The Lutheran Hour
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"Overcoming Temptation with the Word"
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Text: Luke 4:1-13
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In the powerful Name of Jesus, power to face and even overcome temptation in your life. Amen!
Years ago, there was a blockbuster movie called, “Fatal Attraction.” It starred Michael Douglas and Glenn Close. It was a movie in which a married man finds himself attracted to another woman. He yields to the temptation when his wife and family are away. Certainly, the character in the movie, as well as in real life, thought such a dalliance would be a brief encounter, a harmless fling. Instead, he finds himself trapped in an all-to-devastating affair that threatens to destroy his life. The movie enhanced the careers of Douglas and Close as major box office stars, the movie made millions of dollars and was even up for some academy awards. Accolades were given for the acting, the directing, and story line. But, sadly, for at least one person in the movie, art imitated real life with stories of sexual addiction, alcohol addiction, all with destructive ramifications to him and to those whom he loved. Even with success and lots of money, why is it that we human beings still find ourselves on tracks for self-destruction. What is it about temptation, vice, and greed that is so common to us all.
Temptation, it begins with a bent desire; the desire to do as one pleases, not what is right and good; then you buy into the deception, that there are no consequences for rebellious, sinful behavior; then comes the destruction, when temptation’s reality finally hits.
Sadly, it was pretty easy to find lots of public examples of temptation and its destructive power. There were plenty of examples from people from all walks of life. Even more sadly was the fact that we have a whole entertainment industry built to expose such failings merely for ratings or to sell products. Do you want to know who “fell off the wagon” this weekend, do want to know who got into trouble again? Just read about it in this rag at the grocery store checkout or tune into to that salacious channel for all the juicy details.
But, let’s be even more honest with ourselves today. If we are, we too would have to admit that there is plenty of dirt and devastation in our lives as well. Thank God it’s not on display for all to see, but that doesn’t make it any less real or destructive.
It seems that temptation’s deadliness is common to us all. There seems to be story after story after story of failure and misery, some right before our eyes. Is that all there is in this world? Is that the reality of this life, period?
No, the lesson for today speaks about the One who faced real temptation, eternal temptation, and overcame it, and Jesus did it, not just for Himself, no, He did it for the world that needs a Savior, people like you and me who have fallen on our faces, temptation time after time!
This text announces that the battle to overcome temptation is on. And, the ultimate Warrior has entered into the battle. Baby Jesus of Christmas is “God in the flesh” come to save you and me. Today, we begin to see what it means for Jesus to enter our struggle against evil, against temptation. He enters the fight for us, He steps into the fray, He takes on our enemy. Today we learn of Jesus’ willingness to identify with us in our temptations, in our struggles, in our humanity, But even more importantly, today we see what makes Him our Savior, that He is the One who can overcome all that is against us, so that we might live life eternally, now and forever with Him.
“Then Jesus…..full of the Holy Spirit, was led by the Spirit into the wilderness for 40 days to be tempted by the Devil (why, because He was on a mission to save you and me!).
As long as there is a Devil in this world we will have a target on our backs. Why? Because he wants nothing less than our spiritual allegiance even if it means our total domination and destruction. As eternity’s ultimate failure, the leader of the rebellious, fallen angels in heaven, Satan doesn’t want to go down alone. He wants as many of us as possible to suffer right along with him. Misery does indeed want company. But, in our lesson, Jesus has something to say about that. It’s as if He is saying….”if you want to talk to them, you talk to Me first.”
So Satan obliges. He hits Jesus with everything he’s got. First, he deals with base desires, you know, hunger for the basics of this world. And, he hits Jesus when He’s at His lowest point, 40 days of going without, 40 days of being pushed to the edge of human exhaustion and weakness. When Jesus is famished and His throat bone dry, Satan says, “Hey Jesus, how about a little bread, but on my terms.” Then, He hits Jesus with the fame and fortune angle. He promises to give Jesus everything this world has to offer, if He would just forget God the Father and instead worship him. But, finally, according to Luke, the biggest temptation Satan throws at Jesus is to use His position, Jesus uses His power as the Son of God not for His mission to save you and me, but for His own convenience and glory. It’s like Satan is saying, “Abandon this world, Jesus. I’ve got it covered, I’ll take care of these rebellious people, don’t trouble yourself.”
Desire, deception, destruction! Satan had it in for Jesus; He has it in for us. He said to Him, much like he does to us now, saying, “Jesus, I know this world is not what God the Father intended, but it is what it is, right? It’s not going to change. Temptation, sin, destruction, that’s how it is among these sinful people.”
But Jesus responds, not just to Satan, but to us, “It is written, man does not live by bread alone. It is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, Him only shall you serve. It is written, you shall not tempt the Lord your God.”
Jesus publically throws down the gauntlet. God is at work. God has come to save His people from their sins. Jesus is shouting to us, to all who will listen, temptation is serious. Its whole purpose is to not only knock us off of course, but to destroy our relationship to the Lord who gave us life and wants us to have it to its fullest extent!
That’s why temptation is so serious. Now, temptation always has a bit of truth in it. After all, most temptations take our God-given appetites and desires and use them for selfish, ungodly, sinful purposes, with the ultimate purpose of destroying us now and forever.
Desire, deception, destruction, that’s Satan’s plan. And it’s gruesome to behold.
When someone or something “gives in to temptation,” that’s when you really can see its destructive power. For example, do you know how an Eskimo hunter kills a wolf? He tempts it. He plays on its instincts. First, he coats his knife blade with animal blood until the blade is completely concealed by frozen blood. Second, the hunter fixes the knife in the ground with the blade sticking straight up. When a wolf follows his sensitive nose to the source of the scent and discovers the bait, he licks it, tasting the fresh frozen blood. He begins to lick faster, more and more vigorously as his thirst for blood is being satisfied. He licks faster and faster, lapping the blade until the keen edge is bare. Feverishly now, harder and harder, the wolf licks the blade in the cold Arctic night. His craving for blood becomes so great that the wolf does not notice the razor-sharp sting of the naked blade on his own tongue. Nor does he recognize the instant when his insatiable thirst is being satisfied by his own warm blood. His carnivorous appetite craves more and more until in the morning light, he lies dead on the snow!What a gruesome picture. But that is temptation come to fruition, and it’s even more deadly spiritually.
Just think about what we have unleashed in our own society, in our own lives by our ungodliness and disobedience. In a society hell bent on “freedom on our terms at all costs, freedom even from God,” we can see more clearly the gruesome realities of our own making. In merely one generation, our “love the one you’re with mentality” has destroyed the family in many communities, with children growing up without their fathers, living with frazzled, often exhausted, single mothers. With kids growing up like wild weeds in such a permissive atmosphere, we now have STD and venereal diseases at epidemic rates among our youth. Temptation, destruction, do we take it seriously? No, we put it on television and call it reality TV. Temptation, destruction; it’s all around, with a sharp deadly blade right underneath the surface.
Well, Jesus doesn’t play games with Satan or with us. Temptations are nothing to joke about because all temptation is a deception as to what really makes life worth living. All successful temptation drives a wedge between us and God, and that’s what kills! And that’s why the text doesn’t merely present Jesus as an example to follow to overcome temptation, this text clearly proclaims that Jesus is the One who is capable of taking on our greatest fears, sins, and temptations and overcoming them as our Lord and Savior.
In Him, temptation’s power is overcome and with Him doing battle, Satan’s accusations and power over us are at their end.
“Then Jesus…..full of the Holy Spirit, was led by the Spirit into the wilderness for 40 days to be tempted by the Devil (why, because He was on a mission to save you and me!).
Jesus overcomes temptation and He does demonstrate the power needed to do that as well.
At every challenge, He was ready with God’s Word. The text says that He was filled with the Spirit. How is one “filled with the Spirit?” One is filled with the Spirit when one is filled with the words, the promises of Holy Scripture. He faces down the tempter himself with the double-edged sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. He says, “It is written.” He unleashes the Bible’s power – It is a word that can rebuke and forgive, judge and heal, it can literally bring sinners back to life! (John 6:63)God’s Spirit-filled written Word, personally delivered by the Word made flesh, it’s powerful. Jesus, filled with the Spirit, faces down the tempter by unleashing the Spirit-filled Word of God, overcoming Satan’s enticement to abort the Father’s mission to save people like you and me!
But just as important as that, this victorious event also demonstrates that Jesus Christ isn’t just the ultimate overcomer of temptation, He is the One capable of being this world’s Savior, for all of us who are overwhelmed by our sin, our guilt, our moral failure in the face of temptation.
He is the forgiving One, the encouraging One for all of us who face constant accusations from the devil himself that, somehow, God can’t love you, that God can’t forgive you, that there can be no forgiveness, no hope, no fresh start for you! Jesus is our Savior.
The main temptation that Jesus faced was not mere bread when hungry, or fame and fortune though poor; no, it was the temptation to leave us all in the clutches of our sins, our guilt, and the power of Satan’s eternal accusations. Jesus could have gone it on His own, for His own glory and power but He would not! He would not be dissuaded. He would not give into the temptation to dump you, to dump me, to leave us on our own. Like the armed services motto says, “He would leave no one behind.”
An American hero passed away just a few months ago. His name was General Norman H. Schwarzkopf. He showed great leadership ability in leading the troops in the Persian Gulf War, just like he had done throughout his military career. In Vietnam he turned around a battalion that was in shambles before he got there. Under his leadership that battalion went from being the worst, to becoming an effective fighting force, selected for some of the most difficult missions. One of those missions was on the brutal Batangan Peninsula, a place of battle for over thirty years, a place so full of mines and booby traps, that injuries and deaths happened weekly. Schwarzkopf led his men even there, he introduced procedures to reduce causalities, but he also took personal interest, with risk to himself, in the rescue and recuperation of soldiers injured in battle.
Such was the case on May 28, 1970. A man was injured by a mine and Schwarzkopf flew to the man’s location. While the helicopter was evacuating the wounded man, another man stepped on a mine, severely injuring his leg. The man thrashed around on the ground wailing and screaming. That’s when they realized that for the first time, he was thrashing around in a field full of active mines. Schwarzkopf knew that the only way to save the man was to get him to remain still and there was only way to do that, to go in and get him personally. He later wrote “I started through the mine field, one slow step at a time, staring at the ground, looking for tell tale bumps or prongs sticking from the dirt. My knees were shaking so hard that each time I took a step, I had to grab my leg and steady it with both hands, before I could take another step. It seemed like a thousand years before I reached that kid.” Two hundred and forty pound-Schwarzkopf, who had been a wrestler at West Point, pinned the man to the ground, kept him still and it saved his life. With the help of an engineering team, Schwarzkopf got him and the others out of the mine field.
The general risked it all for that soldier to be saved. He overcame the minefield so that he might live. Well, my friend, that’s what Jesus is doing for us on an eternally grand scale in our reading for today. He not only enters the minefield of temptation, Jesus overcomes it so that we too may walk in the newness of His life.
Temptation, desire, deception, destruction, it doesn’t have to be that way in our life because the Savior, the One who came to be obedient in our place, to take on our punishment for sin and to give us His Name, His Word, His Resources for life and salvation; He has overcome it, for us.
This event, facing Satan in the desert, is proclaiming to you and me that Jesus is sufficient for the task of overcoming the evil of this world, powerful enough, then, to be our Savior.
And when it comes to temptation, He knows exactly what you’re going through this day. He knows what it is to face real temptation, real heartache, and real pain. And He has the strength to overcome it, not just for Himself, but for you too!
So, what is preventing you from putting your faith in Him this very day? What is blocking you from receiving His grace for your sins and His power to face down the temptation and trials that are troubling you this very day?
This is not some call to be more religious or to strive to be more holy for holiness’ sake. This is a proclamation of victory that has been won for you in Jesus Christ. This is a whole new way of living. This is an offer to live life in the gracious love and joy of a Savior who has made it all possible for you.
Jesus enters the battle for your life and salvation. He overcomes eternal temptations with just a Word, a Word from God. We too can overcome temptation because that Word became flesh and dwelt among us to save us, making even our struggles with temptation opportunities to show His greater grace. Put your trust in the Overcomer of all temptations. Discipline yourself in His Word and in the practice of putting God’s Word to work in your life. Watch temptations’ power wane, Satan’s presence flee, and Jesus’ comfort sustain you, and watch your ability to love and serve others, those who are facing trial and temptation just like you, watch that grow by God’s grace as well.
“Then Jesus…..full of the Holy Spirit, was led by the Spirit into the wilderness for 40 days to be tempted by the Devil (why, because He was on a mission to save you and me!) Amen!
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for February 17, 2013
Topic: Can A Person See God And Live?ANNOUNCER: Now, Pastor Gregory Seltz responds to questions. I’m Mark Eischer. A listener asks, “I thought the Bible said no one can see God and live. Last week’s message was about the transfiguration of Jesus. How could the disciples have witnessed that and still lived to tell about it?”
SELTZ: Wow, Mark, that’s a challenging observation about Jesus’ transfiguration. The listener is right, God said to Moses in Exodus 33:20: “You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” But an amazing thing happened. It’s called “grace.”
ANNOUNCER: What do you mean by that?
SELTZ: I’m referring to the fact that any encounter we sinners might have with the true and Holy God, in all His glory, would result in our death. That was made very clear when the people of Israel were given instructions about the tabernacle. If an Israelite were to approach this tent where God made His dwelling place, we hear in Numbers chapter 18 (vs.22) that the person would bear the consequences of his own sin and die. So, in order for the disciples to survive an encounter with the true God in all of His glory, something had to change. Either we had to become perfect or God had to create another way.
ANNOUNCER: And God’s other way is the “way of grace.”
SELTZ: Yes, God did something amazing. He came to us. He drew close to us in order to save us. At first this was made possible by the Old Testament sacrifices. The death of an animal in our place, the shedding of the animal’s blood, allowed a priest to enter into God’s Holy Presence. In the Old Testament, we see God’s grace–His undeserved love–made evident in His approach to us.
ANNOUNCER: Moses was described in the Bible as a great prophet whom the Lord knew face to face (Deut. 34:10).
SELTZ: Yes, and even Moses said to the people of Israel, “Did any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live?” (Deuteronomy 4:33 ESV) What he’s really saying is this is how much God loved them.
ANNOUNCER: All right. Now how does this all connect to the transfiguration of Jesus?
SELTZ: Well, think about it. In the first chapter of the Gospel of John we hear that “the Word, Jesus, became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” So, in essence, God becomes approachable by becoming One of us. So, God loved us so much that He sent His Son to live among us, to be close to us. The perfect Son of God, then, became the Friend of sinners. But this friendship had a price. In Hebrews, chapter ten, we hear how a Holy God was able to accept sinners like us. Verse 10 says, “We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Verses 12-14 goes on to say, “Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins…. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:12-14 ESV).
ANNOUNCER: Jesus, then, was the ultimate Sacrifice that cleanses us from sin and that makes being in God’s Holy Presence possible for we who are still sinners through and through.
SELTZ: And that, Mark, is what I mean by God’s grace. Ephesians 2 starts out by saying, “you were dead in your trespasses and sins.” But it goes on to say, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love for which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses and sins, He made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-” (Ephesians 2:4-5 ESV). So, we’re able to be with God–even the Holy Son of God revealed on the Mount of Transfiguration–because of the sacrifice of Jesus as an offering for our sin.
ANNOUNCER: And that’s why Peter, James, and John could stay alive although being in the Presence of the Glory of God.
SELTZ: Exactly, It’s also interesting, Mark, that, at the transfiguration, Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus and spoke with Him about His coming death and resurrection. During their lives on earth, Moses and Elijah were the ones who experienced personal encounters with the Holy God–and both lived. It’s almost as if the transfiguration of Jesus was showing the disciples and us that this is what life is like under God’s grace. He is with us; He draws us to Himself in a glorious and grace-filled relationship.
ANNOUNCER: What a blessing to know that, because of His grace, God changes everything and gives us an eternal hope. Thank you Pastor Seltz; and we thank you, the listener, for making this program part of your day. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music Selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by Chris Bergmann. Used by permission.
“O Lord, Throughout These Forty Days” arr. Henry Gerike. Used by permission.
“Rise, My Soul, to Watch and Pray” From The Concordia Organist (© 2009 Concordia Publishing House)
“Wo soll ich fliehen hin” by J.S. Bach. From J.S. Bach Organ Works by Per Fridtov Bonsaksen (© 1995 Vanguard Classics)