Dealing with the Temptation to Not Trust God

Luke 4:1-4 Dealing with the Temptation to Not Trust God 1. The Devil tempts us to think that God will not fulfill our needs 2. We fight this temptation by remembering God's goodness 3. Jesus has taken away the sins of our failure to trust God February 25, 2007

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone.’” (NIV)

I don't know who first said it, but it's been said many times since, and it almost never fails to get a laugh--"I can resist everything except temptation." Ha ha ha, very funny. Except to those of us who struggle mightily with temptation every day and very often lose. To us that's not so funny. Because we would often feel like saying, "I can't resist temptation--and I feel just awful about it." The gospel reading for this morning is the account of three temptations the Devil threw at Jesus. This morning and for two of the next three Sunday mornings we're going to see Jesus take on the Devil. We're going to learn how the Devil works, what temptations he uses. We're going to learn from Jesus how, with his help, we can fight the Devil's temptations. And most importantly, we're going to see him defeat temptation and the Devil for us, in our place. This morning we’ll look at the temptation to not trust God.

1. The Devil tempts us to think that God will not fulfill our needs Our reading takes place almost immediately after Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, marking the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. Luke tells us that the Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the Devil. Knowing what we know about the rest of Jesus' life, we can be sure that while it was the Spirit who led Jesus, Jesus went willingly. We read in Matthew’s gospel that Jesus fasted while he was there. When most Jews fasted, they fasted only from sunup to sundown. We read that Jesus, on the other hand, fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. Luke writes, “He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.” You almost smile a little at this understatement on Luke’s part--"he was hungry." Just "hungry"?!!? Most of us can hardly stand the thought of going without food for 40 hours--much less 40 days! And remember here that Jesus was true man. His body needed food the way your body and my body need food. He was physically feeling what you and I would have been physically feeling. And if you've ever been really, really physically hungry, you know what it does to the rest of you. My dad is a good example of this: When our family went to Europe a number of years ago, he was a real trooper. I mean, he would get up early in the morning and we would fit in more physical activity before noon that he would usually fit into a whole month. He was focused on seeing cool stuff and doing cool stuff. But suddenly around noon his whole attitude would change. His comments were shorter, more clipped. His smile disappeared. By about 12:30 his focus had entirely shifted, until suddenly we would be talking about where to go next, and he would burst out with, "Well, I'd better get something to eat soon!" We can't imagine how it would have felt for Jesus to go 40 days without food, but we know that if we had been Jesus, after 40 days of fasting we would have had only thought in our head--food. Somehow, some way, any way, I have to get some food. So it's not too hard to imagine why the Devil chose the temptation he did. After all, it had worked with Esau, hadn't it? Esau had been so hungry, so focused on getting some food, that he was willing to commit the sin of despising his birthright and selling it for a warm meal. (Genesis 27) Here also, the Devil attacked at the place where he perceived Jesus to be the weakest. And that's the first thing we learn about the Devil--that he attacks in the place where we are weakest, where our values have become the most skewed. When you were really, really caught up in that guy or that girl you were dating, when that was the only thing you could think about, the Devil attacked and tried to get you to sin sexually with that person. When you are really, really tired and all you can think about is getting to the point where you're not tired, the Devil attacks, and he tries to convince you that shutting off your alarm and sleeping a little later on Sunday will make all the difference. When you have had a draining week at work, a difficult week at home, and all you can think about is getting away from everything for a while, the Devil attacks and tells you that if you've got the opportunity to get away from it all by turning on the TV, you shouldn't let something like time with your spouse get in the way of your needs. When you've had your heart set on that dream vacation, that dream vehicle, that dream deck, and then some unexpected medical bills come up, and you wonder how you're going to be able to go on that vacation, get that vehicle, or build that deck, the Devil attacks right there. He tells you that since the illness obviously was allowed by God--and since God loves you so much that he wouldn't want you to suffer any more, the most logical way to come up with the money is by cutting back on offerings. That way you'll still be able to fulfill your needs. After all, it's not right for me to suffer in this way, right? That was part of the Devil's point to Jesus--"If you are really the Son of God, it would seem to be beneath you to go hungry, as though you were some poor human beggar. What sort of a Father allows this to happen to his son? Surely he must want you to take some action--somehow, some way, any way!" And so the Devil leads us to wonder, "If I am really God's child, why would he allow me to be so unhappy, as though I was not his child at all? He must be expecting me to take action--somehow, some way, any way. In fact, I really owe it to myself to get what I need--by whatever means are necessary-- whether it's pressuring that other person into having sex with me, whether it's trading an hour of worship for an hour of sleep, whether it's "getting away from at all" at the expense of my relationship with my spouse, or whether it's making God cut back his expenses so I don't have to cut mine and not have the things that I need. After all, none of these other things would have had to suffer if only God had given me all these things I need in the first place, would they? And that's another thing the Devil tries to get us to do--he attempts to get us to confuse wants and needs. We don't need that hour of sleep--we want it. We don't need that break in front of the TV--we want it. We don't need that dream deck--we want it. Well, of course, we say. I have no problem trusting God to give me things I need and hoping that maybe he'll give me the things that I want. I understand the difference between needs and wants. But do we? But I wonder. I wonder if we were to wake up tomorrow without the ability to walk, I wonder if we would give in to the temptation to accuse God of not providing for our needs. I wonder if we wouldn't mislabel our desire to walk by calling it a need to walk.

Suppose that you were facing the prospect of going to bed tonight with no money and with no food in the fridge. (That was basically Jesus' situation here, remember!) I wonder if the Devil wouldn't be able to convince some of us that God wasn't keeping his end of the bargain, failing to provide us with all that we need, that God was treating us like "a planet of playthings, dancing on strings." I wonder how many of us would be able to resist the temptation to cut some moral corners if we were facing the prospect of going to bed tonight with no money and with no food in the fridge, convincing ourselves that it wasn't right for us to suffer this way. That sort of attitude is what the Devil was counting on from Jesus. After 40 days of fasting, food was certainly a need for Jesus, right? Certainly Jesus would be right in taking things into his own hands. You see how the Devil was tempting Jesus here. He was basically using the same line of argument with Christ, the Second Adam, that he had used to lead the First Adam into sin--the argument that God doesn't care about you, and therefore he can't be trusted in the things that he says. The Devil was telling Jesus here that God must not care about him, and that if Jesus wants to save his life, he'd better act soon and change these stones into bread.

2. We know and trust God's goodness It would have been an easy thing for Jesus to do–to turn the stones into bread. And it would have satisfied what could perhaps by this time truly be termed a “need.” But Jesus didn’t do it. Instead he replies to the Devil, "It is written, 'Man does not live on bread alone, [and Matthew’s account then adds] but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Some people have taken these words of Jesus to mean that he was saying to Satan, "You act as though I should be all concerned about physical food. Physical food is not important. What's important is being fed by God's Word." Now it's certainly true that Jesus would say God's Word is more important than food. He showed that when he indicated to Martha, sister of Mary, that she shouldn't think it was so important that supper got set on the table and people got fed, but that she was fed with the words of her Savior, as Mary was doing. He said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better..." (Luke 10:41-42). But while Jesus would say that God's Word is certainly more important than physical food, Jesus would not say that physical food was completely unimportant. When a large crowd had listened to Jesus preach until suppertime, Jesus didn't tell the hungry crowd, "Why are you hungry? What is the matter with you--that you want something to eat? You've been fed with my Word. Don't worry about feeding your bodies!" No, rather Jesus took some food, prayed to the Father, and provided enough food for all of them. (John 6) If Jesus were suggesting here that someone who had been without food for 40 days ought not desire some kind of sustenance for their body, we would have a Savior who was severely out of touch with reality. So what was Jesus telling the Devil here? To find out, let's look at the context of the passage Jesus quotes. It's taken from the book of Deuteronomy. Moses is speaking to the Israelites, and he says, "Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you...He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." (Deuteronomy 8:2-4).

One lesson the Israelites had learned in the wilderness was that they were completely, totally, in every way dependent upon God for their survival. God made them hunger in order that when he did provide them with manna, they would know from where it had come. They knew that if God wanted them to live, they would live--even in the middle of a desert. And when they entered the Promised Land, they would know that if God wanted them to die, they would die--no matter that the land around them was "flowing with milk and honey." That is, they were living only because the Lord said they could. Jesus' point to the Devil here is the same: All the bread in the world will not keep me alive if my Father does not want me to live. If my Father wants me to live, I will--even if I don't eat for another 40 days. Therefore I will trust God, and I will resist the temptation to take matters into my own hands. (And if we read ahead a few verses in Matthew’s account, we find out that God did indeed keep his promises--sending angels to "attend him." Since the word has a literal meaning of "to wait on someone at the table" we can safely say that the angels brought him food--much like when an angel provided food for a weary Elijah in the Old Testament.) "Lord," we say, "give me a faith such as this! Give me the faith to rely so completely on you to fulfill my needs! Give me such a strong trust that I patiently wait for you to act--even through suffering, even through sorrow! Give me such a unwavering belief in you that I never doubt your goodness--even when I don't see evidence of it! Give me such ability to resist temptation!" And you and I have every reason for having such a faith. We can look back on our lives and see evidence of the times when God provided for us by ordinary means, and we can also look back and see the times when he provided "manna from heaven", as it were. And as for evidence that God loves us...we need look no further than the cross of Jesus Christ. As Paul wrote, "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:31-32)

3. Jesus has taken away the sins of our failure to trust God That comforts us when we're tempted to fear, when we're tempted to doubt, when we're tempted to tire of waiting for God to act. And that also comforts us for all the times when we have given in to Satan's temptations to not trust in God. Yes, for all the times that we have not resisted temptation, Jesus has. This morning we have seen just one instance, but there were many, many more. The writer to the Hebrews says that Jesus "has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). This morning we have seen Jesus tempted as we are, tempted not to trust God's promises, but we see Jesus defeating the temptation for us. And that's really what's critical for us in this story--that we realize Jesus is not just giving us lessons here in how to fight the Devil, but that Jesus is fighting--and defeating–the Devil for us. For every time that we acted because we were afraid God wouldn't, for every time that we decided that because we wanted something we therefore needed it--no matter what God's Word said--for every time we have done those things and been worked over, defeated by the Devil, Jesus has defeated the Devil. Yes, we can and should learn from Jesus here. But we must first take comfort, take delight in the fact that because of Jesus, God views us also as having resisted everything--even temptation. Our sins are forgiven. Knowing that we have a God and a Savior who would take care of such great things for us, may we continue to resist the Devil's temptations, trusting that, as in the past, we will continue to "live on every word that comes from the mouth of God." Amen.