A LIAR MEETS THE TRUTH
Luke 4: 1-13
First Sunday in Lent, Year C
Analysis by Paul G. Theiss
1Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2where 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. 3The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.’ 4Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone.”’
5Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6And 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. 7If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’ 8Jesus answered him, ‘It is written,
“Worship the Lord your God,
and serve only him.”’
9Then 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, 10for it is written,
“He will command his angels concerning you,
to protect you”,
11and
“On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.”’
12Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”’ 13When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.
From Wikimedia Commons
“Jesus’ cross and resurrection are the victory over the devil and all his evil.”
Author’s note: Some preachers may be tempted (there’s that word) to treat this mano-a-mano contest between Jesus and the devil as either an allegorical fable or a lesson in Jungian psychology: either an artifact from a superstitious past, or a discourse on the shadow side of human nature. Neither approach, in my opinion, rises to the challenge of this Scripture and its message for our time. Our age is not only post-Christian but post-Enlightenment. Many people have lost their optimistic faith in reason and progress. Humanity faces an evil that is, in my belief, supernatural. The hounds of hell have been unleashed and roam the world: just look at the day’s news. But the preacher’s job is not to instruct faithful hearers on cosmology or current events. The preacher’s task is to present Christ, crucified and risen, to troubled souls. This Gospel does it. Blessings!
DIAGNOSIS: We are confronted with an evil we can’t avoid or control
Initial Diagnosis (External Problem): Taking it on the chin
Our “civilization” seems to be descending into the desolation of the wilderness – where life may be wasted! The old strengths and safeguards are drying up in the desert, sinking away like water into sand. Where are we going?
As Ed Schroeder once said, “Reflect for yourself on the tempting voices that come to your ears – those within your own heart and those from the outside bombarding us in daily life from our secular culture.”
Advanced Diagnosis (Internal Problem): Terror
We are famished, weakened. We feel alone. Some whom we trusted are no longer with us. Fear tempts to cling to false hopes.
Initial Diagnosis (Eternal Problem): Testing and Trial
Why has our God led us here? Where is God? Is God impotent? Or uncaring? Or both? Who put those thoughts in our heads, anyway? The devil asks Jesus, “IF you are the Son of God…” The devil asks us, “IF you are his follower…” We are confronted with an evil we can’t avoid or control – not only outside of us, but even within us.
PROGNOSIS: Christ rescues us and makes us his own through our baptism
Initial Prognosis (Ultimate Solution): Transformation
Again, borrowing from Schroeder, “Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness signal the depth dimension of his work of salvation. The prince of the powers of destruction strives to co-opt Jesus and undermine God’s rescue operation right from the word go. Each of the tempter’s three alternatives seeks to deflect Jesus from the way of the cross. But Jesus is not co-opted, and carries through to the cross!”
Christ enters the desert, our desert, “full of the Holy Spirit.” The evil we cannot overcome, the trials we cannot withstand, he does – for us! Though weakened physically, he transforms the Tempter’s attack into defeat, with Divine wisdom and power. The devil can only withdraw “until an opportune time” – which will be the time of the cross – but he’s already lost the contest. His very assault is his undoing. Jesus beats him by taking on our sin, death, and evil, rising in the strength of God’s love. Jesus’ cross and resurrection are the victory over the devil and all his evil.
Advanced Prognosis (Internal Solution): Trust
At our baptism we were asked, “Do you renounce the devil and all the forces that defy God?” and the answer comes back with a splash, “I renounce them!” That answer came from Jesus, crucified and risen, given to us by water and the Word, through the Holy Spirit. The devil is a liar (John 8:44). The devil’s only power is to lie and to accuse us in the lie. The allegiance to evil is conceding to, even believing, the lie. But we are baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection! In him we too receive the Holy Spirit. The Spirit creates faith and trust in God’s promise. We live in a dangerous world, and with the dangers of our own sins and evil, but Christ lives with us and in us – forever.
External Prognosis (External Solution): Taking on the Challenge
Our world desperately needs people who trust God’s truth in the crises of the present moment. Strengthened in faith by Jesus, we walk with him as he leads us to make a difference in troubled times.
One final word from Schroeder: “Coping with temptation is not just saying ‘no’ to the voices that co-opt us. It is re-tuning our receiving sets to the voice of Christ. He stayed tuned to God’s own voice as the tempter went after him. His staying power is God’s word to empower us to do the same in our own lives. For these forty days, O Christ, accompany us on our testing. Walk with us through Lent to Easter. Walk beside us in our wildernesses. Mute the voices that distract us from your way of the cross. Retune us to your wave length, your words that give life and that will never pass away. Amen.”
