Lent
Matthew 4:1–11
1Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." But he answered, "It is written, "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 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.'" Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'" Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." 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.'" Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
It all started with one man; Adam. Adam was the father of humankind. He represented you and me in what he said and did. Then one day he was tempted by the devil. The temptation? Eat from the forbidden tree and your eyes shall be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
"You will be like God." That was the temptation. Deny your status as humans and elevate yourself to a higher level. Put yourself in a higher position. Then you can rule yourself. You don't have to be under someone else's authority. You can be top dog. You can make your own decisions, determine your own destiny, do as you please. Do whatever makes you feel good. In a sense, Adam's fall into sin, was an fall upward. He was trying to upgrade his status.
Adam desired this, so he did it and became independent. He took for himself the throne of God. And ever since then, the human enterprise has been to get rid of God and put ourselves in his place. Push him aside. Get him out of the way. So we can do as we please. Now man rules! We don't have to depend on anyone else. We can be independent and self-sufficient. We are obsessed with individualism and self-absorption. We don't need God to tell us what to do or how to behave. We don't need God to take care of us or give us advice. In fact, we don't need God at all. Today we have scientific theories to explain our existence without God. Without God's rules we can decide for ourselves what is right and wrong. We can have sex with anyone who delights us without the benefits of marriage. It doesn't even matter if it's with a man or a woman. Now we can simply get rid of a baby that we don't want before he is born. We can get along perfectly well without God.... Or can we?
Take a look around you, and what do you see? You see people. Look a little harder and what do you see? You see hurting people; lonely people; sad people; worried people; depressed people. You see addicted people, sick people, dying people. You see broken lives, broken families, abandoned children. You see injustice, oppression, war, poverty, hunger. In short, you see a little taste of what life would be like without God.
Now, take another look. This time look deep inside yourself. What do you see? You see that old Adam. You see a sinner who wants to be independent, autonomous, and free to do what he pleases. You see selfishness, pride, greed, self-righteousness. You see someone who is so self-absorbed and turned in on himself that he would rather be served than to serve others. In fact you see someone who is almost blind to the needs of others. You see that old man of the flesh, a man of sin who keeps you in bondage. You see the monster of sin that keeps trying to take over your life. Oh, yes, for awhile you are able to keep him under control, but then he raises his ugly head and takes you under his control. That monster is the sinful human nature that you have inherited from Adam.
Apparently we can't get along so well without God after all. This basic, fundamental urge of man to be independent of God and rule ourselves hasn't turned out to be such a good idea after all. It is what we call original sin. It is the root cause of all that is wrong both with our world and with ourselves.
So Adam was expelled from the garden and the gates were shut tight. Mankind that had been created to live in a garden, was now exiled to the wilderness. Satan had defeated Adam on a tree.
But this was not what God had in mind from the beginning. Therefore, God had a remedy. "I will put enmity between Satan and the woman, and the seed of the woman will crush Satan's head," he said. This Seed of the woman, a descendent of Eve, would destroy Satan, undo all the mess that he brought into the world, and conquer the monster of sin that resides inside you. This Seed is the remedy to all that afflicts us.
Then 2000 years ago appeared a Second Adam. A Man who represented and lived on behalf of all mankind. The Spirit of God led this man into the wilderness where Satan tempted him as he had tempted Adam before. It was the same temptation; deny your role as human being and elevate yourself to a higher level. "You are God, come up to the level you deserve; be like God. Take these stones and make bread for yourself to enjoy. You can have all power and authority over all the kingdoms so you will reign and people will worship you. Dump God and worship me."
But this Man did not yield to the temptation. Unlike Adam, He did not give in. He fought a courageous battle with the evil one and he overcame temptation and sin. He conquered. He was just the opposite of the first Adam. He was the Second Adam. He was the promised Seed of the woman, born of a virgin, who suffered, was crucified, died and was buried. All to gain the victory over sin and Satan on your behalf.
There in a wilderness, began his battle. A battle against Satan. A battle against that monster of sin that lives in you. In the battle he would be bruised, smitten, rejected, hated and finally hung on a wooden cross. There, using a tree shaped into a cross, he won the battle; he was victorious over Satan and he opened the doors of the garden so that man could return. He won the battle, he conquered the evil one. He crushed the head of Satan. He defeated the monster that lives in your sinful flesh. He destroyed death by his own death on a cross. He became flesh and blood and shared your humanity in order that he might, through death, destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil. This man, Jesus, This promised Seed, is the remedy for all that is wrong with you and with me. He is the remedy for all that is wrong with our world.
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned, through one man, Jesus, sin is taken away, injustice made right, all debts to God were paid. For if because of one man's trespass, death reigned, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. As one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.
By his obedience, he has obliterated your disobedience. Because of his righteousness and his death on the cross, God has declared you righteous. By his death he has made you alive.
And you, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, have been joined to Christ by Baptism. Today this remedy for all that is wrong with mankind is at work in you. The monster of sin that has kept you in bondage has been defeated. Your old self was crucified with Christ so that you are no longer be slaves to sin. The sin monster in you has been crucified and your baptism has set you free from sin. By you baptism you have died with Christ and you will also live with him. Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Do not let sin reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life. Use the members of your body as instruments of righteousness for God. You are a new person! The old is passed! All has become new! It is no longer you who live, but Christ who lives in you! Sin shall have no dominion over you!
Come, then, you who hunger and thirst. Come you who are weighed down by your sin and guilt and shame. Come you who are lonely, depressed, afraid. Come the addict, the slave, the oppressed. Come the twisted and wearied soul. Here in word and sacrament you find Christ. And in Christ you shall find rest and peace. In Christ your hunger and thirst shall be quenched. In Christ you are set free. The power of sin no longer holds you.
Amen.