C, Lent 1 - Luke 4:1-13 "By The Authority"

By the authority of God the Father, a human being is given a renewed being of life in Jesus Christ!  When we are baptised into Jesus’ death and resurrection, we receive life anew, full of the Holy Spirit, giving us a holy life before our Father in heaven! 

Just as Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, we leave the baptismal font full of the Holy Spirit and are led into a worldly wilderness that seeks to starve us of the holy spirituality we’ve received in baptism.

From the spiritual heights of holy baptism, we wander in the wilderness of earthly existence like a wandering Aramean, tempted to wonder if our baptism is really holy.  All of God’s baptised children are tempted to believe baptism is not eternally effective. 

Therefore, some wander away from God and their holy baptism into hopelessness, and find nowhere to dwell, so that their thirst or hunger is not satisfied. (See Psalm 107:4-9)

Some, like sheep flop down and sulk.  They clearly see the darkness of death, the painful reality that  life is death preceded by hard labour.  In flopping down in their darkness, they forget the light of eternal life given to them in baptism.  Therefore, they believe no one can help them in their trouble or distress. (See Psalm 107:10-16)

Some are led away by their desires, into foolish afflictions and addictions.  The food of life first given in holy baptism is rejected. The baptismal life first received then dwindles away and dissipates back into the death that baptism once overcame. (See Psalm 107:17-22)

Some, figure when the going gets tough the tough get going.  They seek to work their way out of the wilderness.  They don’t realise, in doing so, they’re putting aside the very things given to support them in tough times.  A baptismal faith in which the Holy Spirit causes one to be still and know that God is God.  A baptismal faith that demonstrates God’s strength in our weakness.  That in his power, God allows and tempers the tides of worldly turbulence and troubles, in which we’re tempted to wander and wane. (See Psalm 107:23-32)

Jesus faced all of this in the wilderness.  But he did not lose what he received in his baptism at the Jordan – the Holy Spirit, and his Sonship as God the Son.  In your baptism, you have been sealed in Jesus’ Sonship by the Holy Spirit. 

As you hear the Word of God, in this worldly wilderness, the Holy Spirit works belief in you.  Like Jesus, you have received the Holy Spirit in holy baptism, and the Holy Spirit seals you with the promise of salvation, in the good works of Jesus Christ. 

The Apostle Paul tells the Ephesians, “In him we have obtained an inheritance…  In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.” (Ephesians 1:11a,13 ESV)

And later, he warns, “…do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30 ESV)

Jesus seals us for the day of redemption by not grieving the Holy Spirit in the wilderness.  He faces the fiery trials of the devil but doesn’t succumb to his temptation.

Jesus put aside the power of his Sonship and took on the weakness of our human flesh.  Then, he was baptised into death as the servant Son of Man.  With the same weakness as us, he was given the Holy Spirit and was tempted as we are tempted, yet he did not sin.

We hear of three temptations put before Jesus by the devil.  The first is physical hunger and the temptation comes through a question, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” (Luke 4:3 ESV)

The devil seeks to get Jesus to prove his Sonship, to use his heavenly power, by turning a stone into bread.  Later on, five barley loaves and two fish are used to feed five thousand, but not now in the wilderness and not the way the devil wants Jesus to do so.

Jesus doesn’t give in to the temptation to use his Sonship, to make bread when he was hungry, nor does he when he feeds the five thousand.  Jesus responds to the devil with God’s Word, “It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone.”  (Luke 4:4 ESV)

Jesus, the Son of Man, lives with faithfulness to the Father, not on bread alone!  At the feeding of the five thousand, with his divinity set aside, he faithfully prays to the Father.  Then, in the weakness of his human flesh, he faithfully feeds the five thousand as the servant Son of Man, full of the Holy Spirit. 

Then in Luke’s Gospel, the devil temps Jesus with pride and power to receive all authority and glory from the kingdoms of the world.  But to get this he has to turn his back on the Word of God.  He has to break the first commandment, bowing to worship the devil. 

Yet again, Jesus remains faithful to the Father in his baptismal mission of mercy.  Like in the first temptation, Jesus’ defence is the Word of God, and he rebuffs the devil, saying, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’” (Luke 4:8 ESV)

The devil can’t separate Jesus from the Father, despite showing him humanity from one moment in time.  I imagine Jesus was shown humanity in all its ugliness and suffering.  But there is no way Jesus abandon’s his relationship despite the devil’s coercion that might seem rational to get control for the “greater good” of humanity. The only good is the good of the cross in all its ugliness.  Jesus is faithful to God, looking to the good and evil of the tree of the cross, to repair God’s creation for the greater good of God.

In the third temptation, the devil uses the Word of God, having been foiled by the Word of God in the previous two temptations.  Of all places to tempt Jesus, the devil takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem, and says, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here…” (Luke 4:9b ESV)

Again, comes the questioning of Jesus’ Sonship but the devil uses parts of Psalm Ninety-One.  It’s shrewd, but like anyone who uses parts of God’s Word to deceive, a wider reading reveals the weakness and shallowness of their deception.

The devil begins his quote with the same words with which Jesus rejects the devil the previous two times, saying, “for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ and  ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” (Luke 4:10–11 ESV)

Yet, as we have spoken in Psalm ninety-one earlier, we know the deception of the devil.  For the next verse of the psalm reveals the deceit of half-truths. We hear that Jesus will, “tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.” (Psalm 91:13 ESV) This is the promise and fulfilment of Jesus at the cross, first proclaimed by God in the Garden of Eden, “he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15 ESV)

This is repeated by Paul for the encouragement of the Romans and us, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” (Romans 16:20 ESV)

The devil who is bound and crushed by Jesus in his victory over sin and death, still has limited authority, but only on earth for a period of time. Though judged and condemned, the devil has been allowed to test us to further condemn himself.  We like Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit can crush the devil underfoot with Jesus and his Word, saying, “In the name of Jesus Christ, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Luke 4:12 ESV)

In Revelation chapter twenty, John sees the last day where, “the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10 ESV)

Be encouraged in these days of difficulty, walking in the wilderness, to walk with Jesus.  He went into the wilderness full of the Holy Spirit and came out of it and into Galilee in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus endured in his hometown of Nazareth, full of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus having endured in human flesh endures in us.  In Jesus’ baptismal Sonship, walk in the wilderness by the authority of Jesus Christ, full of the Holy Spirit.

Know that being filled with the Holy Spirit in God’s holy baptismal reality, you are being daily renewed in Jesus’ reality because he endured our reality and promises, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” (Luke 4:18–19 ESV)

Amen. 

C, Lent 1 - Luke 9:28–43 & 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 "Wealth in the Wilderness"

Romans 10:11–13 (ESV)  For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”  For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.  For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

When Jesus was confronted by Satan in the wilderness, Jesus knew of a greater reality than Satan.  We might think, “Yes, he knew because he was the Son of God!”  But if it was because he had higher power as the Son of God, he could not be the Saviour of you and me, or any other person.  There would be an unbridgeable gap, between the greatness of the Son of God, and the weakness of humanity.

However, the greater reality to which Jesus was akin, was not his relationship to God as the powerful Son.  But rather, his human weakness and perfect trust, allowing him to put aside his divinity, and wander in the wilderness, knowing his Father in heaven would hear him in his human weakness.

Jesus was no less hungry than any person would be, having been wandering in the wilderness for forty days.  His desire for food would have made his stomach wrench in pain. 

As he wandered alone without kingdom or someone to talk to, the human desire for partnership and property, a place to call home, would have been made all the more painful by the searing heat of the sand and loneliness. 

And when Satan took him to God’s temple in Jerusalem, and challenged him with the Word of God, the temptation to justify the evil inclinations of Satan and listen to him rather than trusting God would have been just as enticing to Jesus as they would be for you and me. 

In all three temptations, Satan temps Jesus with the question, “If you are the Son of God?”  He tempts Jesus to reveal his power as Son of God, so Satan could use it against Jesus, and those Jesus calls through the Gospel.  Satan wants to demonstrate a divide between the divinity of God and the weakness of humanity.

But Jesus repels Satan, and because he does, we can too!  Like Jesus we need not tap into the wealth of our works, the abundance of our intellect, or the power of a higher lived life.

No!  Instead, we are called to “not” let shame, desire, or a need to prove ourselves worthy, lead us into temptation.  Rather, we are called to trust God with the wealth of weakness, just as Jesus bore his weakness as wealth in the wilderness.

After all, just like Jesus, you and I are travelling with the riches of God through this life.  Just like Jesus you carry his wealth of weakness in the wilderness.  How can this be?

When Jesus enters the wilderness, we hear he didn’t go by his own effort, but was led there by the Holy Spirit.  Mark’s Gospel says it even stronger, saying, “The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.”   (Mark 1:12 ESV) Literally, the Spirit threw him out into the wilderness.

Jesus works with a greater reality, and we are called to do the same, even unto death.  He knows the suffering that this will bring to us. 

He says, “I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.  Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation.  Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.  The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.”  (Revelation 2:9–11 ESV)

Just as Jesus entered the wilderness, led by the Holy Spirit, you have been given the Holy Spirit and he will lead you in your weakness.  This is the richness of God’s wealth working for you, despite your human spirit desiring and scrambling to save face from the shame of being seen weak in the world.

Saint Paul tells the persecuted church in Rome, “For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.’  For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.  For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”

So, what are the riches of God?  And how do we get them?

Firstly, Jesus himself, the perfect human man, submissive in weakness to our heavenly Father, is the greatest gift to all of us.  He is our wealth in the wilderness of our lives.  His love for the Father, trusting solely in him, and not in himself being the Son of God, is his gift to us.  However, because he is the Son of God who humbly submits in weakness and trust, makes this gift forever more profound and great!  

Similarly, as Jesus trusted in the Father, we are called to daily trust Jesus for giving us the gift of faith, and for the perfecting of faith within us, even as we have been made holy Sons of God in baptism.  We literally trust Jesus by calling on his name, and in calling on him we are saved.

Calling on Jesus’ name allows us to look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.  (Hebrews 12:2 ESV)

Secondly, the great wealth or richness we have is the Holy Spirit.  When we call on Jesus’ name the Holy Spirit is given.  The Holy Spirit and Jesus are inseparable and when we call on Jesus, we get the Holy Spirit as well.

Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit after receiving the Spirit in baptism, we too have received the Holy Spirit in baptism.  In fact, we not only receive the Holy Spirit, but also God the Father and Jesus Christ, God the Son, in all his risen power and glory.  Therefore, just as Jesus is the founder and perfecter of faith, the Holy Spirit is the worker of faith within us.

When the Holy Spirit works faith within us, he is working holiness in us.  If we were to work faith, we would work faith in ourselves and work our way out of the weakness Jesus worked beating all the deeds of the devil and his evil entourage.  In fact, we would work Jesus and the Holy Spirit out of ourselves.  Ultimately, we would do what the devil sought to do to Jesus when he sought to tempt him in the first place.

Thirdly, the great wealth we have is the richness of the written Word of God.  Paul tells us in Romans chapter two verse four, the riches of God are kindness and forbearance and patience, and are meant to lead to repentance. (Romans 2:4 ESV)

This gift is not to lead us to shame and hiding but repentance through confession.  Shame is replaced by belief and trust in Jesus.  We too, endure in weakness, with the wealth of the cross, and despise its shame, looking with trusting joy to the Lord our God. 

The gift of the written Word keeps us from becoming delirious in the wilderness.  The richness of the Word stops us from becoming transfixed on any mirages of fleeting earthly wealth.  All this kind of wealth will vanish the moment we leave this worldly wilderness and stand before the Father, on the day of judgement.

Hear how Jesus both disciplines and loves us in his Word, so we can be saved.  He says, “For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.  I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.  Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.” (Revelation 3:17–19 ESV)

What is this gold, refined by fire, which we are to purchase?  It's the wealth of his weakness where he trusted his Father, all the way to death on the cross, descent into hell, and resurrection from the dead to the right hand of the Father.  This gold of God is the forgiveness of all our sins.

How much does this gold cost?  It costs you nothing!  This gold makes us rich in the righteousness of Jesus, and it opens our eyes in this wilderness to the wealth of love God has for us.

Therefore, be zealous for the weakness of Jesus!  Covet his weakness and call on his name!  It will not lead to shame!  Instead, you will be saved by his wealth in the wilderness. Amen.