To The Wilderness and Back
March 4, 2001
Luke 4:1-13
Sixty-three days ago today we began the New Year of 2001 and started on
our journey into the next millennium. It’s exciting to be part of the human race that will live and make history in the next millennium. I remember when I was growing up one of my father’s favorite responses to me when I wanted to do something was, “Yea, I’ll let you do that in the next millennium, or when a certain warm spot freezes over.” It was as if the next millennium was so far off that it would never get here. Well, that certain warm spot hasn’t frozen over yet, but the next millennium is definitely here.
Speaking about a certain place freezing over, I heard a story the other day about hell freezing over. It seems that a rough and gruff man from Massachusetts who didn’t live a very good life died and went to hell. The devil really wanted to punish him, so he put him to work
breaking up rocks with a sledgehammer. To make it worse he cranked up the temperature and the humidity.
After a couple of days the Devil checked in on the man to see if he was
suffering adequately. The Devil was aghast as he looked at the man from Massachusetts happily swinging his hammer and whistling a happy tune.
The Devil walked up to him and said, “I don’t understand this. I’ve turned
the heat way up, it’s humid, you’re crushing rocks and sweating. Why are you so happy?” The man smiled, looked at the Devil said, “This is great, it reminds me of the hot humid August days back in Massachusetts. This is fantastic! It’s just like home”
The Devil decided to change things a bit. He dropped the temperature, sent down driving rain and torrential wind. Soon, hell was a wet, muddy mess. The man from Massachusetts was happily slogging through the mud pushing a wheelbarrow full of crushed rocks.
Again, the Devil asked how this man could be so happy in such conditions. The man replied, “This is great. Just like April back in Massachusetts. It reminds me of working out in the fields doing the spring planting!
The Devil was completely baffled. In desperation, he tried one last ditch
effort. He made the temperature plummet. Hell was blanketed in snow and ice. Confident that this has done it, the Devil checked in on the
man. He couldn’t believe his eyes as he saw the man dancing, singing, and
twirling his sledgehammer in glee. “How can you be so happy. Don’t you realize its 40 below zero!?” screamed the Devil. “Hell’s frozen over!” replied the man from Massachusetts, “The Patriots have won the Superbowl!”
Well, back to the new millennium… I wonder how many of us made our usual New Year’s resolutions 63 days ago, and how many of us have stuck with those resolutions ? Isn’t that the way it usually works. The ice cream that we swear off, the cashews that we say we will never eat again and the chocolate Mounds Bar we say we will only eat once a week, have a way of slowly creeping back into our lives. And that exercise bike looked so good last month, didn’t it ? We were sure it would be a lot more comfortable than it really was. But you know, the more we look at it, the more we think it serves better as a place to hang our clothes. Our shirts fit so perfect over the handlebars.
But you know for those of us who need a second chance with our New Year’s resolutions of giving things up, Lent offers us that second chance.
Fasting and self-denial are two aspects of Lent. The tradition of fasting during Lent comes from Jesus fasting in the desert for forty days before being tempted by the devil. Our forty days of Lent is really symbolic of the forty days that Jesus spent in the wilderness. That is why we start off Lent with this passage of Scripture we read this morning that places Jesus in the desert for forty days.
Now for you mathematicians out there who have just counted the days between Ash Wednesday and Easter, on your fingers and toes, you will note that there are more than forty days between Ash Wednesday and Easter. Well, we only count Monday through Saturday, we don’t count Sundays. Those are considered holy days. Now count again and you will see that there are forty days of Lent.
Now that I have wetted your appetite with that little bit of information, I bet you are all wondering how the date for Easter Sunday gets set, because it is different every year. Well, here’s a little history lesson. Prior to 325 A.D., Easter was celebrated on different days of the week. In 325 A.D. a group of religious leaders got together at the direction of emperor Constantine. They had a meeting that was called the Council of Nicaea. They issued what is known today as the Easter Rule, which states that Easter shall be celebrated on the first Sunday that occurs after the first full moon on or after the first day of spring.
Therefore, Easter will always be celebrated on a Sunday between the dates of March 22 and April 25. The date of Easter is tied to the lunar cycle. The first day of Spring is March 20th. The next full moon after March 20th this year happens to fall on a Sunday, April 8th, Palm Sunday. Therefore, Easter is on the following Sunday, April 15th. Now you need to remember all that because next year I am going to give a test. Well, back to our Scripture lesson for today.
Luke tells us that Jesus had just come from the Jordan and was full of the Holy Spirit. This is a reference to Jesus’ baptism by John in the Jordan River. We remember the Dove ascending upon Jesus filling him with the Holy Spirit. That event was really the inauguration of Jesus’ ministry. Now, powered by the Holy Spirit, Jesus is led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
Luke goes on to tell us that Jesus, “… ate nothing during those forty days and at the end of them was hungry.” Here enters Satan with his first temptation. He says to Jesus, “If you really are the Son of God, then turn this stone into a loaf of bread.” Note that Satan hits Jesus when and where he is most vulnerable. Jesus had not eaten for forty days. He wasn’t just a little hungry. He didn’t have just a little craving for a snack. Jesus was famished.
Right there in the midst of his physical weakness, at his lowest and weakest point, what is the first thing Satan tempts him with ? Food. Satan eggs Jesus on saying to him, “Come on, if you really are the Son of God, then go ahead and feed yourself. Go ahead and turn these stones into bread and then you can eat.”
Satan was tempting Jesus to go against God’s will. He was tempting Jesus to be independent of God and to use his own power to feed himself instead of being fed by God. He was tempting Jesus into self-serving instead of self-sacrifice. But Jesus goes back to the Scriptures and says, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” This quote comes from Book of Deuteronomy when the Israelites were wandering in the desert and God gave them manna (or bread) from heaven to eat.
In the second temptation, (Luke has this temptation last, but Matthew has it first. I prefer Matthew’s order because it makes more sense.) In this temptation, Satan brings Jesus up to the highest point of the temple and says to him again, “If you really believe that you are the Son of God, go ahead and throw yourself down. Go ahead and see if the angels will come and save you like God says they will.”
Satan figures he will give Jesus back some of his own medicine. He quotes to Jesus verses 11 and 12 from the 91st Psalm. We heard these words in our Old Testament reading this morning. “God will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not (be hurt, or) strike your foot against a stone.”
We can begin to see the game of Scriptural ping-pong taking place. Jesus fights fire with fire and quotes Scripture right back to Satan saying, “It is also written, do not put the Lord your God to the test.”
In the third and final temptation, Satan gives it his all. His last two temptations have failed. He knows this is his last chance so he attempts to make a deal with Jesus. He takes Jesus up to a mountaintop and shows him all the kingdoms of the world. He says to Jesus, “This can all be yours if you will just bow down and worship me.” The kingdoms of the world with all of their wonder and splendor, in exchange for worshipping Satan. Jesus is offered to exchange his suffering and death on a cross if he will only exchange God for the devil.
But Jesus sends Satan packing on his way with one final quote of Scripture, again from the Book of Deuteronomy. “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” Jesus held fast to the promises of God by holding on to the Word of God. Luke tells us that after this final temptation, “…the Devil left him.” Matthew adds, “the angels came and cared for him.”
Today’s Scripture reading is meant to set the tone for the next six-week period of Lent. The temptation of Jesus takes us on a Lenten journey. A journey that starts in the wilderness and ends in Jerusalem where the shadow of a cross can be seen stretching across the landscape on a Friday afternoon.
During this time of Lent we recall the journey of Jesus and the Easter story. We take time to absorb its meaning. We use the season of Lent as a time of reflection and self-examination as well as a time for inner healing. It is a time when we examine and evaluate our lives as Christians. We use the time to think about our attitudes, our patterns of behavior and the areas of our lives that need changing and healing.
Today we are invited into the wilderness with Jesus. We are invited to go into the wilderness with Jesus knowing that no matter how far we have wandered off, God is there with His hand stretched out ready to lead us back to safety.
Let us use this season of Lent to come out from the wilderness and renew our relationship with God and our brothers and sisters in Christ. Let us use this forty-day period to strengthen and deepen our relationship with God and others. Let us also use this season of Lent to prepare our hearts for the joy of Easter as we seek the Living God who walks with us no matter where we wander. AMEN!
