Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

The church has entered into a time of testing. Through the scriptures we will experience the path to the cross. Jesus treads the path to obedience to the will of his heavenly Father. Now we face a similar course. The way before us is filled with danger. Hear again the prayer for the day:

O Lord God, you led your people through the wilderness
and brought them to the promised land.
Guide us now, so that, following your Son,
we may walk safely through the wilderness of this world
toward the life you alone can give,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

There are many days when we do not know how we can bear what is thrust upon us. We go through health crises. We attend to the dying, especially those most dear to us. We lose our jobs and fear disaster. We expend countless hours trying to accomplish our projects. We see our plans crumble. We are often exhausted not only from our labor. We are weary and worn out from worry.

The threat of danger lures us to other paths. It is only natural that we would prefer a path that appears less dangerous and more comfortable. That is the test. Temptation comes not when we are strong. Temptation comes when we are at the bottom of personal strength. It is those times that we most need the Lord’s prayer: “Save us from the time of trial.” “Lead us not into temptation.”

It is the temptation of all human beings to spend our energy running from the cares of this life. But fleeing only adds to our suffering and to the suffering of others. It is bad enough to deal with today’s problems. It is even more burdensome to deal with the added difficulty which comes from our own avoidance or others’ avoidance of suffering.

In Luke’s account of the temptation of Jesus we witness three events which guide us in life. Jesus has gone 40 days and nights without food. Most of us cannot fast for one day. Imagine 40 days without food. Jesus had to be at the bottom of his strength. It is at that point that Luke tells us that the great Liar appears—otherwise known as the devil.

He suggests that if Jesus is the Son of God he should make bread from a stone. Jesus does not fall for the trap and quotes the scripture saying, “One does not live by bread alone.” Jesus maintains his trust in God and to trade on that trust for a temporary solution to his hunger.

The second temptation is to bow to the illusion of power. The devil announces that all the kingdoms of this world have been turned over to him. Jesus does not fall for the lie. Once again he cites scripture and fulfills the whole law of God, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”

In every human situation of failure there lurks the lie that we or someone has power which is not really ours. It is so easy to think that we can obtain power by serving those who ostensibly claim to have it. The hymn says it best,

This is my Father’s world;
Oh, let me not forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the ruler yet. (Hymn 824, Evangelical Lutheran Worship)

Or for those of you confirmed in the faith knowing the Small Catechism. Luther explains the First Commandment in this way.

“We are to fear, love, and trust God above all things” (Luther’s Small Catechism).

But it is the third temptation which is the most insidious. It is a false promise. The devil invites Jesus to demonstrate his identity as the Son of God. He leads him to a high point over Jerusalem and the Temple. The suggestion is that God would never allow his beloved to be injured. So by jumping from such a promontory, Jesus would demonstrate who he is.

Jesus’ response is once again a quote from scriptures, “‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Another way of expressing it would be, do not try to force God’s hand. I find it interesting that Luke has chosen to rearrange the order of the temptations so that this one is the last one. Forcing God’s hand is the most desperate of attempts to control the world and God.

Whether subtle or conspicuous, our attempts to force God’s hand are dangerous. First and foremost they reveal a lack of trust in the God who reveals himself as the One who justifies our lives by Gods’ favor—not by our anxious attempts at life. In every attempt to force God’s hand, there is a certain logic that fails. It is the logic which says, “If I will do X, God will have to do Y.”

You fill in the blanks. If I am successful, God will have to love me. If I am famous, God will have to acknowledge me. If I am good, God will have to approve of me. All of this is a denial of the identity which is ours in our baptism in Christ Jesus. Jesus was all of these: famous, good, even successful at first. He does not play any of these cards with God.

Jesus chooses a path which leads through innocent suffering. He does so in confidence that he is the beloved. He refuses to let the threat of suffering or even suffering itself distract him from the way. In this way he delivers to us the grammar of faith. It does not depend on us, but rather on God. It’s not, “If I will do X, God will have to do Y.” It goes like this. “Since God has done Y, I may do X.”

Since God has shown us in Jesus the path we are to take, we are free in Jesus Christ to take that very path. Here lies the source of courage. We can make the tough choices. We can face the consequences of those choices. We can endure the struggle which those choices place before us.

We, the readers of the Gospel of Luke, know that Jesus will not demonstrate his identity by calling in chits from God. He will not force God’s hand. He will manifest his identity by taking another path through the discomfort, threat, suffering, and death which belong to life. In this way he offers himself not only as an example, but as the very way through. Christian discipleship is the way through, not the way out.

If the way be drear,
If the foe be near,
Let no faithless fears o’ertake us,
Let not faith and hope forsake us;
Safely past the foe
To our home we go.
Jesus, still lead on. (Hymn 624, Evangelical Lutheran Worship)

Amen.