Jesu Juva
“Undefeated No More”
Text: Luke 4:1-13; Romans 10:8b-13
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
The devil really thinks he’s something. And why not? He’s got a perfect record. I’m not sure of the exact number, of how many people lived between the time of Adam and Eve until the time of Jesus, but however many it was . . . 10 billion? 20? 100? . . . the devil was undefeated. All victories, no defeats. Every person he faced, every person he tempted, he got. He won. Maybe not every temptation worked, but every person fell. He outsmarted them. He outlasted them. He outmaneuvered them. Some were tough, some were easy. Some fell hard, and some he got without them even knowing it! Those were the best! Undefeated. And it was a streak he didn’t expect to end.
So when Jesus arrives on the scene, why expect any different? Oh, because He is the Son of God. Oooooh. No biggie. He’ll get Him. He’ll outsmart Him. He’ll outlast Him. He’ll outmaneuver Him. Just like all the rest. Maybe sooner, maybe later. But he’ll have his moment. Spring his trap. For this Son of God is, after all, in human flesh. Weak human flesh. Vulnerable human flesh. Despicable human flesh. And that’ll be His downfall. The devil was so sure; he’d remain undefeated.
And then an opportunity came up. More like . . . fell into the devil’s lap! Jesus out in the wilderness. Alone. No dove coming and alighting on Him. No voice from heaven. No John the Baptist or large crowds. Mano a mano. One on one. This would be the moment. If the devil, so filled and consumed with hate could ever feel joy, this would have been the time. This would have been it.
But it got even better. For this human flesh Jesus was in was weak. Weakened by forty days of fasting. Forty days. The devil could almost admire that, except the only thing he could really admire was himself. But time to get to work. There’d be time to pat himself on the back later. Now it was time to tempt a hungry man with food. Piece of cake! [Sorry!]
. . . OK. Jesus is a worthy adversary. Man shall not live by bread alone. Well played, Jesus. But the devil is undaunted. Being undefeated over so many people over so many years builds up a lot of confidence. So maybe something more subtle . . . Jesus came to save this worthless world and these worthless people that can’t even resist the devil’s easy temptations! And you know, that’s something the devil couldn’t figure out. Why bother? This world ain’t no Garden of Eden and are these people really worth saving? Maybe, OK, God might think so at the beginning . . . but after all these years of rebellion and idolatry, stubbornness and sinfulness? Really? . . . But here He was, to be a Saviour. So OK, Saviour, tell you what: I’ll just give it to you. I don’t really want it anyway. Just worship me, that is, acknowledge me as the giver and you as the receiver, that it is my gift to you, and you can have it. Why make this harder than it has to be . . . ?
. . . Huh. Jesus didn’t fall for that one either. You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. Jesus was just as stubborn as the rest of ‘em. Different stubborn, though, to be sure. They were stubborn in their sin, Jesus was stubborn in the Word. OK. If it’s the Word He wants, it’s the Word He’ll get. If He wants to rely on His Father, let Him rely on His Father. Step off, Jesus. Your Father will protect you. Your Father will send His angels. Your Father will take care of you. He said so. He promised. You do believe His Word, don’t you?
You shall not put the Lord your God to the test. And just for a moment, it was the devil, not Jesus, uncertain, off balance. Was Jesus quoting this about Himself not putting His Father to the test? Or was He speaking to the devil to not put Him to the test? Turnabout is not fair play in the devil’s playbook, so he left. But the game was not over. He left only until an opportune time. The devil was not undefeated for nothing! He’d be back. And Jesus would go down.
But Jesus did not go down. How many other opportunities were there? How many other temptations and challenges did Jesus face? We’re not told. But surely there were many. The devil does not give up. His perfect record evidence of that. His perfect record not something he was willing to give up. Sure, 10 trillion or 100 trillion victories and one defeat sounds good, but the devil knew that if that one defeat was this one, Jesus, then none of those other victories mattered. Jesus would wipe them all out. Those others were fun; this is the one that mattered. Because if he lost this one, the devil knew, it would mean that word he hates above all others. That word he cut out of his vocabulary and dictionary. That word he forbid be spoken in his presence. Forgiveness.
But Jesus did not go down. In the wilderness, on the cross, or anytime in between. The devil could not outsmart, outlast, or outmaneuver Him. The perfect Lamb of God was sacrificed on the altar of the cross and then rose triumphantly from the dead. And so there is forgiveness for a world of sin, life for a world of death, and salvation for a world of defeat. There is only one undefeated, and it is not the devil. It is our brother, Jesus. Him we believe in our hearts. Him we confess with our mouths. Him who saves.
For victory certainly isn’t coming from us! As our children reminded us today in the hymn verse they sang:
With might of ours can naught be done,
Soon were our loss effected;
BUT for us fights the valiant One,
Whom God Himself elected.
Ask ye, Who is this? Jesus Christ it is! (LSB #656 v. 2)
That is important for us to remember. If you try to go toe-to-toe, mano a mano with the devil, you will lose. You will go down. You’re not smart enough or strong enough. Now that doesn’t mean we don’t fight! We absolutely do. When the devil assaults you and attacks you and tempts you with all manner of sin, to get you to doubt God’s love for you, or hate someone, or take what is not yours or what has not been given to you, or lie or take advantage of someone, or believe the word of the world over the Word of God, or not bother to pray or read or hear the Scriptures, or give in to your urges and desires, or get annoyed with God for interfering with your life and what you want and what you think right, or any one of a thousand other ways the devil seduces you to think sin is good - fight! Be part of the resistance. Yes! But fight not with your own strength, but with the Word of God and prayer. And when you go down - and you will go down! - know that the Valiant One is on your side; the Valiant One did not go down; the Valiant One wins for you and wins you. For you are that one word the devil hates above all others. That word he cut out of his vocabulary and dictionary. That word he forbid be spoken in his presence. You are forgiven.
For every time that word is spoken - here in church, in your homes, at your workplaces, with your neighbors and friends - every time that word is spoken, the devil doesn’t see the 100 trillion times and more he won - he sees only that one time he didn’t. That one time he couldn’t. That one time when he went down. And he can’t stand it. You are forgiven is everything he is against. That is the one word he does not want you to hear. Ever. And so it is the one word we need to keep hearing, and speaking, and proclaiming to the world. Not only believing in our hearts that Jesus is our Saviour and forgiver, but speaking it with our lips. His forgiveness for us and for all.
And then see what else God did - putting this forgiveness, His forgiveness, in the most common and widespread places of all in this world: in water and in bread and wine. Every place there is water there is a place for forgiveness, for God’s Word to make that water more than just plain water, but a washing of new birth in the Holy Spirit. And every place there is bread and wine there is a place for forgiveness, for God’s Word to make that bread and wine more than just ordinary bread and wine, but the Body and Blood of Jesus, and so the bread of life. And so there is no rest for the devil, no respite, with Christians all over the world speaking forgiveness, pouring forgiveness, eating forgiveness, living forgiveness, and rejoicing in forgiveness! It’s enough to drive a devil mad! Which is kind of a cool thought. So the next time he tempts you not to forgive (to maintain his own sanity!), don’t think about whether that person deserves forgiveness or not, or whether you want to forgive or not - forgive them to drive the devil crazy! Forgive them and say: Look devil! That big fat ONE in your loss column! Coming back to haunt you again!
He’ll get mad at you for that, of course. Attack you more. Rage against you more. But he can’t win. Because he’s already lost. For that big fat One in his loss column left a big, ol’ empty tomb, that life, not death have the final word. That HE not the devil, have the final word with you. And that word not condemned, but forgiven.
Luther wrote in his hymn: one little word can fell him (LSB #656 v. 3), the devil. Lots of people over the years have speculated what word Luther meant there. I even put the question on my blog one time and asked folks to say what they thought that word was and there were a number of suggestions. But today, at least, let that word for us be forgiven. The word that pains the devil. The word that defeats the devil. And the word that brings us life . . . and joy.
In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment