Matthew 4:1-11 [Lent 1—CWS A]
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Benson/Vail, AZ
March 1, 2020
In the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and our Savior from sin, dear friends, The arena is filled with people yelling and cheering and anticipating death as one man enters the dirt field. He’s dressed in a somewhat fancy black and gold uniform complete with a unique hat. He holds in his hand a large red cape. The matador—the bullfighter—faces an enormous beast, a bull bred to kill. The anticipation of the clash between man and beast swells in the crowd as the raging bull begins his charge on the matador. There will be blood and suffering. And there will, with virtual certainty, be death. Death will, with rare exception, come to either the man or the bull. Today we see Jesus, right after his baptism by John, first stepping into the ring of his earthly ministry. And who is right there, charging straight at him like an enraged bull? It is the Devil himself—Satan, the angel cast out of heaven by God because of his rebellion against the Lord! As the Devil makes his charges at Jesus, trying to take him out before he can complete the work of salvation, you and I find in Jesus’ words and actions A LESSON IN COMBATTING THE DEVIL Don’t play by his rules There is a tight circular alley that runs around the bullfighting ring. Only the bullfighters are led into this area before they face their opponent. Nervous bullfighters peer over at the gate from which the bull is released. There is a reason why that entrance is called “The Gate of Fear.” It is said that matadors live in constant fear—not just of the animal, but of failure. Jesus too was led into the arena and prepared for his fight with the devil. His arena was the wilderness, and his training for this might seem like more of a detriment than a strength. Matthew tells us that right after his baptism Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. After he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The Tempter came…to him… The bull charged in. Satan came to attack, to dismantle the Savior. He came at the Savior with questions designed to demolish Jesus’ perfect life before he could publicly preach and teach and offer that life for the world’s sin. This is what he did: Satan tempted Jesus when he was in a weakened human state—he had not eaten for 40 days. To us, it might not seem like such a strong run at Jesus: “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread.” But God calls the devil “the Tempter” here for a reason. Satan was trying to get Jesus to use his divinity to solve a human dilemma. Jesus was hungry; food, of course, would be welcome. Turning stones into bread might seem like no big deal because certainly Jesus possessed such power. But had he fallen to this temptation, he would not have relied on his Heavenly Father for his daily bread, like you and I and every other human being must do. This was not something Jesus could do and remain true to his Father.