Because God Said So: Luke 4:1-13 - First Sunday in Lent

¹Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, ²where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. ³The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” ⁴Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’ ”

  ⁵Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. ⁶And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. ⁷If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” ⁸Jesus answered him, “It is written,
 ‘Worship the Lord your God,
  and serve only him.’ ”
  ⁹Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, ¹⁰for it is written,
 ‘He will command his angels concerning you,
  to protect you,’
¹¹and
 ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
  so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ”
¹²Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” ¹³When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

 

Negev by Miriam Mezzera on flickr. CC BY 2.0

Without warning, he was driven far away from home. All he could take on the journey were the clothes on his back. He had no food or shelter; and his life was constantly threatened by starvation, dehydration, disease, wild animals, bandits, and the elements. This would be the greatest trial in his life; but the greatest trials were yet to come.

 

I’m talking about Jesus’s forty days in the wilderness. But I could just as easily be describing the experience of Ukrainians fleeing Vladimir Putin’s war machine—along with people throughout the world who have been displaced by war, terrorist governments, and drug cartels; famines, earthquakes, floods, and the like. The hell these people are going through is beyond imagination.

 

I’d love to think that such things would never happen to us, but in the last two years, our lives have been turned upside-down by a global pandemic that’s claimed nearly one million American lives. There have been wildfires, tornadoes, and hurricanes which have wrought destruction and death on an unprecedented scale. There was an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Inflation is out of control. Things we never thought could happen have come to pass.

 

God is certainly not the cause of wars and natural disasters, but it was the Holy Spirit who drove Jesus out into the wilderness right after his baptism. After forty lonely days, he was famished. It is when Jesus is at his most vulnerable that the devil pulls out the big guns.

 

Notice how the devil begins each temptation with the words “if you are the Son of God, then…” “Command these stones to become bread.” “Worship me and you will rule the world.” “Put God to the ultimate test by jumping off the pinnacle of the temple.” 

 

What’s interesting here is that the devil is tempting Jesus with good things. He’s not being tempted to steal someone’s wealth or inflict pain on his enemies. There’s no gluttony or vice involved. In fact, each of these temptations bears a kernel of truth. Jesus will die without bread. Jesus was born to rule the kingdoms of the earth. God will indeed deliver Jesus in death. The devil even quotes Scripture to flavor the temptations with righteousness.

 

With each temptation, the devil is casting doubt on God’s faithfulness. He’s trying to convince Jesus that obeying God was pointless and perhaps even stupid. He should, therefore, take matters into his own hands and do things his way.

 

But do you remember what God said when Jesus was baptized? “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” God wasn’t just stating a fact. This was a promise. When Jesus responds to that promise with obedience, God will prove faithful.

 

He will begin his ministry with a holy confidence that God’s promises are more valuable to him

than bread; than power and authority; than even life itself. God’s faithfulness will shine through his ministry, and it will keep Jesus going in the face of all who oppose him. It will be the strength for Jesus to take up his cross and die—especially as people say, “if you’re the Son of God, save yourself.”

 

You are not Jesus, but you are baptized into Jesus. You are a child of God. You are an heir of the same promises God speaks to Jesus.

 

Unfortunately, identifying as a child of God doesn’t carry a whole lot of weight in this world. It’s not going to impress people as much as a professional title or if you live in a big house. If people judge you and reject you; if you aren’t successful in life; if you’ve made terrible mistakes and hurt people, the fact that you are a child of God may not count for very much even for you.

 

When you are in the wilderness, all the things that brought you security and direction in life are gone. You cannot make plans because they’re so much uncertainty. Life isn’t so much about living as it is survival. In that vast expanse of fear, shame, and nothingness, no one will seem more absent than God. The devil will pull out the big guns to convince you that you’re not a child of God anymore, or that there is no God. Either way, you’re on your own.

 

It is so easy to believe the devil’s lies, particularly in the times we’re living in right now.

 

Even in good times, it may not be enough for you to be a child of God. You feel this need to be something so much more. Then you unwittingly team up with the devil by getting so wrapped in your own affairs that you can’t be bothered with the person right next to us who’s in need. It’s always easier to gossip and judge someone than it is to love someone.

 

But is there anything that can be had that is of greater value than being a child of God? Most of us don’t really pay much attention to this until we’re in the wilderness. When you were baptized, God spoke a promise to be your God forever. If God’s Word of promise has no place in your life, you are depriving yourself of something even more valuable than food. God may as well be absent from your life if that’s the case.

 

The fact that you are a child of God comes with a beautiful freedom to give yourself away for others. When you visit someone in their wilderness, you’re going to find Jesus there. Nothing says “God is love” quite like God’s children showing up and ministering God’s love to people in the wilderness. If we believe God‘s love is more powerful than Putin‘s armies, then we can do a great deal to shine the light of love in these dreadful times.

 

You are a child of God. When God speaks, it is so. That means you are loved, that you are forgiven, and that God will always be there for you, even in death. Because God said so.

 

Nothing will change that—not your sins, not your mistakes, not other people, not cancer, not even war. Because God said so.