Matthew 4:1 - 11
I saw a thing on Facebook that said, “How cool is that! The same God that created mountains and oceans and galaxies of stars decided the Universe needed one of you as well.” Specialists in child development know that every baby is born with the idea that he or she is the very center of the universe. And we don’t lose that sense. We can bury it pretty deeply; we can try to be humble, but it’s hard wired into us. And it was hard-wired into Jesus as well.
In today’s gospel, Jesus has just come from his baptism, where he heard the father say, “This is my beloved, in whom I am well pleased” or as another translation goes, “in whom I take delight.” This, of course, was not the first time Jesus realized he was special. There was that time when he remained behind in the temple to be about his Father’s business. One of the strange paradoxes in Christianity is that each of us is beloved; each of us is so loved by the Father that if I were the only human on earth, he would still send his son to die for me if that was what it takes to get me to be united to him in heaven. And on the other hand, we are constantly reminded that we are nothing compared to God, that even the next breath we take depends on God’s willing it. Mary herself showed extraordinary humility in those words, “Be it done to me according to your word.”
Now there are many interpretations of the temptations that Christ faced in the desert. One is that Jesus succeeds where Israel failed. The Israelites, faced with the prospect of starvation, wanted to return to Egypt, not once but twice Jesus turned to the Father to take care of his needs. The Israelites will over and over again need rescuing by God; Jesus refuses to put God to the test; and the Israelites will worship the golden calf and other idols; Jesus refuses to worship Satan. Jesus succeeds where Israel failed.
But there is another way of looking at these temptations, maybe closer to home. Jesus knows he is the beloved Son. Satan tempts him in the other direction.
Jesus has been fasting forty days and forty nights, like Moses before he received the ten commandments. And it says, “he was hungry”. Surely an understatement – but when you are physically weakened you are vulnerable. Satan says, “If you are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread.” Satan in effect says, “If you believe you are God’s beloved, why is your life so empty?” And Jesus replies, “Man does not live by bread alone…” in effect, “I can be beloved whether I’m full or empty!”
Then the devil takes Jesus to a tower and says, “If you are God’s son, throw yourself down, because it says in the bible God will command his angels to rescue you.” In other words, “if you are God’s beloved, prove that you are special.” And Jesus replies, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” In other words, “I don’t need proof. I’ll take the elevator like everyone else.”
Finally the devil says, “All these kingdoms I will give you, if you fall down and worship me.” In other words, “If you are God’s beloved, how come you are a big nobody? Where’s your power, where’s your wealth, like people who really are somebody?” And Jesus replies, “The Lord your God you will worship, and Him alone will you serve.” In other words, “I can be a nobody and still be God’s blessed one. Being Blessed doesn’t depend on fame or power.”
You and I are born with the inner feeling that we are special. All you need to know that is to hang around with a small child from a normal family. Or a teenager, preferably well-adjusted. The feeling of being special, of being God’s beloved, gets trampled on by things that happen to us. We all reach a point where we fail at something. My family makes a trip to the ocean once a year. Every year I look forward to swimming in the surf. This last year, probably because of age and diminished reflexes, I got knocked over a few times by the waves. I failed at something I could always do before. I look around and one hand I see that I have really been blessed. ON the other hand, I see people whom I judge to have been more blessed than me. Joan and I raised six children; we love them and are proud of them, but like any parent, there were times when we wished they had made different choices here and there – not that they didn’t make the right choices for themselves. But being human, we thought we knew better at the time. It’s like that news article in the Babylon Bee titled, “Man just doesn't understand how an infinitely wise God could have a different opinion than his sometimes.”
And so on this first Sunday of Lent, we remember that Jesus is the new Israel, the one who succeeds when humanity up until then has failed; but we also remember that we are beloved, God is crazy in love with you, with me, and nothing that happens or doesn’t happen can change that fact.
