A Coming of Age

Scripture: Luke 4:1-13

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tested by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over he was famished. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’”

Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered him, “It is written,

‘Worship the Lord your God,
    and serve only him.’ ”

Then the devil led him to Jerusalem and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written,

‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    to protect you,’ and
‘On their hands they will bear you up,
    so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Sermon

As we heard the scripture read, I would guess that a good number of us could identify with this crucible Jesus endures. After all, America loves a good temptation.

When you reach the front of the supermarket, there’s chocolates and tabloids and cigarettes to greet you before checkout. When we book a flight, our airline asks if we want a car and hotel, too. Corporations scrape all the data they can from us, selling it to the highest bidder or political campaign to try and tempt us one way or another. As McDonalds asked America: Would you like to supersize that?

And so, as we listened to today’s scripture, it was probably pretty easy to relate to Jesus. There’s always an angel on one shoulder, and the devil on the other.

But sometimes, in identifying with the scripture, we inject a little bit of ourselves into it. For example, we often feel tempted by food, by addiction, by politics, by behaviors — you name it. So often, we feel like we need a lifeline, a little bit of comfort when we feel assailed by everything around us. We want to believe that Jesus knew what it was like to crave a cheeseburger. We want to believe that Jesus knew what it was like to feel pressured to do the wrong thing.

In many ways, that’s true — we see Jesus’ humanity come out of the woodwork time and time again, where he identifies intimately with us. But in reading so much of ourselves onto Jesus, we are placing limits on the word that God is proclaiming to us today.

Jesus is not being tested in superficial ways. Jesus’ deepest sense of vocation, and identity, and ministry, and purpose is being tested; not merely by human influences, but by words of Scripture and otherworldly forces. To make it even more explicit: these aren’t “temptations,” wherein the devil is trying to get Jesus to do something. As our Bibles translate it, these are “tests,” — crucibles where Jesus must exercise his sense of self and his vocation.

This isn’t about splurging on some chocolates. These aren’t superficial temptations. They are existential tests.

“To make it even more explicit: these aren’t “temptations,” wherein the devil is trying to get Jesus to do something. As our Bibles translate it, these are “tests,” — crucibles where Jesus must exercise his sense of self and his vocation.”

All of this stems from what we hear in the first verse: “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness.” This is a rhetorical set of bread crumbs leading back through the Gospel account to Jesus’ baptism. Just as we profess happens today, Jesus’ baptism was the beginning of his ministry and vocation. Everything is oriented around it. The ministry that Jesus performs, including his healing and teaching, began with the voice of God crying, “This is my son, the beloved!” That is what propelled things forward, and when the Spirit of God descended and animated his ministry and vocation.

When we reach today’s passage, the Gospel writer is reminding us of that baptism and the challenge ahead. Rest assured, there are some big questions: What is Jesus’ ministry? How will he exercise it? And who is he called to be among humanity?

Another way to put it is that Jesus is coming of age in this passage. We know that human beings don’t spontaneously develop an inner sense of selfhood - it gradually forms, and changes, and re-forms. We wander and walk our way to a sense of self. In this wilderness—like the wildernesses every humanity walks in adolescence—Jesus is on a pilgrimage to his ministry. He was baptized; now comes time for his confirmation as the son of God.

…

This coming-of-age journey, where Jesus forms his sense of self, is structured with three tests. Once again, not superficial temptations to do something; these are tests of who Jesus is, and how he will follow God.

The first test touches on Jesus’ hunger. Before I say anything else, I want to give a big disclaimer: fasting is a really complicated spiritual discipline. I strongly, strongly discourage folks from practicing it, because in America, we have toxic relationships to food, and complicated relationships to our bodies. Women and girls—and increasingly men—don’t need any more pressure or stress around eating and food.

That being said, we see something nestled in Jesus’ observance of fasting. This test is about his relationship to self. Will Jesus be swayed by his own personal desires? Will he back down in the face of personal suffering, even if it leads to a crucifixion? This is a test of Jesus’ sense of self and his relationship to himself.

The second test on this coming-of-age journey is all about power. “If you, then, will worship me,” the devil says, “every kingdom will be yours.” This second test is about Jesus’ relationship to others; the fabric of his interpersonal integrity. Will Jesus seek worldly control and power in his quest to save humanity? Will Jesus seek political sway in his desire for peace? It seems not.

Finally, after testing Jesus’ the fabric of Jesus’ personal character, then his interpersonal character, the devil leads him to a final test. “Throw yourself down from here,” he says. But Jesus refuses, saying, “do not put the Lord your God to the test.” This is an admittedly odd test. But what we might see is a test of Jesus’ relationship to God. In particular, certainty. Will Jesus demand certainty from God, and in doing so, fling himself down to test the boundaries of God’s protection? Does Jesus require certainty of his purpose before ministering to humanity? What does he say? “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” This leaves room for uncertainty and questioning, maybe even doubt from time to time. Jesus is rooted in his baptism and calling.

“Jesus is coming of age in this passage… In this wilderness—like the wildernesses each human walks in adolescence—Jesus is on a pilgrimage to his ministry.”

I’m going to ask you to humor me for a little bit this morning. And if it is a swing and a miss, then we can chalk it up to my flu-addled, pharmaceutically-pickled brain.

What if there’s something to learn by standing in the devil’s shoes in this scripture? 

I know that sounds ludicrous—and very well may be—but hear me out before deciding.

No matter how much we might poke Jesus—arguing with God, testing Jesus’ claims, interrogating his ministry—Jesus withstands the test. Ten out of ten times. Jesus doesn’t squirm out of it, or run out of the wilderness, or give into our neuroses. Jesus looks us straight in the eyes, walks through every test and every crucible, and comes out on the other side completely intact.

Not only that, but Jesus keeps talking. Jesus still has a conversation with the devil after the first test. In fact, it’s not Jesus who ends this series of tests, it is the devil! Not only can Jesus be tested—our whole weight be put on him—but Jesus isn’t vindictive. When we show up with frustration, and anger, and accusations, it’s not met with a cold shoulder, but with openness. There’s love. There’s faithfulness. There’s no test or devil or anything in all creation that will ever trip up Jesus.

As we confront an American society that is undergoing massive change—economically, religiously, politically—it’s not a stretch to say there are tests at hand. There are more than temptations floating around. Our nation, and our lives, aren’t merely tempted by individual decisions; it is our vocation and self-conception that is being tested. These tests have been simmering not since January, but stretching back across political aisles and decades upon decades. We’ve always had questions to unravel: Who is America? What are we called to do in our civic lives? And what is God beckoning us toward as people of faith and disciples of Jesus Christ?

No matter if we are Pharisees or fishers, the ill or the inspired, and regardless if we pass tests or not, it is Jesus Christ who will walk beside faithfully. After all, in this encounter with the devil, Jesus finds his voice and his vocation. His ministry picks up in earnest after this series of tests, and it seems that his coming-of-age journey draws to a close. Every question we can lob at Jesus—and even the very tricks of the devil—are met with clarity, and determination, and a faithfulness that surpasses every hope.

We’re walking into Lent with this Jesus close at hand. In Lent, we’ll continue being tested, perennially being asked who we are as disciples of Jesus Christ. Not the Jesus who is figuring out his way, or coming to terms with his identity, but the Jesus who has been claimed in baptism; called to a ministry of healing and teaching and prophecy; who has been tested in every way, and now sent forward with confidence.

That’s the friend and redeemer close at hand, who will accompany us into the emptiness of Ash Wednesday, and who will walk and sing with us all the way to Easter morning.

Amen.

Source

“Commentary on Luke 4:1-13,” David Schnasa Jacobsen, WorkingPreacher.org, https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/first-sunday-in-lent-3/commentary-on-luke-41-13-4