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The First Sunday In Lent
Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted of Satan; Make speed to help thy servants who are assaulted by manifold temptations; and, as thou knowest their several infirmities, let each one find thee mighty to save; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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The First Sunday In Lent
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Scripture citation(s): Luke 4:1-13
A Sermon by
Fr. Mead
on
Luke 4:1-13
✛
Passing through Trials
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After his baptism, Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Holy Spirit in the wilderness, tempted by the devil. St. Luke 4: 1-13
In the Name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Every year the first Sunday in Lent draws our attention to the fact that Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, and the readings alternate on a three-year cycle from the Gospels of Saints Matthew, Mark and Luke. Saint Luke this year emphasizes the role of the Spirit: Jesus was “full of the Holy Spirit” following his baptism in the river Jordan, and was now led by that same Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
Our first point to consider, therefore, is that God allows his own Son to be tested. God leads Jesus into the wilderness, a place of barrenness where Jesus goes without and is made vulnerable in every way. He has been full of the Holy Spirit, but he is now emptied of resources and security; in which condition the devil, the tempter, finds Jesus and tests him.
All of the tests to which Jesus is put and through which he passes in Saint Luke’s account can be summarized as temptations to use palpable power,¹ one might say force or violence, to answer a need or achieve an end. There is the temptation to use power over nature (“command this stone to become bread”), power over people (“to you I will give all this authority”), and power over God (“throw yourself down”). It is worth noting that the devil quotes Scripture at Jesus. But Jesus knows Scripture more truly and the power of God. He passes through his trial by relying only on God. There are no miracles, signs or wonders, no demonstrations of palpable power, force or violence. Jesus uses no shortcuts or circumventions. He simply perseveres to the end, and then it is over. The devil departs from Jesus until an opportune time.
When will that opportune time be? Many times, but most especially in a Garden the night Jesus was betrayed and arrested, the night before his crucifixion. The result of this final Agony in the Garden is already anticipated in Luke’s wilderness temptation. Jesus will not use force to save himself, even as he sweats blood. Instead he will go to his cross and die with the words, “Father into thy hands I commend my spirit.” (Lk 23:46)
Our next point to consider is the fact that God allows us to be tested. Our trials may not be epic struggles such as the Lord’s, but they do have a way of coming at an appointed time and having a shape designed to fit us. What are these tests? They are the circumstances of life that come our way. The way we face or do not face them reveals what kind of person we are, what we are made of. Our life in this world cannot be without trials.² We grow only by undergoing them. Whether they are fair or not (and very often they seem outrageous and unbearable), they expose our weaknesses and refine our strengths. We do not know ourselves if we do not go through them. Let us just say it: there is no real self-awareness, no progress, no victory, no reward, without the pain and suffering that comes with trials. This is the price of being free and responsible, a man or woman made in the image of God. We cannot save ourselves from these tests, but God does not ask for success as the world understands it, he asks for faithfulness, which is success as Scripture defines it.
Now let us ask, what is the connection between Christ’s sufferings and ours? “In the days of his flesh,” writes the apostle, “Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and was heard for his godly fear. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.” This means that the Lord, who had all the power there is at his disposal, chose to take our nature upon himself, our condition, so much so that although he knew no sin yet he was “made sin” for us. He let go of all palpable power. He emptied himself, even to the point that he experienced God-forsakenness. Entering – or falling into – this abyss, Christ is united with us in every respect, including death itself. And in dying, he destroys death’s power (the devil’s prize possession) and brings deliverance from the fear and bondage of death. Christ’s triple victory in the wilderness is finished on his cross, his finest hour. Christ suffered and died our death for us, and we can confidently draw near to him, for he lives and reigns in the very “throne of grace,” where we can find grace to help in our own times of need, our trials and tests.³ What is this grace that Jesus offers us when we are in need? It is the knowledge that it is all right to be powerless. It is Christ’s solidarity with us in that condition. It is the knowledge that all we can do is walk by faith.
To know God constitutes eternal life; to serve God is perfect freedom, says the Church at Daily Morning Prayer, as she prays for us, that God will defend us in all assaults of our enemies; that we may trust in God’s defense and not fear the power of any adversaries, through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Further, the Church prays that just as God brings us to each new day, he will defend us by keeping us from falling into sin and running into danger; but will order all our doings in righteousness in his sight. Read these two great prayers, the Morning Prayer Collect for Peace and the Collect for Grace, in your Prayer Book and make them yours as they are intended. I believe you will find yourself living and moving more consciously and intentionally in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Finally, a word for when you are in the very clinch, the grip, of a trial or temptation, at the knife’s edge, feeling its immediacy and power. Simply pray, even without words, and open yourself to the Lord. Pray for dear life, because that is what is at stake – your life, which is under attack, or trial, or temptation, from some source either within or without. Remember that the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. Whatever else may happen in the grip of a trial, you have breathed out a prayer, uttered a cry of faith. You are united to Jesus Christ, the victor in the wilderness. It may not feel like victory just then, in fact you may feel as though you are as good as dead, but you are really living! And you are in good company.
In the Name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Amen.
__________
¹Luke Timothy Johnson, Sacra Pagina, Vol. 3, Luke, pp. 75-76.
²J. Robert Wright, Readings for the Daily Office from the Early Church, p. 127.
³Hebrews 5:7-9; 2:14-18; 4:14-16
