What tempts us?

A Sermon preached on Lent I Sunday March 5^th 2017 at St. Augustine’s, Wiesbaden

Genesis 2: 15 – 17, 3: 1 – 7, Romans 5: 12 – 19, Matthew 4: 1-11

Every year we begin the Season of Lent with the story of the temptations of Jesus. Each year of course, depending on the Gospel, we hear a different version of the event, this year one of the long versions, from Matthew. Next year, when we hear from the Evangelist Mark, I will struggle to say much about his take on the temptation as it is basically just two sentences: Jesus went into the desert, was tempted and came out again. The other thing that changes are the Old Testament lesson and the Epistle, which give the story its theological background.

This year the context we have been given is the Genesis story of that first, successful temptation, followed by Paul's interpretation of the event, in which he identifies Adam's sin as the cause of all this is wrong in the world and contrasts this with Jesus as the source of all grace, righteousness, and life. “ For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many,”(Romans 5:15) for  “one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all.” (5:18)

One question of course about the story of Jesus’ temptation, at least in Matthew’s version, is how and where do all the details come from? The only witness for the temptations, apart from Satan, was Jesus himself. At this point Jesus had not even picked his disciples, and if anyone noticed his absence they will just have been aware that Jesus was away for 40 days. So, if this is an account of what Jesus experienced in the wilderness, then Jesus must have shared the story with his disciples as he wanted them to learn from his example. He knew that his followers would suffer similar temptations as they went through their times of trial. This is the example the author of the Letter to the Hebrews (4:15) is referring to when he writes: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are.”

What have the two temptations, of Adam and Eve and of Jesus, got to do with one another? The setting is very different. The first story in Genesis takes place not in a wilderness but in its very opposite, in the Garden of Eden, which must have been the greenest, most pleasant, and most beautiful place imaginable. The temptation, to which both Adam and Eve succumb, is to eat of the forbidden fruit, to disobey God  because “the tree was good for food, and … a delight to the eyes, and … to be desired to make one wise.” (Genesis 3:6) I find it interesting by the way that Paul does not mention Eve at all in his interpretation. It would of course spoil the symmetry of his comparison of death coming through one man, and life coming through one man. But I also wonder if Paul is simply not willing to give a woman a leading role. Adam is not exactly the leader in the Genesis story!

But coming back to my comparison of the two temptations. Jesus’ take place as we heard in the wilderness, not in paradise. As he was coming from being baptized in the Jordan River, the area is while not desert, still pretty arid and inhospitable. His three temptations focus on power and its use or abuse: to create food and cut his fast short or at least make it more bearable, to test God’s power in saving him from a certain death and to gain worldly power by acknowledging the sovereignty of evil embodied in the figure of Satan. 

These are all very real temptations for Jesus’ followers then and now. After Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, the disciples and the new Christians sought to fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” In doing so, they would often be harassed and arrested, and then tempted and tested by those in power and authority. They would be offered their freedom, their lives, and possibly even positions of power if they were just willing to renounce Jesus and instead fall down and worship the Evil One in one of his many guises. Thankfully most resisted and did not let themselves be distracted from their vocation and stopped from carrying out God’s calling, even though for many this witness lead to martyrdom, to suffering and death. 

Here in the West the most we have to fear is that we are not taken seriously, or told that it’s unrealistic, for Christians in other parts of the world injury and death are real threats, as we will hear from our Pakistani friends next week in an adult forum. It certainly puts the temptation from those things some of us give up for Lent, alcohol, chocolate, social media into perspective! 

At their core, Adam and Eve’s and Jesus’ temptations are more similar than they seem. They are not about fruit or bread, but about who we follow and who we trust, and how fully. Adam and Eve let the serpent convince them that God does not have their best interests at heart and is even keeping something from them that they deserve. The tree and its fruit may be good for food and a delight to the eyes, but most of all it was to be desired because they believed it would make them wise, independent, self-reliant, like God – so the serpent says. This is exactly what Satan tries with Jesus too: “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” Though in the end he is honest enough to admit that it is not really about independence and self-reliance, but about switching his allegiance from God to Satan, from the kingdom of heaven, to the kingdoms of the world, from good to evil.

I hope it does not come as a surprise that I do not think that the story of Adam and Eve, and their original sin, the so-called Fall, is a historical event. It is a myth, but still truthful. Paul is right to identify this story as an explanation of all this is wrong in the world: striving for self-fulfillment at the cost of others, desiring absolute power as a means of achieving own goals, propagating the illusion of independence, whether of individuals or nations, or of one part of creation from another. These are real sins and they really lead to death. 

Paul is equally right to identify Jesus as the cure. God sends him as a gift bringing and demonstrating righteousness. Jesus embodies selfless service, sacrifice, and love in action. He comes to help us turn from the path of destruction we still follow. And in the temptation story, using Scripture - all Jesus’ answers come from the Book of Deuteronomy - he teaches us to trust and to commit to God fully:

“One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Deuteronomy 8:3)  “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” (Deut. 8:3) “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” (Deut. 6:13)

The lesson I take from both temptation stories is not that we are inherently bad, though I do believe we are prone to err and to sin. That is the difference between Jesus, the prefect human and us. I quoted from the Letter to the Hebrews earlier that we have in Jesus “one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet” as the author goes on to say, “without sin.” But the main lesson for me, and what caused “Adam and Eve” and all who followed and follow so much pain and suffering, is simply that we are incomplete without God.

Whatever you do in Lent, whatever form your Lenten disciplines take, whether you are giving up or taking on, just make sure they bring you closer to God, the source of all goodness and love.

Amen.