Living Word
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In a previous church I served I used to love to chat with a man who read the Bible constantly. Every time he would finish reading the Bible he would go out and find a new study Bible to read. He would switch up translations, but usually he looked for unique study Bibles that would offer something new from what he had read before. He felt he was constantly getting new insight into the Bible. Sometimes the study would focus on theology, sometimes history, sometimes it would contextualize the Bible and other times it would take you through the Bible chronologically. On top of reading the Bible every single day he also loved attending Bible studies at the church, finding and ordering images from the Bible that he would paint and either hang up in his home or give as gifts to other people. He also loved being a lector for the church and was heavily involved in other ministries of the church. He could be a little rough around the edges at times, but he is a loving and faithful man of God.
I honestly attribute his deep commitment to discipleship and the ministries of the church to his faithfulness to scripture. It was his knowledge of scripture that helped him to see God’s love and grace for him and how he wanted to share and spread that with others. It is that closeness to scripture that is at the heart of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. Every time that the devil presents Jesus with a new prospect of having something in his life Jesus comes at it from scripture. We’ll see that as we work through this temptation together.
Becuase we know the story so well it can be easy for us to scoff at the devil and his futile attempt to test Jesus and his faithfulness. But lets take a look at what the devil offers Jesus and see just how plain these requests can seem. In the first temptation, literally all the devil is doing is encouraging Jesus to turn a stone into bread. Jesus has not eaten or has been fasting as Matthew’s gospel tells is for 40 days. Luke even tells us that Jesus was famished. So really what is the harm in turning a stone into a loaf of bread so that you can eat? He is looking out for Jesus’ physical wellbeing.
In the second temptation the devil is telling Jesus that he could have all glory and authority over the whole world. Just last week we saw Jesus on the mountaintop transfigured into glory with Moses and Elijah. If Jesus has authority over the world then the world would know about Jesus and God. He is offering Jesus a way to achieve the very purpose of Jesus being here on earth.
In the third temptation the devil brings Jesus to Jerusalem and to the top of the Jerusalem temple and reminds Jesus that scripture tells us that the angels will not let us be hurt. If Jesus jumped and got close to hitting those stones then the very angels themselves would make sure as Psalm 91 says he will not dash his food against a stone. The devil is just asking Jesus for a little proof that he is God’s Son and that he could prove God’s protection for Jesus. And by proving this he would also show that the scriptures are right.
If we look at the temptations in that way then they don’t seem so bad. In fact, you might say that they are tempting because what could be the harm in being fed, receiving glory and showing God’s faithfulness to God’s one and only son? They don’t seem too bad. In fact, I think we would all agree that feeding the hungry, making God’s glory known, and showing God’s power would all be good things for this world. So all these things even from a someone who has faith in Jesus might find these as things that they think would be a good thing.
If these aren’t necessarily bad, in and of themselves, then why does Jesus reject them so forcefully? The simple answer: scripture. At the end of the 2nd chapter of Luke’s gospel we hear the story of Jesus in the temple at 12 years old listening and debating with the teachers and everyone who heard him speak were amazed at both is understanding and his answers. Then the very last line Luke says this Luke 2:52 “52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.” From a very young age Jesus was grounded and rooted in scripture. People weren’t amazed at this 12 year old and his answers if he did not know intimately not just the words but the very meaning and heart of scripture.
While the offerings the devil brings to Jesus seem, well for lack of a better word, tempting and a possible instant solution to both his immediate hunger and what he is trying to accomplish in the world, he uses scripture to inform his understanding of what those things might mean and then responds to the offers by the devil with none other than the very word of God. To the devils offerings he says to the devil the Bible tells us that: one does not live by bread alone. which is a direct quote from Deuteronomy 8:3 “3 He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” Food may be important but so are the very words that come from God. At that moment the words of God were more important than what the devil was suggesting.
Jesus’ second response is another quote from Deuteronomy 6:13 “13 The Lord your God you shall fear; him you shall serve, and by his name alone you shall swear.” Telling the devil that God is the only one to serve and worship. In the final temptation Jesus of course answers again with scripture and can you guess which book of the Bible it comes from? That’s right…Deuteronomy 6:16 “16 Do not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.” Jesus’ response to the devil is that there may be some people that tested God and God’s power, but we are invited not to do that. Now I’m not saying that we should only read the book of Deuteronomy since those are the three passages that Jesus used to resist the temptations of the devil, but I do think what we learn from Jesus is the importance and power of the words we read in the Bible. I think that is why that man from another church was so committed to the ministry of the church he was a part of, he lived by the very word of God.
When we are tempted, or when we feel tested by this world and maybe even be the devil himself, Jesus shows us the way in which we solve the problem. We turn to the living and enduring word of God as 1 Peter tells us. Sometimes temptations may be small when we feel it’s ok to yell at someone or make fun of them because it’ll make us feel better, because they made us mad. Or it could be something big like accepting money or a car to keep quiet about something. Whatever trials, tests or temptations we face we should find comfort in that we are a community of believers for that very purpose…to be a community.
We are stronger together and we will thrive as we lift each other up in prayer and scripture. We should know that Jesus went through these trials in his own life and that Jesus is the word made flesh. That word didn’t take the easy road the devil offered, but took the faithful road that God planned so that no matter what we go through in this life we know that we have God by our side and on our side and that Jesus is the very fulfillment of scripture to give us the life that God always wanted for us, a life that is full to the brim, this day and always. Amen.