The Rev. Dr. John Tamilio III, Pastor
© 2022, Dr. Tamilio
Well, here we are in the midst of Lent yet again. Actually, we are not in the “midst of it.” We just embarked on the journey. Last Wednesday, some of us had the sign of the cross made on our foreheads to mark the beginning of this reflective and penitential season. Lent, as many of you know, is the 40-day sojourn that leads believers to Easter. It lasts for 40 days, because it mirrors Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness when he was tempted by Satan. This occurred right after Jesus’ baptism and just before he began his public ministry throughout Galilee and beyond. The Gospel Lesson for today captures this pivotal point in the biblical narrative. Let’s look at it carefully.
First, notice that Jesus does not just go into the wilderness. He is filled with the Holy Spirit and is led by the Holy Spirit. We know that Jesus is part of the Trinity, but here we are essentially told that the Spirit of God could not be closer to him. Knowing how the story ends, this is why he is able to withstand the Devil. When the Holy Spirit is on your side, when we are literally full of the Spirit, we can withstand anything Satan throws at us.
We are then told that Jesus’ fasts. Fasting is a way for us to grow closer to God, because when we fast, we rely wholly on God to sustain us. But Satan takes full advantage of the situation. He knows that Jesus is famished, and so he says, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” What does Jesus do? He relies on the Scriptures. That is his defense. He quotes Deuteronomy 8:3 which reads, “He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that [and here it is] man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”
But the beast, and that is exactly what Satan is according to the Book of Revelation, Satan leads Jesus to a height where he shows “him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.” He says, “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. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” Not only does this suggest that Satan is in control of this world — and if you look around it isn’t hard to see that he is — not only is Satan is in control of this world (or so he thinks), but he offers this power to Jesus. The vast majority of us would jump at this offer. Who doesn’t want to rule the world! But our Lord turns to Deuteronomy again for his defense. Deuteronomy 6:13 reads, “Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name.” What does Jesus say? “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”
Is Satan defeated? Not yet. He rolls up his sleeves and tries one last time. He takes Jesus to “the pinnacle of the temple” and says, “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 ‘and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” Satan is quoting the Bible here, specifically verses 11 and 12 of Psalm 91. Never forget that Satan can quote the Bible too. In his play The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare writes,
“The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
An evil soul producing holy witness
Is like a villain with a smiling cheek,
A goodly apple rotten at the heart.
O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!” (I. iii. 98-103)
Even the Devil can quote Scripture and it will look “goodly” or “Godly,” but he is rotten to the core. But what is Jesus’ response? Jesus quotes the Book of Deuteronomy again, this time it is the first part of 6:16, which reads, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” The passage from Luke ends with these words: “When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.” Satan knows he has lost this battle, and so he departs with his proverbial tail between his legs.
There are many directions where we go with this. As already noted, Satan can quote the Bible for his own purposes. But Jesus knows the Scriptures even better. He throws it right back into Satan’s face, silencing and defeating the Prince of Darkness. We can do the same. We can use Scripture to defend our faith when we are tempted by evil.
Notice something. In Christian theology, we refer to the Bible as the Word: the Word of God. But Jesus is also referred to as the Word: the Word made flesh. The opening of John’s Gospel makes that very plain. Verse 14 of John chapter 1 reads, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”
In Part 2, Volume 1 of his massive, multivolume systematic theology entitled Church Dogmatics, the great twentieth century Swiss Calvinist theologian Karl Barth talks about the three-fold Word of God. Why is it threefold? We use that term “Word of God” three different ways in the Church. We use it for Jesus, for the Bible, and for the act of preaching. It may sound a bit strange to use it for the third one (preaching), but don’t we say that ministers “preach the Word” when they stand in the pulpit?
According to Barth, there is an order and a purpose for each of these manifestations of the Word. Jesus is the primary Word of God, the Word made flesh. His role is to teach us the will of God and to save us, and that he does like none other. Scripture is secondary to Jesus because the Bible is a witness to him. Through the written Word, we encounter the Living Christ. Third, preaching explains the written word to us. It enables us to apply the lessons of the Bible to our lives.
Jesus, Scripture, proclamation — all manifestations of the Word. Let’s stick with the first two for the time we have left. If our faith remains rooted in Jesus, and if we nurture our faith by immersing ourselves in the written Word, we can withstand anything the Devil and the legions of darkness through our way. We can withstand any temptation.
Are you rooted in the Word? Is your Bible collecting dust on the shelf or is it well-worn through daily devotions? Remember what Charles Spurgeon said: “A Bible that is falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.” I love that sentence. A Bible that is falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.
Whether your Bible is falling apart or not, you, as a Christian, need to dig deep into it. Saturate yourself with the Word. Let it be “a lamp unto [your] feet and a light upon [your] path,” as the Psalmist declares (119:105). If you do, if you allow the Word to be your light, you will overcome all darkness. Amen.