This evening there will be a
well-watched sporting event. I don’t
want to take sides, but it will be a contrast pitting the forces of good
against the perennial forces of bad! Sorry
to the Patriot’s fans, but the Super Bowl gives us a good way to interpret our
gospel reading for today. We read the
baptism of Jesus by John through his genealogy and all the way to the scene
where he is tested by the devil in the wilderness. It seems like a lot, but it all fits
together. We see here a struggle between
the forces of good and the perennial forces of evil.
The baptism John the Baptist did was
not an equivalent to Christian baptism, even though there are overlaps. Jesus certainly didn’t need to be baptized
for the forgiveness of sins, but John was a hinge point between the prophets of
the past and the new coming reality of Jesus.
In his baptism Jesus joins his life’s story to the story of Israel in a
very real way. After Jesus’ baptism,
when he was praying, Luke tells us a voice came from heaven saying, “You are my
Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Then Luke does what appears to be a
very puzzling thing. He goes into Jesus’
genealogy. Now, only the most staunch of
biblical literalists take this genealogy to be historically accurate. It isn’t, and many of the people listed there
are known no where else. This is the
sort of thing that gives people the idea they can date creation to a specific
date several thousand years ago. But
that is not Luke’s purpose. Luke’s
purpose is to get our minds back to Adam.
And notice how the genealogy ends: “…son of Enos, son of Seth, son of
Adam, son of God.” There’s the key!
What was said as Jesus’ baptism? “You are my Son.” Jesus is Son of God. What is Adam called? “…son of God.” Luke does this to set the stage for what
comes next: the testing of Jesus in the wilderness. What does the devil say to him? “Since you are the Son of God…”
Remember back to the story of Adam in
Genesis. Was he tested? How does that “son of God” fair? Well, he’s in the Garden of Eden. It’s a wonderful place. Everything is easy for him. His test?
Just don’t eat the forbidden fruit!
Of course he fails.
Now don’t fall into the ditch of
making the Old Testament allegorical character of Adam into an equivalent to
Jesus. Luke doesn’t intend that. But he does intend to set the stage for a new
battle between a son of God and evil.
All along through that genealogy evil has been perennially present, sort
of like the Patriots and the Super Bowl.
And now it’s time for a new contest.
At first we want to almost pity Jesus
in this ordeal. He’s just been baptized,
his public ministry hasn’t even really begun but the Holy Spirit is driving him
out into the wilderness. This almost feels like cruelty, and we certainly don’t
want the Spirit doing stuff like that with us.
But that’s probably not the way to look at this text.
I think Luke is presenting it more
like God is saying to the devil, “Alright, let’s have it out, once and for all,
bring it on!” This is going to be a
no-holds-barred fight. There are no
rules, no limits, no boundaries. And
God’s not going to give himself any advantage.
This won’t take place with a fully nourished man in the luxurious Garden
of Eden. In this Jesus will be
physically starving in the wilderness.
And it is as if the devil says, “I
accept the challenge.”
So they meet in the wilderness. Conditions are harsh and Jesus is
famished. I don’t know about you, but I
don’t like going 40 hours without food, let alone 40 days! It’s humanly possible but you’re near death.
The devil basically says to Jesus, “How
much would it cost me to buy you off? I
bought off Adam cheaply enough. What
will it take? Can I buy you for a loaf
of bread? Will that do it? Will you cave to me just so you can have your
physical needs met? Nope, okay.
“How about this… I’ll give you all the
kingdoms of the earth – you can have earthly power and glory – all that you
want. Everyone will like you. You can heal everybody and cure every disease
and be everyone’s savior – that’s what you want, right? To be everyone’s savior. All you have to do is live by the rules of
the world.
“Nope, that won’t do either. How much will it cost me to buy you off? Ah, of course you’re the holy and virtuous
sort. Okay then,” and this is perhaps the most clever of the
tests in this fight, “Throw yourself off the temple. Do something to make God prove his love for
you. You want proof, right? Everyone wants proof of God.” Who among us hasn’t prayed that prayer? “… God I’m really struggling here and I could
really use some help. Give me a
sign. Give me some proof to help me
through this tough time.”
It may not have been a mixed martial
arts fight like you hear about New York State wanting to make new laws about,
but it is a fight. Jesus wins!
Well, he wins for now. Luke writes, “When the devil had finished
every test, he departed from him until and opportune time.” It’s hard to imagine a time more opportune
than this. Jesus is exhausted and starved.
But you know that time will come.
This fight will turn out to be a fight to the death. The crucifixion will be the opportune time.
I want to jump way ahead in the gospel
for a moment to point out the dynamics that will happen before the Last
Supper. You know well that even though
the devil himself will slip out of the story line, Jesus will meet other
opposition. Next week we’ll read about
Jesus getting into serious conflict with the people of his home town. And soon after that conflict with religious
leaders will begin. By the time we get
to the Last Supper we’ll find that the religious leaders will be out to get
him. Some of the political leaders will
be out to get him. But no one can ever
seem to ultimately get their hands on him.
But just before the Last Supper we read that Satan entered into Judas
Iscariot. Now we’ll look at that more
closely when we get to that point in the story, but for now look at what
happens then. The devil, the religious
leaders, the political leaders, and people from Jesus’ own inner circle of
friends all join forces to do him in.
Evil fights dirty, and it takes them
all combined to get Jesus. Then we
really do see that this is a fight to the death.
By Friday night I imagine the devil
admiring his newly acquired ‘Super Bowl’ ring from his victory over God. What does a winner say a major victory? “I’m going to Disney World!” And so I imagine the devil kicking back,
savoring his triumph, and enjoying a Florida vacation admiring that new
ring. That is, until a messenger tells
him what happens on Easter. Empty tomb –
Jesus alive! The rage!!!
Yes, God will willingly fight to the
death. This Son of God will even go so
far as to die, because even death is not bigger than God.
Regardless of the outcome of today’s
Super Bowl, the real contest has already happened. Jesus vs. Satan. Adam failed in Super Bowl 1. Jesus does not fail.
This time last year I was nervous as
my beloved Philadelphia Eagles pitted themselves against the Super Bowl’s
perennial players. I was nervous because
the odds were against them and I didn’t know the outcome.
Today I don’t really care, but I can
smile with confidence at last year because I know what happened. The Eagles won! Nothing can ever take that away.
Jesus won! Nothing can ever take that away.
We need not worry when we fall to
temptation. We need not worry when it
appears as if evil is winning. There are
no more spiritual Super Bowls. The
ultimate one has happened and will never be played again. Jesus won, and you get to live in the
coattails of that win. If all fail
because of Adam then all are made righteous because of Jesus.
May you the confidence of a winner
even when you fail, for your Lord and Savior has won, and it is a victory for
you too.
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