And the Winner Is…Jesus!

1st Sunday in Lent, 3/5/17
Matthew 4:1-11


And the Winner Is…Jesus!
He Defeated the Temptation to:
I. Distrust his Father
II. Tempt his Father
III. Forsake his Father


Perhaps you saw it live last Sunday night. If not, maybe you watched or heard about it later. I’m talking about the Oscars awards ceremony. What happened has been called by some a historic blunder. It was time for the best picture to be awarded. Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty were at the microphone with envelope in hand. Mr. Beatty opened it, and after glancing at the contents, paused for a while and then handed it to Ms. Dunaway. She’s the one who announced that La La Land had won best picture. Emotional speeches by the movie’s producers followed. And then it happened. It was announced that there had been a mistake. The best picture award actually belonged to Moonlighting.

You can bet at this time next year, when the words are spoken, “And the winner is…” there’s going to be some doubt and more than a little anxiety. Is that the real winner? Is what we’re seeing and hearing true?

The Sundays in Lent are all celebrations of our Savior’s victory, but on this First Sunday in Lent that victory is more apparent than all the others. Unlike an Oscar’s audience, our Lord doesn’t want us sitting on the edges of our pews, anxiously waiting for the victory to be announced. The Victor is, after all, the eternal and almighty Son of God. His victory over Satan’s temptations were never in doubt.

But they were real temptations in every sense of the word. As we’ll see, these temptations hit at the very center of who Jesus was and what he had come to this earth to accomplish. Like the master Tempter that he is, Satan knew right where to aim his attacks.

But in the end, Jesus sent Satan packing for another battle on another day, until he finally and eternally defeated Satan with his death and resurrection. Round one goes to Jesus, and every other round as well.

As God’s people who get beat up and pounded by our sinful world and by the sins of our own doing, we could use some victorious news. So, sit back and listen to this: And the winner is…Jesus! And by faith in Jesus you win, too.

Part I.

As a Christian, you’re faced with Christian decisions every day of your life. One of them is this: when do I keep on straining and striving, and when do I let go and let God? What makes that Christian decision so difficult is that you have two scriptural principals to apply, and they seem to be at odds with one another. One is that God expects you to apply your wisdom and strength faithfully in every situation you face. The other is that God expects you to cast all your cares on him and to trust that he will do what is best for you. So, what do you do?

You and I will never make those types of decisions perfectly; but don’t worry, Jesus did for you. We see it here in his first temptation from Satan.

St. Matthew sets the stage by telling us, “After fasting forty days and forty nights, [Jesus] was hungry.” I can’t imagine fasting 40 hours. Can you imagine 40 days?! Why would Jesus do such a thing? Because that’s what his heavenly Father wanted him to do. Jesus had just embarked on the most critical work in all of history—the work of being our Savior. He would fail miserably in that work if he ever tried going it alone. His Father miraculously sustained Jesus during this time without physical food. He was impressing on Jesus his utter need for him to reply solely on his Father.

And along comes Satan, who knows that Jesus is both God and man in one person. In his state of humiliation Jesus needed food to survive just as much as we do. But here he was, fasting in keeping with his Father’s will. As the Son of God, shouldn’t Jesus be able to do as he pleases? He’s equal with the Father; why let the Father tell him what to do? And so Satan aims his first shot at Jesus with these words, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” At other points in his ministry Jesus would miraculously supply bread for people. So why not do so now? In fact, if you are who you say you are, prove it. Prove that you are the Son of God.

It sounds like a good and reasonable thing to do. But Jesus knows better and he takes the shield of the word of God and deftly deflects the arrow of Satan’s temptation. “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” If it weren’t for the creating and sustaining power of God, eating bread would do humans no good. What we need more than all is the life-sustaining word of our God.

Attack number one is over and the winner is…Jesus. He defeated the temptation to distrust his Father.

“In God we trust.” It says so on our coins. If only it were indelibly stamped on our lives. But the truth is, we have a hard time trusting in our God in every single aspect of our lives. Did you ever worry about your finances, your health, your job? Due the latest presidential campaign, were you worried and are you still worried about what’s happening in our country? Our world? Do you trust the Lord to keep your children in his care or do you lose sleep over it? Satan once overcame Adam and Eve with a piece of food. They were concerned they weren’t like God. Satan tried overcoming Jesus with a piece of food, but Jesus wouldn’t bite. So now, when we fall into the temptation of failing to trust in our God, look to the Victor. Look to Jesus. He always trusted his Father, even to his death on the cross for you.

Part II.

Surely you’ve heard it said, “Fight fire with fire.” That’s often some solid advice.

In his second attack that was Satan’s tactic. Jesus used Scripture against him; Satan would fight back with Scripture.

He quoted two verses from Psalm 91 in which God promises to use his angels to bear us up, to hold us and keep us from harm. The problem with Satan’s fight-fire-with-fire tactic is that he violates the context of the passage. The Lord spoke this promise to his people as they carried out their daily callings in life. Whatever God’s people are doing as children of God, they can hold God to his promise to protect them with his holy angels.

Being a daredevil isn’t part of our calling as a child of God. That’s what Satan’s second temptation actually was. He was asking Jesus to create a threatening situation to see if God would really live up to his word.

And once again, out came the fire of God’s word from the mouth of God’s Son. “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” Trusting God and testing God are polar opposites. Jesus knew that he could trust angels to sustain him as he did his work as our Savior. That work did not include suicide jumps from the top of the temple.

Attack number two is over and the winner is…Jesus. He defeated Satan’s temptation to test his Father.

Have you ever grabbed onto one verse of Scripture while ignoring another? I know I have. It goes like this. “I know what God says about what I want to do. He tells me it’s a sin. But this is going to make me happy. Or, this is going to be the easy way out for me. Or, this will get me the goal I’m striving for. And God wants me to be happy, doesn’t he?” That’s sacrificing God’s truth on the altar of Me. I’ve made myself into a little god whose thoughts and desires trump all. Do you know what that’s like? We all do. But our divine Victor doesn’t. He never manipulated God’s word to suit his situation. Instead, he humbly submitted to it, even when it meant sacrificing himself on the altar called Calvary. He’s your Victor over sin. Look to him in every situation of life to guide and sustain you.

Part III.

In the movie A Few Good Men, the character played by Jack Nicholson states in a military trial that soldiers always do what they are ordered to do, because, when they don’t, other soldiers die.

As we heard in today’s First Lesson, God told his holy creatures that, if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would surely die. Along came the Master Liar who declared, “You will not surely die.” But later that day, after his holy creation was utterly ruined with sin, God told Adam and Eve they surely would die. And without a Savior, they would die forever.

Jesus came to undo that death sentence. It would mean his sufferings and death on a cruel cross. It would mean shame and disgrace and hell itself. It would be the most gruesome work ever undertaken. But once completed, it would mean eternal glory for Jesus and his redeemed people.

So Satan attacks once more in a last ditch effort. He offers a shortcut to glory. “All this I will give you, if you bow down and worship me.” It was another bald-face lie. All the kingdoms of the world weren’t his to give. Jesus saw right through his lies and declared, “Away from me, Satan.”

You see, Jesus knew that the only road to eternal glory for him and us passed over a hill called Calvary. There weren’t two roads to glory. As he walked that road his Father was with him every step of the way. We see and hear him sustaining and encouraging Jesus throughout his ministry, until those crucial hours from noon to 3:00 on Good Friday, when the Father withdraws his love and support and causes Jesus to suffer the depths of his wrath against sin. As Jesus dies and is buried, it looks like Satan has won. But Christ arose and the winner is Jesus. He would not forsake his Father, so that his Father could forsake him on the cross for us.

Will you walk with Jesus on that road to Calvary’s cross this Lenten season? See him make every step for you. Hear him speak every word for you. See him conquer Satan every time…for you. And the winner is…Jesus! He wins for you! Amen.