4th Sunday in Lent

March 26, 2006
Rev. Dr. Nathan Jastram
Text: Numbers 21:4-9

Imagine the scene. As a child, you escaped from Egypt with the rest of the Israelites forty years ago. You have been wandering around in the arid wilderness as day after day, year after year, the people around you die: your grandparents, parents, uncles and aunts, all older acquaintances. In the last couple of months even Miriam and Aaron have died, and you have come close to dying from thirst. Some of your friends have been taken as prisoners of war by the king of Arad, and a hostile army from Edom has scared you away from its territory, and forced you to take a long detour into the wilderness to avoid Edom. Just when you thought things could not get any worse, when you were grumbling against your leader Moses and feeling pretty irritable, you find yourself sitting in a sea of venomous snakes.

"Snakes! Why does it have to be snakes!" I suppose my view of a sea of snakes has forever been molded by the scene in "Raiders of the Lost Ark." As Indiana Jones peers into the chamber where the ark has been hidden for thousands of years, he sees a revolting sight, a floor swarming with snakes. I know some people have snake phobias; they can feel physical pain when they see them. Even those without a special phobia usually don't like them much. Some researchers tested people's attitudes toward snakes by comparing how motorists reacted to rubber snakes place on a road vs. how they reacted to rubber turtles. They found that motorists swerved to avoid the turtles, but swerved to hit the snakes. One car hit the snake, then screeched to a halt and ran over it again in reverse, then again forward and again backward some twelve times!

I don't have a snake phobia, as long as I don't think they can hurt me. But I still remember vividly encountering a small sluggish snake in the mountains of Japan, sunning itself on a rock by a pool of water. I thought it might be poisonous, but I had to walk close by it to get back to the car, so I got a long branch and flicked the snake into the water and held it there for what seemed like an eternity. I was terrified at the thought of letting it go before it was thoroughly dead; I thought it jump up and kill me. There is something dreadful and repulsive about venomous snakes.

That is why the OT lesson is such a vivid one. When God surrounds the sinful Israelites with venomous snakes, he is merely surrounding them with the animals that best show the character of the Israelites themselves. Since the Garden of Eden, where Satan appeared as a snake to lead Adam and Eve into sin, snakes have been symbols of Satan and sin. When the Israelites sinned against God, they became children of Satan, a brood of vipers. Now these spiritual vipers are surrounded by natural vipers, and they are dying off in alarming numbers. When they can see the true repulsive, deadly character of their sin, when they see themselves surrounded by snakes and dying from venom, they come to Moses and repent, "We have sinned." You won't see any idiotic snake-handlers here, who think that it can be a sign of piety to play with snakes, to encourage God to save them. It is just as idiotic to play with sin, claiming some pious assurance of forgiveness by God. This account shows that even grumbling against God is a serious enough sin to merit death.

So now you are among the Israelites again, in the very worst day of your life, surrounded by venomous snakes, people dying all around, and no place to hide. You grow desperate. You work like a mad man to save yourself. People around you try to build snake-proof huts, but find snakes in the building material. Others begin on cures for snake bites. A cut here and there, suck on the venom, look for an antidote. Somebody says bronze snakes might help, so you make a thousand of your own bronze snakes. But nothing you do seems to help at all. If anything, it makes you die even more quickly as the venom races through your frantic body. And then you finally realize; there is nothing you can do to save yourself.

The only hope for salvation comes from outside yourself, from God. Yes, there was something to that rumor about a special bronze snake, but the only reason that bronze snake saves is because God attached his promise to it, because he chose to use it as a means of grace. It is the same with the waters of baptism, or the Lord's Supper. They are simple means of grace, nothing fancy by themselves, but packing a wallop of power for salvation because God's promises are attached to them.

There is no room here for decision theology, for free will as an ingredient in salvation. Free will comes from within yourself, and nothing you can do will save you. Imagine an Israelite calling out, "I have decided, to follow you Lord, I have decided, to follow you Lord, I have decided, to follow you Lord, so please don't let me die." That Israelite's decision would never save him. It is too little, too late; a worthless decision, here today, gone tomorrow. The only thing that saved anyone was making use of the bronze serpent.

What matters is the means of grace, outside the sinner. Look at it, rely upon it, trust in it, believe in it, and you will live. Since the means of grace is outside yourself, it doesn't matter how badly you have been bitten; it doesn't matter how terrible a sinner you have been. The ones saved from death in the account were not the least sinful of the lot. Anyone who realized he had been bitten and was dying, and who looked outside himself to the means of grace, the bronze snake, was saved. That is the essence of salvation by grace, not by works.

The gospel lesson for today explains that Christ is the real bronze snake, the real power behind the means of grace. Just as that Ancient Snake Satan (Rev 12:9) disguises himself as an angel of light to deceive the children of God (2 Cor 11:14), so the Light of the World Jesus (John 8:12) "disguises" himself as snake to rob the kingdom of Satan. But the "disguise" of Jesus is not really a false disguise; he actually became sin for us: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21). God sent "his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering" (Rom 8:3).

One last thought. It is great to be saved from venomous snakes by God's grace, but it is also great to hold up the bronze snake to those around you who have been bitten and are dying. God plans to use you as he used Moses, to hold up the bronze snake to your family and friends, your neighbors, and even people you may not yet know. It can be difficult to do when they are not pleasant people, or when they have been eager to hurt you in the past. But Moses held up the snake for the very people who had been murmuring against him, people who rebelled against him, people who dishonored him, even people who came close to killing him. God gives you the same privilege of reaching out to those around you with his forgiveness. When you do that, you will have the satisfaction of being like the great prophet Moses, even like the Lord Jesus Christ, who forgave the very people who crucified him. It is a terrible thing to be in a sea of venomous snakes, but it is also terrible to see others in such a sea. What a blessing it is to be saved from those snakes by God, and to be used by God to save others!

This story about the Israelites and the snakes is your story. Satan and sins surround you on every side, biting you with their venom. When you recognize the deadly character of sin and realize that you are dying from its poison, then look outside yourself to Jesus on the cross. The moment you rely on him for life, the snakes' venom is neutralized, and you can reach out to those around you and help them too. Fellow travelers among snakes, let us look to Jesus on the cross today as we remember his death when we receive his body and blood in Holy Communion. Amen.

3rd Sunday in Lent

March 19, 2006
Rev. Kenneth W. Wieting
Text: I Corinthians 1:18-21

“O come let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12:2). Dear brothers and sisters in Christ;

There are many pictures and images that portray the life and actions of Jesus. Consider the Good Shepherd by our baptismal font and the many beautiful scenes in our stained glass windows. One event in Jesus’ life that is not so often pictured, however, is His cleansing of the temple. The picture of Jesus with whip in hand is not all that common. The picture of Jesus forcefully throwing over the money tables and scattering their content is quite rare.

It was a scene of high emotion and physical confrontation. Jesus was passionate and angry! Today’s gentle bulletin cover scene of the temple doesn’t really capture the aggressive actions of Jesus in the temple. In zeal He threw His weight around in an attempt to clean up that house of worship.

Perhaps the reason this event is not so widely highlighted is because it is a bit offensive. It may seem a tad unwise to picture “Jesus lover of my soul” as “Jesus swinger of the whip”. It may seem ill-advised to depict the prince of peace as the whip swinging disturber of the peace in the temple precincts.

It’s not that the men in the temple are presented as dishonest or robbing people. Rather, they were robbing the temple of its intended purpose! It was all very practical to have sacrificial animals and temple coins available right in the temple courts? It was convenient. It was profitable. It was pragmatic and worked quite well. Both people and priests were pleased with this system of worship.

No one seemed to mind; except Jesus! He minded so much He had a whip in his hand. “Do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” Picture Him, striding about breathing deeply and angrily. There was a literal stampede as he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen.

His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things? Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up”…But he was speaking about the temple of His body.

They demanded a miraculous sign to prove He had a right to cleanse the temple. They demanded a miraculous sign to prove that God should be worshipped as He said. Such a demand for a sign is exactly what St. Paul meant when he wrote to the Corinthians, For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Dear Christians, when confronted with the demand for a sign of God’s action in Christ, both Jesus and Paul pointed to the cross of Christ. Destroy this temple, Jesus said. You know what He meant! We preach Christ crucified, Paul wrote. That is speaking as plainly as possible.

The Greek verb for “crucified” is a perfect participle. It is a verb tense that denotes action which has occurred whose effects are ongoing. In other words, God does not want us to think of Jesus apart from His crucifixion. It is not an act we can ever outgrow or go beyond. Jesus continues to live as the crucified one, even in His risen glorified state. That is why the risen Christ showed the marks of His crucifixion to doubting Thomas (John 20:24-29). That is why the triumphant Christ in the book of Revelation is still praised as “the Lamb who was slain” (Rev. 5:6/5:12/15:8).

Jesus’ resurrection does not take our eyes off His crucifixion. Jesus’ resurrection rather fixes our eyes on His sacrificial death with forgiving, life-giving light. That is why St. Paul says, We preach Christ crucified. That is why He wrote to this same Church, “I determined to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and Him crucified (I Cor. 2:2).

By the cross God outsmarted all human wisdom and overpowered all human power. In so doing, He did not consult us. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts as the heavens are higher than the earth (Is. 55:8, 9). To the world the word of the cross is foolishness. Therefore, in the world’s eyes, you need to wise up. In the world’s eyes, the heart of what you believe is simply nonsense.

The word of the cross! The cross as a means of execution was first used by the Persians and later by Alexander the Great. This cruel form of capital punishment continued to be used in the Roman Empire for centuries until it was finally halted by Constantine the Great.

The word of the cross! The Greek word for cross is an upright stake. The condemned person carried the cross-beam to the place where this stake was erected. At the site, the doomed person was forced to the ground and secured to the cross beam with ropes or with spikes. The beam, with the body fastened to it was then hoisted into place and fastened to the vertical stake. It was such a cross-beam to which Jesus was nailed and then lifted up to die.

The word of the cross! The physical and mental suffering caused by this form of capital punishment is unimaginable. It was regarded as the most terrible means of execution. It was slow and shameful and painful and ugly. No matter how severe the crime, it was considered inappropriate as a method for executing a Roman citizen.

The word of the cross is foolishness! The Greek word for foolish used here is the word for moronic. It means, moronic, unwise, senseless or stupid. The word of the cross is moronic. To those opposed to all forms of capital punishment the folly of crucifixion is self-evident. But even for those who agree with Scripture’s witness that the state has the power to take the life of those who take human life, this particular method of capital punishment is foolish in its gruesomeness. It is cruel and unusual punishment.

But in Scripture God turns the meaning of this phrase inside out. The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. The message of the cross in Scripture no longer refers to just any crucifixion, but specifically to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The scandalous center of God’s revelation is that the Messiah, the liberator of sinful man, died as a criminal. The key to understanding God is the bloody death of this one man, His holy Son. This lowest stage of humiliation for Christ was also His highest act of obedience (Phil 2:8).

The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are being destroyed, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God… Beloved, do you see what it means that you do not view the crucifixion of Christ as foolishness? Do you understand the personal eternal significance there is in your faith that Christ crucified is God’s wisdom and God’s power and God’s love for you? Such faith is totally a gift of God.

You know the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20) and the depth of their meaning. You know that whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at one point is guilty of all of them (James 2:10). You know that you do not fear and love and trust in God above all things. Not all believe that God has expressed His will so clearly. Not all believe that they utterly fail to keep God’s holy will. But you do! By God’s grace you also see what God has done to redeem you through the sacrifice of His Son.

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the debater of this age? All over the place and even on our inside! The world and our sinful natures will always find alternatives to Christ crucified! Human cleverness, deep thinking philosophers, endless debaters are present in every society. We are prone to be impressed by eloquence and intellectual speculation. Each generation tends to make much of its own wisdom and boast in its own accomplishments. We are good at marching to our own drummer, spinning things in our own favor, coming up with our own truthiness.

Fellow-Redeemed, we can never dress the cross up to make it attractive to the world. God surprises the world by rejecting its values and power and elevating what it despises. For consider your calling brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus…

We do not come into God’s presence in this house of worship to boast. Rather, Christ crucified and risen comes into our presence to bring us the fruits of His cross. Baptized into His death, you now proclaim His death whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup. Jesus is still as zealous this morning for the right use of God’s house as He was in the temple.

Do not make my Father’s house a market! Do not make my Father’s house a house of entertainment or of experimentation. Don’t market worship like a business. Don’t look for signs of my presence in success or statistics. Do look for my presence where I have promised to be for you.

Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and weakness of God is stronger than men.

Do you see what it means that you do not view the cross of Christ as foolishness? Do you see what it means that you see the cross as God’s wisdom and power? He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
O come let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. AMEN.

2nd Sunday in Lent

March 12, 2006
Rev. Dr. Kenneth Wieting
Text: Mark 8:27-38


In the Name of Jesus, Dear followers of Christ and bearers of your cross:

You know as I do that some things go together. Childrearing and discipline go together. University classes and tests go together. Aging and bodily changes go together. A Wisconsin winter and snow go together. The togetherness of these things is never perfect.

Some days a child may willingly mind, while on other days loving discipline may be the foremost need. With some instructors testing is tough; with others pretty painless. For some senior citizens bodily changes are steady and severe; for others more slight. Some Wisconsin winters are brutal; others like this one, quite mild. These things go together, but sometimes it’s a matter of degree; sometimes more and sometimes less.

Jesus spoke of something that goes together in a relationship that is never more or less, never a matter of degree. “Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the son of man be ashamed when he comes in the glory of the Father with the holy angels.” Here Jesus clearly shows that HE AND HIS WORDS GO TOGETHER.

The Greek word for ashamed is used most commonly in Scripture to denote the judgment of God. Those full of proud confidence and expectancy at His coming will be disgraced. Shame will be enforced upon them. Incredibly, those who should know and fear that shame are instead ashamed of the one who will judge them and the words by which He will judge them (John 12:48). JESUS AND HIS WORDS GO TOGETHER all the way to the last day.

The setting for His teaching was Caesarea Philippi a bustling city with pagan temples and idol worship of Caesar himself. The city offered sophisticated amusement for the wealthy and sensual pleasure for Roman soldiers on leave. It presented a plethora of worldly and spiritual choices. It was here in this idol infested, entertainment oriented city that Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do you say I am?” Peter’s answer was right. “You are the Christ”. Then Jesus lifted the veil on precisely why Christ came in the flesh.

It was less than a year before Jesus’ death and he began to speak openly about His crucifixion. “…he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly.” The Greek word indicates blunt outspokenness that concealed nothing. It was impossible to miss what Jesus intended to say.

But it was possible to disagree with Jesus’ words. That’s what Peter did. Peter rebuked Jesus like Jesus had rebuked the demons. He meant it in a pragmatic, protective, peace promoting kind of way. But the bottom line was that he rejected Jesus’ clear words about the cross. To this criticism Jesus also spoke plainly, “…turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting you mind on the things of God, but on things of man.”

Then Jesus called the crowd to Him along with His disciples and said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.”

“Bearing the cross” was not a Jewish metaphor or symbol. The common reference of the cross in studies of that culture was the actual crucifixion of 2000 Jews some 30 years before by the Roman governor of Syria. The condemned in such executions actually carried the cross-beams to the stake of execution. Taking that into account, Jesus’ words could well mean actual martyrdom for His disciples. Even as He would carry the cross beam to which He was spiked, so there was the possibility of a death march for His disciples. JESUS AND HIS WORDS GO TOGETHER even when His words are repulsive to His hearers.

As there was a cross for Jesus’ followers then, so there is a cross for you His Church today. It is not presently a physical cross-beam carried to an execution stake. It is rather determined by the words that Jesus speaks to you in your time and place in life. JESUS STILL SPEAKS PLAINLY. HE AND HIS WORDS STILL GO TOGETHER. HE AND HIS WORDS STILL BRING A CROSS.

A cross is something God gives us to do that is difficult to bear, sometimes painful, not easy to accomplish, setting our mind on the things of God, not of men.

Parents impress the commandments upon your children, daily talking about them (Deut 6:7, 8)

Children obey your parents in everything (Col 3:18)

Husbands love your wives just as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her (Eph 5:25)

Wives submit to your husbands as to the Lord (Eph 5:22)

Pastors preach the word with great patience and careful instruction (II Tim 4:2), not lording it over those entrusted to you (I Pt 5:2-4)

Christians, love your neighbor as yourself (Rom 13:9), in fact, love even your enemies, pray for those who persecute you (Mt 5:44), and warn those going astray (II Thes 3:14, 15 Titus 3:10, Gal 6:1).

Beloved, JESUS STILL SPEAKS PLAINLY. HE AND HIS WORDS STILL GO TOGETHER. HE AND HIS WORDS STILL BRING A CROSS, because our minds are set on our own things, the things of men. God calls us to be totally faithful to His Word in the ordinary duties of daily life, and that just kills us! God calls us away from concern for ourselves to total fear and love and trust in Him. That leads our sinful hearts to daily try to kill Him. We want to be in charge. We want to have control. We want to save our earthly lives.

The cross is therefore not some special thing that we dream up, but what His word actually tells us to do in daily life. The criteria for following Jesus, is not feeling like I have Him bottled up in my heart. It is rather following His words, whatever my feelings may tell me about His words.

“Why call me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things which I say” (Luke 6:46)? “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15). “Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes…” We still live in an adulterous and sinful generation. The enlightened relativism (truthiness) of our age like the city of Caesarea Philippi still offers a surplus of reasons to be ashamed of God’s words.

Dr. Luther said, “If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not professing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ.” Dear Christians, the attack is on everyday and the points aren’t so little. Whether it is His words regarding creation or inherited sin or God’s gift of life in the womb or carrying our cross or the love of discipline or honoring Him with our first fruits or honoring the marriage bed or Christ’s second coming, the attack is on. The heart of these attacks is pictured well by Peter. He had such positive thoughts for Jesus that he felt compelled to correct Jesus’ view of the cross. We also can have such fine, pragmatic plans for Jesus and His Church that we are tempted to set aside His clear words.

But JESUS AND HIS WORDS GO TOGETHER. Rejecting His words is rejecting Him. “There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.” (John 12:48) Of such rejection we all stand guilty. Of such judgment we therefore all stand guilty as we earlier confessed.

That’s why Jesus put His words together with His actions. “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.”

JESUS AND HIS WORDS GO TOGETHER. All of the prophecies that the pre-incarnate Christ made through the centuries, He fulfilled. Abraham was made the father of many nations, indeed the father of all who believe through Christ, indeed your father. And true to His word, Jesus was led away to a place of execution, carrying his cross. Then in total shame and suffering he confessed by word and deed that He was not ashamed of us ungodly ones, us sinners, us enemies of God.

“Who do you say I am?” “You are the Christ.” What did I come to do? To endure the cross for the joy of our redemption! Fellow-redeemed, what would we do if Christ had not died for the ungodly? What would we do if we did not have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ? What would we do if He did not remember His mercy and steadfast love from of old? Since JESUS AND HIS WORDS GO TOGETHER, that is not a question you will ever have to answer.

The once bustling, idolatrous city of Caesarea is now only ruins. Its citizens, its glory have long since faded from this earth. And so, we also are quickly fading away. The years of disciplining children in the home pass so quickly. Tests at the university may seem like they’ll never end, but they do, just like that. The challenges of aging are trying but temporary. A few warm days remind us that the snow of winter is here today and gone tomorrow. But, beloved, the Word of God endures forever!

JESUS AND HIS WORDS GO TOGETHER, including His words that after three days He would rise again. Risen from the grave Jesus spoke words of rebirth to you in your baptism. He is still connected to those words. Risen from the grave Jesus speaks words of life to you today at His altar. He gives just what He says to you.

What would it profit if you gained the whole world and forfeited your life? Nothing! What can you give in return for your life? Nothing! You can’t save it. But Jesus could and did! Joined to His words He comes to give you that blessed exchange still today. In the Name of Jesus, AMEN.

(Stand) The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. AMEN.

1st Sunday in Lent

March 5, 2006
Rev. Kenneth W. Wieting

Text: Mark 1:9-15

Beloved, count it all joy, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:2-4).

We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces in heavenly places (Eph 6:12). Yet Jesus Himself partook of flesh and blood to destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil (Heb. 2:14). Satan knew that a male seed of Adam and Eve would come to crush Him. He knew that all the nations of the world would be blessed through a male seed of Abraham. Satan and the demons also knew that Jesus of Nazareth was the one.

The baptism of our Lord is like the ringing of a bell to signal the start of a slug fest between heaven and hell. Still wet with the Jordan’s water, Jesus is driven by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness. “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” the Father had said. Immediately Satan sprang forth to attack that Word of God.

Dear Christians, you dare not view this fight in the desert as a spectator. You are not fans in the stands doing the wave. You are in Christ. When this one flesh and blood man steps into the ring with the tempter all of us step in with Him. In the splendor of the first garden, Adam was defeated by the great dragon, the serpent of old called the devil and Satan. In Adam’s fall, all humanity fell into sin and death. Adam’s sin is our sin. Adam’s curse is our curse. Adam’s death is our death. Jesus steps into the ring for us and with us as we read, “The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan.”

In our corner of the ring is Jesus, true man born of the Virgin Mary. He fights for us, as one of us. In the opposite corner of the ring is that ancient adversary, that heavy weight from hell, that damned deceiver, Satan. (I use the word damned, not in the modern, cursing “see how tough I am” sense, but in the scriptural God-given sense). Satan is the damned deceiver because God has prepared an eternal fire for him and his angels (Mt. 26:41). He is damned and he knows it.

What St. Mark records in the temptation of our Lord is not a “how to” text to give you an example of how to win against the devil. The ancient adversary is one who knows Scripture better than you ever will. He masquerades as an angel of light to misuse it (II Cor. 11:14). He is a murderer from the beginning, a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). When God sows His Word, the wicked one sows weeds (Mt. 13:38, 39). He seeks to take away the Word from the hearts of those who hear it that they may not believe and be saved (Luke 8:19). He is seeking to take the Word from your heart even as you hear it right now. From Adam through Abraham down to Jesus’ day, no human being had ever stood firm against him. When it came to tempting man to sin, Satan’s record was perfect. For, there is no one righteous, not even one. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:10, 12, 23). If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us (I John).

With a record of millions of wins and no losses, Satan sprang to the attack. He swung at Jesus with the temptation of doubt due to hunger and suffering. Could Jesus really be the Son of God in that desert distress? Could this really be the start of His public ministry? The beloved Son counter punched with a direct hit. Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Satan feinted with God’s false protection for Jesus so great that He could cast Himself down from the temple and be unharmed. Jesus halted that sucker punch by quoting the whole text. God’s promise included the words “in all my ways”, not in ways outside of His will. Then He landed a stiff jab right into the very mouth of the temper. “You shall not tempt the Lord your God”, he said. Then Satan swung a haymaker, a mighty blow weighted with all the glory of all the kingdoms of the world. Just bow down and worship me, he said, and its yours. The baptized and anointed one sidestepped that blow and fired back a blow that laid the evil one low, “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve” (Matt 4/Luke 4).

Fellow Redeemed, this is one fight worth hearing about again and again and again – even the abbreviated account in our text. Never try to imagine peace between these two combatants. Sometimes in this sinful world warfare is necessary. This fight is absolutely crucial to the eternal peace of mankind.

That it could happen, that Christ could be tempted at all is an amazing occurrence. For Christ was there when Satan rebelled! Christ was there when Adam and Eve were deceived by him! Christ covered their naked shame and gave them the first Gospel promise as He told Satan that a male seed would come to crush His accusing head. The pre-incarnate Christ was also there at Moriah (the angel of the Lord) calling out “Abraham, Abraham - do not lay a hand on the boy.”

It was the pre-incarnate Christ who promised Himself as Abraham’s seed through whom all the nations of the world would be blessed. Through the centuries He was there in the Old Testament tabernacle and temple forgiving sins in the sacrifices He commanded. He was there strengthening God’s people in their fight against Satan’s temptations through Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms.

The reason He now appeared on the earth was to destroy the works of the devil (I John 3:8). This baptismal battle, this war in the wilderness was not a detour for our Lord. It is what He came for. As true man, He was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15). What you and I could not do, Christ has done for us! In the Judean wilderness Jesus fought off every temptation of the evil one – every temptation. Satan left none of his bullets unfired. Yet every fiery arrow shot from his bow was doused in the water of the Word. The tempter you could not defeat, the damned deceiver with millions of victories and no defeats was trounced by the true man. Satan lost in the wilderness! Oh blessed, happy day!

Satan went away from that encounter licking his wounds, but also looking for another opportune time (Luke 4:13). The battle would be fully joined again in the week we now call holy. Then Satan went for the kill, using Jesus’ own disciple. He tempted Judas to betray Him (John 13:2). Like a roaring lion He sought to devour the Lion of the tribe of Judah. The place for the final and decisive struggle was the same site where Isaac was bound for sacrifice centuries before.

Moriah was the place where Solomon’s temple was later built (II Chron. 3:1). A short distance to the west was the place where the cross of Christ would stand. The one who had stayed Abraham’s hand from killing his son, was Himself the Son of God who would be bound for sacrifice. On that very spot, God provided the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Where is the Lamb? Isaac had asked. It is a piercing question. How could Abraham move forward and actually raise the knife over his own son. Human speculation is futile in measuring this moment. But Scripture reveals what Abraham was thinking. “By faith Abraham when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice… reasoned (reasoning) that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death” (Heb. 11:17-19). This is an incredible type, the clearest type in the Old Testament of what God would do on Mount Calvary. It took place not because God is sadistic. Rather, it took place with Abraham understanding the doctrine of the resurrection from the dead. God Himself will provide the Lamb.

Back to the culminating battle for all humanity on that very site! Satan kept slinging his blazing arrows; a kiss from Judas, a denial from Peter, the lies of the witnesses, the kangaroo court of the Sanhedrin, the hand-washing of Pilate, the cries of the people, “come down from the cross if you are the Christ”. It was a busy day for the father of lies. Jesus took a beating like you will never have to take. He wouldn’t have remained vertical, except that is the position He was staked to. Yet even there, suspended between heaven and earth, He went down for the count – a bloody death count.

Yet Satan was not the power puncher he thought he was! Indeed the deepest stroke that pierced Christ was the stroke that justice gave, the justice of the Father. For as the knife was raised over Isaac by his father even so the knife of God’s wrath was poised over His beloved Son! Although hanging in nakedness, there was a shameful, unseen covering he wore; our sin. This time no Divine voice broke in to stay the knife. This was so because the Divine voice, the Word made flesh was Himself on the altar of sacrifice. This time the knife of God’s wrath plunged deep into the bound and suffering servant on the cross. Jesus went down under God’s damning blow against our sin. Jesus went down for the bloody death count.

What an apparent victory for the devouring lion! But the deceiver was deceived! In Satan’s domain his hosts shouted and jeered for Jesus was dead whom the evil one feared! But their triumph was short. Satan, who always opposes the Word of God, had not given heed to his opponent’s amazing cry from Calvary. “Tetelestai” - It is finished! This is the cry of victory! In the darkness and the gore and the blood and the shame and the death our redemption was finished. Right then and there from the cross the head of the serpent was finally crushed! Right then and there the great dragon, the serpent of old called the devil and Satan was thrown down (Rev. 12). “It is finished!” Right then and there salvation was won! .

The one through whom all life was created was laid in a tomb. Yet even a bloody death count could not keep down the Lamb of God! His death was the victory. His death defeated death (Heb 2:14/9:15). It was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him (Acts 2:24). Abraham was right to believe in the resurrection. So are you! The early morning light of the third day showed that the victory of Christ’s crucifixion was a total victory! He was there as our substitute. The knife of justice that plunged into Him struck our sin. There was no question that God could deliver a damning blow. But is it possible that God Himself could take that damning blow in our stead. The tree of the cross answers yes! Hell was left lying in the dust that you, o man of dust, might be lifted up to heaven and embraced by God forever. The tempter you could not defeat has been thrown down. Satan has lost his power to accuse you where Jesus is present.

“You are my beloved child” God has said to you in the washing of rebirth. You are not a spectator. You are in Christ, clothed with Christ (Gal. 3:27). Satan has been attacking that word connected with your baptismal water ever since. He still jabs and swings at you everyday to instill doubt. With sweet lies and deception he seeks to turn you from the trustworthy Word of your Father to the fickle feelings of your heart. Why this illness? Why this loneliness? Why this heartache? Why this pile of bills? Why this decaying culture? Why the death of your loved one? Satan continues to tempt you to take shortcuts and avoid suffering. “Did God really say He disciplines those He loves?” Satan still tempts you to grow weary and despair of God’s love.

Do take up the full armor of God to battle Satan (Eph. 6). Do flee his temptations (I Thess. 3:5). But most importantly do remember that only Jesus can beat the devil at his deadly game.

Satan has lost his power to accuse you in Christ because Jesus took those blows for you. If God is for you, who can be against you? It is God who justifies, who is he that condemns? There is therefore now, no condemnation for you who are in Christ Jesus.

In other words, it is you that now has the perfect record – not Satan. Oh there is no question that Satan’s temptations continue and that you need deliverance from them. It is no accident that Jesus teaches you to pray everyday, “Lead us not into temptation”. What does this mean? God indeed tempts no one. But we pray in this petition that God would guard and keep us, so that the devil, the world and our flesh may not deceive us into misbelief, despair, and other great shame and vice; and though we be assailed by them, that still we may finally over come and obtain the victory.

Dear Christians, never despair! Satan lost in the wilderness! In Christ the victory is yours. In the wilderness of this world He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to bear (I Cor. 10:13). Jesus is your way out! You can count on Him! You can count on His love! You can count on His forgiveness! “O come, let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of the faith”. AMEN.