The Temptation of the New Adam
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After the baptism of Jesus, the Holy Spirit led him somewhere we wouldn’t have imagined: He led Jesus out into the wilderness. Our season of Lent is 40 days long, mapping to Israel’s 40 years in the wilderness and then ultimately to Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness. The wilderness is not usually a place of peace, but rather the opposite. It’s been a crazy few days. A crazy year. A few years. There is a lot of wilderness out there. Sometimes that means it doesn’t seem safe. There are wild animals in the wilderness. There isn’t shelter. Water isn’t even always available. It’s a place of scarcity. In the wilderness, it can seem like the only camaraderie you have is with the wild animals, but Jesus had someone else. And so do we. Just like Israel in the exodus story, it was God who brought Jesus out into the wilderness. And this means that amongst all its other qualities, the wilderness can be a place of trust and openness to God, like no other place can. It’s a place to depend on him, and him only. And that makes it the perfect place to be tested. For Jesus, in our Gospel reading today, the wilderness was a place to face the temptations of the devil.
After lifetimes of sin’s effect on the world, the New Adam, Jesus Christ, had none of the beauty or abundance of the Garden for his place of temptation. No, his temptation took place in the wilderness of a fallen world. And he didn’t face just one temptation about a single piece of fruit, but after he was also tempted with food, we get perhaps a preview of temptations that would have followed if Adam would have passed his first test.
Jesus gives us an exception to the pattern Adam had set up. He offers a counter-example. Indeed he gives us a new pattern, one of obedience relying on the Word of God, the Scriptures. The Scriptures are a resource that Adam did not have. There was no “It is written” for Adam to rely on. That doesn’t excuse Adam; he still had God’s words, his command not to eat the fruit, but he didn’t have the vast library of wisdom available in Holy Scripture.
So Jesus is first tempted by Satan to turn stones into bread. Jesus contrasts himself with Adam by answering the temptation of food with the following: Matt 4:4
4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
We see from Jesus’ temptation that his faithfulness to God is borne out by his dependence on the Word of God, the Scriptures. If Adam would have lived by the Word of God, instead of by food only, he would have passed his test, but he did not. And he did not. In appealing to the Word of God, Jesus contrasts himself with Adam, who did not rely on God’s words to him, but instead of being lured away by food, like Adam, Jesus relies on the Word of God and passes his test. In this moment, a new way to be human is given to us, one that trusts God and resists temptation, even in the wilderness.
And so that’s part of why we fast during Lent. It resists the temptation of food, over and against obedience to God. Fasting is part of identifying ourselves with the new way to be human. Fasting sits in defiance of not only our flesh, but evil spiritual forces and, in protest, places us on the path following the New Adam: Jesus Christ. I want to say that there are medical reasons, you shouldn’t abstain from food. And the church has found ways of fasting that are not food related. When fasting, we should be praying, and so giving up any activity in order to pray instead is a way to fast. But I hope you see the importance. Fasting in and of itself isn’t the goal. The goal is to follow Jesus Christ, to succeed with him where Adam failed, to be a new human.
As our passage continues, we see how Jesus goes on to be tempted beyond what the first Adam ever had the chance to experience. Look at vs. 5:
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
Here Satan sees how Jesus relies on Scripture and decides to use and abuse Scripture to try to lead Jesus astray. But Jesus not only knows Scripture better - it is a collection of his own words - he also uses it rightly. This is a warning for us. Satan will use the words of God, the things of God in a way that is designed to destroy us rather than build us up. He will use Scripture in a way it wasn’t intended. We have to look for this in ourselves and be on guard. I have a friend in high school who was convinced that she would be able to get a particular boy to be her boyfriend because the Bible says that God will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4. But Jesus, and all right interpreters care about the context. In this verse, that context is the portion preceding it, where it says: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” If you delight in the Lord, he is the desire of your heart, and he will give you himself. Scripture is a sharp implement. It can be used for life-saving surgery but also as a weapon. Satan wasn’t trying to comfort Jesus by quoting Scripture, but trying to do damage. Be careful of those who misuse Scripture, from being careless, or on purpose.
In contrast, Jesus takes up Scripture, what Paul calls the sword of the Spirit, to rightly defend himself against the attack of the devil. And in doing so, he passes the test, resisting the devil. The devil wanted Jesus to prove himself in a way that has him directing Jesus. But that’s not how it works. The devil is not the source of Jesus’s actions. The devil can’t control the New Adam. And so, in his response to the devil, Jesus shows us something of who God is; God is the true source of righteous living.
And for us, members of the New Adam, that means that we should resist being controlled by evil, tricked into showing off, because it’s not good for our souls and gives power to the evil one daring us to do it. And the way Jesus passes the test is by using Scripture in a way that honors Scripture, instead of treating it like a tool to get what you want or to coopt its power for whatever agenda you might have. We who would walk in the way of the New Adam should not just use Scripture, but use it rightly.
So after tempting Jesus with food and then tempting him to reveal himself in a display of power, he tempts Jesus with all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. Satan appeals to humanity’s desire for power, glory, wealth, influence, notability, comfort, and prosperity, things that are difficult to attain all at once, things that belonged to Jesus already. Jesus left all of those things already seeing equality with God not as something to be grasped, as Phil. 2 tells us. They all belonged to Jesus anyway, and would be restored to him soon enough, but Satan is offering a way to have them back again without fulfilling his mission. Jesus was on the path to the Cross, but he was being offered so many of the benefits he would receive when his sacrifice was complete, only through a shortcut, one that bypasses suffering. He would have to change allegiance from his Father to follow Satan and worship him. But Jesus again, takes up Scripture. Mat 4 10
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ”
So Jesus resists the temptation of all the world’s riches and comforts, showing us a new way to be human. And so during Lent, one way the church has practiced this is through almsgiving. We follow Jesus and give some of the comfort and riches that we have been given to help someone else in need. Offer a cup of cold water, or a sandwich, or a steak dinner, or money, or lodging to someone in need. Go to the ATM and keep some cash with you to hand out when you’re stuck at the red light and the cold man with the clever sign comes walking by your car.
Jesus continues as the New Adam, having shown us to value obedience over food, submitting to Scripture, and resisting the world’s comforts, undeterred on his path to suffering and death, and resurrection.
And he welcomes us, he calls us to follow him as members of the new humanity, to resist the devil and to journey the way of the cross, wholly dependent on his Word, in prayer and fasting, Scripture reading, and almsgiving. Whatever wilderness you find yourself being called to enter, Jesus shows us the path through it, to come out the other side, strengthened in our identity in Christ, in virtue and Christian practice, and being equipped to face the next challenge that will surely come.
Let us look to Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, humanity’s new champion, our model, our king, and as we succeed and as we fail, let us depend on his grace. The perfect human showed his love for us and made peace with God on our behalf at his coronation and enthronement on the Cross. He reigned there first to make a valid path, the only path to God, to remake us in his image, to be who we were meant to be. So let us walk on his path of grace, this Holy Lent and throughout our lives, and follow him wherever he might lead.