Sermon for March 9th, 2025: Temptation, based on Luke 4:1-13

Hochhalter, Cara B.. Three Temptations, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=58923. Original source: Cara B. Hochhalter.

Luke 4:1-13
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. 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.” ’
​
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.” ’

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.” ’ When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time. 

---

Temptation: Luke 4:1-13 
What do you do with power when you get it? I think this is a key question of today’s reading. When you have been empowered, how will you use that power? If you’re Jesus, you use it ways many won’t expect and some won’t trust. Today’s reading, which is in three of the four Gospels, is a story about power and how Jesus was tempted to use it. And, it is about how he resisted those temptations.  
I spoke of this story a few weeks ago when we talked about Jesus’ baptism. This is the first thing that happens after.  The Holy Spirit came down on him in the shape of a dove and led him into the wilderness. Throughout the Bible, the wilderness is a wild, holy, and dangerous place. You meet God in the wilderness. You also struggle in the wilderness.  

Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness are to remind us of Moses’ forty days on a mountain with no food. Luke tells us that Jesus also didn't eat at all during his time away. Luke doesn't tell us why he didn't eat. What seems to actually be more important to Luke is how Jesus responds to not eating. You see, Jesus was very, hungry... famished even. And, as Cheryl Lindsay points out in her commentary on this text, you can only tempt someone with what they need or what they desire. Jesus needed food. And, there was someone else out there in the wilderness ready to tempt him with something he needed.

In his commentary on this text, Richard Swanson notes that the figure called “diabolos,” the devil in Greek, is following the pattern of the “satan,” the tester or tempter whom we read about in Job. Swanson calls him the “Cosmic Building Inspector” who “testing the Son of God” to “see if he holds true.” Remember, the quickest way to test someone’s resolve is to offer them something they desperately need. A dastardly way to get someone to misuse their power is to remind them of what they lack. If they would only use their power to their own benefit first, they could use it for its true purpose later. "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread." Jesus’ response?  "One does not live by bread alone." You see, there is more than one way to be hungry. 

In her commentary, Cheryl Lindsay argues that this first temptation is the key to the whole thing. Jesus actually physically needed food. He didn’t really need anything else the devil could offer. When someone is famished and still strong enough to not abuse their power, even to protect themselves, very little else could tempt him. Jesus, who was full of the Holy Spirit, could wait to be filled with food. He is not the Son of God so that he can fill his own belly. His power will never be oriented towards himself. His power is oriented to the Other. 

Swanson, on the other hand, argues that the tests that follow build in level of temptation. The devil will try to use Jesus’ orientation to the other to tempt him further. In the second temptation, the devil offers him all the power necessary to do what he wants in the world, including good. But, the power comes with a catch. “If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” I’ve watched many a person proclaim their good intentions while aligning themselves with the devil. Sometimes, this choice is cast as a temporary compromise for the greater good. Sometimes, though, it is a clear-minded, if craven, calculation: This person can get me what I want, so I will do what they ask. For Jesus, becoming a ruler that way came at too high of a price for Jesus. He could not worship the devil, even if it meant that later he could do more good. So, he says no. 

In her commentary on this text, Ruth Anne Reese points out that the location shifts for the third temptation. The devil takes Jesus out of the wilderness into Jerusalem. Reese notes that the wilderness was where the Jewish people were shaped into a covenant people. Jerusalem became the city at the center of that covenant identity. At this point in history, the Second Temple (the one rebuilt after leaders returned from Babylon), was in active use, recently renovated and expanded by Herod the Great. It was the center of worship and the seat of power for their people (even though Rome was actually in charge). Jesus has already demonstrated his commitment to not using power to serve others and his commitment to using his power in ways that don’t require allegiance to evil. This final test in the central city and central site of worship for his people is about his understanding of God and the constraints of power.  

Taking Jesus up to the very top of the temple, the devil said, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here." The devil quoted scripture, reminding Jesus that the writers of the Psalms said that God loves God's people and will protect them. If Jesus is the Son of God, if God is calling him to a special mission, God would surely send angels to catch him before he crashed into the stones below. As Jesus stood on both the precipice of the temple and his mission, the devil tempted him by asking him if he wanted an assurance that he would be invulnerable to the danger ahead. Wouldn’t it be better to demonstrate without a doubt that God was strong enough to protect him?  

Jesus said, no. He realized that just because the devil knows how to use scripture to justify a terrible idea doesn't mean that Jesus has to, quite literally, fall for his argument. Some scriptures simply carry more weight than others, and act as the guides for our interpretation. In this case, Jesus knows the guiding scripture. He said “do not put the Lord your God to the test.” You see, the power Jesus would wield would not be without bounds. Swanson puts it this way:  “This test offers the Messiah (and every human being) the chance to be absolutely free. And if the Messiah is free even from the law of gravity, then the Messiah is invulnerable. Which, of course, is precisely what it does not mean to be Messiah. Or human.” Jesus’ Messiahship was not rooted in him being impervious to danger. He has not been empowered to keep himself safe. He has been empowered to live in radical solidarity with creation. That will put him at risk, not above it.  

What do you do with power when you get it? Jesus will use it for the benefit of others. And, he will use it in ways that do not make him beholden to earthly rulers, either by imitating how they use their coercive powers or by submitting to them in order to get what he wants. I don’t remember where I read this, but scholar and pastor Fred Craddock once wrote, "The stronger you are, the more capable you are, the more opportunity you have, the more power and influence you have, the greater will be your temptation." When we see Jesus being tested, we are seeing him at both his most vulnerable and seeing him leaning into his newfound strength, learning how to make the choice to follow the Divine path ahead of him. None of these tests would mean anything if he wasn't able to actually succumb to the temptation.  

As we continue through Jesus’ story this Lent, we’ll see Jesus producing food when there isn’t enough, teaching with authority and engaging with people in positions of authority, and healing people beyond the constraints of typical human power. The devil picked his tests wisely because each of the temptations was within the realm of what was possible for Jesus to do. But, Jesus was wiser. Just because you can do something, that doesn’t mean you should. The reasons why you do something matter, too. Jesus’ “why” will also “will this action serve the other?” 
 
I often think the stories we read about Jesus’ life can be read to learn something more about him and can help us learn more how Jesus wants us to behave in this world. This story is no exception. It is at once a testament to his willingness to be at risk while walking alongside us in creation as well as an example for us to follow. The Messiah would spurn the kind of power build on coercion and collusion. We who would follow the Messiah are invited to do the same. As Cheryl Lindsay puts it, “Jesus gives us a model for overcoming [human vulnerabilities]–strengthening ourselves spiritually and mentally to be ready to sacrifice and sustain ourselves for the tests of the moment and the trials ahead.” May we offer up thanksgiving for Christ who did not succumb to temptation. And, may we follow him in using our power for the good of God’s beloved creation.  

Resources consulted while writing this sermon:  
Cheryl Lindsay: https://www.ucc.org/sermon-seeds/sermon-seeds-famished/ 
Richard Swanson: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/first-sunday-in-lent-3/commentary-on-luke-41-13-6 
Ruth Anne Reese: https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2769 
Fred. B. Craddock, Luke (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), though the quote might be from a sermon called "Tempted to Do Good"