Sermon for the Second Sunday of Lent
Kitty Price | Deuteronomy 26:1-11, Psalm 91:1-11, Romans 10:8b-13, Luke 4:1-13
In the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
“I can resist anything except temptation.” Luckily for us, the saviour of the world is Jesus and not Oscar Wilde. The temptation narratives appear only in the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, synoptic because they have many similarities, but there are differences and today’s are significant for Luke’s ideas about Jesus as Son of God, and the temptations in the context of salvation history. They appear after the baptism of Jesus, and before the start of his ministry, preaching, and the call of the disciples.
Luke has the genealogy of Jesus – his line of descent - between the baptism and the temptations, but in the case of Matthew and Mark, the temptation comes straight after the baptism of Jesus. Mark, the oldest and shortest of the three gospels, has just this: “And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.” There is scant detail about the temptations, just that it lasted for 40 days.
Matthew’s version tells us that Jesus “fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished.” He includes the same temptations as Luke – pointing to the conclusion by biblical scholars that they had a joint source that was not Mark, which was named Q from the German word for source, Quelle – but Matthew’s temptations are in a different order; he has: turn the stone into bread, throw yourself from this height and see if God saves you, then offering Jesus earthly power if he serves the Devil.
Luke’s version, today’s, like Matthew’s, starts with the temptation, “The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.’”
His second, however, is to offer Jesus the authority over all the kingdoms of the world: “If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’” You might think it makes more sense to put this one last, as Matthew did, because Jesus is being offered earthly authority, but Luke is actually saving the biggest goading until last – goading God the father: “Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, “He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you in all your ways…”, quoting some of our Psalm, psalm 91. The Devil certainly knows his scripture.
The Devil goads him with fulfilling his bodily temptation, then his cerebral temptations, and then finishing with trying to goad God the father. Whereas Matthew and Mark both refer to angels, Luke does not. It feels a bleaker version – the most hardcore of the temptation narratives!! At the end, the devil “departed from him until an opportune time”, with that opportune time being Gethsemane.
Shortly after this, Jesus goes home to Nazareth and goes to the synagogue on the Sabbath. He reads from Isaiah 61: “the spirit of the Lord is upon me…to bring sight to the blind, to set the captives free…Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’” This is the ultimate mic drop – right here, right now, this person you have been waiting for for all this time, it’s me! But Luke knows how to take us on an emotional rollercoaster, because straight after this excitement follows the rejection of Jesus at Nazareth, where he is unable – or chooses not to – perform miracles. It can be hard to be taken seriously as an adult in the place of your upbringing.
Matthew’s genealogy – the earthly family tree of Jesus – is at the start of his gospel before the birth narrative – and only goes back to Abraham. Luke’s genealogy is placed between the baptism of Jesus and the temptations. Also, he takes Jesus all the way back to Adam, son of God, pointing to the Sonship of Jesus, and how Adam gave in to temptation – and blamed Eve, taking no responsibility – hence the fall from Grace, whereas Jesus does not, which is why one of his titles is ‘the Second Adam’. He resists temptation, rebuking the devil, who was giving him hypothetical imperatives – if you want x, you will
have to do y, such as ‘if you want to eat as you are famished, turn this stone into bread’, ‘if you want to show God’s power, jump from the pinnacle of the temple and he will save you.’ This is transactional. Jesus replies with categorical imperatives – do this FULL STOP. Why? Because it’s the right thing to do, because, in the words of the psalm, “my God, in him will I trust”, not the devil.
Firstly, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone.”’”; secondly, “ ‘It is written, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” ’” Then the final rebuke: “Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”’”
I find this passage one of the most uncomfortable in his entire gospel. Why? Because Jesus is tempted by the Devil, he is given an easy way out, and he does not take it. “Use your powers to feed yourself, go on, you know you want to”, then “I’ll give you everything you see if you worship me”, then “see if you survive the fall…you can if you are who you say you are – Daddy will have to save you.” So, Jesus is tempted by the Devil, he is given an easy way out, and he does not take it, and I know that I might not be able to do the same. In fact, this is my second sermon. My first was based on Deuteronomy and the Psalm, avoiding the uncomfortable gospel reading. It was something along the lines of justifying belief in the presence of suffering and evil. It was hugely tempting to deliver it, but I knew it wasn’t the right sermon, that I had to pull myself together and confront the temptation of Jesus.
I know that I am only human, but I know I fall far short of where and who I should be, that I spend time wondering what I would do if I won the lottery that I don’t play, thinking “Life will get easier when…” when I know that it is nothing of the sort. And I have spent much of my life justifying my addiction to chocolate, from “it could be a lot worse – alcohol, smoking or drugs” – and even quoting “One cannot live by bread alone”, which isn’t really what it is supposed to mean. The psychology of denial doesn’t work with me, it just makes me worse, so during Lent I stand in the “take something up” camp rather than the “give something up” camp. I want to end with a passage from Pope Francis, one of my heroes. This is what I am trying to do this Lent –
perhaps you could join me? Some I find easier than others. How about you? The bad news is that they are hard to do, but the good news is that there’s a lot of Lent left to practise!
Do you want to fast this Lent?
Fast from hurting words and say kind words.
Fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude.
Fast from anger and be filled with patience.
Fast from pessimism and be filled with hope.
Fast from worries and have trust in God.
Fast from complaints; contemplate simplicity.
Fast from pressures and be prayerful.
Fast from bitterness; fill your hearts with joy.
Fast from selfishness and be compassionate.
Fast from grudges and be reconciled.
Fast from words; be silent and listen.
Amen.