The very first sentence in Matthew 4 has me really troubled. "Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil." Matthew 4:1 NIV If you were just following along in Matthew's Gospel you'd realize that this story of Jesus' temptation comes immediately after his baptism by John. I imagine Jesus coming out fresh from the water of the Jordan and the Spirit sending him out into the desert to be πειρασθη̂ναι ὑπὸ του̂ διαβόλου (tested/tempted by the Devil). The devil is even given the name πειράζων (tempter) in verse 3. Here in the beginning of his ministry Jesus is being tempted 3 times by the devil.
A very gracious lady who was mailing an old family Bible to her brother in another part of the country. "Is there anything breakable in here?" asked the postal clerk. "Only the Ten Commandments," answered the lady.
We live in an age when evil is real. We live in an age when the devil is at work in many situations trying to tear things apart through temptation. Above all else the Devil fears that we will be full of faith, hope, and love. The diabolical one is so very subtle in his efforts trying to pull us away from God and God's great gifts. Temptations are one of the devil's many tricks. He uses them all to tie us up and keep us from focusing on God's good and gracious will. Sometimes the Devil tempts us to do nothing. Sometimes the evil one finds us so convinced that we are right and our brother or sister is wrong that we refuse to do anything. The evil one is so crafty using either our actions or our inactions against us. Temptation is very real.
There are two very distinct times when I've found temptation to be most real. The first is in the low points. The Devil sought Jesus out in the desert at the end of a 40 day fast. He was sure to be hungry and the temptation of food alone would have been powerful for him. Jesus was alone here waiting to be tempted. The other time in our lives when we get tempted is when we think everything is going right. Jesus was at the height of the temple and he was offered all power if he would only bow down to the devil. The evil one has a habit of creeping in to the best earthly situations and sowing doubt, fear, and hate. Temptations are more that just physical actions that we take. We can even be tempted to turn away from God in many places.
As a kid I was taught to pray, "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." Maybe you were taught these very same words. When we pray like this we are asking God to keep us safe, right? We are asking God to protect us; but Matthew makes it clear that God left the avenue open for the diabolical one to come and tempt Jesus. So, you might ask, “what's going on here; why is God leaving the door open for temptations to come our way if they can be the opening that allows so much evil to come into our lives?”
There are some in our time who deny that evil even exists. There are others who insist that they have seen evil at work in the lives other people; but that it couldn't exist in their lives. The devil is real and crafty. He's always tugging at us and pulling at us.
An old preacher was dying. He sent a message for his IRS agent and his lawyer, both church members, to come to his home. When they arrived, they were ushered up to his bedroom. As they entered the room, the preacher held out his hands and motioned for them to sit on each side of the bed. The preacher grasped their hands, sighed contentedly, smiled and stared at the ceiling. For a time, no one said anything. Both the IRS agent and the attorney were touched and flattered that the old preacher would ask them to be with him during his final moment. They were also puzzled because the preacher had never given any indication that he particularly liked either one of them.
Finally, the lawyer asked, "Preacher, why did you ask the two of us to come?" The old preacher mustered up some strength, then said weakly, "Jesus died between two thieves, and that's how I want to go, too."
Martin Luther wrote about temptation and evil when he was explaining the Lord's Prayer 500 years ago in his Small Catechism, you can find this on page 1164 in the back of the red ELW.
And lead us not into temptation.
What does this mean?
God tempts no one to sin, but we ask in this prayer that God would watch over us and keep us so that the devil, the world, and our sinful self may not deceive us and draw us into false belief, despair, and other great and shameful sins.
And we pray that even though we are so tempted we may still win the final victory.
Luther was clear. God is not the one who tempts us; but Luther leaves out any mention about God stopping or not stopping the Devil. God has never been the one to tempt any one of us. God isn't the one doing the tempting these days for any of us either. But the devil has plenty of advocates who will do the job for him; including me and you.
A pastor parked his car in a no-parking zone in a large city because he was short of time and couldn't find a space with a meter. Then he put a note under the windshield wiper that read: "I have circled the block 10 times. If I don't park here, I'll miss my appointment. FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES." When he returned, he found a citation from a police officer along with this note. "I've circled this block for 10 years. If I don't give you a ticket, I'll lose my job. LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION."
The reality of temptation is all too real these days. Watching the Super-Bowl adds this past weekend, with my old roommate Peter, I was reminded that God isn't the one to tempt us; quite the opposite, we are the one's who tempt each other. This was the first year I can remember paying attention the game more than the adds. The adds draw us in. They make us laugh and guess and even say, “what are they talking about?” Temptation works by drawing us in little by little. But you might say, “What could be evil about new cars, politicians, or a bunch of sales leads; or for that matter what's wrong with anything else that's advertised during a football game. Taken one at a time there's nothing wrong with new cars, politicians, or sales leads. But if we follow every temptation and the directions of every advertisement give us we'll find ourselves turning away from what's good and what's Holy.
We've got to remember that the devil revels in our efforts to tempt each other. The devil has been crafting ways to pull us apart for thousands of years and he's really gotten very good at what he does. He uses us as his diabolical advocates at any turn he can find. And he has no trouble finding opportunity after opportunity to break up what we would call good and holy. The promise of Christ in the cross isn't that we go through life un-tempted; rather the promise is that we will still have the final victory in Christ over all things: sin, death, and the devil.
But deliver us from evil.
What does this mean?
We ask in this inclusive prayer that our heavenly Father would save us from every evil to body and soul, and at our last hour would mercifully take us from the troubles of this world to heaven.
Jesus promise is life. We are given choices in this earth and the evil one knows how to make the most of our choices. But God also has choices to make. He can turn away the evil not 1 time or 3 times. God is in the business of pushing the enemy back insuring that we are never out God's reach.
Paul put it this way,
I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 NRSV
Jesus is our hope and rock in the storm. He is the one to cling to. Call on him when you face temptation. Call on him when you meet evil. Keep it simple, “Jesus this is bigger than me.” or “Jesus help...” That's enough.
AMEN
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