The reading for today from Matthew\u2019s Gospel is an odd bit of Scripture, isn\u2019t it? This particular passage is full of images. They\u2019re very vivid images, so vivid that we almost can\u2019t help but imagine the scene of Jesus\u2019 conversation with the tempter. If we have very lively imaginations, we might feel the heat of the desert or see a strange being with a pointed tail and horns. But even without imagining the scene, it\u2019s an odd bit of Scripture, because as visual a scene as it is, it\u2019s still surreal. We can certainly imagine Jesus going into the wilderness to pray and contemplate, but what should we think about the devil tempting him to do magic or taking him to the pinnacle of the temple and then to a high mountain and showing Jesus all the kingdoms of the world? When the devil leaves him, angels come and wait on him. Matthew even tells us that the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. That doesn\u2019t seem quite fair. Whose side is the Spirit on, anyway? And why tell us this story? What does it have to do with us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s always helpful to look at where a passage comes in a particular Gospel. In this case, Jesus has just been baptized by John. In Matthew\u2019s account, John says he should, instead, be baptized by Jesus, but Jesus responds, \u201cLet it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.\u201d Right after today\u2019s passage, Jesus hears of John\u2019s arrest and seems to take up where John left off. Now, we hear Jesus and not John saying, \u201cRepent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.\u201d Jesus\u2019 mission begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s also helpful to consider the whole of Matthew\u2019s Gospel. We find a very creative writer who makes good use of images and symbols and story. It\u2019s part of Matthew\u2019s style of writing, so that when we find an odd passage like this bit with images of demons, pinnacles, and angels, we shouldn\u2019t be surprised and we don\u2019t need to take it literally. We don\u2019t need to imagine Jesus picking up stones and turning them into bread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Matthew\u2019s Gospel isn\u2019t a diary of facts and figures. It\u2019s all about Jesus\u2019 mission and ministry: who Jesus is and what Jesus teaches his followers about their own ministry in the kingdom of God. So this passage begins to give us a glimpse into the person of Jesus. Remember, he\u2019s just been baptized and is now seriously considering his ministry by taking time apart for prayer. Jesus understood that his baptism was a life-forming event, an event that would propel him into a world that would both celebrate his message and condemn him for it. Baptism should be the same for us. Matthew uses the image of the temptations to help us understand that connection between Jesus and us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are certainly many ways to consider how that connection works. One way might be to think about the place\u2014the desert\u2014and what the temptations might say to us. The place for Jesus was a real wilderness; if you\u2019ve ever been to Israel, you can imagine how desolate and harsh it probably was then. People die in deserts, drained of every bit of life and will by the heat, the thirst, and the physical isolation. It always seems a huge understatement for Matthew to write, \u201cJesus fasted forty days and nights, and afterwards he was famished.\u201d Famished! It\u2019s a miracle he wasn\u2019t crazed out of his mind! He should have been dead. So we begin to see this place as not only a physical place, for Jesus certainly went into the desert to pray, but also as that place deep within ourselves where we come face to face with God and our humanness. Remember, we\u2019re not supposed to figure out how Jesus lasted forty days in the desert. We\u2019re supposed to come to a better understanding of the ministry and mission of Jesus in relation to the whole story of salvation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s where the temptations come in. Again, this isn\u2019t a story where we\u2019re supposed to focus on what the devil might have looked like or what it might have been like for Jesus to \u201cbe put on the pinnacle of the temple.\u201d Didn\u2019t anyone see him up there? That\u2019s not the point of this passage. This is about relationship. It\u2019s about connection. Matthew\u2019s point in describing the temptations was to connect Jesus to the ongoing story of salvation begun in the Old Testament. We see this connection in Jesus\u2019 replies to the devil\u2019s temptations. Jesus first quotes Deuteronomy, \u201cOne does not live by bread alone.\u201d Jesus is identifying with humanity instead of relying on his divine power to change stones to bread. His ministry is to the people of God, and he accomplishes that by sharing their humanness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the other temptations, Jesus continues to model how we humans should behave. Again, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy when he points out that only God is worthy of humankind\u2019s worship. God alone is the sovereign Lord; God expects humanity\u2019s service. This homage is actually not even the devil\u2019s to offer or expect. We\u2019re reminded of the conversation between the devil and God in the book of Job. The devil tries to tempt God by assuming an equality that doesn\u2019t belong to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The last temptation shows Jesus\u2019 faithfulness\u2014his discipleship. He again quotes Deuteronomy, pointing out that one shall not tempt the Lord (as quite frankly the Jews had attempted to do many times before). This reminds the readers of Matthew\u2019s Gospel that a faithful Jew is faithful to God\u2019s commands. A faithful Jew knows that God is sovereign Lord and is worthy of homage and service. A faithful Jew keeps the commandments and model for living as written in the Torah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, this place, this desert\u2014whether the physical place or that place deep within where Jesus understood his connection to God and also to humanity\u2014is a holy place. We learn from examining this place in Jesus\u2019 life because we can connect it to that place in our own lives where we struggle with our relationship to God and to humankind. We can be supported in that struggle by this account. It helps us put things in order. It helps us remember that, when we might be tempted to put something in our lives before faithfulness to God\u2019s law, we can remember that God is God and that God is our help and our salvation. God resides in all the places of our lives and makes them holy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The reading for today from Matthew\u2019s Gospel is an odd bit of Scripture, isn\u2019t it? This particular passage is full of images. They\u2019re very vivid images, so vivid that we almost can\u2019t help but imagine the scene of Jesus\u2019 conversation with the tempter. If we have very lively imaginations, we might feel the heat of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":201212,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[51,43,52,3],"tags":[150],"class_list":["post-511222","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lent","category-sermons","category-sermons-that-work","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-lent-1a"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":51,"label":"Lent"},{"value":43,"label":"Sermons"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":3,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":150,"label":"Lent 1A"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sermon"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":951032,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511222\/revisions\/951032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}