3 Temptations of Christ

February 17, 2013   Three Temptations of Christ

Temptation is the desire to perform an action that one may enjoy immediately or in the short term but will probably later regret for various reasons: legal, social, psychological (including feeling guilt), health-related, economic, etc. In the context of religion, temptation is the inclination to sin

Temptation is usually used in a loose sense to describe actions which indicate a lack of self control.

What Is Sin - The Big Question
We live in a culture where the concept of sin has become entangled in legalistic arguments over right and wrong. When many of us consider "What is sin?" we think of violations of the Ten Commandments. Even then, we tend to think of murder and adultery as "major" sins compared with lying, cursing, or idolatry.

The truth is that sin, as defined in the original translations of the Bible, means "to miss the mark." The mark, in this case, is the standard of perfection established by God and evidenced by Jesus. Viewed in that light, it is clear that we are all sinners.

The Apostle Paul says in Romans 3:23: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

In light of this, it does no good to compare ourselves to others. We cannot escape our failure to be righteous in our own strength. This is by God's design, because only when we understand our weakness will we consider relying on the atoning sacrifice of Jesus.

The three temptations of Christ are as follows
1 Change the stone to bread.
2 to fall from the cliff and the  angels would protect him.
3 After showing the whole country from a high point the devil says to Jesus he can have the land and all the riches only if he falls and worships the devil.

Old Testament- Deuteronomy 26:1-11

Each Lenten season we thoughtfully revisit the legacy of the cross and the defining miracle it wrought for each of us as Christians.  Once again we seek to ready ourselves for the in-breaking of God’s radical grace and abundance. Today’s reading in Deuteronomy is a valuable summary of the story of God’s promise of fulfillment for Israel after forty years of desert wandering. In our own Christian lives there have been times of wandering. Just as God was with the Israelites He has been with us. At times we don’t realize that He is there because we are focused more on our problems than on God.  Jesus in the desert was Focused for the entire 40 days as an example to us that we too need to remain focused on God.

At the beginning of the Lenten season, this passage from Deuteronomy provides an important perspective.  Despite our spiritual wanderings God has remained faithful and through Christ’s sacrifice has brought us in grace to a land of spiritual milk and honey.  Yet our failure to remember this truth puts us at risk of squandering our remarkable inheritance. What remembering might we do?

Psalm 91- This Psalm is at once beautiful and troubling. It offers some of the most comforting language in all of Scripture, but it also suggests a linkage between invoking the name of God and avoiding harm, a connection that rightly causes discomfort for many Christians.

Jesus speaks  of gathering the people of Jerusalem under his care, much as a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings. Why all of these images of protective care?  It is because we human beings, whether children or adults, crave a sense of security.  We love to be Sheltered, warned, and embraced.  When the psalmist talks about abiding  “ in the shadow of the Almighty,” and says, “under his wings you will find refuge,” we relax into a smile.  This is the promise of security.

Epistle- Romans 10:8b-13

Want to divide a room fast? Just start talking about who is saved and who is not. Set up the criteria, then point out who is in and who is out.  Soteriology is a hotbed of religious controversy.  It is tempting to shy away from questions of salvation in an effort to avoid arguments.  Yet these questions are on the minds and hearts of people all along the spectrum of religious belief, particularly during the season of Lent, with its focus on sin and sacrifice.

Righteousness by Faith is a hard worker, a relentless companion.  It stirs up faith through the Word of god (v.8). This is no small feat when you consider the thickheaded disciples, most people in the pews on Sundays, and all the rest of us as well.  However the work of righteousness goes on, evoking a confession from the lips of believers.  Only then Paul explains through this character, is righteousness by faith complete (v. 9-10).

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved (v.13). The sticking point for many Christians is that we think we know exactly what that call sounds like, what pitch it is, how the sentences are formed, and what words are used. In this community, how does it sound when people call on the name of the Lord?

The word is near you, Paul writes, on your lips and in your heart (v.8b). God is doing the heavy lifting here -  bringing the Word near, planting the seeds of faith in our hearts, placing words tenderly on our lips.  We do the telling – setting free those words already in our hearts and on our lips, sharing the questions central to our faith, in order to build on up one another. Confession our faith takes practice.  It is an ongoing act that changes as faith evolves throughout life.

All who call on the name of God will be saved,  whether this call is perfectly in tune or just a jumbled joyful noise.  Practicing this call is our task this Lenten season.  To learn to make this joyful noise, we can listen to the voices of those who have gone before us: ancestors in the faith, hymn writers, and confessors.  We can also listen to the voice of Righteousness by Faith, personified by Paul, which assures us of our salvation, no matter how small the mustard seed of faith may be.

Gospel Reading ( Please Stand if Able) Luke 4:1-13

We live in a culture that is always inviting us o “eat the whole thing.”  Whether it is to purchase the latest technological invention or to buy the most stylish clothes or visit the most exotic places, we  North Americans are schooled by advertisers to believe we can always “eat the whole thing.” And that we can have it all.

But, we have the word of the church drawn straight from the bible saying: You cannot have everything and at the same time have what matters most.

There are boundaries in all relationships, and one cannot serve God and the at the same time say yes to all the choices that come to us.

The Lenten journey has begun.  We walk with Jesus through a wilderness of temptation, sin, and confession to the glory of Easter morning.  Lent is designed to be a thoughtful time, a reflective time, a prayerful time.  Lent invites us to consider what it means to be a person created in the image of God.  Lent brings us to the awareness of our essential uniqueness as God’s son or daughter.

The clue for Lent is Jesus in the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil.  In three scenes are played out all that it means to be a human being made in the image of God.  In the wilderness, Jesus shows his full humanity; he was genuinely tempted as every human being is.  What Jesus does in the wilderness is make choices about what he will say yes to and what he will say no to.

The gift God gave us in the beginning was the gift of choice. Some days we do ok with it. Other days we make bad choices and there are consequences that follow that choice.  So we are confronted with the necessity of making a choice, where we go in one direction rather than another direction, where we must lay something down in order to be able to  pick up something else.

The reality of choice was present in the first moment of creation.  God put Adam and Eve in a beautiful garden where everything they needed was provided by God’s gracious hand. They had all they needed but could not have all that was there. Don’t eat of this tree! One simple command.

They have to make a choice as to whether to trust God on God’s terms or to live by their own design. We all know how the story turns out! SO, how is it with your soul today? What choices have you made since last year’s Lenten season. Have you made choices that you are pleased with in your spiritual walk or did you make choices that you have regretted.

Jesus had to make a choice. He has to struggle with how he will live, whom he will trust, what he will give his life to. He made the right choices. Will you make the right choices during this season of Lent.?

The final verse of our text says that after Jesus had successfully resisted the devil’s temptations, after he had made his good choices, the devil “departed from him until the next opportunity”.

We need to make the right choices and continue to practice our Christian faith in the way that we were taught by the examples of our Lord.

None of us escape the temptation s of satan. But it is important to make the right choices when he comes around tempting us.  The Good News is if you have blown it Today is the Day of Salvation and you have an opportunity to make the Right  Choice.