February 26th 2023
2023 Lent 1, February 26th
Old Testament: Genesis 3:1-21
Psalm: Psalm 32:1-7
Epistle: Romans 5:12-19
Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11
Sermon Text: Matthew 4:1-11
Sermon Title: “It is Written”
Grace to you and peace, from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
“I will put enmity between you and the woman; between her offspring and your offspring; He shall bruise (crush) your head and you will bruise His heel”. (Genesis 3:15) “For as by one man’s disobedience, the many were made sinners; so by the One man’s obedience will many be made righteous”. (Romans 5:19) “Jesus was led by the Spirit, into the wilderness, to be tempted by the devil … Jesus said … It is written”. (Matthew 4:1, 4, 7, 10)
The Apostle Peter wrote; “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour”. (1st Peter 5:8b) Jesus said, “the devil was a murderer from the beginning and has nothing to do with the truth … when he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies”. (John 8:44b) So also, Satan was a liar from the beginning as we also heard in the Old Testament account from Genesis 3. He lies constantly; therefore, nothing he says can be taken at face value.
He is also a tricky liar, someone who loves nothing more than to pervert the Word of God; sometimes with an outright lie, even an outrageous lie; but more often he is subtle; changing no more than a single word in order to misrepresent what God has said. At other times, he doesn’t even change a word, but changes the meaning of the word or the context; or like he did in todays reading from Genesis 3, Satan asks questions in order to raise doubts about God’s Word; “Did God actually say”? (Genesis 3:1b) Or as he tempted Jesus by using the tiny word “if”; Jeus “if You are the Son of God” (Matthew 4:3, 6) do this. “Satan even disguises himself as an angel of light”. (2nd Corinthians 11:14)
He is happy if he can draw anyone away from the Word of God and true faith in Christ, no matter which one of the techniques he uses. Luther wrote that the devil (as well as the world and our own sinful nature) try to mislead us into false beliefs about God; despairing of His grace and mercy; and other great sins and vices; as the catechism describes them.
Once Adam and Eve began to doubt God’s Word and gave in to Satan’s temptation; plunging the whole world into sin; instead of taking responsibility for their actions, they immediately begin to look for someone else to blame. One sin leads directly to another in order to try and cover the first one up. When God confronted them in the Garden, Adam first blamed, “the woman whom you gave to be with me”. (Genesis 3:12a) Eve then said to God; “the serpent deceived me and I ate”. (Genesis 3:13b)
Ever since then, sinful mankind seeks to “pass the buck”, to blame someone else for their own actions, nevertheless, we all bear responsibility for our own sins. The Lord speaks the deadly serious consequences of Adam and Eve’s disobedience to Him. Among other things, for the woman there will be pain in childbearing and for the man “cursed is the ground because of you … by the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread … (and for both) you are dust and to dust you shall return”. (Genesis 3:16-17, 19) Death came into the world through their sin. Their actions not only affected them, but everyone who was born after them; with what is now called “original sin”. We are now born sinful and enemies of God.
But before pronouncing this judgment, “the Lord God said to the serpent (the devil) because you have done this, cursed are you”. (Genesis 3:14a) Then the Lord speaks what is called the proto evangelion in the Latin; this means the first Gospel promise/prophecy of a Savior. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and her offspring. He will crush your head and you will bruise His heel”. (Genesis 3:15)
The Lord Jesus Christ, the offspring of the woman, is the fulfillment of this prophecy of Scripture. The Apostle John declared, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil”; (1st John 3:8b) which He has accomplished through His perfect life, atoning death on the cross and bodily resurrection from the dead. Paul wrote “Sin came into the world through one man and death through sin … so death spread to all men because all men sinned … as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience, the many will be declared righteous”. (Romans 5:12, 19)
Jesus’ temptation occurred after His baptism, before beginning His ministry. “When He came up out of the water” (Mark 1:10a) Immediately, He was “led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil”. (Matthew 4:1) Even though He was led by the Spirit, we know that He went to His temptation voluntarily. This was part of His perfect, active obedience; keeping the whole law of God in our place. Again, as Paul wrote, “By the one man’s obedience, many will be made righteous”. (Romans 5:19b) On the cross, Jesus became the perfect sacrifice for us; “that through (His) death, He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil”. (Hebrews 2:14b)
Satan tried some of the same “Scripture twisting” tricks against Jesus that he does against everyone else, but notice that Jesus has a singular response to each of the temptations of the devil. “It is written” (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10) Jesus told Satan on three separate occasions. On each occasion, Jesus quoted from the Law of God, from the book of Deuteronomy. Satan could only take so much of the Word correctly spoken and eventually, “the devil left Him, and behold angels came and were ministering to Him”. (Matthew 4:11)
Satan first attempts to get Jesus to give in to His hunger in order to “prove that You are the Son of God”. (Matthew 4:3) Instead of giving in to His physical needs, Jesus points to what is most important, to what truly satisfies, to the Scriptures; “It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God”. (Matthew 4:4, Deuteronomy 8:3) As we heard from the Apostle Peter last week, “no interpretation of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation … but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit”. (2nd Peter 1:20-21)
Next, since Jesus quoted Scripture to him, the devil tries to trick Jesus by misquoting a word from the book of Psalms; saying “It is written”, but leaving out a few key words. “Jesus said to him, Again, it is written, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test”. (Matthew 4:17, Deuteronomy 6:16) This is what the people of Israel did in the wilderness when they got thirsty; they quarreled with Moses and “tested the Lord saying; Is the Lord among us or not”. (Exodus 17:7b)
Finally, Satan tempts Jesus to bypass/disobey the Father’s will and avoid the cross by worshipping him; and offering Jesus “all the kingdoms of this world and their glory” (Matthew 4:8b); which he claimed to own. Then Jesus said to him, “Begone, Satan! It is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve”. (Matthew 4:10, Deuteronomy 6:13) This was the most outrageous of Satan’s temptations, as Jesus is God and was there at the creation of the world; therefore, all of the “kingdoms of the world” belonged to Him already.
In all of these temptations, Jesus resisted, for us. He refused to go against the will of His Father; which was the way of the cross. “Jesus humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross”. (Philippians 2:8) “He came not to be served, but to serve and give His life as a ransom”. (Matthew 20:28b) He did this “for us and for our salvation”.
In all of these temptations, Jesus also cited the Holy Scriptures, the Word of God; His Word; in order to rebuke the devil and to remind us where our strength comes from. The Psalms declare; “Strengthen me according to Your Word”. (Psalm 119:28b) “Blessed is the one … whose delight is in the law of the Lord”. (Psalm 1:1-2a) “In His Word I hope”. (Psalm 130:5b) “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”. (Psalm 119:105)
The Old Testament writers also proclaim, “the Lord knows how to sustain us with a Word”. (Isaiah 50:4b) “The Word of our God will stand forever”. (Isaiah 40:8b) “You shall not add to the Word … nor take away from it … make them known to your children and your children’s children” (Deuteronomy 4:2a, 9) “Every Word of God proves true”. (Proverbs 30:5a) Of course, the New Testament is also full of these truths about the Word and we heard many of them in recent weeks.
So, this is how we are to resist the devil when he tempts us to sin; “with every Word that comes from the mouth of God”. (Matthew 4:4b) We combat the lies and deceptions of the devil, not with our own opinions, or that “wisdom of this world (which is) doomed to pass away” (1st Corinthians 2:6b) but rather with the truth of God’s Holy and precious Word; which promises eternal life and salvation to all who believe and are baptized.
Now, Satan would continue to tempt Jesus periodically throughout His ministry, making one final, grand attempt in the Garden of Gethsemane. Holy Scripture records that just hours/minutes before He is arrested, the devil tempts Jesus to avoid the suffering of the cross by which He won our salvation; bearing the sins of the whole world upon Himself. Jesus prays for the cup of suffering to pass, sweating drops of blood, but concludes His prayer with these words of trust, “Nevertheless, not My will, but Your will be done”. (Matthew 26:42)
By His suffering and death; and by His resurrection and ascension, Jesus has conquered our greatest enemies for us; our sin has been atoned for; death is overcome, it no longer has a permanent sting; and the works of the devil are destroyed. Therefore, we find strength to resist the devil in the Word and promises of God.
As Luther wrote of Christ’s victory in his most famous hymn;
“Though devils all the world should fill; All eager to devour us
We tremble not ; We fear no ill; They shall not overpower us
This worlds prince may still; Scowl fierce as he will
He can harm us none; He’s judged the deed is done
One little word can fell him” (# 656 “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”; verse 3)
That Word that destroyed the devil is Jesus Christ our Lord, Therefore, we “pay attention to His Word, as to a lamp shining in a dark place”. (2nd Peter 1:19a) Amen.
The peace of God …