“Surviving Temptation”
Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16 Luke 4:1-13
Allen Huff
Jonesborough Presbyterian Church
6/9/24
1You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
2will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress;
my God, in whom I trust.”
9Because you have made the Lord your refuge,
the Most High your dwelling place,
10no evil shall befall you,
no scourge come near your tent.
11For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
12On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
13You will tread on the lion and the adder;
the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.
14Those who love me, I will deliver;
I will protect those who know my name.
15When they call to me, I will answer them;
I will be with them in trouble;
I will rescue them and honor them.
16With long life I will satisfy them
and show them my salvation. (NRSV)
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2where for forty days he was tested 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 all this authority and their glory, 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 led him to Jerusalem and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple and said 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. (NRSV)
Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness is a watershed experience. It defines him personally, spiritually, vocationally. Surviving the temptation leads Jesus to say things like: “Blessed are the poor…Love your neighbor…Love your enemies…Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them…[and] Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing…”
The story of Jesus’ temptation challenges us to confess the uncomfortable truth that many things we’ve learned to regard as signs of blessedness are exactly the things about which Jesus says, “Woe to you!”
In the wilderness, Jesus does more than reject offerings of material wealth, political power, and fame. He declares that the very things the Caesars and Herods of the world uphold as signs of greatness and divine blessing do far more to hinder than to encourage faithful discipleship.
Still, whether it’s some lavish “crystal cathedral,” or nationalistic rhetoric from Christian pulpits, or a high-profile pastor using his charisma to use his congregation to buy him a 70 million-dollar Gulfstream jet, the heresy-breeding attitudes of excess, of violent theology, and of celebrity worship are alive and well today.
Those things can get our attention. They can tempt us, seduce us. And when they convince us that we’re entitled to them, we no longer hear Jesus’ still, smallvoice saying something entirely different. So, we distort the spiritual gifts and the energies we were given for loving God into means of personal gain.
Another cautionary tale from the story of Jesus’ temptation is that temptation hits us hardest when we’re least prepared to resist.
Jesus has fasted for days and days. His body is weak; his mind is vulnerable. When depleted, a person becomes open to virtually any suggestion. The same is true when our collective minds are weakened by fear. That’s why, for untold centuries, human beings have tortured each other for information, for revenge, and, when we’re at our absolute worst, for some kind of hideous satisfaction. And things like starvation and sleep deprivation are common techniques used by psychopaths and governments.
Sapped by the self-imposed hunger of fasting, Jesus confronts real possibilities—actions that can make him comfortable, powerful, and popular. He can make people flock to his side, willing to lie and kill for him. Remember Peter. Starving for security and for revenge against Rome, he falls prey to temptation in the Garden of Gethsemane. When he draws a sword and tries to kill for Jesus, Jesus makes it clear that to kill for him is to deny him and to abandon him.
Jesus expects more from his followers. Even when it seems impossible, Jesus still calls us at least to strive for the same spiritual strength against temptation that he demonstrates in the wilderness. And how do we do that? Especially when we’re famished, anxious, and vulnerable?
In the wilderness, Jesus has been fasting from protein and carbs. And when weakened by hunger and tempted to live a life at the mercy of devilish appetites, he reaches into his spiritual pantry and brings out scripture.
When tempted to turn rocks into bread—that is, to reduce the Creation to a mere commodity to be exploited—Jesus says, “One does not live by bread alone.” We’re more than our wants and needs, he says. We’re children of God. And God is trustworthy.
Then Jesus is tempted to reach not just for political power, but for domination. To rule the world, all he has to do is sell his soul to The Author of Lies, and everything will be under his feet. But that will make him just another Caesar or Herod, and just another pawn on the devil’s chessboard.
“Worship [and serve only] the Lord your God,” says Jesus. The strength and influence that matter come from grateful and humble devotion to God alone.
Maybe Old Scratch doesn’t like being down 2-0. So, he cherry picks a line from Psalm 91, a song about God never letting anything bad happen to God’s faithful ones. That pipe dream has never ever been part of anyone’s faith experience. Nor is the poet encouraging anyone to jump off of a building. He’s reminding us that, come what may—bitter suffering or blessed peace—God is faithfully present and can be trusted to see us through even the most painful experiences, and to redeem them.
Trust God in all things, says Jesus. But don’t test God. Common sense is an overlooked spiritual gift.
At his temptation, Jesus demonstrates that scripture provides what the five food groups cannot—resources for living a life according to that foundational prayer: “Not my will but yours be done.”
Now, of course human beings need food, shelter, and clothing. We need structures for our communities and people to lead them. And while human systems inevitably change or even fall apart and get replaced by new arrangements, they can also succumb to temptation and become structures of authoritarianism, manipulation, and violence—just like Rome, who had gained global power and was abusing both that power and the people.
The story also shows us that the constant in creation is God. When taken as a whole, scripture feeds us the same nourishing promise, the promise that:
God is not only in the beginning, but before the beginning, and beyond the end.
God is in Abram’s and Sarah’s search for home and belonging.
God is in Joseph’s sojourn in Egypt.
God is in Moses’ struggles to discover faith and faithful leadership.
God is in the Hebrews’ own wilderness wanderings and temptations.
God is in the voice of David the poet even more so than in David the king.
God is in Israel’s every heartbreaking exile and in every blessed return.
God is in the birth of Mary’s child in Bethlehem, and in the young man’s words and actions.
God is in the midst of that confusing Thursday night, that terrible Friday, that desolate Saturday, and that altogether new and mystifying Sunday morning.
When weakened by hunger, fear, or grief, human beings often wrestle with the temptation to think and act selfishly. So, even now, God is calling us into the scriptures to strengthen our hearts and minds so that when we face temptation, we have the spiritual reserves to follow Jesus who leads us through those trials and leads us in the ways of God’s will—ways of peace and self-emptying love.
“When the devil had finished every test,” says Luke, “he departed from [Jesus] until an opportune time.”
That says to me that temptation is a way of life. And when we face it, especially on those dismal, famished, Gethsemane nights, come what may, God is there.
Let’s remember Peter once again. After trying to kill for Jesus, Peter—whom Jesus nicknamed Rock—denies Jesus, repeatedly, in the most straightforward way, saying, I do not know him!
Nonetheless, Peter, the disciple who argued God’s will with Jesus, who attempted to kill for Jesus, and who denied and abandoned Jesus—the disciple who gave in to every temptation—that granite-skulled disciple becomes one rock Jesus does turn into bread.
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