Tempting

Jesus goes into the wilderness FULL. Luke tells us that he was FULL of the Holy Spirit. Yet, he finds himself tempted. Over forty days and forty nights, the whispers that start out quietly begin to nag at him.

During Lent, it is a custom for people to give things up as a discipline of denial. Sometimes people give up a bad habit, a favorite food, or something that they enjoy. Other times, people take on a good habit, or commit to exercise or a prayer discipline, or to read all the way through one of the Gospels. You may have made a Lenten promise as well.

But now, 5 days in, it is becoming more real, isn’t it? The whispers in your head are getting louder. Just one piece of chocolate…it won’t hurt…you don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings at potluck by not trying their dessert. Skipping one day doesn’t really count, does it?

These were the kinds of thoughts Jesus had. That rock, look it’s the shape of a roll, it is even almost the color of bread. God must have meant it as a sign. You could just turn it into bread. What would it hurt, really? God doesn’t want me to be hungry. And I am hungry.

Jesus experienced physical temptation. No different from the temptations that we have. And his response was Scripture. Scripture gave him the strength to resist temptation. Biblical scholar NT Wright makes the point that Jesus does not try to argue with temptation. Arguing with temptation, says Wright, is often a way of playing with the idea until it becomes too attractive to resist.

And that point is exactly why I think giving something up for Lent or taking on something for Lent is important in the life of a disciple. We need to practice – and experience – our own pattern of rationalization when faced with temptation with something that really is not of life-shattering importance. Whether I eat chocolate or not, or whether I text a picture each day or not, will not all by itself transform my life. But learning to be disciplined, and learning how vulnerable I am to my own ability to rationalize giving into temptation will transform my life and deepen my understanding and appreciation of my dependence upon God and God’s grace.

Presbyterian Pastor, the Rev. Dr. Gary Stratman says of this passage that the real temptation is to take matters into his own hands, to settle for less than God’s plan. Jesus is thinking, “What good would I be to God dead in the desert? Furthermore, if I can turn rocks into bread, wouldn’t I be meeting the primary needs of men and women? But wasn’t the primary question, says Stratman, “whether God would provide all his needs? Why is God so slow? If faith is dealing with God’s delays, then you and I know what it is to be of little faith. Unable to wait, we continually settle for less than we’ve been promised…like Judas, speed up the action so something will happen…in our hunger for love and affection, we settle for less than the real thing…and the bread tastes like stone.”

Jesus responds to the temptation with Scripture, “One does not live by bread alone.” He will wait for God and not settle for less.

Then the thoughts begin to whir, Jesus stands on the top of the mountain and sees all the civilized world stretching out before him. The enormity of God’s call on his life is overwhelming. Compromise. It seems so simple. Not on big things, just on little things. Do things the world’s ways. The ends justify the means. God has chosen me. Sure, God’s way is strength in weakness, attracting people with love and promises of a new way of living together as a beloved community. But if that doesn’t work out, I am God’s chosen one – to rule over all the world – I probably do need a few military minds, some influential people – surely it would be a just war. God means for me to be powerful, it is about ME, power for ME.

Jesus responds to the temptation with Scripture, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” He will subordinate himself to God’s will and God’s way.

The final temptation Luke tells us is at the pinnacle of the Temple. Luke is not saying that Jesus transported here with the devil in some kind of air-borne vehicle. Luke is a great writer. In the scenes in the Temple and the synagogue throughout Luke’s Gospel, we see just how far God’s people Israel have strayed from God’s will. We see time and again the priests and the leaders come into conflict with God’s agents, angels and Jesus. So, he places this third temptation at the pinnacle of the Temple, at the height of the location of the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy of Holies, where God’s own presence resides, God’s agent, Jesus, and God’s adversary, Satan, come into conflict and they are both using God’s Words. ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ Jump – God has promised to protect you. God will not let harm come to you.

It is the first warning against proof-texting. If you take Scripture out of context, if you strip it of its intention, if you interpret it without a clear commitment to God, the words will be the agent of God’s adversary.

Jesus replies with Scripture, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Even the Son of God has no right to make demands on God or manipulate God for personal purposes. (Robert C. Tannehill) Jesus will place his life in God’s hands.

C.S. Lewis said there is a silly idea about that good people are not tempted. Jesus was tempted. Adam and Eve were tempted. Humans are tempted. We are human. We are tempted.

But when that tempting happens, we have an example to follow. Jesus responded to temptation with God’s Word. He trusted God enough to wait for God to meet his needs instead of settling for turning stones into bread. He was devoted to God enough to subordinate himself to God’s will and God’s ways instead of using any means to take power and control for himself. And he loved God enough and he knew God’s love for him so deeply that he placed his life in God’s hands.

Yesterday at Presbytery meeting, Sarah Strong preached on this passage as we approved her for ordination. She told of a friend’s son, Kevin, who has had one surgery for a brain tumor which was successful and who has just recently had a scan that showed that the tumor has returned and he will require additional surgery. Her friend, understandably, was devastated…until she got a text from Kevin that said simply, “Been reading some Psalms, and so for Lent I’m not giving up.”

Not because he got a sign from God that he will be healed. Not because his positive attitude will convince God to spare his life. Not because he has done God’s will well enough for God to reward him with good health. Not because he has done anything right, or made a sacrifice that is acceptable, or somehow manipulated God. Not because he has stood at the top of the Temple and jumped expecting God to catch him.

But because he has been reading God’s Word, a Word that sustains us, a Word that gives us power against the temptations of life, a Word that encourages us, a Word that tells us that God’s promises to us are much like the promises we vow at a wedding: to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish as long… as long as life eternal.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.