There is nothing like a heavy-duty pericope to get the Lenten blood flowing. The temptation narrative is such a pericope. Jesus is fasting like a good catholic. A deft Word of Scripture, wielded by an expert thwarts Satan’s challenges.It’s easy to miss one critical detail here. Satan has been defeated. He is the king of this world, but he has no domination of the next. The death and resurrection of the Christ deflects Satan’s temptations.You have the same defeat and authority over Satan as a believer.
One of the most fascinating discussions and readings of the last semester was the Lutheran understanding of the Descent into Hell, which we confess in the Apostles’ creed. The Nicene creed interestingly omits this confession.Some denominations only recently returned to confessing Christ’s descent in the interest of ecumenicism. (John Wesley denied and cut this phrase from the creed.) Calvin said the descent was the final aspect of his humiliation, paying to Satan his ransom. Roman Catholics have held that Christ descended to free the Old Testament saints from the limbus patrem, a limbo for the Fathers. Lutherans hold that this descent is the first activity of the Resurrection. Christ’s descends not to preach Gospel but to preach to those who perished in the Flood the final judgment rendered for Sin. The Biblical evidence for this confession is found in 1 Peter 3:18-22. This is the picture of the “Christus Victor” theory of the atonement. Christ proclaims victory to those who have chosen death. This is not a unitarian second chance. This is the bookend response to Satan of his challenges in the wilderness. In effect, “You wanted me to take the early road to glory in the desert. Well, know you see real glory! Death no longer has domination over man!”
This pericope makes it so easy to fall back on the “Moral Exemplar” theory of the atonement… Christ came merely as an example for the saints, to show them the shape of Christian living. There might be an element of example in Christ’s wilderness fast and temptation. Analogous to Christ, we are assaulted the moment our new life is given in baptism. We are marked men with bulls-eyes on our chest.
Success comes not in living the fast way as the ascetic monastics. Success does not come from knowing proof texts; Satan knows them already and how to deceive you using them. Success against the wiles of Satan comes in the cross of Christ, relying on him and him alone.
For more on this pericope, check out the sermon from Pr. Peperkorn and the discussion from Pr. Engebretson.
The Lutheran Logomaniac – God’s Devil and Jesus’ Temptation – Lent 1 2007
Christ has served and helped us by His fasting, hunger, temptation and victory. Also, whoever believes on Christ shall never suffer need, and temptation shall never harm him. Instead, we shall have enough in the midst of want and be safe in the midst of temptation because the Lord triumphed in our behalf. Christ’s fasting also encourages us to believe that, by His example, we can cheerfully suffer want and temptation for the service of God and the good of our neighbor, like Christ did for us. Therefore this Gospel is sweet consolation and power against the unbelief. It awakens and strengthens our conscience, that we may not be anxious about the nourishment of our bodies, but be assured that God can and will give us our daily bread. (Luther)
Christ’s temptation, fasting, hunger and victory demonstrate to you that God will always take care of you. You need not worry about tomorrow, for God will be there. Christ has come and bore the brunt of God’s wrath on the cross, and all of the devil’s attacks for you. Christ feeds you not only with bread to sustain your body, but with the bread of the Word of God, the bread of His very body to keep you body and soul in Him. He gives you faith to look past false religious practices, and to be who you are: a sinner redeemed by Christ. He gives you the strength to withstand the evil one, by giving you His Word, by keeping you here, in the bosom of His Church, so that you are never alone in your struggles.
“Even the Devil is God’s Devil.â€Â There is much comfort in these words. While the Devil is trying to bring down the Son of God, the Son of God is doing His work of saving you. Satan’s power is only as far as God will allow him to go. So God actually uses Satan and all of His evil work for your benefit. Amazing, isn’t it? What kind of God is it that can turn even the evil things of this world to our benefit? This God is none other than the true God, who comes down from heaven to save you. Trust that when He gave you His Spirit in Holy Baptism, that you are now in His hands, safe from all the assaults the devil, the world and your own sinful nature may fling at you.
Northwoods Seelsorger: The Temptation of Christ
Thus, the wilderness temptation. As brilliant as his tactics may be to set up a man for a fall into sin, he couldn’t truly understand the power of the One he now attacks, or his single-minded commitment to the mission of the cross. And he couldn’t grasp the power of the simple Word Jesus threw back at him. Like so many today he saw it only as a word, a sound, a syllable, a vocable, a sentence. He missed the unlimited dynamic of that Word to unmask evil lies and strengthen the soul in truth.
However, unlike Jesus, our temptation is a different affair. We are far more vulnerable and culpable. We fall more easily for His lies. We chose to see them as he presents them, not as they are. Thus, how we need to live “in Christ” at all times! How much we need to live out the reality of the burial and resurrection of our baptisms each day. Apart from Christ we are sitting targets and easy kill.
Lent is a season when we are reminded that the only life worth living is the one that is lived “in Christ.” The Temptation account brings us back to the reality of the spiritual warfare in which we find ourselves at every moment. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm.” (Eph. 6:12)
Related posts:
- Movies: Are they Really Devil Spawn? Lutheran Logomaniac | Movies: Are they Really Devil Spawn? There’s...
- God’s Wrath? Chaplains and God’s Wrath after the Cross Does God punish...
- Northwoods Seelsorger: Dealing with Demons Northwoods Seelsorger: Dealing with Demons In the Gospel lesson this...
- Gladius Spiritus: God with us: Jesus and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob Gladius Spiritus: God with us: Jesus and the God of...
- What Did Jesus Do: What is a Christian Sermon What Did Jesus Do: What is a Christian Sermon A...