1st Sunday in Lent 3/13/11 Text: Mattheew 4:1-11
1st Sunday in Lent
3/13/11
Text: Matthew 4:1-11
Title: You are what you believe.
Today is the first Sunday in Lent. The alleluia’s are gone until Easter morning. The worship service has taken on a more somber form, and the banners and altar cloths are purple to reminds us of the Savior’s suffering and his kingship.
Each Sunday in Lent we are going to look at specific Bible passages that will help us to get a better understanding of our Lord and his journey to the cross. Today our Gospel lesson focuses on the temptation of Jesus. The lesson that is normally taught in this scripture reading is that just like Jesus who resisted Satan by quoting Scripture we need to memorize Scripture passages, so that we can also resist Satan’s temptations.
That puts the burden of the Law on us, in other words it is something we have to do to resist temptation rather than something that God does for us. I wondered if that really is the lesson that God wants us to learn from the particular reading, so as I prepared for this morning’s sermon I looked at the Gospel lesson in a different way. Lo and behold, while it is certainly a good thing to know God’s Word, so that you will be able to resist temptation, that is not the reason the temptation of Jesus was written down.
Before I can tell you what I mean you need to know what had happened before Jesus’ temptation. In the chapter just before our reading for this morning we see Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist after which Saint Matthew records, “Behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
What God the Father is saying is that Jesus, who has willingly laid aside his godhood to live as a man, is living his life as God desires him to live; that is why he is pleased. The third person of the Trinity the Holy Spirit then takes him out to the desert where he will be tempted by the devil after fasting for forty days and nights. In doing this he will accomplish what the people of Israel could not do, what we cannot do; that is live our lives fully trusting in God to do what he promises he will do.
There is no doubt after 40 days of fasting that Jesus is tired and hungry and the devil is going to take advantage of that, so he starts out telling Jesus to make bread out of the rocks. Satan knows that he can. Jesus knows that he can. We know that he can. But the making of bread is not the real temptation. The real temptation is that Jesus should not rely on God the Father who has promised to care for him. Jesus does not fall for it. He knows who he is and so he does what the Israelites or any of us cannot do; trusts wholly in God the Father, so the devil moves on.
In the second temptation besides misquoting Scripture just like he did to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden the devil is once more tempting Jesus to see if God the Father will really take care of him by sending angels. Jesus responds to his temptation by telling the devil that God’s Word tells everyone that God will do what he has promised to do. To test him is to show a lack of faith in his promises. Jesus does not fall for the temptation because he knows who he is, so Satan moves to the third temptation.
Satan takes Jesus to a mountain top. Please notice that he takes Jesus. Jesus having the power of God at his disposal lets the devil take him to the mountain to tempt him. He does that for our benefit. There the devil promises that if he would only bow down to him, the whole creation would at some time in the future be given to him. Again the temptation is not the giving of the whole creation to Jesus, for Jesus in his godhood created and sustains everything in the creation.
The temptation is that Jesus will worship someone other than God the Father. What harm could there be in at least weighing the option of worshiping someone other than God the Father? Jesus had enough. He knows who he is. He knows who his father is and he trusts in him to take care of him. He is secure in that knowledge and tells the devil to get lost.
Satan tempted Jesus to get Jesus to contradict what it means for him to live out his mission as God’s Son. In other words what Satan was trying to do was to get Jesus to question his identity. This is exactly what Satan tries to do in our lives. He wants us to question our identity, so that he can then work through our natural sinfulness to pull us away from our Savior.
Who are you? Some would say you are what you eat. Some would say your job or lack of a job gives you your identity. Others would say what defines who you are, as an adult is your marital status; single, married, divorced, or widowed, parents or not parents.
The world tells us that you are who you are because of your sexuality, depending on whether you are male, female, heterosexual, homosexual, transsexual. Those that make commercials try to tell you you will find your identity in whatever product they are selling. Last, but certainly not least Facebook will give you an identity that you might not be able to have otherwise.
Then there are those who say your identity is based on how you were raised. Others say your identity depends on the disease you might have or have had in the past. Alcoholism or drug abusers are both good examples. Both of those describe who you are even after maybe years and years of sobriety. Breast cancer or survivor of any cancer gives you your identity. Heart disease gives you your identity; the list could go on and on.
On one hand all of those things I mentioned do in one way or the other give you your identity, but think how poor that identity is. It can change and when you die, as we all will some day that identity will also die. On the other hand those who truly believe in Jesus as their Savior have an identity that will be theirs forever, for your identity was given to you in your baptism.
Just as God the Father said to Jesus, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.” he tells you the same thing through the water and the word of your baptism; “You are my beloved child.” You are no longer defined by the world’s standards or even your own standards; thank goodness, but by God’s standards. Your identity is now one of being wholly loved and accepted by God, for Jesus sake.
Just as Jesus’ identity was being challenged so it is in your life. You will continue to be challenged by temptation and struggle with sin. That is because you are both saint and sinner. Saint because Jesus took the punishment you still deserve upon himself. Sinner because; well you, as well as all humans whether they think they are or not are still sinners.
In closing listen once more to the Romans passage where we hear of our identity in Christ. I will start at verse “17If, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.18Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, rejoice in the Lord, for Jesus’ identity is your identity, for his righteousness is now your righteousness. You can now say, “I am who I am because of the great I Am.” Please say that with me. “I am who I am because of the great I Am.”
I truly hope you believe that, for those words are not some magical words that one can just say and everything will be fine. They are words that identify you and all of those who trust in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Those words are awesome and life-giving words. Amen.
3/13/11
Text: Matthew 4:1-11
Title: You are what you believe.
Today is the first Sunday in Lent. The alleluia’s are gone until Easter morning. The worship service has taken on a more somber form, and the banners and altar cloths are purple to reminds us of the Savior’s suffering and his kingship.
Each Sunday in Lent we are going to look at specific Bible passages that will help us to get a better understanding of our Lord and his journey to the cross. Today our Gospel lesson focuses on the temptation of Jesus. The lesson that is normally taught in this scripture reading is that just like Jesus who resisted Satan by quoting Scripture we need to memorize Scripture passages, so that we can also resist Satan’s temptations.
That puts the burden of the Law on us, in other words it is something we have to do to resist temptation rather than something that God does for us. I wondered if that really is the lesson that God wants us to learn from the particular reading, so as I prepared for this morning’s sermon I looked at the Gospel lesson in a different way. Lo and behold, while it is certainly a good thing to know God’s Word, so that you will be able to resist temptation, that is not the reason the temptation of Jesus was written down.
Before I can tell you what I mean you need to know what had happened before Jesus’ temptation. In the chapter just before our reading for this morning we see Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist after which Saint Matthew records, “Behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
What God the Father is saying is that Jesus, who has willingly laid aside his godhood to live as a man, is living his life as God desires him to live; that is why he is pleased. The third person of the Trinity the Holy Spirit then takes him out to the desert where he will be tempted by the devil after fasting for forty days and nights. In doing this he will accomplish what the people of Israel could not do, what we cannot do; that is live our lives fully trusting in God to do what he promises he will do.
There is no doubt after 40 days of fasting that Jesus is tired and hungry and the devil is going to take advantage of that, so he starts out telling Jesus to make bread out of the rocks. Satan knows that he can. Jesus knows that he can. We know that he can. But the making of bread is not the real temptation. The real temptation is that Jesus should not rely on God the Father who has promised to care for him. Jesus does not fall for it. He knows who he is and so he does what the Israelites or any of us cannot do; trusts wholly in God the Father, so the devil moves on.
In the second temptation besides misquoting Scripture just like he did to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden the devil is once more tempting Jesus to see if God the Father will really take care of him by sending angels. Jesus responds to his temptation by telling the devil that God’s Word tells everyone that God will do what he has promised to do. To test him is to show a lack of faith in his promises. Jesus does not fall for the temptation because he knows who he is, so Satan moves to the third temptation.
Satan takes Jesus to a mountain top. Please notice that he takes Jesus. Jesus having the power of God at his disposal lets the devil take him to the mountain to tempt him. He does that for our benefit. There the devil promises that if he would only bow down to him, the whole creation would at some time in the future be given to him. Again the temptation is not the giving of the whole creation to Jesus, for Jesus in his godhood created and sustains everything in the creation.
The temptation is that Jesus will worship someone other than God the Father. What harm could there be in at least weighing the option of worshiping someone other than God the Father? Jesus had enough. He knows who he is. He knows who his father is and he trusts in him to take care of him. He is secure in that knowledge and tells the devil to get lost.
Satan tempted Jesus to get Jesus to contradict what it means for him to live out his mission as God’s Son. In other words what Satan was trying to do was to get Jesus to question his identity. This is exactly what Satan tries to do in our lives. He wants us to question our identity, so that he can then work through our natural sinfulness to pull us away from our Savior.
Who are you? Some would say you are what you eat. Some would say your job or lack of a job gives you your identity. Others would say what defines who you are, as an adult is your marital status; single, married, divorced, or widowed, parents or not parents.
The world tells us that you are who you are because of your sexuality, depending on whether you are male, female, heterosexual, homosexual, transsexual. Those that make commercials try to tell you you will find your identity in whatever product they are selling. Last, but certainly not least Facebook will give you an identity that you might not be able to have otherwise.
Then there are those who say your identity is based on how you were raised. Others say your identity depends on the disease you might have or have had in the past. Alcoholism or drug abusers are both good examples. Both of those describe who you are even after maybe years and years of sobriety. Breast cancer or survivor of any cancer gives you your identity. Heart disease gives you your identity; the list could go on and on.
On one hand all of those things I mentioned do in one way or the other give you your identity, but think how poor that identity is. It can change and when you die, as we all will some day that identity will also die. On the other hand those who truly believe in Jesus as their Savior have an identity that will be theirs forever, for your identity was given to you in your baptism.
Just as God the Father said to Jesus, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.” he tells you the same thing through the water and the word of your baptism; “You are my beloved child.” You are no longer defined by the world’s standards or even your own standards; thank goodness, but by God’s standards. Your identity is now one of being wholly loved and accepted by God, for Jesus sake.
Just as Jesus’ identity was being challenged so it is in your life. You will continue to be challenged by temptation and struggle with sin. That is because you are both saint and sinner. Saint because Jesus took the punishment you still deserve upon himself. Sinner because; well you, as well as all humans whether they think they are or not are still sinners.
In closing listen once more to the Romans passage where we hear of our identity in Christ. I will start at verse “17If, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.18Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, rejoice in the Lord, for Jesus’ identity is your identity, for his righteousness is now your righteousness. You can now say, “I am who I am because of the great I Am.” Please say that with me. “I am who I am because of the great I Am.”
I truly hope you believe that, for those words are not some magical words that one can just say and everything will be fine. They are words that identify you and all of those who trust in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Those words are awesome and life-giving words. Amen.
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 6:14 PM
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