In the Wilderness Jesus Passes the Test: He Is the Son of God
March 9, 2025 The First Sunday in Lent
Gospel Lesson: Luke 4:1-13 [The Temptation (Testing) of Our Lord]
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. The devil said to him, gIf you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.h Jesus answered, gIt is written: eMan does not live on bread alone.fh
The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, gI will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours.h Jesus answered, gIt is written: eWorship the Lord your God and serve him only.fh
The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. gIf you are the Son of God,h he said, gthrow yourself down from here. For it is written: eHe will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.fh Jesus answered, gIt says: eDo not put the Lord your God to the test.fh
When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
The Christmas story makes it very clear that Jesus is at the same time both god and man, divine and human. The Creed says it this way: gHe was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.h He was both the Son of God and the son of man. As he fasted for 40 days in the wilderness, there was no doubt that Jesus was human. But was he divine, or was he just a human? That is the what the devil wanted to test. The three tests came in the form of three temptations: to feed himself and relieve the pain of his hunger, to gain power over the world without the pain of the cross, and to test Godfs promise of protection from a deadly fall.
When Jesus was baptized, gLuke 3:22 the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: eYou are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.fh That same Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness where the words of God the Father would be tested. The devil said, gIf you are the Son of God.h It is natural that a human should be hungry, but god should not be hungry. If Jesus is hungry, does that prove that he is not god? Jesus could have done a miracle there in the wilderness: later would feed 5000 from only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. Would a miracle of turning stones into bread prove he was the Son of God? I do not think so, because in the Old Testament, the Prophet Elijah did miracles. I think that the fact that he did not do a miracle proves he had power as the Son of God. He had complete trust in his Heavenly Father. He could say, gMan does not live on bread alone.h This is how God fed the Israelites in the wilderness for 40 years with manna. Deuteronomy 8:3 is more fully quoted in Matthew 4:4, gMan does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.h And so Jesus, the Son of God, fulfills that word of God.
Jesus proclaimed the Gospel. He said the gKingdom of God is at hand.h But that Kingdom would come only after the King of Jews was crucified, died, and rose again. The suffering and the agony of the cross awaited the Son of God. Jesus could skip all that pain by throwing off his allegiance to God his Father and become a servant of the devil. But Jesus knew why he had taken on human flesh in his birth. It was to serve God by bringing salvation to people. Jesus said, gIt is written: eWorship the Lord your God and serve him only.fh In this way, Jesus showed that he truly was the Son of God.
The third test was to tempt God. It was to test Godfs rescue from a deadly fall. Would God the Father let his Son die from a terrible fall? Would God the Father rescue his Son from crucifixion? Would God who loves his Son, like any father who loves his children, would God give in to the temptation of saving his dear Son from the agony of the cross? In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus knew the answer. No. God would not rescue him from the cross. Jesus did not need to test God. He knew Godfs love. He knew that he was the Son of God. Jesus answered, gIt says: eDo not put the Lord your God to the test.fh Jesus passed the test. He truly was the Son of God.
gWhen the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.h The testing would come again at the time of his crucifixion. Luke 23:35-39.
35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, gHe saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.h 36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, gIf you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.h 38 There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: gArenft you the Christ? Save yourself and us!h
By not saving himself, he saved us. Why, because he truly was the Christ of God, the Chosen One, the King of the Jews, the Son of God.
We too are tested by the devil in many, many ways, not just three. But letfs look at three ways the devil tests us through temptations. Jesus was tested whether or not he was the Son of God, we are tested whether or not we are a child of God. When our life seems like a lonely desert, when we do not have the what we need for a better life, when God does not seem to ggive us this day our daily bread and all that we need,h when we do not have the power to do miracles like turning stones into bread or eggs -- then we are tempted to doubt the love of God our Father. We want to test God and make sure to see if we are truly his child through Baptism.
When we think we need power to control the world around us, do we worship the devil by breaking the law or being cruel to others? On Sunday mornings we pray together, gThy Kingdom come,h but we are tempted to doubt the power of the Holy Spirit when our church does not grow. Are we Children of God? We want to test the Holy Spirit.
Will God send his angels to protect us, especially when we do foolish things like jumping off the roof? Do we test Godfs love and generosity by praying for difficult things, and then wonder if he has power or if he cares for us? We think, gI am a baptized child of God, so God, you have to help me or I will not believe in you anymore!h Yes, we are arrogant, selfish, stubborn children.
We are constantly tempted by the devil, the world, and our sinful human nature. And we will fall into temptation. We will sin. But we are each a child of God. God loves each of us so much that he sent His Son Jesus to bring forgiveness and salvation. We are not alone in the deserts of life. Jesus is with us always, till the end of the age. We are strengthened by the three words of promise that Jesus spoke when tempted by the devil.
@ gMan does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.h
@ gWorship the Lord your God and serve him only.h
@ gDo not put the Lord your God to the test.fh
Is Jesus really the Son of God? I think the best proof is that He arose from the tomb on the third day.
Finally, for us.
Martin Lutherfs Small CatechismAThe Lordfs Prayer (LSB page 321)
The Sixth Petition
And lead us not into temptation.
What does this mean?
God tempts no one. We pray in this petition that God would guard and keep us so that the devil, the world, and our sinful nature may not deceive us or mislead us into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice. Although we are attacked by these things, we pray that we may finally overcome them and win the victory.
gFor Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.h
May the peace of God which passes all human understand, keep your hearts and minds, through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church
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