Grace Episcopal Church, Madison NJ
February 17, 2013
Year C: The First Sunday in Lent
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16
(Romans 10:8b-13)
Luke 4:1-13
Jesus Passed His Tests
Today’s
gospel lesson ends on a very ominous note: “When the devil had finished every
test, he departed from Jesus until an opportune time.”
Luke
tells us that over the course of forty days, Jesus is tempted – Jesus is tested
– by the devil. Now, usually when we think of the devil we think of evil personified
– the personification of all the powers and principalities that inflict so much
pain and wreak havoc in our lives and in the world.
But,
that’s not the way the devil – or Satan – is understood in the Hebrew
Scriptures. There the devil is a member of the heavenly court whose job it is
to test the righteous.
Tests.
We’ve all faced a lot of tests.
Teachers
spend a lot of time thinking about and creating tests. And when I was a teacher
I was no exception. Now, I admit, that there were some times when I saw my task
a little like a battle between good and evil – times when I really wanted to –
and sometimes did - create a really hard test, hoping to shock certain classes
out of laziness or complacency – or maybe even punish them a little.
But,
I think – I hope – that most of the time I wanted and tried to construct tests
that were fair to my students – which was not always easy. It was challenging
to create tests that would give my students, with all of their strengths and
weaknesses, with their various learning styles, the chance to demonstrate what
they had learned – to reveal their abilities and their potential.
And,
that’s what’s going on between the devil and Jesus over the forty days in the
wilderness. Rather than a battle between good and evil, Jesus is being tested –
being given the opportunity to demonstrate what he has learned – to reveal his
abilities and potential – to show that he really is full of the Holy Spirit.
Now,
Jewish readers of this story would have picked up on the fact that Jesus’ test
lasted forty days. That detail links Jesus to the key event of Jewish history –
the forty years of testing in the desert before they finally reached the
promised land.
But,
non-Jewish readers and hearers of this story would have probably picked up on
something else. In the ancient world it was believed that the three great vices
were love of pleasure, love of possessions and love of glory.
Not
much has changed, I guess.
And
so, over the course of forty days, the devil tempts Jesus with those three
vices: love of pleasure, love of possessions and love of glory.
Pleasure.
The devil says to the starving Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, command this
stone to become a loaf of bread.”
Possessions.
The devil shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the earth and says, “If you, then,
will worship me, it will all be yours.”
Glory.
The devil brings Jesus to the pinnacle of the Jerusalem Temple and says, “If
you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here.” The devil urges Jesus
to reveal his glory as the Son of God, saved by angels as he plunges to the
earth.
Well,
Jesus passed his tests. Each time he rebuffs the devil by quoting Scripture.
Jesus is so filled with the Holy Spirit – so familiar with God’s Word – that
nothing the devil offered is able to trip him up.
Jesus
passed his tests – demonstrating what he had learned, revealing his abilities
and potential, showing that he really is filled with the Holy Spirit.
“When
the devil had finished every test, he departed from Jesus until an opportune
time.”
Tests.
We’ve all faced a lot of tests.
Before
I was a teacher, I was a student, of course. And when I was a kid in school,
there were times I’d get so nervous before a test that I couldn’t sleep,
wouldn’t eat and would feel physically sick. The tests – especially, yes, math
tests - loomed as the scariest most important things in my life.
Maybe
you had similar experiences.
And
they were important and sometimes there was good reason to be scared.
But,
of course, there was something very artificial about those tests. And they
don’t compare to the tests that we’ve faced outside of school – the test that
comes when we someone betrays a trust, the test that comes when we think “why
not, no one will ever know,” the test that comes when we face rejection and
loss, the test that come when we feel unappreciated, the test that comes when
we think, “yeah, it’s wrong, but I deserve it,” the test that come when we feel
like we’ve wasted our lives.
Tests.
We’ve all faced a lot of tests.
“When
the devil had finished every test, he departed from Jesus until an opportune
time.”
Jesus
passed his own kind of artificial tests in the wilderness – demonstrating what
he had learned, revealing his abilities and potential, showing that he really
is filled with the Holy Spirit.
Those
wilderness tests prepared Jesus for much harder tests yet to come – not in the
wilderness but in Nazareth where Jesus is rejected by his hometown relatives
and neighbors.
There
were much harder tests yet to come – not in the wilderness but in Jerusalem
where Jesus is rejected by just about everyone – where Peter will give into
temptation and fail his test by denying his friend and his Lord three times.
There
were much harder tests yet to come – not in the wilderness but at Calvary where
Jesus dies almost alone, in shame and apparent defeat.
Maybe
in part because of the preparation in the wilderness, Jesus passes those much
harder real life tests, too, revealing not just what he had learned and
revealing not just his abilities and potential, but revealing God’s love for
the whole world.
The
season of Lent is designed to be like Jesus’ forty days of temptation and
testing in wilderness.
By
offering some kind of sacrifice, by giving generously to those in need, by
taking on some new spiritual discipline, Lent gives us the opportunity to be
tempted and tested – the opportunity to resist the love of pleasure, to resist
the love of possessions, to resist the love of glory.
Lent
gives us the opportunity to be tested, to demonstrate what we have learned, to
reveal our abilities and potential, to show that the Holy Spirit fills us, too.
And
these kind of artificial Lenten tests help prepare us for the much harder tests
that are sure to come.
Lent,
of course, began a few days ago on Ash Wednesday – which is it’s own kind of
test, challenging us to face some hard truths.
In
my Ash Wednesday homily I talked about how, through the ashes, God reminds us
of our mortality – God reminds us that one day we will die. Through the ashes,
God reminds us of our sinfulness – God reminds us that we have all let down
God, let down one another, and let down ourselves. But, most important, through
the ashes, God reminds us that we depend completely on God – God reminds us
that we live, move and have our being in God.
We
have faced and will face many tests over the course of our lives.
The
devil will always find opportune times to test us.
Sometimes
we’ll rise to the occasion and pass our test, but there have been and there will
be other times when we are like Peter denying Christ.
There
have been and will be times when we give into temptation.
There
have been and will be times when instead of loving God and one another, we love
pleasure, love possessions, and love glory.
There
have been and will be times when we fail the test.
But,
the good news is that none of our failures can separate us from God’s love –
none of our weaknesses can cut us off from the God we depend upon.
The
good news is that, with God, forgiveness and another chance are always
available.
The
good news is that Jesus passed all of his tests - but we don’t have to.
Amen.
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