Second Presbyterian Church

"What Kind Of Messiah
Do We Want?
Preaching From the Gospel of Luke"
February 15, 2004

Upcoming Events

Worship Schedule

Sermons

About the Church

• Accessibility to the Church

• Directions to the Church

• History of the Church

Church Staff

Groups & Organizations

• Boy Scouts of America - Troop 175

• Choirs

• Presbyterian Women

• SPY (Second Presbyterian Youth)

Committees

• Building & Grounds

• Church Growth

• Congregational Care & Fellowship

• Education & Nurture

• Finance

• Office & Personnel

• Stewardship

• Witness & Service

• Worship & Celebration

Ad Hoc Committees

• Architectural - Engineering

• Building Fund

Presbyterian Internet Sites of Interest

Virginia Links

• Virginia Cities

Web Site Statistics

Site Map

Second Presbyterian Church Homepage

Sermons Homepage » Sermons for 2004 » Sermons for February 2004 » Sermons from the Series on Luke

#10 in the Series on Luke
The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.

• Deuteronomy 6: 4-19
• Luke 4: 1-13

Last week I mentioned that in the first three chapters Luke made the point that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah, the Redeemer of Humankind. And beginning with this chapter Luke would be explaining to us just what it would mean for Jesus of Nazareth to be the Messiah. Today's passage does just that; it gives us a sense of what kind of Messiah Jesus would not be. It also gives us a sense of what kinds of messiahs we human beings too often prefer.

The passage begins with Jesus being led, by the Holy Spirit in to the wilderness and there he remained for forty days, being tempted by the devil. The wilderness in which Jesus stayed was called Jeshimmon, which means "The Devastation." It was between Southern Palestine and the Dead Sea, a strip of barren rock and stone approximately 35 by 15 miles. William Barclay describes Jeshimmon in the following way:

The hills were like dust heaps; the limestone looked blistered and peeling; the rocks were bare and jagged; the ground sounded hollow to the horses' hooves; it glowed with heat like a vast furnace and ran out to the precipices, 1,200 feet high, which swooped down to the Dead Sea.

It is here that Jesus, having become more aware than ever after his baptism, wrestled with the temptations to meet the people's expectations of a Messiah. Jesus reported it to his disciples as being tempted by Satan.

Luke had established that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. Jesus was quite aware that he had a mission to accomplish. The big question was, HOW was Jesus going to accomplish his mission as the Messiah?

Luke identifies three temptations, as does Matthew, although the temptations in Matthew are in a slightly different order, probably for editorial reasons. He had been there for 40 days and had not eaten; he was hungry. He was aware that he had special powers that God had given him to accomplish his mission to share the Kingdom of God.

So, Satan said, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."

Jesus answered, "Man shall not live by bread alone." This is a quote from scripture, from Deuteronomy 8:3.

So, Satan took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and said, "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."

A fascinating statement made by Satan! First of all he was admitting that whatever his power was it had been given him; he had received it from God! The point about this is that ultimately Satan cannot do anything without God's permission. It also implies that since this is true, even Evil will ultimately fulfill the will of God and His plan for redemption!

Another angle is this; was Satan offering Jesus that which was only on loan to him? That would be like having a house that you are renting and offering to sell it to someone else?

Still another angle is this; Jesus already knew to whom the world ultimately belonged, and that is, to God! He knew that as the Son of God he was the one predestined to rule God's creation, just as God had originally designed for it to be.

Jesus had all the glory of God and Heaven at his beckoning. The temptation was that he would WOW the people with his Divine Glory and force them to come and be his subjects. Jesus was also aware that this would be like worshiping the Devil. It would be like worshiping all the human power and glory that could be mustered. In other words, this would be idolatry; it would be like worshiping the devil, rather that God.

Jesus answered: "It is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'" He, again quoted scripture, Deuteronomy 6:13

Finally, Satan took Jesus to Jerusalem, to the pinnacle of the Temple and said,

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."

Even Satan quoted scripture! (Psalm 91: 11-12, Deut 6: 16) What does this teach us? Perhaps it teaches us that not everyone we meet who quotes scripture is from God. After all, we have precedent here, that even the author of all evil, Satan himself, will quote scripture in order to get HIS way!

It teaches us more than that, much more. Jesus was tempted to become a wonderworking man, someone who wowed the crowd by his feats and tricks. After all, he had the power of heaven at his fingertips! If anyone could perform signs and wonders, it would be Jesus. It would be a way to get the attention of the people, "Hey everybody, I'm the Messiah, I'm special! See all the wonders I can do, the power that I have!"

Why was Jesus Tempted? First of all, he was tempted, because he was a human being. He could experience temptation just as much as you and I can. If Jesus were human, then he had to experience all what it means to be human, including temptation to sin. The only difference he never gave in. Jesus remained faithful throughout his time here on earth.

There are tons of ways that this passage can be applied to our lives today. I will only touch upon a few.

1. The first way is that we, when we are honest, would love to have a Messiah that would fulfill our physical and emotional cravings. In fact we too often look to these false messiahs, or methods of redemption for meaning in our lives. Let me explain. First we have the stone to be turned into bread. This can be understood as "economic" redemption. Many of us are tempted by the call for economic security as our means of redemption. If we succumb to it, we will only be left hungry, especially inside, in our souls.

2. Second, many of us are tempted by the call for political redemption. Some of us search for relief in politics, or just having control and power at home or work, or in the church.

In fact, just observe the presidential political campaign over the next few months! You will hear promises that border on being something that only a political Messiah could bring. Israel wanted Rome out of their country. They wanted their Messiah to kick the Romans out and re-establish the throne of David. Jesus was a huge disappointment for those who insisted that the Messiah should do that. We, too, shall be disappointed by our political leaders when we expect them to possess Messianic powers to make our lot better.

(Wonder Woman redemption, Superman, Flash Gordon, etc. all happened in the 30's when times were very tough)

3. In conclusion I would like to relate this passage for us in a congregational context. It is not only we, as individuals, who can wish for Jesus to be a political messiah, economic messiah, or superman, but also congregations. Let me explain.

How easy is it for congregations, especially those that are struggling, to get all caught up in their concern for money? Is it possible for a congregation to put its worries of fiscal stability ahead of its love for Jesus Christ and his call for us to witness to the world?

Or how about the political aspects of congregations, Do congregations sometimes get too caught up in power struggles between sub-groups and put that ahead of its love for Jesus Christ the true Head of the Church?

How about the congregations that have focused their attention upon wowing the audience with their multi faceted presentations, power-point presentations, etc. These are the ones who count success in numbers, so they have bagels and coffee waiting for the arrivals. They have programs for every person from infancy to senior citizens. Is it possible that some congregations are placing technique and marketing for more numbers ahead of its love for Jesus Christ?

It is comforting to know that Jesus, the Son of God was tempted by the devil. It is challenging for us to allow Jesus to help us resist temptations, too. But here, in this sermon I am specifically speaking about the temptations that occur that water down and take away the cross of Jesus Christ and his resurrection. It is just plain too easy for us, as individuals, and for us, as a congregation, to be tempted by the false messiahs that Satan throws out to confuse our journey with Jesus Christ.

For Jesus, it was his last preparation, before he struck out to start preaching and healing in Galilee. He had to be very clear in his own heart just HOW he was supposed to accomplish being the Messiah. The temptations in the wilderness did just that. He was clear that it was by proclaiming the Kingdom of God, healing the sick, being radically obedient to God - all the way to the cross, and beyond. In that way we did not receive food that would last just a little while. We did not receive a political system that would be useless to us (e. g. kicking out the Romans from Palestine). We did not receive a quick fix for our cravings for a superman. Instead, we have a Savior who died for our sins, and who rose from the dead for our redemption. Amen.

The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.