We are in the Gospel of Luke again today. Last week we saw Jesus in the Temple as a 12-year-old boy. A chapter or two later, Jesus is about 30 years old, and that’s where we pick up the story.

There is an ancient tradition in the Christian Church of standing when the Gospel is read, so if you are able, please join us…at the end of the reading, I’ll say “this is the Word of the Lord,” and you may respond with, “thanks be to God.” I also encourage you to listen for and pay particular attention to the role of the Spirit in this passage:

“Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

The sky cracked, the Holy Spirit had come down, and the voice— the voice of a proud Father—spoke: You are my Son. Now there’s no doubt…Jesus knows who he is, and we know who Jesus is. And it is almost time for God’s Son to begin his ministry here on earth.

“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished.”

But first, right after his baptism, the Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness (same thing as a desert) to be tempted for 40 days. You know, 40 is such an important number in the Bible. But probably the most important “40” in the Old Testament is when God’s Spirit, in the form of fire and cloud, led the nation of Israel into the desert for 40 years to be tested.

Now Jesus is walking in the way of Israel: God’s Spirit led Israel through the waters of the sea (with Pharaoh’s army in hot pursuit) and then immediately into the desert for 40 years. God’s Spirit now leads Jesus through the waters of the Jordan (where Jesus was baptized) and then immediately into the desert to be tempted for 40 days.

Through the water, and into the desert, Jesus is led where Israel was led; but where Israel failed, Jesus will succeed.

But someone else is there in the desert with Jesus… someone evil, the devil. Who is this malignant force we call Satan? He takes no physical form here, and Luke doesn’t describe him. But whenever we catch a glimpse in the Bible of this enemy of ours, Satan uses words and ideas to try

• to split people apart from God,
• to split people apart from Creation, and
• to split people apart from other people.

I remember this one day on our Honduras trip last summer…many were getting sick, our host Norma had a high fever, Norma’s pregnant daughter was in early labor with complications; by the end of the day they would both be in the hospital. An prominent elder in the local church had died, and the community was intensely mourning. Transportation was confusing, logistics were a mess, tensions in our group were high.

We looked at each other that night at our worship time, and none of us could deny that the enemy had been at work that day, splitting us apart from God and splitting us apart form each other. His voice whispering doubts, and hopelessness, and blame into our ears…and so we prayed for the Holy Spirit to hold us together.

We hear two voices here in the desert: Jesus’ voice, and Satan’s voice. But these two are not alone in the desert: God’s Spirit is present the whole time Jesus is tempted, never leaving him alone with the devil. In fact, it is the Spirit of God who actually leads Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted. This raises a difficult question for us: Does God tempt us? No, I think it’s clear here and elsewhere that temptations comes from Satan, not God.

Maybe we can put it this way: God does not tempt us (that is the devil’s job). But God does test us: to see what we’re made of, to strengthen us and build our trust in him alone. Maybe it’s a fine line between tempting and testing—the word Luke uses can mean either test or tempt, depending on who’s doing it, and why:

God tests us in order to strengthen us. Satan tempts us in order to split us apart from God, and from each other.

And God’s favorite place to lead us through times of testing is the desert—a dry and barren place, waterless and without much life—a place where there is not much to rely on other than God. The desert is a hard place to be, but a good place to build trust.

Now sometimes when I hear the word test I think of a mean, objective standardized test – especially one with little bubbles and a No. 2 pencil…I hated those kinds of tests; they felt so impersonal, like someone was trying to trick me. I feel like I’m locked in the testing room all by myself, and it’s all about me measuring up to a predetermined standard.

It’s not that kind of test that God leads us through. God’s tests are like the kind given by a caring and compassionate teacher who wants the best for us—a teacher who doesn’t like to see us hurt, but who knows we need to face difficulties in order to learn and grow. This teacher writes a special test with us in mind, comes into the testing room with us, and then leads us through the test. Like this teacher, God is on our side, even when he’s testing us.

Now the devil – he’s like the kid sitting next to you in that kind teacher’s class, trying to get you to cheat during the test, to take a shortcut…

The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’ ”

“Hey Jesus, psst, Jesus…the teacher’s not looking, why don’t you just turn this rock into a loaf of bread?”

The devil attacks Jesus first in his weakness: Jesus is hungry; this suggestion to make bread-from-rocks must have been so tempting. Forty days earlier Jesus had heard the voice from heaven:

“You are my beloved Son,”

but now he hears a different voice:

“If you are the Son of God…are you really the Son of God?”

Jesus heard God’s voice at the river, but 40 hungry days later, the devil is trying to give Jesus an identity crisis in the desert.

My identity crisis comes right here – in this pulpit, every time I come to preach. The devil finds me sometime the week before, hungry to impress you: hungry for e-mails, phone calls and conversations at the door about how my sermon changed your life (no pressure, anyone). I’ve only stood in this pulpit five or six Sundays now to preach, but each time—in the week before – —I can expect that excruciating, whispering voice in my head:

“Who do you think you are to stand there and preach God’s Word? If they only knew the mistakes you make, the doubts you have…they’d never listen.”

Satan loves to find us in our hunger, whisper lies to us, and give us an identity crisis. The voice from heaven says:

“You are my beloved child, even here in the desert where you feel weakest.”

The lie from Satan says:

“If you are God’s beloved child, why do you still struggle with this or that, why do you look like a failure right now?”

Satan is after our doubts—he wants to feed them until they consume us. God is after our trust—he wants to grow our trust through times of testing. The devil’s offer to Jesus seems so good: Nothing is wrong with bread, all humans need to eat. Jesus himself taught us to pray for bread every day:

“Give us this day our daily bread.”

But in response to Satan, Jesus turns to Scripture: Deuteronomy 8:3,

“One does not live by bread alone.”

Jesus knows that bread is good and necessary, but bread is not enough to live on. Real life comes from trusting God to provide. The time would come for Jesus to make bread for the hungry (Luke 9), and Jesus’ disciples will follow his commandment, and feed the hungry in his name (even now we feed the hungry in Jesus’ name), but this was not the time for Jesus to make bread. So the devil comes at Jesus again, this time from a different angle...

Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’ ”

“Hey Jesus, look at all this! Worship me and the world is yours, right now.” The devil attacks Jesus now in one of his strengths: Jesus’ power and desire to do good. Jesus loved the world, and right now he could make it a safer place; Jesus could save the world without dying. Accepting the devil’s offer could accomplish everything he wanted to do, but it would keep Jesus away from the Cross.

What would Satan show you and me, in that “instant”: a million dollars, to use for good? Maybe earning the money would require a shady business deal along the way; oh but once we had the money—what great things we would do with it! Would the devil show us the wisdom we yearn for so badly, but without the years and experience to obtain it? Sure it’s a shortcut, this wisdom unearned, but what great things we would do with that wisdom! How many people we could help!

Satan will tempt us not just in our weaknesses, but in our strengths, in the good things we want to do. The voice from heaven says:

“You are my beloved child, I’m pleased with you.”

The lie from Satan says:

“If God is so pleased with you, look how much more you could please him with this worthy cause—just bow the knee for one moment!—and look what you’ll accomplish!”

The devil’s offer seems so good: “Jesus, look how your kingdoms could help God’s Kingdom!” After all, Jesus himself taught us to pray, “Father, your kingdom come.” But in response, Jesus (again) turns to Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:13,

“Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.”

The time would come for Jesus to wrest the kingdoms of this world away from Satan’s power, for Jesus to take his rightful throne and rule his Kingdom. But this was not the time to receive the Kingdom, and Jesus would die before he would bow to Satan.

So the devil comes at Jesus one more time, with a new tactic: This time Satan will use Scripture (or misuse Scripture) himself. Lots of people use Scripture, for lots of different reasons. Satan uses Psalm 91, David’s prayer of trust in God’s protection…

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,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ” Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

“Hey Jesus, jump from the ledge and prove that God loves you!” The devil attacks Jesus finally in his own trust, his understanding of who God is: Jesus trusted in his Father, knowing that the Father loved and cared for him. Satan couldn’t trap Jesus in his physical weakness, he couldn’t pervert Jesus’ strong love for the world, now he’ll try to get Jesus to break his trust in his Father.

Satan will also attack us in our trust, our understanding of God’s goodness.

The voice from heaven says:

“You are my beloved child…trust me.”

The lie from Satan says:

“If you are God’s child, and if God is so good to you, then why did he let your friend die from cancer? Why didn’t he give you that job you applied for? Are you really important to God? Prove it…make God prove it.”

The devil’s offer seems so good; Satan tempts Jesus here with holy things:

• holy Scripture,
• the holy temple in the holy city,
• with holy angels.

Satan asks Jesus to take a leap of faith (literally) off the highest place in the Jerusalem Temple, dropping 45 feet to the Kidron valley below in broad daylight. Would Jesus trust his Father enough to leap off the edge? Was Jesus important enough to his Father that with all the religious leaders watching, God would send his angels to save Jesus at the last minute?

They wouldn’t doubt Jesus then, when he claimed to be God’s Son. Why not prove that God will always protect us and never allow us to feel pain or face trials? After all, Jesus himself taught us to pray to the Father,

“lead us not into temptation…deliver us from evil.”

Was Jesus important enough for God to deliver him?

You know where I prove how important I am to God? Right here, in my pocket calendar. This is where I write down all the stuff that I do:

• people I meet with,
• classes,
• sermons,
• phone calls, etc.

This is where I prove to myself and the world that what I do is so important to God – and I can trust God, as long as he doesn’t let me fail here, in this stuff.

What do you do to prove your importance to God? Is it the good stuff you do at your job, in your volunteering at school, at Wednesday Night Dinner, at church? Is it with the good stuff you do in your family, your friends? These are good things for Christ’s sake…we get busy and important for Christ’s sake…for our own sake, many days. If we succeed, we convince ourselves, if God doesn’t let us fail in this good stuff, then we’ll know that God loves us. We’ll prove it.

In response to Satan, Jesus (again) turns to Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:16,

“Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

The number of days, beginning or end, that I go to these pages of my pocket calendar to prove God’s goodness, instead of the pages of Scripture…I’m embarrassed to say.

The time would come for Jesus to take a leap of faith. From the Cross, another “high place” in Jerusalem with many watching him, Jesus will again trust in his Father. But this time he will take the “leap” of faith by giving up his Spirit and dying, trusting that his Father will raise him up on the third day.

When that time to die would come for Jesus, so many voices will taunt him, questioning his identity (Luke 23.35-39):

“If this is God’s chosen One, let him save himself.”

“If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”

“If you are the Messiah, save yourself.”

I can hear Satan’s voice again, from the desert, echoing now in these voices at the foot of the Cross…If you are, if you are, if you are…

Jesus would pray,

“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

That time to “leap” would come soon enough, and it would not be a test. But here in the desert was not the time to take that leap.

When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time. Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country.

Then Satan leaves Jesus alone, for now. But the Spirit does not leave Jesus alone—now the Spirit leads Jesus on in his ministry. The presence of the Holy Spirit does not mean that we won’t be tempted; it means that God will be with us, leading us through times of testing, using them to strengthen us, to help us trust God more.

When the devil tempts us we can claim God’s truth in Scripture (like Jesus did). We can claim our true identity as baptized daughters and baptized sons of God (like Jesus did). And we can trust that God will always have something better for us than what the devil can offer.

Will you pray with me the Lord’s Prayer that Jesus taught us to pray, saying…

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.