Lent 1C Sermon: Tempted for Us

Preached on Luke 4:1-13
The First Sunday in Lent, Series C
14 February AD 2016

Title: Tempted for Us (MP3 Audio)

Summary: That we might be prepared “for every good work,” God inspired “all Scripture,” making it “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)” Yet if we stop with this, we might as well never start studying the Scriptures.

The Word has a higher purpose than instruction and inspiration. Jesus said, “The Scriptures” are the source of “eternal life” because “they bear witness about me. (John 5:39)” And not only do they talk about Him — they deliver Him to us. We not only learn that the Christ lived a sinless life and died a sacrificial death to save us but the Word actually gives us forgiveness, life, and salvation.

in today’s Gospel, we learn about the devil’s wiles and resisting temptation through God’s Word. But we truly profit when we believe that Jesus fasted and faced testing from Satan so that He might credit us with His own spotless obedience to the Law.

Certainly, Christ’s temptation is a cautionary tale and His ability to overcome it brings us cheer. We learn to trust the truth of the Word in the face of the Devil’s lies and his twisting of Scripture. Yet we only overcome temptation and conquer Satan when we believe that Jesus already vanquished him on our behalf. The story of His suffering is the story of our salvation.

Text: And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry.

The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’”

And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.”

And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’”

And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. Luke 4:1-13

Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Audio: Click to hear MP3 of Tempted for Us

NB: For some reason, a few people have had problems trying to play the inline audio if Windows Media is their default MP3 player. If this occurs, you can either change to QuickTime or another default browser player, copy and paste the link directly into a selected player, or download it to your computer, where it seems to work regardless of which player. Several folks have suggested VLC Player from VideoLAN.

Other Readings: Deuteronomy 26:1-11; Psalm 91:1-13; Romans 10:8b-13