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| Christ in the Wilderness, Ivan Kromskoi, 1872 |
Pastor Tom Johnson, February 26, 2023
We begin our Lenten journey by joining Jesus into the wilderness. The Holy Spirit leads Jesus into and through the wilderness for 40 days. Sound familiar? God led his people Israel out of slavery and into and through the wilderness for 40 years. And there the people of God faced something far worse than Pharaoh. They faced their demons. They were tempted many ways. One of the main ways was how they dealt with hunger and thirst in the wilderness. They abused their leaders Moses and Aaron. They abused one another. And they tested God by their complaining and lack of faith in God to sustain and direct them. So Jesus, the new and better Israel, is led by the Spirit into the wilderness. He does not eat or drink for 40 days. The dehydration alone could have easily killed him. The devil begins his attack when Jesus is weakest.
There is an acronym for how Jesus may have felt. HALT: hungry, angry, lonely, and tired. It is not a sin to be hungry, angry, lonely, and tired. It is human. So the devil strategically waited for this opportune time. Satan wants to get Jesus off course—to be sidetracked in the wilderness. He tempts Jesus to abuse his power to address his hunger and thirst. He tempts Jesus to abuse his power for instant popularity. He tempts Jesus to abuse his power for control. These are the three realms of temptation: economic, religious, and political.
The devil tempts Jesus to abuse his power economically—to make bread out of stones—to abuse his power for personal gain and self-interest alone—to get Jesus’ eyes off the infinite needs of the whole world and put all his attention on himself. Aren’t you glad we aren’t also tempted to be self-centered? Don’t expect for the devil to do you any favors. He will not show you any pity when you are hungry, angry, lonely, and tired. The devil and our demons will raise their ugly heads when we are also at our weakest. It is a prison of our own making to be self-absorbed. Jesus quotes God the Father’s words to the Israelites after their wilderness temptation: “He humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with [mysterious] manna…that he might make you know that one does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deut 8:3).
God is doing something when we struggle. He deflates our egos. He turns us away from ourselves toward Jesus, the true Bread of Heaven. He teaches us to trust in him for all our needs, body and soul. The Lord is our Shepherd. We shall not be in want. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Look at the birds. They neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns. And yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of much more value than they?
The devil tempts Jesus to abuse his power religiously—to throw himself off the pinnacle of the Temple for all to see the angels swoop down, catch him, and land safely into the ground. The spectacular miracle will instantly win a large following. Aren’t you glad we aren’t also tempted to do whatever we can to get attention, gain approval and popularity? This is when religion becomes a show. We measure our success by numbers, how much we wow others, and how widely known we are.
Jesus uses Scripture again. Don’t test God. We can fool others. We can even fool ourselves. But we cannot fool God. We don’t have to pretend. We do not need to perform stunts to get his attention. We are already God’s beloved children. We are only worthy because of the surpassing grace and love of the true and living God. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. God wants us to live in peace and quietness. He meets us and rewards us in secret—in our prayer rooms. God does not win followers through signs and wonders but through love and kindness.
The devil tempts Jesus to abuse his power politically—to worship a false god so that he can exercise dominion over all the kingdoms and people of the world. Jesus is tempted to see people as a possession—as property instead of as family. Jesus quotes Scripture again. We are to worship the true and living God alone. God is who he is. He is free to do whatever he wishes. We don’t need to understand his ways. But thanks be to God he does not force his dominion on us nor treat us like property. He wins us by his love. He adopts us. We love because he first loved us.
Aren’t you glad we aren’t also tempted to be manipulative and use others? Isn’t that the problem with the world? Are these not the demons that haunt us and tempt us? Sure there are politicians who lie and deceive their way to the top with empty promises and those who wage war to murder and steal on a global scale. But we too are tempted to think we are always right—that others are there to serve us—that those who disagree with us are “the enemy.” We are also tempted to embrace tribalism—to think that we are entitled and so it’s ok for us to force our way. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called daughters and sons of God. Seek first Christ’s Kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you.
Jesus was tempted in every way we are yet without sin. There are no shortcuts around his suffering and the Cross. Jesus came to show us the way through the wilderness of this world—through the valley of the shadow of death. Jesus shows us how to journey through our struggles, through our doubts, and through our weakness—to cling to him and his Word—and safely to the other side.
You strove with Satan, and you won; your faithfulness endured;
lend us your nerve, your skill and trust in God’s eternal word.
Though parched and hungry, yet you prayed and fixed your mind above;
so teach us to deny ourselves that we may know Gods love.
(“O Lord, throughout Those 40 Days” LBW 99 vv. 2 & 3)
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