` Lent 1 - 2002

Lent 1 - 2002



Todd A. Peperkorn, STM
Messiah Lutheran Church
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Invocabit – Lent 1 (February 17, 2002)
Matthew 4:1-11
TITLE: “Living by the Mouth of God”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text for today is the Gospel lesson just read.  We focus on the words Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

David was a young man.  He was no warrior.  He was a shepherd, who took care of straying sheep who lost their way.  His weapons were not swords and armor and the like.  His “weapons” were a staff, maybe some small stones to scare away the wolves, and his voice.   The way He led his sheep to follow him and not the thieves was not by force or power.  It was by his voice.  His flock knew his voice, and so would follow him wherever he went.

That was what made the Philistines, with Goliath at the front, so offensive to young David.  He knew that God is Israel’s true shepherd.  They are to listen to his voice, and to follow him.  But Saul and all of Israel had forgotten the voice of their true shepherd.  They believed the voice of the liar.  They believed the lie that they were weak and without strength, and that God Himself had abandoned them.  For days Goliath had taunted them with his might and power, and they believed him.  They had forgotten God’s promise that He would be with them, that He would fight for them, that they would win the battle by His mighty deliverance.

But David remembered.  He heard the taunts of the evil one, and cried out:

You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.  This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.  Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD's, and He will give you into our hands."

David listened to the voice of the Lord, and won the battle with a stone and the promise of God to be with His children, not matter how great the adversary, no matter what the cost.

David’s son, Jesus, faced a similar battle a thousand years later.  Only this time the enemy wasn’t a big Philistine, it was Satan himself.  After 40 days of fasting, Satan came to Jesus when Jesus was weak and without strength.  Satan believed that he could deceive this servant of the Lord, just as he had deceived the people of Israel on the field with the Philistines so many years ago.  He attacked by appealing to Jesus’ pride.  If you are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread.

What was the temptation for Jesus?  The temptation was to take up his power and might as the Son of God and use it for His own benefit and well-being.  It was really a temptation to glory.  But Jesus, our great champion, would have none of Satan’s wiles. He responded with the Word of God, man does not live by bread alone, but by every word which comes from the mouth of God.

In other words, Jesus recognized that His nature as the Son of God led him to sacrifice, not to selfish glory and the world would see it.  He heard the voice of His Father, who would not leave him to die.  He trusted in the promise of God when even His own eyes might tell him otherwise.  40 days is a long time to go without food.  Did God know what He needed?  The answer, of course, is yes.  And so Jesus trusted in that Word of God.

That is the temptation that Satan seeks to put before you today and every day of your Lenten journey.    We live in a world which on the one hand is much more spiritual than it was even a few years ago.  This is a time of patriotism, of family, of tradition, and many other values which we as Lutherans can uphold and say with our fellow Americans, YES, that is what makes us who we are.

And yet.  And yet these very same values which we hold dear as Americans can also be our greatest downfall.   Where do we place our trust?  Is it in our strength?  Family? Tradition?  Personal willpower?  What is the source of your strength?

This question is not simply one of priorities or career setting or whatever other short-term and long-term goals we may have.  It goes deeper than that, for it gets to your very identity as a human being.  Are we defined by what God Himself gives us by His Word and Spirit, or are we defined by what Satan, the world and our own flesh would have us believe?

Left to our own devices, surely we will fail every time.  It strikes me that even so early on in Jesus ministry, here at His temptation, that it was His task, day and night to keep the Law because you cannot.  As the new Adam and the greater David, Jesus hold true to God’s promise, even when we fail.  Satan tempts us every day to give in to our passions.  Do what you want!  You deserve a break today!  Give in to the sins and things of this world.  And sadly, we do.  We put on a good show for church, but deep down, you know that you fail in this fight against Satan. We are like the people of Israel, on the battlefield with the Philistines.  In the face of so great an enemy, it is very easy to simply give in to despair, to turn over and not even engage in the battle.  What’s the point?  You might say in your fear and despair.  I know I’m going to fail, so I might as well at least enjoy myself on the way.

But this is not the way of faith; it is the way of unbelief and despair.  For you see, Jesus knows the struggles you have.  He knows your weaknesses and your pains.  But more than that.  He has lived your pain.  Here again the words from Hebrews:

eeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:14-16  (NKJV)

Jesus temptation means that He stands with you even now.  Your trials are His trials.  You need not fear that God doesn’t get your problems.  You can hear His voice, and cry out to Him in faith.  For when you cry out to God in faith, Jesus cries with you.  That is why we can come boldly to the throne of grace. 

So don’t be afraid.  Christ our Lord goes through Satan’s temptations, and clings to the promises of God for you.  You may approach God’s throne of God with confidence, knowing that God hears your prayers, because you pray with His only Son.  And He gives you His very body and blood as a sure and certain sign that God’s love for you is everlasting.  He will keep you from the evil one.  Satan’s power over you is only in his twisted mind.  We have a champion who will fight for us, and who will keep us always in God’s loving hands.  He will do this even at the cost of His own life.  Believe it, for Jesus’ sake.  Amen.

And now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith unto life everlasting.  Amen.

Copyright © 2002 by Todd A. Peperkorn.
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