himself, so the Son of Adam was also given the same opportunity, to serve God, or to serve Himself. The Father tested Him, even as the devil tempted Him. And the Son of Adam passed the test for us and overcame temptation for us.

Let’s take a closer look at the Gospel account. Matthew tells us plainly that it wasn’t Jesus’ decision to go out into the wilderness and to fast for forty days after He was baptized by John. The Spirit of God, who had descended on Him at His Baptism like a dove and remained on Him afterward—the Spirit led Him up into the wilderness. This was His Father’s will, His Father’s plan. And as a dutiful Son, committed to doing His Father’s will at all times, no matter how hard it was, no matter how much He had to suffer, Jesus went. He went out into the wilderness to fast for forty days, just as Israel was led by God out into the wilderness for forty years, just as Moses was led by God up onto Mt. Sinai, where he also fasted for forty days.

At the end of the forty days, Jesus was hungry. He had dutifully fasted and prayed for forty days, but His Father in heaven, who, forty days earlier, had pronounced Him His beloved Son in whom He was well pleased, had still provided no food, nor given His Son permission to return to civilization. And He certainly hadn’t given Him permission to step outside of His state of humiliation in order to provide for Himself. Jesus humbled Himself when He came into the world, emptied Himself, set aside the use of His divine power so that He could live as one of us as our Substitute, so that He could rely on His heavenly Father to provide for Him, just like the rest of us human beings have to do. It would have been “cheating” for Him to provide for Himself miraculously. It would also have shown a lack of trust in His Father, if He had taken matters into His own hands to provide for Himself in a way that His Father hadn’t authorized.

So the Father was testing His Son, giving Him the opportunity to trust and to wait for His Father, even though it hurt, or to doubt His Father’s goodness and take matters into His own hands, as Adam and Eve had done.

But the Father’s test was, at the same time, the devil’s temptation. The Father wanted to see His Son standing, but the devil wanted Him to sin against God. If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread!” But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” Jesus didn’t allow Himself to be deceived, or misled into false belief or into shame and vice. Instead, as a mighty Champion, He overcame and stood victorious in the end.

So it is with us. The Father sends various trials and tests our way, giving us the opportunity either to worship Him or to serve ourselves. Meanwhile, the devil tries to take advantage to tempt us to sin, and who can count how many times he’s been successful? But for every time you’ve doubted the Father’s goodness, for every time you’ve stepped outside of His will to avoid suffering or to satisfy your desires, Jesus overcame and stood victorious in the end. He never stopped trusting in His Father. He clung to His Father’s word and passed the test. For you. For me. For us. Now let His victory for you also serve as an example for you and as strength for you to resist temptation as the Son of Adam did.

It’s the same pattern in the second and third temptations recorded in the Gospel. The Father hasn’t yet sent His holy angels to attend to His Son’s needs. (He will, as soon as the time of testing is over!) The Father is still making the Son of Adam wait for a visible sign of His favor. So the devil tries to take advantage. If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down! For it is written, ‘He will put his angels in charge of you,’ and, ‘In their hands they will lift you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ Make God prove His love for you! Sure, He’s told You that He loves You. Sure, He’s shown you countless times in the past that He cares for You. But it’s been forty days, after all! Make Him prove it again! Doesn’t He say in His Word that He will?

That’s called putting God to the test. You see, He is God; we are the creatures. He is allowed to test us as His creatures. We are not allowed to test Him, just as it’s the teacher’s job to test her students, not the other way around. But that’s not how the sinful flesh thinks. By nature, we think exactly what our mother Eve was deceived into thinking: that we should be like God. People think they get to judge God, they get to test Him, they get to approve of Him or disapprove of Him, or dictate to Him what He must do in order for us to consider Him a good God. Such is the arrogance of fallen man. By nature, we worship ourselves as God.

But the Son of Man, who is far superior to all other men, didn’t fall into that trap. The uncreated Son of God had taken on our flesh as the Son of Adam, as a creature like us. And so He humbled Himself before God, as all creatures are supposed to do: Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not test the Lord your God.’”

You shall not test the Lord your God. You can pray to Him. You can ask Him for mercy and wisdom and patience. You can ask Him to show you His favor again, as He has already shown it so many times in the past. But then, you are supposed to wait. You are supposed to trust. You are not supposed to question His word or His goodness. For all the times you’ve given into that temptation, Jesus overcame and stood victorious in the end. He never stopped trusting in His Father. He clung to His Father’s word and passed the test. For you. For me. For us. Now let His victory for you also serve as an example for you and as strength for you to resist temptation as the Son of Adam did.

And finally, the devil came at Jesus directly. “I’ll give you the world if you just worship me.” At first glance, that may not sound that tempting to you. Worship Satan? Come on! Would it sound more tempting if your mother or father, your husband or wife or child or grandchild were dying, and you could save them with a whisper: “I worship you, Satan”? Well, the devil was giving Jesus the chance to save everyone, and to have earthly wealth and glory and happiness, without having to suffer, without having to go to the cross. Of course, it was a lie. The devil couldn’t actually give those things. But it’s always a lie when the devil tells you that you’ll be happier if you just turn away from God and follow your dreams. And it’s astonishing how many people believe him and worship him, usually not by bowing down to him, usually by simply ignoring God’s Word and pursuing happiness apart from God. To do that is to worship Satan.

But the Son of Adam would have none of it. Jesus said to him, “Get away from me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’ And for all the times you’ve given into that temptation, Jesus overcame and stood victorious in the end. He never stopped trusting in His Father. He clung to His Father’s word and passed the test. For you. For me. For us. Now let His victory for you also serve as an example for you and as strength for you to resist temptation as the Son of Adam did.

The Son of Adam now invites you to share in His victory. By repenting of your sins and trusting in Him to stand in your place before our Father in heaven, by seeking to be judged, not by your obedience, but by His. Behold, this is the acceptable time!, as Paul said in today’s Epistle. This is the day of salvation! To all who repent, to all who believe, God promises the forgiveness of sins. And the Lord Jesus then urges you to pray, among the other petitions of the Lord’s Prayer, “Lead us not into temptation,” so that, when the devil—or the world, or your own flesh—tries to convince you that you’ll be happier ignoring God and His Word, you turn toward God instead of away from Him, and seek His help against those grueling temptations, that He would guard and keep you so that the devil, the world and your flesh may not deceive you, nor mislead you into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice; and although you are troubled by these things, that you would, nevertheless, overcome and stand victorious in the end. With God’s help, you will overcome. You will stand victorious in the end, even as the Son of Adam did. Seek His help. Seek His strength. Seek His Word. And you will be able stand against all the assaults of the devil. Amen.