In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit
It is not child’s play when we pray lead us not into temptation but
deliver us from evil. Temptation and evil will haunt us until the day we
die. Luther’s Small Catechism says God tempts no one. We pray in this
petition that God would guard and keep us so that the devil, the world,
and our sinful nature may not deceive us or mislead us into false
belief, despair, and other great shame and vice. Concerning our
deliverance from evil, the Catechism says we pray in this petition, in
summary, that our Father in heaven would rescue us from every evil of
body and soul, possessions and reputation, and finally, when our last
hour comes, give us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this
valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven.
When we hear Matthew’s account of Christ’s temptation in the wilderness
we often wish that we could have the strength and ability to overcome
temptation and evil as Jesus did. We believe that because Jesus
overcomes temptation in our place, we too should overcome temptation. We
know all too well that more often than not, we will succumb to
temptation and the evil that follows. We want to do better. When that
next temptation comes, we think we will do better. We will not do
better. We will fail. We will not overcome temptation by doing exactly
as Jesus does. We can’t do exactly as Jesus does because we have
something Jesus does not have: a sinful nature.
Our sinful nature wants to live by bread alone instead of every word
that proceeds from the mouth of God. Living by bread alone is more than
the battle of the bulging waistline. It is a matter of what we fear,
love, and trust above all things. Living by bread alone means we make
the things of this world our God; we put worldly things above the God
Who made the world and everything in it. We trust in mortal princes to
save our country from financial collapse while we spend far more than
what we earn. We trust in scientific theories about how life began
rather than believing the Word of Truth that proclaims the one true God
as the source of all life. We love whatever new spiritual fad we see on
television or hear from our neighbor. Maybe a spirituality that
champions the self over any God will give us the answers we need rather
than taking our problems to the Lord in prayer.
The first four words of the explanation of the Sixth Petition of the
Lord’s Prayer are God does not tempt. Many Christians might be knocked
over with a feather when they hear those four words. There are many
times when we believe beyond any doubt that God is the one bringing
temptation or evil into our lives. Consider the seven-month-old boy
buried this week in Momence. The first thought that pops into our heads
might be “Why?” Why must God take this seven-month-old child yet leave
countless numbers of elderly people lying in nursing homes with no
quality of life? It’s not fair. Life in this world will not be fair. The
devil, the world, and our sinful nature will always accuse and attack
us. What separates Christians from children of the world is that with
the help of the Lord we may finally overcome [temptation] and win the
victory.
Living in this filthy here and now with no other gods before the face of
the true God is almost impossible. Every dad we are bombarded by all
kinds of things that do more than demand our attention. They demand our
worship. They demand total reliance on what they can do for us rather
than how God gives them to be used for good in this world. Satan tempted
Jesus with the kingdoms of the world: All these things I will give You
if You will fall down and worship me. All these things belonged to Him,
yet Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world. His kingdom is in heaven. Our
citizenship is with Jesus in the heavenly kingdom. We live as if we have
eternal roots here rather than above. We live as if this world will
never come to an end and the life of the world to come will never come
to pass.
We live not knowing what we are praying for when we pray lead us not
into temptation but deliver us from evil. When temptation and evil shake
our lives, we give in and let Satan have his way with us. It’s too hard
to fight, especially when blow after blow doesn’t hurt anymore.
The temptation and evil we face is nothing compared to the temptation
and evil Jesus Christ faced in the wilderness. It’s hard enough for us
to fast one day, let alone forty days and nights. Satan attacks us at
our weakest moment with temptations that go after our weak and
vulnerable spots. That’s exactly what he did with Jesus. Unlike our
outcome, Jesus’ outcome was much different. Yet this different outcome
is not about Jesus being stronger or better or more fit than us. The
different outcome between Jesus and Satan is about the Valiant One Whom
God Himself elected holding the field forever.
There is a reason why we sing the so-called “Battle Hymn of the
Reformation” on the first Sunday in Lent. “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”
proclaims how Jesus fights for us in everything He says and does.
Consider the first stanza:
A mighty fortress is our God,
A trusty shield and weapon;
He helps us free from every need
That hath us now overtaken.
The old evil foe
Now means deadly woe;
Deep guile and great might
Are his dread arms in fight;
On earth is not his equal.
Nothing on earth can equal the might of Satan. We look to Jesus Christ,
born of Mary yet eternally begotten of the heavenly Father. Only Jesus
helps us free from every need that overtakes us. How does Jesus help us?
Stanza three has the answer:
Though devils all the world should fill,
All eager to devour us,
We tremble not, we fear no ill;
They shall not overpower us.
This world’s prince may still
Scowl fierce as he will,
He can harm us none,
He’s judged; the deed is done;
One little word can fell him.
What is that one little word? Liar. Satan is a liar; the father of lies.
Satan tempts Jesus with lies. Jesus can make stones become bread, but we
don’t need to live on earthly bread when we have the Living Bread that
comes down from heaven. This Living Bread always satisfies, especially
in the Divine Service where we are fed with the Living Bread through
preaching, Baptism, Absolution, and the Supper. Jesus could throw
Himself off the pinnacle of the temple and live, but that miracle would
do nothing to proclaim Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God. It would be
a self-serving miracle rather than an act of selfless love toward
sinners like you and me.
Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world. He does reign over His holy Church,
but He is not a theocratic ruler of a visible kingdom here and now. His
kingdom cannot be seen with human eyes. His kingdom is seen when the
Good News of His victorious death on the cross is proclaimed. His
kingdom is seen when the Good News of His resurrection from the dead is
proclaimed. His kingdom comes to us every Lord’s Day and will come in
its fullness when Jesus returns visibly to judge the living and the dead.
Though the first Adam succumbed to temptation and fell into sin, the
Second Adam does not succumb to temptation and leads mankind out of sin
into redemption, restoration, and forgiveness. Jesus sets a beautiful
example before us when He rebuffs Satan. Yet this is more than an
example. This is what Jesus does for us in order to bring us again to
Paradise. Though Satan may take everything, he has nothing. Our victory
has been won. The Kingdom of God remains ours. Believe it for Jesus’ sake.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit
--
Rev. David M. Juhl
Our Savior Evangelical-Lutheran Church
Momence, IL
http://oselcmomence.googlepages.com
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