A sermon by the Rev. Guillermo A. Arboleda, written for and delivered at All Saints' Episcopal Church, Tybee Island, GA, on Sunday, March 9, 2025, which is the First Sunday in Lent (RCL Year C).
Primary Bible Reading
Luke 4:1-13
4:1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tested by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over he was famished. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” 4 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’” 5 Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And the devil said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” 9 Then the devil led him to Jerusalem and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ 11 and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” 12 Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 13 When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.
Tempted to Abandon Identity
By the Rev. Guillermo A. Arboleda, Program Manager for New Starts, ELCA
Why did Jesus face these temptations? Why was the devil testing him? What did he want to prove to Jesus? Remember that Jesus goes to the wilderness to fast for forty days immediately after leaving the Jordan River. This all happens right after John baptized Jesus and God’s voice came down from the heavens declaring that Jesus is Son of God, the beloved in whom God is well-pleased (Luke 3:22). In the baptism, God the Father confirms to Jesus his identity as the fully human and fully divine Son of God. And the devil swoops in to try to mess with that sense of identity.
Because here’s the thing: the devil’s three temptations are real temptations. They actually seem appealing. The devil is a deceiver, so he doesn’t try to get Jesus to change his end goal. He just tries to corrupt him along the way. Yeah, you are the Son of God and you have this divine mission to save the world from its sins… but that means you need to bend the rules a little bit to get there. It’s too important for you to be held back by arbitrary commands or outdated standards of holiness. So the devil offers the three temptations to do things that are good or at least seem good. The power to feed, the power to rule, and the power to defy the laws of nature.
After Jesus has fasted for forty days, the devil invites him to satisfy his hunger. Turn this stone into bread. Jesus is beyond hungry, and he needs to eat in order to live. I imagine that the devil demonstrates how easy the little miracle could be. The devil turns stone into bread, and that bread looks and smells so good, like it just came out of the oven. Plus, a lot of Jesus’ ministry focused on feeding hungry people, like when he multiplied bread and fishes for enormous crowds (at least two times). Being able to transfigure stones into bread will enable you to alleviate hunger on an enormous scale, Jesus. You can use this power to save lives! But Jesus knows better. He knows that the devil’s ways are wily and deceptive, so he declines.
Next, the devil shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world. All the kingdoms belong to the devil and the devil is willing to share this authority with Jesus in exchange for something small. Just bow down and worship me. Really it’s no big deal. Your Father doesn’t care about things like that. It will be our little secret. And think of all the good that you could do if you claim your throne now as King of kings and Lord of lords. Isn’t that what you want? But Jesus knows better. He knows that abandoning God for the devil’s tricks will corrupt him from the inside out. That corruption would spread and he would not be able to rule at the Father’s right hand. So he rebuffs the devil.
Finally, the devil brings Jesus to the top of the Temple building in Jerusalem. Jump off the roof and fly over the city on the wings of angels. Demonstrate your power over the natural world. Show these people why they should fear the Lord. Win back their hearts and lives no matter the cost. But Jesus knows better. Pride always comes before a fall. Jesus cannot be distracted from his mission to preach the Good News of the coming Kindom of God and to prepare to sacrifice himself for the sins of the world. So he rejects the devil again.
In each case, the devil had something of a point. What the devil offered Jesus is not bad per se. But Jesus did not really reject the things that the devil offered him. He rejected the way that the devil offered them. The ends or goals might have arguably been good. But the means were evil and idolatrous. We cannot use evil means to get to just ends.
And these are not just temptations from 2000 years ago.The Church is still tempted in these ways. We want bread to feed ourselves and we think we will feed others. We want political power because we think that we can rule mercifully and justly. We want to demonstrate God’s miraculous power because we say we want to draw more people to Christian faith. But each of these temptations is tied up with the sin of pride. It is easy to slip into a prideful state where we think that we have it all figured out. If only we had more power, then it wouldn’t corrupt us. We would use it the right way. We can somehow rise above and do it better than anyone else.
But that is our pride talking – the devil’s deceptions at work. The Church has not proven itself to be more trustworthy than anybody else for the last couple of millenia. Churches have accrued lots of money, food, and political power, and look where it has gotten us. We have consistently used power to feed our own selfish desires, spreading vices like greed, supremacy, war, and colonization. We have let power get to our heads and forgotten what it means to love others as God loves us.
And maybe it’s true that you don’t feel especially wealthy and powerful. But how often do we feel inadequate because of what we don’t have? How often do we crave to be bigger and better, either as individuals or as a church? How often do we use what we are not or don’t have as excuses? But God doesn’t want us to be bigger or better or more powerful. God simply wants us to be who we are: beloved children. We must claim and reclaim that identity.
When we were baptized into the Church, we were all “sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ’s own forever” (BCP, p. 308). That is who we are. The Holy Spirit of God has already given us what we need. We can set aside our greed and lust for earthly power because we already have the supernatural power of God flowing through us. There are so many distractions out there that would try to pull us away from that simple but profound truth. And we don’t need fast alone in the desert to reclaim it.
We are reclaiming it today as we begin Lent again. Now is the opportune time. This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it (Psalm 118:24). As we prepare for the Cross and Resurrection, remember that you don’t need to earn or achieve anything. You are already God’s beloved child. That is enough. Jesus just invites you to live like it. Amen.
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