OPENING THE GOSPELS: Lent 1

 THE FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT

Click on the links for an introduction to the series, and the techniques of reading with your head, heart and hands.

Luke 4.1-13 

The other readings set for today, some of which you may hear during worship are: Deuteronomy 26.1-11, Psalm 91, Romans 8b-13

1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. 3The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.’ 4Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone.” ’

5 Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6And the devil said to him, ‘To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. 7If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’ 8Jesus answered him, ‘It is written,

“Worship the Lord your God,

   and serve only him.” ’

9 Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10for it is written,

“He will command his angels concerning you,

   to protect you”,

11and

“On their hands they will bear you up,

   so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” ’

12Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” ’ 13When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

HEAD QUESTIONS: Here are some things I think may be relevant to notice, but before reading my words, have a look for yourself to find out what you can about the “who, where, when and what” of this story.

WHO? 

The Holy Spirit: Luke’s Gospel is full of the action of the Holy Spirit; Jesus is conceived through the power of the Spirit and inspired by the Spirit throughout his ministry. The Acts of the Apostles, also by Luke, tell of the coming of the Spirit on the disciples at Pentecost, but the Spirit has been active long before that. 

The Devil: Luke calls Jesus’ adversary the devil, but we shouldn’t imagine a creature with horns and a pitchfork. The idea of a figure embodying evil developed gradually. In the Old Testament, he is called “the satan” which literally meant “the accuser”, like a prosecuting barrister, someone whose job was to test people. Whether we believe there is a literal figure of evil or not, we can see how, in this story, the devil gives voice to the push and pull of competing thoughts in Jesus’ mind, the possible choices he might make as he begins his ministry.  

Jesus, the Son of God. The devil asks Jesus what it means to him to be the Son of God. “Son of..” wasn’t just about biology in the 1st century. It was also, and more importantly about carrying on your father’s mission and embodying his character. There was a far more famous “Son of God” in people’s minds at the time of Jesus. The Roman emperor Augustus, who was the “son” of Julius Caesar – actually his nephew, but adopted as his heir – was called the “Son of God” because Julius Caesar had been declared to be divine, as all Roman Emperors after him would be. When Christians called Jesus “Son of God” they were making a deliberately subversive statement. In questioning Jesus, the Devil tests the depth of his conviction that he is the true “Son of God”.

WHERE?

The Jordan. The river where John the Baptist had just baptised Jesus. 

The Wilderness. Jesus isn’t “getting away from it all” for some peace and quiet. The rocky Judean desert was seen as a dangerous place, a place of extreme heat, cold and drought, a home only for wild animals, wild people, and wild spirits. It was a place where you would be under attack physically, emotionally and spiritually. Jesus deliberately chooses to go there, led by the Spirit. There are many other significant “wilderness experiences” in Scripture – the story of Hagar (Gen 16 & 21), the story of the exodus from Egypt in the book of Exodus, and Elijah’s flight into the desert when he encounters the “still small voice” of God (1 Kings 19), for example.

WHEN?

Asking “when” questions often involves looking at what comes immediately before and after a passage. In this case, Luke 3.21-22 tells us that Jesus has just been baptised by John. The Holy Spirit has “descended on him in bodily form, like a dove” and a heavenly voice has acclaimed him “You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.”

After his temptations in the wilderness, Jesus will go back to Nazareth and begin his ministry, shocking people in his local synagogue by applying the words of the Prophet Isaiah to himself “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.” (Luke 4). 

“Forty days”: the length of time Jesus fasted in the desert. It could just be taken to mean “quite a long time”, but the number forty was probably meant to remind Luke’s readers of the forty years the people of Israel spent wandering in the wilderness after their escape from slavery in Egypt. Just as in that ancient story, those who follow Jesus are invited to be part of a new kingdom, to enter a new Promised Land.

The story finishes with the devil departing from Jesus “until an opportune time”. In a way, all these temptations will return when Jesus is arrested and crucified – will he decide to put himself first, to protect himself, or will he stick to the message of God’s love for all which so angers the powers that rule his land? Will he be able to trust that he will be in his Father’s hands as he suffers and dies? The temptations in the wilderness can be seen as a foretaste of the crucifixion. 

WHAT? 

Luke’s Gospel, like Matthew’s, details three specific temptations which the devil puts before Jesus. They are all about how he will use his power – to bring himself material gain and satisfy his own hungers, to bring himself glory and adulation, and to believe that God will not let anything bad happen to him because of who he is.  The devil uses words from the Hebrew Scriptures which Jesus would have known well, to sow doubt in his mind, but Jesus counters with other scriptural words. The Bible is not like a washing machine manual, and we can get into very bad trouble if we read it simplistically, taking verses out of context as the devil does here!

HEART QUESTIONS: I can’t answer these for you. They are about how this story touches your own heart and life. The questions are just suggestions – you may have your own.

• How do you feel as you read this story? Hopeful? Fearful? Baffled? Something else?

• Have there been “wilderness” times in your life, when you have had to grapple with difficult choices? What happened? Have you ever had to watch someone else go through a “wilderness time”?

• Imagine yourself in this scene. Where are you, and what do you want to say or do?

HANDS QUESTIONS: 

• Has anything changed in your mind or heart as you have thought about this story?

• Is there anything you feel to do as a result (prayer, action, further thought etc..)?