IT IS WRITTEN

IT IS WRITTEN!

Matthew 4:1-11

The text for our meditation this morning, the first Sunday in Lent, is taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew, the fourth chapter, beginning with the first verse: “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, ‘If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.’ But He answered and said,‘It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’’”*

Today is the first Sunday in Lent, a penitential season that began last Wednesday. During the season of Lent we remember the sacrifice that our Lord Jesus Christ made for us and for our salvation. But why is it that we needed salvation? It wasn’t always this way. In the beginning when God made the heavens and the earth all that He made was good. There was no sin, there was no sickness, there was no death and there was no need for salvation. When God formed man from the dust of the earth, the crown of His creation, and breathed into man the breath of life so that man became a living being, man was not a sinner nor did he have a desire to sin. Instead, made in God’s image he was perfect in every way. Both Adam and Eve were made in God’s image and both Adam and Eve were perfect in every way.

But then something happened: Adam and Eve fell into sin. They were no longer perfect, they were no longer holy, they were no longer good. The image of God was lost, for the image of God was an image of perfect righteousness and holiness, and Adam and Eve were no longer righteous or holy. And neither were the children that were born to them. As we sang in our opening hymn, “All mankind fell in Adam’s fall, One common sin infects us all; from sire to son the bane descends, And over all the curse impends.” [Lutheran Worship, Hymn 263, st. 1] This hymn simply reflects what Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, “through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned . . .” [Rom. 5:12b]

How did this happen? It happened because Adam and Eve listened to the devil instead of listening to God’s Word. When God made man and put him in the garden of Eden He said to him, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” [Gen. 2:16b-17] These are the words that God spoke to man and if man had listened to them and had obeyed them he would not have fallen into sin. Instead, he would have remained righteous and holy, for the Word of God was both a command and a protection for Adam and Eve.

The devil knew this! And so, when he took the form of a serpent in order to tempt Adam and Eve to sin he knew that the first thing he had to do was to get them away from God’s Word. And the quickest way to get them away from God’s Word was to call God’s Word into question: “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” [Gen. 3:1b] To this questioning of God’s Word the woman replied, “We may eat the fruit of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” [Gen. 3:2b-3]

In this response we see that the questioning of God’s Word by the devil has had its intended effect, for Eve does not accurately repeat what God had said. She added something to it! It is true that God had said that they were not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day they ate of it they would surely die, but God said nothing about touching it!

It seems that such a small addition to God’s Word would not be all that important, but it was, indeed, it was disastrous for us all! We are warned not to add to God’s Word nor to subtract from God’s Word (see Deut. 4:6, 12:32; Prov. 30:6; Rev. 22:18-20), for to add to God’s Word or to subtract from God’s Word is to destroy its usefulness to us. For when we add to God’s Word or when we subtract from God’s Word, what we are left with is not God’s Word!

The devil knew this and so, when he saw that the woman had added to God’s Word he knew that he had her trapped! And so he struck! No longer questioning God’s Word he openly opposed it, saying, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” [Gen. 3:4b-5] And the woman, when she saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, listening to the devil instead of to God, she took of its fruit and she ate of it. And she also gave some to her husband with her and he ate.

And they both died! Not physically! That would come later, but spiritually they died. And we died with them! They were no longer perfect, they were no longer holy, they were no longer good. Instead, they were lost and condemned creatures who were in need of salvation and all who are descended from them, with the exception of our Lord Jesus Christ, and He is exceptional in every way, for He is not merely a man, He is also God, all who are descended from them except the God-Man Jesus Christ, are lost and condemned creatures as well!

And this is why we stand in need of salvation! As lost and condemned creatures we need the salvation that only God can provide, even the forgiveness of our sins, and that salvation that we need has been provided for us by Christ the Lord! “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” [Rom. 5:19] This is what we see taking place in the Gospel reading for today. By one Man’s obedience, the obedience of Jesus Christ the Lord, who was obedient even to the point of death, even death on the cross, the righteousness that we need to live, even the forgiveness of our sin, was being provided for us by Him!

Immediately after His baptism our Lord Jesus Christ was led up into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tempted by the devil for forty days and forty nights. During those forty days and forty nights our Lord Jesus Christ did not eat any food so that afterward He was hungry, and I’m sure that none of us here this morning are surprised at that. We would be hungry, too!

And the devil launched his first attack and he launched it in the same way that he launched it against Adam and Eve. He knew that he had to get Jesus to doubt God’s Word if he were to get Jesus to sin and he had to get Jesus to sin if he were to win. And so, just like he did in the Garden of Eden he began by calling God’s Word into question. At the Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ the heavens were opened, the Spirit of God descended upon Him in the form of a dove and the voice of God the Father came down from on high and He said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” [Matt. 3:17b] The devil now calls these words into question! He says, “If you are the Son of God,” in other words, ‘Are You really God’s Son, as the voice of God the Father declared, or are You not? If You are really God’s Son, then prove it!’ “. . . command that these stones become bread.” But Jesus did not have to prove it! He was God’s only begotten Son, He was God’s own beloved Son, in whom He was well pleased, and He had God’s Word on it!

In the same way we, as believers in Christ, are God’s beloved children! We became His beloved children in the waters of Holy Baptism where He washed us clean of every spot and stain, where He clothed us in His righteousness and gave us that new birth by which we become a child of God and an heir of eternal life. We have His Word on it! For “as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name . . .” [John 1:12b] We read this in John’s Gospel, which is God’s Word. And in John’s first epistle we read, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” [1 John 3:1a] And in the last chapter of Mark we read, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved.” [Mark 16:16a] We do not have to prove that we are the children of God. We have God’s Word on it!

And Jesus did not need to prove that He was God’s Son, either. He had His Father’s Word on it! And so, instead of commanding the stones to become bread He simply quoted God’s Word to him: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” [Matt. 4:4b] And indeed, it is the Word of God that both gives us life and that sustains it, not only the physical life that we have here on earth, but also that spiritual life that He has given us through the preaching of His Word and that eternal life that we have even now through faith in His Word, through faith in Him!

The devil, defeated once, turns again to the attack! Taking Jesus up into the holy city and sitting Him on the pinnacle of the temple, he is still trying to get Him to doubt God’s Word: “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”

The devil quotes the Word of God to Him. Or does he? He does not, for he left out the words, “To keep you in all your ways.” [Psalm 91:11b] It seems like such a small omission, just like the words, “nor shall you touch it,” seemed like such a small addition in the Garden of Eden, but that small omission takes the Word of God and makes it what its not-we are not to add to the Word of God nor are we to subtract from it, but we are to take it as it has been given to us by God, and only when we have it in all of its totality and in all of its truth and purity does it provide us the sure defense that we need to oppose the temptations of the devil, only then does it provide us the sure defense that we need to be saved.

Jesus does not argue with the devil. He simply quotes once more from the Word of God: “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’” [Matt. 7b] And with this accurate quote-neither adding to the Word of God nor taking from it-the devil is defeated once again!

Once more the devil launches an attack, taking Jesus up on a high mountain and showing Him all the kingdoms of the world and all their glory, and he said to Jesus, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” [Matt. 4:9b] Whether or not the devil had the power to give these things to Him doesn’t really matter. The devil is a liar and the father of lies, and so, whenever he opens his mouth to speak we can be sure that he is trying to deceive us.

The devil is not actually offering Jesus power and glory here. What he’s offering Jesus is death and damnation, for death and damnation is all that awaits the one who worships anything or anyone except the Triune God. And Jesus knows this! And death and damnation is all that awaits us if we worship anything or anyone except the Triune God. Again, Jesus does not argue with the devil. He simply quotes God’s Word to him: “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” [Matt. 4:10b]

And with these words, these words quoted from God’s Word, the Bible, the devil left Him and angels came and ministered to Him. As Luther wrote in his famous hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is our God,” “One little word can fell him!” and that one little word is the Word of God!

The first Adam failed to stand fast in the Word of God and he sinned. The Second Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ, did not fail! He stood fast in the Word of God knowing that in that Word was His one sure defense against all of the attacks that the devil could launch against Him! And when He had fulfilled all that was written in God’s Word, He then went to the cross and there He suffered and died in our place and on the third day He rose again from the dead. He did this, not for Himself, but for us and for our salvation. And because He kept God’s Word for us, and because He paid the price for our not keeping God’s Word, we have been saved by grace through faith in Him. “Therefore,” St. Paul writes, “as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.” [Rom. 5:18] For His sake your sins are forgiven, and as He rose again from the dead, you, too, will rise again to live forever with Him!

Therefore, stand fast in Him and stand fast in His Word! His Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path! And if you abide in His Word, as our Lord Jesus Christ has said, you shall be His disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free! Amen.