Matthew 4
The devil is a liar and a twister of God’s
Word. He has been ever since the beginning when he asked Eve, “Did God really
say…?” His goal is ever to turn us away from God, His Word, His Truth. This
leaves us in the place of God judging what is right and wrong, determining by
our own reason and strength what is just or unjust, and places our intellect or
feelings in charge of our lives.
This being the case, it is interesting
to see Jesus – who really is God – respond to the devil’s temptation to be …
well, to be God. In each enticement the devil tempts Jesus to exercise His
divine prerogative, and in each one Jesus refuses, choosing to respond as a
human being. And how does He do that? He goes back to the Word of God. He
submits to His Father by placing the Scriptures over Himself.
How often do we fall for the lie and
place ourselves over God and His Word? It is striking that throughout the
church we often make rules that Christians “should” obey (like - don’t drink,
don’t smoke, don’t offend) that have no foundation in the Scriptures, but find
ourselves arguing against things God has spoken clearly upon (such as - living together
before marriage, abortion, euthanasia).
In order to not be deceived we must say
no more and no less than God Himself says to us in the Scriptures. If God does
not speak directly to an issue – liturgical formats, proper forms of
governance, building campaigns – we live in freedom in Christ. However, when
God speaks we should listen and obey.
This is not because we are trying to
earn our salvation, which is always a free gift that comes to us through faith
in Jesus who was crucified and raised. Instead, we cling to God’s Word so we
don’t lose our salvation! The Word is the tool that God used to make faith in
us (even in Holy Baptism) and it is the tool that He uses to sustain our faith.
God’s message is not always popular. We
do well to remember that Jesus’ first sermon was, “Repent, for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand.” His call to us is to turn away from our sin, our strength,
our power, and to believe in Him as our savior who comes to us through the
Word.
Lord Jesus, help me to never be deceived,
but to hold the Word as sacred and gladly hear and learn it. Amen.
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