Luke 4:1-13
This text is used for the Lectionary Year C on February 14, 2016.
Jesus’ journey into the wilderness serves as an annual launching pad for our own 40 day journey into the Lenten wilderness. Occurring with variation in each synoptic, the preacher may be tempted to choose another lection this year. Before doing so, the preacher should consider whether they have sufficiently mined Luke’s depiction of Jesus’ testing, for it is rich with biblical allusion and spiritual guidance.
The first few verses alone are packed with dots that need to be connected. The 40 day journey immediately reminds us of other biblical heroes who have undergone a similar experience. Moses’ 40 day fast (Exodus 24:28; Deuteronomy 9:9) and Elijah’s 40 day flight to the mount of God (1 Kings 19:4-8) come to mind, offering a subtle connection here between Jesus, the great law giver and the great prophet. Then there’s the not-so-subtle connection between Jesus and Israel. Jesus passed through the waters of the Jordan (Luke 3:21-22) just moments before being led into the wilderness by the Spirit. His first temptation: To make bread (think: manna). The connections between Jesus’ 40 days and Israel’s 40 years are not coincidental. Look closely. Jesus answers each test with a quote from Deuteronomy, the book that begins “these are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan…” (Deuteronomy 1:1). Two of those quotes (Deuteronomy 6:13; Deuteronomy 6:16) come right after the prayer faithful Jews were to pray twice daily, the Shema, and the third comes within 2 chapters (Deuteronomy 8:3). In this story Luke identifies Jesus as both Israel and the model Jew, and the biblical allusions don’t stop there. Instead, Luke continues to draw a line from Jesus’ present experience all the way back to the beginning.
Luke’s readers enter chapter 4 with two things fresh on their mind: 1) Jesus has just been declared the Son of God by God in the River Jordan (Luke 3:22), and 2) Luke’s genealogy for Jesus has listed him as descendent of Adam, the first human who was also the first son of God (Luke 3:30). By doing this Luke makes sure we understand some things about Jesus’ identity and mission. Jesus’ baptism tells of His divine lineage. Jesus’ genealogy tells of his human lineage. It might be a stretch for the preacher to take this opportunity to teach the congregation fully God/fully human Christology, but it is a possibility. More pertinent here is that Jesus is led into this wilderness type-cast as the second Adam.
From Luke’s perspective, the purpose of God is for Jesus to undo the damage inflicted upon creation by Adam’s sin. Jesus will ultimately achieve this at the end of our Lenten journey through His crucifixion and resurrection, but the undoing really all begins here with this temptation which includes significant parallels and contrasts with Adam’s in Eden. Notice: Adam was tempted, Jesus was tempted. Adam fell to temptation, Jesus would not. Even more striking: Adam was in a beautiful garden, Jesus was in a dangerous wilderness. Adam could eat from any tree save one, Jesus fasted from food for 40 days. The strength of Jesus is striking. The odds against him are greater, because the situation is far more challenging, and yet he will fulfill his mission by both confronting and defeating evil. This wilderness sojourn at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry is crucial for him to do that, and offers all Christians guidance on how this may be done in their own lives.
Luke tells us that it is the Spirit that led Jesus into this wilderness of temptation. The preacher may decide to veer off here into questions of theodicy. Does God cause evil and suffering or merely allow it? This and its follow-up questions are certainly worthy of the congregation’s attention. However, it seems Luke has other things on his mind. This tempting, or testing, is purposed by God for the strengthening of Jesus. This does not mean God leads all people into these kinds of situations for this reason, but Luke certainly seems to be saying this is a necessary part of Jesus’ path. The preacher might consider reflecting on the formational value of difficult situations, times of testing, struggle and temptation.
Within Jesus’ temptations, a clarifying picture of his own mission begins to emerge. We know he’s the Son of God, but how will that flesh itself out in the days ahead? Jesus is hungry and the devil encourages him to turn stones into bread. If he could feed himself, he could certainly feed others who hunger. Jesus is dedicated to God’s reign in this world and the devil barters with him for influence. Worship the devil, and Jesus could gain instant political influence. Jesus would love to see the people of Jerusalem place their full faith in God. The devil invites him to throw himself off a cliff to gain their faith through a display of supernatural power. The end results all seem good, and that is what make these tests real temptations. The same is true of our own temptations, and the preacher might decide to invite the people to consider the places in their lives where they have traded their allegiance to God to succumb to appealing and justifiable temptations. Perhaps the reason many of us don’t struggle with these temptations toward comfort, power and influence is because we’ve already succumbed to them.
The most obvious resource Jesus utilized to ace his wilderness testing was scripture. When the devil catches Jesus in a vulnerable place, Jesus is able to meet each challenge by recalling from Deuteronomy. The preacher should take note of what is happening here. Jesus wins the day not because he defeated the devil with the power of spoken scripture, but he wins the day because Jesus decided to submit himself to the authority of that scripture. Every invitation by the devil held a common opportunity to either submit to the devil or to submit to the guidance of God in scripture. In every situation, Jesus chose the way of God.
As their congregation begins this Lenten season, the preacher has an opportunity to draw lines from them to Jesus. Jesus went through a period of preparation, prayer, challenge and strengthening before he ever publicly taught one lesson or performed one miracle. His preparation surely involved much prayer, solitude and reflection as well as intentional internalization of sacred scripture. The preacher might invite the congregation to consider this Lent just such a time in their own lives. After all, Jesus has won, but strangely our battles continue. The tempter left Jesus in the wilderness with every intention of returning to him at an opportune time (Luke 4:13). Temptation will return to each of us as well. How might the preacher encourage those gathered to ready themselves for the tasks and tests that lie ahead?
Dr. Jason Edwards
Senior Pastor
Second Baptist Church, Liberty, MO
jedwards@2bcliberty.org
Tags: temptation, Lent, wilderness, spiritual preparation, scripture memory