Wield the weapon of God’s Word (Luke 4:1-13)

Dear friends in Christ.

In 2008, DreamWorks Entertainment released the computer animated movie, Kung Fu Panda. Now, if you have kids at home, or Grandkids that like to spend time with you, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve seen this movie on at least one occasion. But if you haven’t seen it, permit me, if you will, to tell you a little bit about it. Kung Fu Panda is a movie about a lazy, irreverent, slacker panda named, Po, whose greatest desire is to become a kung fu master and fight alongside his heroes—the Furious Five—even though his destiny, if you will, is to follow in his father’s footsteps and one day take over his noodle shop. Yet Po continues to hope that his dreams might come true. A few days later, on the day when the entire village gathers to see who will be chosen as the Dragon Warrior, Po is unexpectedly chosen as that warrior. From that point on, Po goes into strict training to learn how to wield the weapons of a kung fu master. At first things don’t go so well for Po, but as the movie progresses, we see how Po grows in his knowledge and his ability to wield the weapons of a kung fu master.

Now some of you might be wondering why I’m telling you all this. Some of you might be wondering why on earth I’m spending so much time talking about a cartoon panda and his struggles to learn how to wield the weapons of a Kung Fu Master. Well, the reason is simple. For in the same way that Po was taught by his master in the movie, so also, our Master, Jesus is taking time to teach us how to wield the weapon of God’s Word against our enemy, the devil, and the temptations that he continually brings against the fortress of our hearts. Thus, as our text begins this morning, we have Jesus teaching us his first lesson of wielding the weapon of God’s Word when satan seeks to make us doubt God’s promises. Luke writes: “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone.’” (Luke 4:1–5, NIV)

Now, to fully understand what’s going on, we have to go back a few weeks to the First Sunday after the Epiphany, when we heard about how Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan River. We have to go back to that day when the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the form of a dove and God the Father spoke from heaven giving his approval and saying, “This is my Son whom I love, with him I am well pleased.” We have to go back to that point, because it was immediately after Jesus was baptized that the Holy Spirit led him into the wilderness to do battle against the devil. It wasn’t that Jesus decided to go head to head with satan on the spur of the moment, rather, he was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness according to the will of his heavenly Father so that during those 40 days Jesus might be tempted in every way, just as we are. Though the gospels of Matthew and Luke list only three temptations that Jesus faced, the three temptations serve as a summary of all the other temptations going on during that forty day period. For as the battle began, satan came to Jesus with the very same temptation that worked so well on Eve; the temptation of doubt. Satan sought from the beginning to cause Jesus to doubt who he was and to make him wonder why he, the Son of God, must face such mind numbing hunger from fasting for 40 days and nights. Thus, Satan sought to make Jesus doubt his father’s will for him and tried to move Jesus to act with a demonstration of his power, turning the stones around him into bread. Yet, even as satan attempted this with one single question, Jesus wielded the weapon of God’s Word and said, “Man does not live on bread alone.” Though Jesus could have defeated satan with a single, divine command, he fought against satan according to his human nature, using the weapon of God’s Word, thereby beginning our lesson on how to wield that same weapon when satan seeks to make us doubt God’s promises.

This is truly an important lesson for each of us to learn, because in the sparring match that is our life, doubt is one of the most powerful weapons that satan has in his arsenal. Although we are Christians who have every reason to be confident in the Lord and in his promises, how often doesn’t it happen that a single drop of doubt begins to permeate our hearts and minds in the same way that a single drop of food coloring will begin to permeate the water into which it was dropped? How often doesn’t it happen that our enemy creeps into the garden of our hearts and plants a simple seed of doubt which can quickly grow into a giant tree before we know it? In fact, I don’t want you to raise your hands or anything like that, but how many of you were dealing with doubts when you walked in that door this morning—doubts of whether or not God really loves you, or has forgiven you for the things you have done. How many of you walked in with doubts about God’s care because your health has taken a turn for the worse, or someone you know and love is sick, or suffering, or even dying? How many of you are facing worries and doubts this morning because your expenses have far exceeded your income or your investment portfolio is no longer what it used to be? How many of you are afraid because your position at work has already been eliminated, or may soon be eliminated? How many of you have found that one of the questions echoing in your mind more regularly is, “If God really loves me, why is this happening to me?”

Yet it is against onslaughts such as these that our Savior shows us how to wield the weapon of his Word to defeat our enemy. For when doubts arise in our lives, our Savior simply leads us back to his Word where we are reminded again and again that we are dearly loved children of God. Just as Paul reminded us in our first lesson this morning when he wrote, “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”” (Romans 10:8–13, NIV)

When we wield the weapon of God’s Word against our enemy, it works every time. His attack is met, his advance is slowed, and he immediately finds himself in a battle not with us, but with God himself who fights for us, who encourages us, and who helps us in every situation in life. When we wield the weapon of God’s Word, our enemy is then forced to make a choice either to retreat, or to change tack and press the attack harder, as he did against our Savior. Though Jesus had completely resisted satan’s attack and used God’s word to parry temptation, satan quickly changed his approach from that of doubt to that of making Jesus his slave. Luke tells us, “The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’” (Luke 4:5–8, NIV)

Satan knew why Jesus had come. He knew the glory that Jesus had set aside when he took on human flesh and blood. He knew that just a few weeks earlier, God the Father had declared Jesus to be the Messiah who had come to crush satan’s head. He knew all this and he also knew how terrifying the idea of suffering and dying at the hands of a righteous God would have been to Jesus human nature; so he tries to tempt Jesus to take the easy way out. Rather than go through all that suffering satan offers Jesus another option. He offers Jesus the opportunity to bow down and worship him so that he might give to Jesus all the authority and honor that Jesus would have earned a couple of years sooner. All satan was asking Jesus to do was pay a small price on the front end which would have resulted in exorbitant fees on the back end, because Jesus would have failed his Father and become the slave of his enemy. Yet even as satan hoped and almost prayed that Jesus would fall into his trap, Jesus again withstood the temptation as he wielded the weapon of God’s Word, saying, “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” Thus Jesus delivers to us his second lesson on wielding the weapon of the Word when satan tries to make us his slaves.

How often doesn’t satan do that same thing to us? How often doesn’t he display before our eyes the “glories” of our own sinful desires and addictions? How often doesn’t he ask us why we pay such a high price for good grades when it would be so easy to sneak the answers into class? How often doesn’t he ask us why we pay such a high price to teach our children about their Savior when it would be so much easier to drop them off for an hour and let the Church teach them once a week? How often doesn’t he ask us why we pay such a high price to make certain that everything is correct when we turn in our 1040 form when it would be so easy to invent a few key deductions that would help save some money. How often doesn’t he ask us why we seek to spend so much time with your husband or your wife and your children, especially when you know that there are so many other interesting and captivating people to be found online? How often doesn’t he ask you why you wake us so early on Sunday morning just to come to church and hear Pastor Shilling drone on and on when you could have stayed home, slept in and read the Bible for yourself?

These are but a few of the blows that satan seeks to land even before we are able to wield God’s Word against him. These are but a few of the ways he hope to counter our defenses so that he can make us his slaves and lead us captive into the dungeons of everlasting damnation. Yet, as we wield that weapon of God’s Word, we are assured that our God is also fighting for us. Though there are times when satan’s blows land on our flesh and we are deeply cut by his temptations and infected by our sins, it is our Savior who heals us with the salve of the Gospel. For in the same way that the Lord led his people out of slavery he also leads us from the slavery to our sins, into the freedom of his Gospel. He drives back our enemy and even knocks him to the ground for us, the only problem is, that in the same way that a prize fighter refuses to lay down on the mats, but gets back up to continue the battle with his opponent, so also our enemy, continues to get up and advance against us again and again. But even as he continues to advance, we continue to wield God’s Word, just as our Savior did when satan came back at him with one last strategy. Luke tells us, “The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered, “It says: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. ” (Luke 4:9–13, NIV)

Since none of his other tactics were working against Jesus, satan sought to use Jesus’ own weapon against him. He took Jesus to the highest point of the temple and then dared him to jump off quoting the Psalmist who said that God would protect him even if he acted so rashly and so foolishly. But, of course, our Savior immediately saw through satan’s misuse of God’s word, setting one Scripture against another, in an attempt to deceive him into the rash action of testing the Lord his God. So, once again Jesus wields the weapon of God’s Word saying, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test,” and in doing so, he bestows upon us his final lesson of wielding his word to combat against satan’s continual desire to elicit rash disobedience by his constant misuse of Scripture.

For the truth is, satan’s misuse of the Scriptures is probably the most effective weapon that he has at his disposal. Just think about how our enemy has made each and every Christian afraid to judge anyone or anything by continually pulling out of context the simple passage in Matthew: “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” (Matthew 7:1, NIV) Though this passage speaks about judging, from the context it tells us not to judge rashly or without all evidence while other passages of the Bible tell us that it is our Christian Duty to judge sin and sinners according to God’s law. Or think about how many people believe that money is the root of all evil, rather than sinful human nature, when the Bible clearly tells us, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” (1 Timothy 6:10, NIV) Or how many people have bought into the idea that we can do whatever we want with our body and our life even though the Bible tells us, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. ” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20, NIV)

But the biggest misuse of Scripture that leads even the most faithful Christians into rash actions and sinful lives is the misuse of the passage, “God is love.” (1 John 4:8 NIV) The misuse of this passage is the whole basis for the acceptance of living together before marriage, experimenting with sexuality, and engaging in same sex unions, and countless other ideas and perversions. It is the whole basis because by leading people to focus on the fact that God is love, then it logically follows that God loves us for who we are and what we are as long as we continue acting in love. Thus, it naturally follows that if we are acting in love, then no matter what we do, we must be acceptable in the sight of God because by that logic, love becomes our god. This, is by far the worst misuse of Scripture by our adversary, because it is a misuse that is leading countless millions away from the truth and down the path that leads to destruction. Thus, it becomes all the more necessary for us to wield the weapon of God’s Word boldly against these false ideas spawned from satan’s misuse of the Scriptures. For when we wield that weapon, we know our God is fighting for us and beside us. When we wield that weapon we are able to see through the misuses our enemy brings and even avoid the traps into which they lead. When we wiled the weapon of God’s Word and immerse ourselves in his word, we are ready to resist satan’s logic when he places one Scripture against another, or even one Scripture against the rest of the Word.

These are the lessons that our Master is teaching us today. These are the lessons that Jesus teaches in his battle against our enemy, the devil. Though we may sometimes face difficult times as Po did, even as he sought to become a kung fu master, with the training we have received win God’s Weaponry today, we are ready to wield them against our enemy. We are ready because we know that even as we wield them, our God fights alongside us so that through his Word, we might be victorious in Christ Jesus our Savior.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church Le Sueur, MN

Jesus is our King of Glory (John 18:33-37)

Dear friends in Christ.

In a 1983 Gallup poll Americans were asked "who do you think Jesus is." 70% of those interviewed said Jesus was not just another man. 42% stated Jesus was God among men. 27% felt Jesus was only human but divinely called. 9% stated that Jesus was divine because he embodied the best of humanity. Though I searched for a more recent edition of this poll, I did not find one, and I’m not really surprised. I’m not really surprised, because there is a great deal of confusion about who Jesus Christ is. Some say that Jesus was just a man like Confucius, who lived on the earth many hundreds of years ago, gave great advice and taught people ways to be nice to each other and how to get along. Others say that Jesus was just a regular man, born to his mother, and as he grew, the Christ consciousness, came upon. While that consciousness rested on him like a spirit dwelling inside of him, he was able to do miracles and healings, but when Jesus went to the cross, the Christ consciousness left him before he died. Some believe that Jesus is merely a son of God or one of many sons of God rather than the one and only Son of God. Others believe that Jesus Christ is not really the Son of God, but he is actually the archangel Michael, the defender of his people. But what do we believe? How can we possibly know who Jesus truly is? How can we find out exactly who this person is whom we are worshiping today? Well, we’ll take a look at what the Bible has to tell us. We’ll take a look at our text for this morning, our Gospel lesson from John 18:33-37. John writes:

Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" "Is that your own idea," Jesus asked, "or did others talk to you about me?" "Am I a Jew?" Pilate replied. "It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?" Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." "You are a king, then!" said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." (John 18:33-37 NIV)

Now, when Jesus spoke these words, he was on trial for his life before the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate. He had been arrested by the Jews in the Garden of Gethsemane only hours earlier. He had been dragged before the High Priest Annas, then before Caiaphas, and now he was standing trial before Pilate. The Jews had just accused Jesus of subverting the nation, opposing payment of taxes to Caesar, and claiming to be Christ, a king. Now, as Pilate stood before Jesus, looking at him as a common criminal, Jesus, our King of Glory took charge of this conversation and told Pilate that he truly was a king. But he was not an earthly king, for if he was his servants would have fought to prevent his capture and arrest; if he was an earthly king, Jesus’ servants would have been fighting right now to procure Jesus’ release from the Roman governor. But nothing like that was happening. There were no servants fighting for Jesus’ release, because as Jesus had said, “My kingdom is not of this World…My kingdom is from another place.”

With these powerful words spoken to Pontius Pilate, Jesus is assuring us that he is none other than the King of Glory about whom Daniel wrote in our First Lesson when he said, “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:12,14 NIV) He is the one about whom John wrote in our second lesson, "Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth…Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”" (Revelation 1:4,5,7,8, NIV)

As Jesus stood before Pilate, Pilate fully understand what Jesus was telling him, but he was intrigued by Jesus’ answer. He was intrigued because by his answer, Jesus showed that he understood the charges being leveled against him, while at the same time he never denied that he was a king, so Pilate continued: “‘You are a king, then!’ said Pilate. Jesus answered, ‘You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me,’” (John 18:37 NIV).

As our King of Glory who had come into this World, Jesus’ mission was clear! He was the one who had come to proclaim the truth of salvation through faith in him, the Savior of the world. And that is what he did. No matter where he went he spread the message of repentance and forgiveness to all who heard him. Even as he stood before Pilate, Jesus continued testifying to that truth by extending the healing hand of the gospel, which could call Pilate to faith in Jesus the King of Glory. But Pilate refused to listen to what Jesus had to say, and sadly, that’s the way things are going more and more often in our day and age.

Although Jesus, our King, has returned to heaven, he is still proclaiming the message of repentance and forgiveness to all the nations through the pages of the Scriptures. He has used Pastors all over the world to proclaim that truth through the lessons read in worship and even through the words spoken in sermons. He has used people just like you to proclaim that truth as you have spoken with friends, family, and even complete strangers about Jesus, your King of Glory and the message of his salvation. He has used things like radio and television to broadcast the truth of the gospel into nations where missionaries simply aren’t able to go. He is even using social networking sites like facebook, myspace, and youtube to proclaim the message of salvation in ways that neither we or our parents ever imagined. Take for example that video clip I showed you last week. I discovered it because one of my friends posted it on his facebook page. From that posting I was able to link over and view the video on youtube. While on youtube I found that this particular video clip has been viewed over 12 million times in a three year period. It has been copied and posted on other video sites. Different groups have performed this skit and up loaded their own videos. But the most incredible thing is, I know of five people who have come to faith in Jesus all because they saw that powerful video, understood the truth of the message it was proclaiming, and sought after the truth of salvation from the pages of the Scriptures. How incredible that Jesus, our King of Glory is still proclaiming the truth of salvation to countless people throughout the world in so many different and amazing ways.

But sadly, even though the truth of God’s Word is more accessible today that it has ever been in the past, it seems that more and more people are taking it for granted. It seems that more and more people are acting like Pilate and turning their backs on it. It seems that more and more people are being swayed by any number of the myriad of lies of satan. Take for example Islamic countries. Very often speaking about Christ is punishable by death and celebrating Christmas can put your life in serious jeopardy. Why? Because in Islam the Triune God has been replaced by Allah, Jesus, the Savior has been replaced by Mohammed the prophet, and the Bible has been replaced by the Koran. Much the same thing is true in Israel. Though speaking about Christ may not be punished by death, there are a fare few who will mock you, ridicule you, or even be ready to beat you simply because of the centuries of bad blood between the religious leaders and the Lord. Though Jesus himself was a Jew, he has been reduced to a mere man and the Old Testament, which so clearly proclaimed his coming is thought to be predicting a Messiah who is yet to come.

But what about closer to home? Are there others who have ignored the truth, to which our King of Glory testifies? Quite sadly, yes. There are the Jehovah’s Witnesses who believe that Jehovah is the name of the only true God…and as such, he is worthy of our worship and devotion. Though they believe that Jesus is the Son of God, they also believe that Jesus never claimed equality with God and is thus not a part of the Trinity. There is the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, The Mormons, who hold the Book of Mormon in higher regard than the Bible and believes that Jesus, who is one of many sons of God the Father, was once a man who earned his godhood by so perfectly following his Father’s will. There is the Catholic Church where the teachings of the Pope are so often held in higher regard than the Scriptures, and where Mary and other saints are invoked in prayers as they are asked for protection, forgiveness, and even asked to carry prayers and requests to the Son or even the Father. There is even the Lutheran Church, specifically the ELCA where homosexuality has officially been accepted as God pleasing if couples are joined in and acting in love for one another. There is our own government which is beginning to openly seek to rid this country of any teaching of the truth of Jesus Christ as the King of Glory who gave his life on the cross and rose again from the dead to free us from our sins so that we could live with him forever in eternal life.

But even though there are so many forces out there seeking to sway us, and lead us to put down the truth of our Glorious King so that we might pick up and embrace any number of satan’s lies, it is the Lord Jesus, our King of Glory who speaks to us with his truth. He is the King of Glory about whom John wrote in his great Revelation: “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. ‘He will rule them with an iron scepter.’ He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” (Revelation 19:11-16).

This is the truth which our King testifies to. He testifies that he is the Son of God; that he is our King of Glory; that his is our only Savior. Though there may still be a lot of confusion in this world as to who Jesus really is, we know that he is our one and only Savior. He is our King of glory. He alone hears our prayers, answers our requests and removes our sins forever. This is the truth which Jesus came to the earth to testify to, and this is the truth that he testifies to us in the Bible, that he alone is our King of Glory, who had conquered sin and death, who truly has risen, and who will share with us his heavenly kingdom.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church Le Sueur, MN