First Sunday in Lent February 10, 2008
Scripture	Matthew 4:1-11 4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. 3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; 9 and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’ ” 11 Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.
Devotional	Jesus is led to the desert by the Spirit where he experiences the hunger that God gave the Israelites in the wilderness. The purpose behind the Israelites hunger was to learn humility but that purpose was not realized. Jesus seems to have discovered the humility immediately but the devil tempts Jesus just the same. Jesus has not eaten for several days so the devil takes advantage of this situation. The devil is crafty in suggesting that if Jesus is the Son of God and Savior of Israel, he should do what God had done for Israel in the wilderness, provide food for them. Jesus could have turned the stones into bread, but he refuses. Instead he quoted Deuteronomy 8:3, “one does not live by bread alone, but by every work that comes for the mouth of the Lord.” God is indeed in the business of providing ford, but Jesus rejects Satan’s proposal because Satan would have us believe that food and the word of God can be separated. 1 The devil is not discouraged. Turning stones into bread did not work so he tempts Jesus again. He leads Jesus to Jerusalem and to the pinnacle of the temple, tempting him to test God by throwing himself down. The devil gets into scripture quoting himself. He quotes Psalm 91:11-12. Again Jesus refuses and answers with scripture. The devil’s third attempt will surely work. This time he combines worship and politics which should be irrespirable. The devil takes Jesus to a high mountain, offering him all the kingdoms of the world if Jesus will worship him. What an offer. Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’ ” What do we learn from the temptation of Jesus? Even the devil quotes scripture. This is a safe place to stand. Stanley Hauerwas issues a challenge to us. The devil is but another name for our impatience. We want bread, we want to force God’s hand to rescue us, we want peace - and we want all this now. But Jesus is our bread, he is our salvation, he is our peace. That he is so requires that we learn to wait with him in a world of hunger, idolatry, and war to witness to the kingdom that is God’s patience. The Father will have the present one small act at a time. 2 This one small act at a time will not be easy for Jesus or for us. 1Stanley Hauerwas, Matthew. Grand Rapids : Brazos Press. 2006. p. 52 2 Ibid. p. 55