"The Question of Salvation" (Luke 13:22-30)

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Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

 

“[Jesus] went on His way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. And someone said to Him, ‘Lord, will those who are saved be few?’ And He said to them, ‘Strive to enter through the narrow door’” (Luke 13:23-24a).

 

The question of salvation. Will those who are saved be few? That is a question that is often asked today. Who will be saved? Am I saved? Is everyone going to be saved?

 

So, Jesus gives this answer: “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able” (Luke 13:24). What kind of an answer is that?!

 

As Jesus gave this answer, He was on His way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. But His journey to Jerusalem was not a straight line. He wasn’t taking the expressway. But He took every detour route along the way. 

 

Instead of taking the short cut, Jesus took the longest way possible as He was on a spiritual pilgrimage. Surely, Jerusalem was His ultimate goal, but He knows Jerusalem will finally be reached. The city where the salvation of the world will be accomplished.

 

We, too, are also on a pilgrimage. And along this pilgrimage, we have a choice of two paths. There is a wide path and a narrow path. The wide path looks easy. It’s paved. It’s flat. It’s giving into the culture around us. It’s the way of the world. The narrow path looks difficult. It’s bumpy. It’s letting God lead. It’s the way of God. The wide path is the way to hell. The narrow path is the way to heaven.

 

Jesus says, “Strive to enter through the narrow door” (Luke 13:24a). Right now, as I am preaching to you, the narrow door is open, and many will try to enter it through their own means, on their own terms, but they will be unable to do so. They will think they have lived a good enough life. They will think they have given enough to good causes. They will think that they have just enough faith. 

 

But your life is never good enough for God. He doesn’t want “C” students of the faith. He wants perfection. You see, your belief – when it’s not completely true to Jesus – can never be good enough.

 

The narrow door is currently standing open, but the time is coming when that narrow door will be closed forever. When Jesus returns, bodily descending from the clouds, at that moment, the narrow door will be closed.

 

The current time of grace will end on that Day. The time of grace will end when the narrow door that has stood open all this time is finally closed. And everyone who did not enter through the narrow door will be left outside in desperation banging on that narrow door screaming, “Lord, open to us!”(Luke 13:25a). Then Jesus will answer from behind the door, saying: “I do not know where you come from” (Luke 13:25b).

 

Then those on the outside will scream, “We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets!” (Luke 13:26). This is like us saying, “We came to church when we felt like it! We sang hymns! Isn’t that good enough?” These are the words that will come out of your mouth as if what you have done can save you. As if just going through the motions of the Divine Service can save your soul. So, just a mere acquaintance with Jesus and His teachings will not save you. 

 

So, how can anyone possibly pass through the narrow door? To that Jesus says, “strive.” Now, a better word for “strive” is “struggle.” Now, this command to “strive” or “struggle” does not mean that it takes a moral effort to pass through the narrow door, nor does it mean that entrance is gained by a human responsibility. Rather, the struggle through which one enters is repentance, which is a work of God in the human heart.

 

You see, this struggle is produced when the Word of God calls one to repent and trust in Jesus Christ, but at the same time, the sinful human nature is warring against God’s Word. This is the struggle.

 

St. Paul told of his inner struggle in Romans 7. He wrote, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me”(Romans 7:15-20).

 

So, those who follow their fleshly desires cannot please God. But if you are in the Spirit, you will live.

 

St. Paul’s inner struggle is our inner struggle. But the good news is that by having this struggle, you know that the Holy Spirit is in you. It is because of the Holy Spirit that you notice this struggle. It is the Holy Spirit leading you to repentance.

 

And entrance through the narrow door is gained by those who repent and see in Jesus the Lord of the banquet.

 

Right now, many will seek to enter through the narrow door and will not be able. These many are seeking to get through by their own merits, by their own deeds. These many refuse to repent of their sins. And so, they will not be able to enter.

 

So, getting back to the question of salvation: “Will those who are saved be few?” (Luke 13:23). And Jesus does actually answer that question. Yes. Very few, indeed. But Jesus doesn’t want to leave us in despair. You see, no single person can pass through that narrow door by his or her own efforts. The only way to enter through that narrow door is by grace.

 

So, how do we enter by grace? First, there must be atonement between God and man. The Son of Man must die. The Son of God must die. Jesus must shed His blood. He must continue His journeying to Jerusalem. He must reach Jerusalem, the city where the salvation of the world will be accomplished. He must atone for yours and my sins. He must die a shameful death on the cross. He must, because He is the Way through the Narrow Door. He is the Narrow Door. 

 

As the Narrow Door, Jesus doesn’t force us to labor on our pilgrimage or to labor upon reaching your destination. He calls us. He directs us. He leads us. 

 

Jesus, the Narrow Door, first called you to faith through a Baptism of repentance to the forgiveness of sins as He gifted you the Holy Spirit. But Jesus didn’t leave us to fend for ourselves. He also gave us proper worship through His Means of Grace so that we would remain steadfast “to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of the bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42).

 

You see, by your regular reception of the Lord’s Supper, by remaining faithful to God’s teaching and to your fellowship with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus’ Word of Law and Gospel changes hearts and with your changed heart, He bestows upon you the honored place at the heavenly feast.

 

God is, indeed, gracious to us. Each time you repent of your sins against God and your neighbor, He smiles at you and says, “I forgive you all your sins.” As you partake of the Lord’s Supper, you have a foretaste of the eternal feast of heaven, the forgiveness of your sins, the very Body and Blood of the sacrificial Lamb of God. He uses these Means of Grace to keep you on the path to, and through, the Narrow Door. He uses these Means of Grace to guarantee your salvation. So, when you continually receive His grace and live according to His grace, there is no longer a question of salvation. You now have the answer. And God never lies (Titus 1:1-2).

 

So, repent of your sins. Receive the Lord’s forgiveness that He won for you on the cross and enter through Him, who is the Narrow Door! Come, receive His forgiveness, rest in His Word and recline at His table! Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

 keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

"What If?" (1 Corinthians 15:19-26) - Easter Day

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Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

“If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:19-20). 

 

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

 

Happy Easter! Today is the greatest day of the year because it celebrates the greatest day in all of world history! In fact, our Christian faith is based on this very day – the day of our Lord’s resurrection from the dead. So, why then do so many people misunderstand this day? Why do so many people misunderstand Easter and just reduce it to a celebration of baskets full of goodies? Now, I, too, enjoy baskets full of goodies, but today is so much greater than just a basket filled with chocolates and jellybeans. Today we remember why we meet each week on Sundays. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

 

But what would life look like without this day. What would life look like without Easter?

 

This is what St. Paul is asking the Corinthian church. He says to them, “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:19).

 

So, take away Easter and what do you have? 

§  We would no longer be the firstruits of Christ’s resurrection, but rather leftovers of Satan’s temptation and Adam and Eve’s first sin.

§  We would not have forgiveness. For if Christ was not raised, we would still be stuck in our sins.

§  We would be under the eternal curse and power of the devil with his hold over us in sin and death.

§  We would be doomed to eternal death, apart from God, in complete nothingness.

§  We would have no glorified body.

 

For many of the skeptics at Corinth, they thought they were wasting their time and energy on an empty message. Afterall, dead people don’t come back to life. There are two certainties in life: death and taxes. Life always ends in death. Fight it or deny it, maybe even try to ignore it. Choose whatever strategy you like, death always wins. Death happens to everyone. It is final. It is permanent. When you’re dead, you’re dead. You become worm food.

 

If these skeptics are correct, then if Christ had not been raised, then our Christian faith is futile, and furthermore, we would all be stuck in our sins. If we have no forgiveness in Christ through His atoning death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead, then we are just doomed to the result of our sins: eternal death. 

 

If these skeptics are correct, then the resurrection is false and then there is nothing to a life everlasting, so this would constitute the greatest deception ever perpetrated on earth. Then, Scripture and the Sacraments would be of no use. The preaching would all be in vain. The apostles and myself would just be false prophets.

 

“But in fact,” St. Paul says, “Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20).

 

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

 

Our Lord Jesus Christ arose from the dead. He lives! And because He lives, you will also live – and with a glorified body: “For as by a man – Adam – came death, by a Man – Jesus – has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:21-22).

 

But what exactly is “a glorified body”? Many of the Corinthians were also skeptical of this. Many couldn’t get past the idea of breathing life into a dead corpse, or worse, bones and ash. St. Paul explains this later in 1 Corinthians 15: “So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power” (1 Corinthians 15:42-43).

 

Paul is talking about us here. Did you catch those words: “perishable,” “dishonor,” and “weakness”? That is us. That is our experience of our bodies in this life. And in spite of all our frailties, we do like our bodies. In fact, we don’t just live in our bodies, we are our bodies, and they are us.

 

Our bodies, even with our frailties, are pretty impressive. God gave humanity precisely what we need for creating and maintaining our lives. So, we not only live life in these bodies, but we also enjoy it.

 

But sometimes, you may wish to have a body that doesn’t wear down, since our bodies are perishable and weak. Yes, we are blessed to have so many modern surgeries to keep our bodies working more smoothly, but in spite of everything, we still know that our bodies are perishable and weak. Our bodies get old, they wear out, they die. 

 

As we get older, we may make light of our last enemy – death. You may lose you hair. You may go a bit gray in your 20s. But you can always cover it up with a wig or hair coloring.

 

But then there are those aches and pains that linger longer than they used to. The eyeglasses and hearing aids. All this is weakness. 

 

Now, death can strike at any moment. Some live past 100, others die in their 20s, or in the womb. Our bodies are weak. They are perishable.

 

And there’s more. We don’t just experience weaker bodies, but we also sin in the body. For this flesh is not only weak and perishable, but it is also dishonorable.

 

You and me are subject to the appetites of our body. Our hands do things they shouldn’t. Our feet take us places we shouldn’t go. Our minds conceive the worst wickedness. And then our tongues. Our tongues are completely out of control. We all say things we immediately regret.

 

For us Christians, this really hurts. We don’t want to die, and we don’t want to sin. For “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

 

In Holy Baptism, our Old Adam was drowned to sin, and we were made alive in Christ through the Holy Spirit. So, we really do want to please God. We now live by confession, repentance and forgiveness through which the Holy Spirit sanctifies us day by day. 

 

Yet, we find ourselves caught in a fight with our new self. St. Paul describes this fight saying, “I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (Romans 7:18-19). How can you and I get myself out of this mess?

 

Only Jesus. Since He has been raised from the dead and gives us the sure promise of a glorified body: not weak but powerful, not perishable but imperishable, not dishonorable but glorious like His, we shall bear the image of God. Christ is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. By a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. So also in Christ shall all be made alive. Christ the firstfruits, then at His coming those who belong to Christ. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. That is the promise. That is the victory we celebrate this day.

 

For St. Paul, Christ’s resurrection is inseparably connected to our future resurrection. These are two sides of the same coin. Through Holy Baptism, we have become members of Christ’s own body. And the bodily resurrection of Jesus guarantees our future resurrection. This is our great hope.

 

For Christ will on the Last Day “raise me and all the dead and will grant eternal life to me and to all who believe in Christ. This is most certainly true.” So, with great joy, we don’t say “if” but with certainty that Christ is risen!

 

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! Amen!

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

 keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Sermon for Pentecost 6: "True Rest" (Matthew 11:25-30)

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God the Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

Why Should Cross and Trial Grieve Me? You may not be too familiar with that hymn, but as you sang it, did you notice all those comforting words? 

 

I first came to notice this hymn as I sang it with family and friends on the first birthday of our son Henry. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. I expected a birthday cake or cupcakes surrounded by family and friends as we asked Henry to blow out his candle. But here we were singing this hymn at St. Paul Lutheran Cemetery in St. Louis. 

 

One year before, Henry was born as a stillborn. It was a shock. Melissa and I were weary. We each thought, “Could we have done something different?” But now a year had gone by. And time itself does not heal all wounds. It’s hard to just move on. Henry was a person and a child of God. We can’t forget that. But as I sang this hymn, I was given a lot of hope, and not just the kind of hope that comes and goes, but a hope that is sure and certain.

 

Why Should Cross and Trial Grieve Me is based on our Gospel text where Jesus says, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

 

Each one of us needs rest for we have been laboring. We work hard at our jobs, putting in long hours, and even when we put in those long hours, we still struggle to get ahead. Utility bills, credit card bills, loan payments all take away from our hard-earned wages. We work hard at being a loving spouse. We work hard at providing for our families. But often the harder we work, the more regret we have. “I wish I could have been home more.”

 

Besides work and money, we face other burdens. As Christians, we face opposition toward the Church. This fallen sinful world has indoctrinated so many people into believing that the Christian Church in its truest form is a place of hate. I say “truest” because so many Christian churches have given up on Jesus and have just joined the world, because they want to be of the world. 

As I said last week, Christ’s truth often results in a sword. So, by proclaiming any sense of absolute right and absolute wrong results in conflict.

 

I’ll admit, I am comforted that Henry is in the arms of Jesus, but now we have a daughter Elsie and now I am weary for another reason: her future. I see all these changes of this world and most of these changes I don’t believe are for the better. I see Satan playing a very prominent role in our culture in what is deemed appropriate. The fallen world has always been against Jesus, but in my short life, this is the worst I have ever seen. I remember those days when going to church was seen as a good thing for society. That wasn’t long ago. Today, the Church is ridiculed and attacked, while paganism and every other religion is praised. But despite what I may think, God is still in control. He knows what He is doing.

 

Many of us face guilt and frustration. We face guilt and frustration in what we have done and what we should have done. 

 

What makes you weary and burdened? What makes you tired?

 

So, when we hear Jesus say, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” we say, “Thank you!” since we are all in need of rest. We want our hard labor and our burdens wiped away. We all desire rest.

 

But what sort of rest does Jesus give? Well, what sort of rest do we really need? Is it the rest we get with a day off from work to grill out and enjoy the beautiful fireworks? The kind of day off we enjoy on Independence Day? Maybe it’s the sort of rest that comes with sleeping in. That is a kind of rest, which is especially popular on Sunday mornings sad to say, since the fallen world has relabeled Sunday as Sunday Funday. And I’m sure that no one will complain about an extra day off from work. Work wears us out. Work wears us out since we live after the Fall. To Adam God said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat of the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:17-19).

 

This is why we are tired. Before the Fall, work was enjoyable. After the Fall, work is often unbearable.

 

But is this the sort of rest that Jesus is speaking? Is He promising to give rest to the working man and working woman?

 

The answer, of course, is no. Jesus isn’t speaking of a rest that is simply a break from work. We really don’t need Jesus to give us a day off. So, what sort of rest is He promising to give? To that question, we must take a closer look at the sort of person to whom Jesus promises to give this rest. 

 

Jesus is not promising to give rest to those whose work caused them to be burdened, but Jesus ispromising rest to those whose work has caused them to be burdened in conscience.

 

You see, Jesus’ words to the crowds here are offering true rest for all who are laboring and heavy burdened because they had not been obedient enough to the demands of God’s Law. It was thought that Jews had to earn their way to a saving relationship with God.

 

God’s Law is demanding. The Law demands that you do it. No ifs, ands, or buts. This caused so much of a burden. So, when a Jew failed at being obedient to God’s Law, they wearied that God would have nothing to do with them.

 

To this, Jesus is promising them rest. You know that your work falls short of the will of God, and as a result your conscience is burdened. Jesus promises to give rest to those who know their work is full of sin, and whose consciences are plagued by what they have done and what they have left undone. He promises to give rest to those who know they justly deserve His temporal and eternal punishment. We deserve that, since we have not kept God’s Law and we know that we have not kept God’s Law. Jesus is not promising rest to those who only work and labor, day after day, but to those whose consciences are burdened by their sin.

 

This is our real burden. We have fallen short of what God expects from us. 

 

The Apostle Paul gives us a great example of this. He was full of burdens. Paul wrote, “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but do the very things I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the Law, that it is good” (Romans 7:15-16).

 

Paul knew the Law. He studied under Gamaliel who was an esteemed teacher of the Law (Acts 22:3). He also studied under Jesus. So, Paul knew that the Law was good, since it is from God. But like you, Paul knew that, try as he might, he could not keep the Law. He wrote, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (Romans 7:18-19).

 

Paul wants to observe God’s Law. But day after day, he fails. He keeps on doing the things he doesn’t want to do. He is burdened by his sin. He is at conflict with himself. He can only say, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24).

 

This is a plea from a man who has labored but is also heavy laden. This is the very sort of person whom Jesus promises to give rest. This is not simply a person who works or has regret. This is a person who knows that he deserves nothing but temporal and eternal punishment because of his work. This is a person who labors and is heavy laden.

 

To such a person, Jesus says, “I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you” (Matthew 11:28-29). 

 

“Take my work as your work. Take My life as your own. Let it be credited to you so that you might rest and not live in fear. For that is My yoke. The Law is My burden to pay so that you might learn from Me that I am gentle and lowly in heart, and so that you might find rest for your souls. Take My yoke, the work I am doing on your behalf, even unto death, and have it as your own. My yoke, given to you, is easy. The burden I bear is light when it’s given to you as a gift.”

 

To this, we say with Paul, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ Our Lord!” (Romans 7:25). From this section of Romans 7, we have the doctrine known as “Simul justus et Peccator” or in English, simultaneously just and a sinner. We are sinner-saints when we are heavy laden by God’s Law and seek true rest.

 

Only Jesus gives true rest. Only Jesus gives peace for the consciences that are burdened by sin and live in terror under the weight of the Law. Only Jesus took all of that. He bore all of that. Only Jesus died for all of that, so that you would have peace in Him.

 

Here in the Divine Service we receive God’s rest. This is the place you come with all the burdens, regret, and sin that plagues our consciences. This is the place where you meet Jesus. You hear His voice in the Scriptures promising you the certain promise of rest. Here, you receive His rest. 

 

Our church services are called the Divine Service for a reason. It’s because God is here to serve you – and not the other way around. This is the place where you are able to stop your work and rest while Jesus fulfills His promise.

 

Jesus says, “Come to Me … and I will give you rest.” When the Law shows your sin, which it always does, Jesus gives you rest with the Absolution that forgives your sin. When the Law shows you that you haven’t lived as you ought, Jesus reminds you that you are united to Him through Holy Baptism, which gives you His life as your own. As we are constantly burdened by sins, Jesus gives you rest in His very Body and His very Blood under the bread and the wine showing you that He died for those sins. He says, “Rest in Me.”

 

Jesus promises to give peace to you who know the Law of God and who know you haven’t kept it. He kept the Law in your place, so trust in Him, repent and follow Him, for in Him, you have rest. Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Sermon for Lent 1: "The Lord Prevails" (Luke 4:1-13)

 

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! 

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

[Intro]

Despite our best efforts, “[We] do not do the good [we] want, but the evil [we] do not want is what [we] keep on doing” (Romans 7:19).

Life can be frustrating. Life is frustrating. Oftentimes, we try our best, but our best just isn’t good enough. We try our best to focus on our sinful condition and renew our efforts to resist temptation, but we often find ourselves seduced by temptation, which often leads to sin.

But it may be good to keep in mind that temptation by itself is not sin. Temptation can be only a suggestion or thought entering the mind. Temptation only becomes a sin when that temptation becomes a delight in our mind. So, if you fail to act on the temptation – in thought, word, or deed – that is not a sin.

On Ash Wednesday, we began the penitential season of Lent. Lent is a period of 40 days, plus Sundays. This season is a time of penitence and focus. Today on this First Sunday in Lent, Jesus takes on Satan firsthand. Jesus takes on Satan intentionally.

[Temptation of Jesus]

Now, Satan and his minions knew full well that Jesus is the Son of God. He knew the true identity of Jesus as soon as Jesus took on our human flesh. But it is likely when Satan heard the voice of God the Father proclaiming about Jesus: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22) at His baptism, this set him off.

It was then – at the announcement of His public ministry – that Jesus – filled with the Holy Spirit – immediately went into the wilderness to take on Satan. Satan took the bait, but he thinks that he is clever enough to take on God and win.

Part of the reason Satan believes he has a chance to best God is that God is also fully man. With this in mind, knowing that Jesus has not eaten in 40 days, Satan begins his temptation by using his favorite trick: seduction.

In the past, seduction has been a great success. Adam and Eve thought the forbidden fruit looked good enough to eat, but only after Satan pointed it out in the Garden. Jesus, too, was hungry. Satan knew that Jesus had to eat. So, Satan said to Jesus: “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread” (Luke 4:3).

Jesus must have thought, “I am hungry, I must eat.” But unlike Adam before Him, Jesus would not succumb to Satan’s seduction, instead Jesus responds saying: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone’” (Luke 4:4).

Jesus lives by the Word of God. He is the Word of God. And He will not betray Himself – even if experiencing extreme hunger.

But Satan continues thinking of himself as ever clever by showing Jesus all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time and then says: “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours” (Luke 4:6-7).

Oddly enough, Satan may be correct here. This world and its glory really does belong to Satan. But the thing is, the “authority” and “glory” that Satan claims is only temporary and Satan only makes promises that in the end, he cannot fulfill.

Satan’s authority is only over a fallen world, estranged from God. And he only has this authority because he usurped it from God when he tricked Adam and Eve into sin. In this fallen world, Satan lures us into unchastity, laziness, deceit, deception, anger, impatience, luxury, power. He seeks to tear us apart. Satan wants us to be drawn into unbelief and false security.

Jesus responds: “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve” (Luke 4:8).

Satan’s power over this world will come to an end, as it is only temporary, because “the Word of our God will stand forever” (Isaiah 40:8b).

Precisely where Adam yielded and Israel failed, Jesus stands firm. Jesus proclaims that true worship is to worship the Lord God.

Satan, who still thinks of himself as clever, then took Jesus to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said: “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone’” (Luke 4:9-11).

After twice bested by Scripture, Satan now appeals to it, but it is a cheap and deceitful imitation. Satan quotes here from Psalm 91, but he leaves out the phrase “in all Your ways.” You see, Satan knows how to misuse and misapply Scripture to make it sound like God’s Word. Over the many centuries, Satan has led many people to cherry pick Scripture in order to fit what our sinful nature wants.

But unlike Adam before Him, Jesus never wavered with Satan’s temptations. He came to do the will of His Father, not the will of Satan. To this third temptation, Jesus says, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test” (Luke 4:12).

Interestingly, the only words Jesus speaks in this dialog with Satan are quotations from Deuteronomy when the Israelites were tested in the wilderness. Those Israelites then failed to be faithful. Jesus proves to be faithful.

Throughout ever temptation, Jesus remained actively obedient to God’s Law. He held Himself subject to the Law and He fought temptation for us. He has taken our place, not only to die, but also to live a perfect life by keeping the Law of God in its entirety for our salvation.

[Satan Tests Us]

Just as Jesus was tested by Satan, Satan also tests us. Satan questions us: “Did God really say: He created mankind in His image?” “Did God really say: He makes no mistakes?” “Did God really say: Defend and speak well of your neighbor?” “Did God really say: Forgive one another?” “Did God really say: My Word is truth?”

Of course, “yes” is the correct answer to all those questions.

Satan attempts to trick us into getting us to think: “Didn’t God mean: love yourself and accept yourself as you are?” “Didn’t God mean: I can sin now and ask for His forgiveness later?”

You see, Satan tempts us to take things into our own hands, rather than trusting that God will take care of everything for us. Satan’s goal is to lead us into despair and division.

And because of our sinful nature, we often fail in temptation. We become frustrated because we cannot overcome temptation and sin. We often give in. We do not do the good we want. Instead, we do evil. We sin.

[Resisting Satan]

So, how can we resist Satan? Well, we can quote Scripture right back at Him as Jesus did. But let us not forget: We must keep the Law. So, when Satan comes and accuses you of not having kept it, focus on Christ and say this: “There is the Man who has kept it; to Him I cling; He fulfilled it for me and gave His fulfillment to me. Thus, the Law is silenced.”[1]

Jesus’ temptation reminds us that our salvation is also tied to His victory over temptation that took place in the wilderness. If Christ had even once given into temptation, then His suffering and death would have no benefit to us. But indeed, Christ remained obedient to the Law, so that “by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).

Jesus has taken our place under the Law and fought real temptation for us. We are saved from the power of sin, death, and Satan by the blood of Jesus. And because of Christ’s active obedience, God the Father forgives our sins and credits Christ’s righteousness to us. Christ paid the price for our sin – every sin of thought, word, and deed – to make propitiation for the sins of the people. He did this, so that we would be declared justified, righteous, innocent, and holy.

Take heart knowing that our Savior knows what it is like to be tempted. He willingly faced temptation by our enemy, and He actively resisted every temptation for us and for our salvation! He won the battle, and His victory belongs to all who trust in Him! The Lord prevails and now we – by grace through faith in Him – receive the benefits: forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation! Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep you hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

T SOLI DEO GLORIA T

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[1] Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, Vol. 2 (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1951), 375.