THANK GOD JESUS WITHSTOOD WHERE WE FAIL

This is based on a sermon by Cranmer's Curate on Luke 4v1-13 in the Parish Church of the Ascension, Oughtibridge on Sunday February 21st:

Imagine what would have happened if Jesus had given into the devil’s temptation. Imagine if Jesus had failed the test. What difference do you think it would have made to you and me?

If Jesus had given in to the devil and accepted his rule and authority, what would have been the implications for mankind?

It’s highly significant that Luke’s account of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness in chapter 4 of his Gospel comes immediately after his account of the ancestry of Jesus in chapter 3. Luke lists Jesus’ ancestors going right back to Adam, whom he calls the son of God.

But Luke has also called Jesus the Son of God in his Gospel so far. Immediately before the list of ancestors, Luke records Jesus’ baptism when a voice came from heaven and said: 'Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased' (3v22) - RSV. By recording Jesus’ temptation immediately after calling Adam the son of God, Luke invites a comparison between Jesus and Adam. Will Jesus behave like Adam did? How will the two men called sons of God perform when put to the test?

Jesus, like Adam, gets a good start. Jesus, Luke tells us in 4v1, returns from the Jordan where he was baptised, 'full of the Holy Spirit'. The Holy Spirit then leads Jesus out into the desert for 40 days to be tempted by the devil - the spiritual enemy of God and of his creatures.

Each of the three temptations Jesus resists using the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Jesus quotes the Bible – three verses from the book of Deuteronomy - in response to each of the devil’s three temptations - 'man shall not live by bread alone'; 'you shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve'; 'you shall not tempt the Lord your God'.

Each verse Jesus quotes brings out the significance of what the devil was tempting Jesus to do. In tempting Jesus to perform a conjuring trick – stones into bread – the devil wanted to get Jesus to live as if this world, the world of touch, taste, see, and smell is all there is. The devil wanted to get Jesus to live as a materialist, living in God’s world without listening to God’s Word, the Word by which the invisible God rules the visible world.

Do you remember the story of the Fall of mankind in Genesis 3 when Adam faced his first test of obedience? The devil in the form of the Serpent had persuaded the woman to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The woman saw that the fruit was good to eat and that it would make her wise and she therefore decided to disobey God’s Word. She then gave some to her husband Adam. What did he do? He too disobeyed God’s command. In eating the fruit God had commanded him not to eat, Adam made a decision to reject the Word of God. He made a decision to live in the visible world without reference to God’s Word of command.

Then, in tempting Jesus to accept his offer of the kingdoms of the world in exchange for worshiping him, the devil was again wanting Jesus to agree with Adam. For it was Adam’s decision to reject God’s authority that put humanity under the sway of the devil and thus delivered the kingdoms of the world into his hand. When mankind sins, when we rebel against the rightful and loving rule of the God who made us, we put ourselves under the spiritual sway of the devil.

So in agreeing to worship the devil in exchange for the kingdoms of the world, Jesus would be endorsing the Fall of mankind, endorsing what Adam did in rebelling against God. Thank God he didn’t.

In the final temptation, throw yourself off the pinnacle of the Temple and let God catch you - that is the temptation to treat God like the emergency services. Live your life without much thought of God but only call upon him when you’re desperate. We will face crises in the cursed world Adam bequeathed us, but only calling upon in those is no way to treat the living God who deserves the worship of the whole of our lives. The devil wanted Jesus to manufacture such a crisis and use God to bail him out.

Now, to see the implications of Jesus’ victory here for us, let’s imagine ourselves experiencing the same temptations. In fact we don’t need to imagine because the truth is each one of us has been there. Put Julian Mann in the story instead of Jesus. The devil comes and says: 'Live as if this world, the world that you can see and experience, is all there is and don’t take any notice of the God who rules you by his Word.' Fine, no trouble. I’m very happy to do that, very happy to accumulate material things for myself without listening to God’s command to use what he has given me to his glory and the good of others.

The devil then comes and says: 'I’ll give you your own little empire as long as you let me rule you.' Fine. I’m very happy to be boss of my little patch or as much as anybody else’s patch I can get my hands on without reference to God.

The devil then comes and says: 'When you’re in trouble, that’s the time to call upon God. Otherwise don’t bother.' Fine, no trouble, I’m very happy to treat God in that kind of way.

You see, when we put ourselves in the story, we can see the significance of what Jesus did for us in not giving into the devil. He made it possible for you and me to be rescued from empty materialism. He made it possible for you and me to be rescued from selfish empire-building. He made it possible for you and me to be rescued from treating God like our little poodle.

It is disastrous for us to live that like. It is a sure road to hell. We put ourselves under the devil’s sway by treating God like that. But in obeying God where Adam and we following Adam disobey, Jesus showed himself to be perfectly qualified to be our Saviour. His death on the Cross, his resurrection and his ascension into heaven will, as Luke’s Gospel unfolds, achieve the salvation from the devil’s sway you and I so desperately need.

Because Jesus did not do what you and I would have done in his shoes, he is able to be the victorious Saviour from sin and death and hell.

So in an important sense these temptations are our story. We follow Adam in giving into them. Jesus, the second Adam to the fight, prevailed where we fail.

If the events described in Luke chapter 4 had gone the other way, as it were, Luke’s Gospel would never have been written. None of the Gospels would have been written. The New Testament would never have been written. Nothing would have changed. Humanity would still be under the devil’s sway.

But Jesus stood firm thank God. If he hadn’t, there would no gospel, no good news, no salvation for you and me.