The Third Son

[This message was shared during worship with the people and friends of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio, yesterday.]

Matthew 21:23-32

When I look back on the messages I’ve preached about today’s gospel lesson, Matthew 21:23-32, through the years, I’ve mostly gotten it wrong.  My sermons have basically gone like this: “Be like the first son in Jesus’ parable and not like the second son. Amen.”

Now, that’s godly law, of course. It is right to honor our fathers and mothers and others in authority over us, which is what the fourth commandment tells us to do. Both sons failed to do this, whether initially or later.

It is right to not bear false witness, which is what the eighth commandment tells us not to do. The first son violated this command by saying yes to his father’s order to work in the field and then not doing so.

We certainly need to hear these and the rest of God’s Laws given in the Ten Commandments:

You shall have no other gods;

You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain;

Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy;

You shall not kill;

You shall not commit adultery;

You shall not steal;

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, spouse, workers, livestock, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

These commands are still God’s will for us and as people born into sin, each of us is liable to the fire of hell for our violation of God’s Law.

The problem, of course, is that we all know the Law and the will of God is–it’s summarized by Jesus as “Love God with all your being and love your neighbor as you love yourself”--but we don’t obey God’s Law.

“In my inner being I delight in God’s law,” the apostle Paul confesses in the New Testament book of Romans, “but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.” (Romans 7:22-23)

Knowing God’s Law informs us of God’s will for us human beings.

It may even lead us to regret our sin.

But knowing God’s Law or even having regret will not fit us for life with God.

Only the righteous will be fit for eternity with God. Jesus says, “Unless your righteousness [meaning, your innocence of sin, your perfect submission to God, your complete selflessness in relationship to others] surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20)

So, what’s to become of us?

How can we possibly be that righteous?

That innocent and pure and sinless?

The chief priests and the elders of Jesus’ day were sure they had cracked that code. They thought they could make themselves righteous by obeying God’s Law.

They were so certain that they had made themselves righteous that when John the Baptizer had called people to repent–that is, to turn from sin and to turn to God for forgiveness–in order to prepare for the coming of the Savior, Jesus, they refused to repent or receive John’s baptism of repentance.

Like the second son in Jesus’ parable, they claimed to say, “Yes” to God; but when God’s call to repentance and faith came to them, they said, “No.”

Meanwhile, prostitutes, corrupt tax collectors, and other notorious sinners who had been saying, “No” to God all their lives, like the first son in Jesus’ parable, heard John’s call to repentance, recognized and turned from their sin and turned to faith in God.

All of this lay in the background of today’s gospel lesson.

It takes place on the Monday of what we call “Holy Week,” the day after Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. On that day, you’ll remember, Jesus had turned the money-changers, extortionists authorized to be there by the chief priests and the elders, out of the temple, overturning their tables and loot and freeing the sheep and birds they were selling on the temple grounds.

The next day, when Jesus and His disciples show up at the temple, they ask Jesus, “By what authority are you doing these things?...And who gave you this authority?” (Matthew 21:23)

Jesus wasn’t a seminary graduate. Nor was He ordained by them. Where did His authority, not only for His Palm Sunday temple tantrum, but for forgiving sinners, healing, casting out demons, and raising people from the dead, come from?

Jesus’ exchange with them is well known. Jesus tells them that before answering their question about where His authority came from, they needed to answer His question to them: Did John the Baptizer’s authority to repent people, that is, to turn them from sin and turn them to God, through water and the Word, come from? Was it from God in heaven? Or had John simply authorized himself?

If they said John’s ministry had come from God, they would have to answer why they had rejected John; if they said John was a loose cannon with no authority from God to preach or baptize repentance, they would anger many who had valued John’s ministry.

So, the chief priests and the elders refused to answer Jesus’ question. “We don’t know,” they said.

Jesus then says if they won’t answer Him, He won’t answer them. To these hard-hearted men, sure of their own righteousness, Jesus used what we call the binding key of the Law, instead of the loosing key of the Gospel.

He let the chief priests and the elders stand in condemnation for their sin because they refused to acknowledge what is true for all of us: They were sinners in need of God’s forgiveness.

But Jesus doesn’t give up easily on sinners. So, he tells the priests and the elders the parable of the two sons we hear in our lesson. The first son is like the chief priests and the elders, and maybe like you and me, saying yes to God, but then turning away. These are the people of good intentions: their spirits are willing but their flesh is weak. I can certainly be like this.

The second son is like willful sinners, and maybe like you and me sometimes, saying no to God, but then, when God’s Word works on us, calling us to turn to God and to God’s way, for forgiveness and life with God, saying yes to His grace and forgiveness.

But, friends, there’s a third Son in our Gospel lesson for today. This son, unlike the other two, isn’t a fictional creation of Jesus. This Son is very real.

This is the Son Who said to His Father after His Father told Him to go to a cross to offer His sinless life on a cross so that sinners like you and me can be forgiven and can have life with God, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup [of suffering and death] be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39)

This is the Son Who, though without sin, insisted that John the Baptizer baptize Him in the Jordan, where He took on the condemnation of our sin and our death in order “to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matthew 3:15)

Jesus gave up His righteousness to us, becoming sin who knew no sin, so that in the only perfect act of love and obedience this world has ever seen, rendered on the cross, He could take our guilt and give us His innocence.

He could overcome our selfishness with His selflessness.

He could take blame for our rebellion against God’s Law of love by submitting totally to God.

Jesus is the Son Who says “Yes” to God’s call to die and rise for us and then, despite the pain, the humiliation, and sorrow of it, does just that.

It’s because of Jesus and through Jesus, the faithful Son, that you and I, fickle and often faithless sons and daughters of God, can daily turn to Him, unloading our sins onto Him at the cross and be justified, made righteous and clean and eternally new in the eyes of God.

This is Christ’s promise to you, friends: the repentant receive God’s yes through Christ, no matter how many times we may have previously said, “No” to Him.

“For,” as Saint Paul writes, “ no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 1:20)

Jesus, the obedient Son, has said yes to the Father and in doing so, has said yes to you!

Because of that, you can turn to Him and live forgiven and free, today and always. Amen

What Jesus taught me today about refusing the selfish way

During my Quiet Time with God today, I read the fourth chapter of Luke's Gospel. It includes Luke's account of the forty days when Jesus, fasting, was tempted by the devil in the wilderness.

I was struck today by the exchange between Jesus and the devil in what Luke says was the third temptation offered up against Jesus:

The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’” [Luke 4:3-4]

Here, as in the entire chapter, we see Jesus refusing to use His divinity for selfish ends.

Although He is hungry and could do what the devil challenges Him to do, Jesus persists in accepting all the limitations of being human when it comes to His own needs or desires.

He does this, it seems, in order to make His redeeming connection to the human race complete, pure, unadulterated. (We see this also from about the same time in His ministry, when Jesus insists on John the Baptist performing the baptism of repentance on Him despite the fact that Jesus, unlike John and the rest of the human race, was sinless. “Let it be so now," Jesus tells John, "it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness” [Matthew 3:15].)

In fact, it appears that the devil notices Jesus' insistence on accepting the limitations of His humanity when it comes to His own interests in Jesus' response to the first two temptations. The devil customizes the third temptation to do an end-around.

He refers to a promise made in Psalm 91:11-12. That psalm is addressed to human beings, "whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High."

The devil's temptation is clearly meant to sneak past Jesus' defenses by tempting Him with a promise made to an ordinary people. The devil surely hopes that Jesus will reason, "The devil isn't pushing me to misuse my deity by being selfish, but only wants me to prove to have the same kind of faith that an ordinary human being is called to have."

But Jesus will have none of it. He answers as a man steeped in God's Word. He gives an answer that any ordinary believer who knows the Lord could give. Jesus' response, quoting Deuteronomy 8:3, effectively tells the devil:"God's promises don't cover me when I do willfully stupid things to test whether He's good for His promises."

Testing God is unbelief. And it was from the scourge of unbelief and its consequences--death, futility, and darkness--that Jesus came into the world to save all who trust in Him.

Had Jesus gone to the cross without belief--trust--in God the Father, having tested the Father to gain momentary relief or pleasure, His death would have been meaningless and we would be without any hope, for this life or the next. Only a sinless Savior Who trusted in God could be the perfect sacrifice who expunges the power of sin and death over us.

Through this encounter with God today, I realized that I need to be human, accessible, and vulnerable to others, even as I live under God's rule. Jesus refused to exploit His deity in selfish ways. By the power He gives to believers through the Holy Spirit, I need to refuse to lord it over anyone. Jesus is both the model of this life and the One Who, as I lean on Him, gives me the power to live in this way.

I need to not use my status as a child of God (or as a pastor) to try to get my way, to be in charge. I need to simply trust God to lead me where He wants me to be in any given situation.

This passage assures me, as it always does, that I can rely on the power of God to help me to resist temptation and to live for God, even when it's easier to live in other ways.

The words of Paul in Philippians 2:3-11 keep coming to mind.

Lord, help me to steep myself in Your Word by beginning to memorize Scripture this week. Forgive my unbelief. Help me to rely totally on Jesus. In His name. Amen

[Blogger Mark Daniels is the pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church, Centerville, Ohio.]

Temptation and the Only Way to Handle It

[This was shared during worship with the people of Saint Matthew Lutheran Church in Logan, Ohio, earlier today.]

Matthew 4:1-11
We know the story of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness almost by heart. It comes up every year on the First Sunday in Lent.

Fresh from the amazing moment of His baptism in the Jordan River, when a voice from heaven had said, “This is My Son, the Beloved, with Whom I am well pleased,” Jesus, goes into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

There’s comfort to be found in this incident. It reverberates with a truth to which the preacher in the New Testament book of Hebrews points when he says of Jesus: “…we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.”

As we go through the season of Lent, it’s good for us to remember that Jesus endured the wilderness and the Garden of Gethsemane and Good Friday and the cross—times of temptation, testing, and terror—not because He had to, but because He wanted to. He chose to endure these things for the same reason that He underwent John the Baptist’s baptism of repentance even though Jesus had nothing for which to repent. Jesus did all these things “to fulfill all righteousness,” to connect with us at the deepest and most intimate level, to go through all that we go through, so that having endured even death itself, He could be raised to life again and share His resurrection with all who turn from sin and trust in Him to give us new lives!

All of that is implied in the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. And it’s incredible!

But today, I want to ask you to try to look at this incident with fresh eyes. As you do, I’d like to ask you to keep two questions in mind:

• What is temptation? 
• And, How can temptation be handled? 

Jesus confronted three temptations from the devil: to turn stones to loaves of bread; to throw Himself down from the top of the Temple, betting that God and His angels would prevent Him from being hurt; and to take control of all the nations of the world simply for bowing down and worshiping the devil.

There’s nothing inherently wrong or evil in what the devil tries to entice Jesus into doing in these temptations. Jesus would, in fact, at different times later in His ministry, do things very similar to what the devil prompts Jesus to do in the wilderness. Jesus would later turn some fish and bread into a feast for a crowd of 5000. He would walk on water, something at least as amazing as levitating in the air after throwing oneself from the top of a temple. He would also be the one to bring the kingdom of God into the world.

So, what’s the difference between temptation and a harmless suggestion? Two things: Motivation and timing.

• When Jesus later fed the 5000, He didn’t do it for Himself; He did it for a crowd that He could see was hungry and Who needed to know Who the real bread from heaven is. 
• When Jesus walked on the water, He did it to foster and encourage the flagging faith of apostles to whom He would soon entrust the mission of sharing the gospel with the world. 
• When Jesus brought the kingdom of God to the world, He did so unencumbered by any debt to the evil from which He came to save a sinful, needy world. 

Jesus’ motivation was never to serve Himself, but us. Temptation is the enticement to do otherwise good things for the wrong reasons or at the wrong times or in the wrong ways and for ourselves.

But how do we handle temptation when it comes to us, as it does every single day? There are, I think, three ways we can choose to deal with temptation, only one of which works.

One of the wrong ways is logic. (We sometimes call this “common sense.”) If Jesus had used logic or common sense to resist temptation, He might have told Himself, “My mission is to live and die without sin. Only a sinless sacrifice of Myself on behalf of the human race will fulfill that mission. Therefore, I must withstand temptation.”

How do you think that would have worked? When you’ve been without food for forty days, logic doesn’t cut it. You want to eat! Jesus might well have become so desperate with hunger that He could have built an equally logical argument for caving in to the devil’s temptations. “After all,” Jesus could have thought logically, “My ultimate aim is to take control of the world’s kingdoms. What difference does the method make?”

Of course, had Jesus followed logic, the jig would have been up for us all. Sin and death would have kept their power over us and God, mired in sin Himself, would have been made powerless to help us. If we rely on common sense or logic to get us through our temptations, we will not stay true to God.

Another method people use to try to deal with temptation is to follow their hearts. We hear this advice all the time. “Follow your heart,” we’re told. Jesus could have tried this, but he didn't. Listen: Following your heart when it comes to life’s tests and temptations may be the quickest road to hell you can find.

Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse—who can understand it?”

Ecclesiastes 9:3 says, “the hearts of all are full of evil; madness is in their hearts…”

Our emotions are afflicted by sin. Had Jesus relied on His emotions when the devil tempted Him, He would have caved into the temptations in a heartbeat! Hunger and other desperate experiences affect our emotions and when we rely on our “heart” to guide us, we make really bad choices.

How might Ohio State’s football coach Jim Tressel have reacted to the emails sent to him by attorney Christopher Cicero if he had chosen not to let emotions (or logic) get in the way? I’m not picking on Coach Tressel. We’ve all tried dealing with life’s tests and temptations by following our hearts or our logic. The difference is that the media isn’t around to report when our bad decisions blow up in our faces.

There’s a third way to handle temptation and Jesus exhibits it in our lesson today. Please go to our Gospel lesson on the Celebrate insert and look at verse 4. To the devil’s suggestion that He turn stones to bread, we're told:

But he answered, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" 

If you have a pen or pencil handy, you might want to underline those words and take the insert home with you to consider during the week.

First spoken by Moses to the Israelites just before they entered the promised land, those words tell us how Jesus handled temptation and how we can handle temptation. Jesus knew that only the word of God gives us life! God’s Word that spoke creation into being also fills the pages of His book, the Bible. And so, to deal with temptations to diverge from God’s clear commands for human beings, commands that we can see clearly in the Ten Commandments, we steep ourselves in God’s Word. We spend time each day reading it, praying about it, discussing it with Christian friends. We consider it in its entirety and not just individual verses or aspects of it that please us or that we can use to justify doing the wrong we want to do. Emotions will lead you astray. Common sense will too. But the Word of God will never let you down!

A prominent southern California preacher told about a conversation he had with a young man about a night that changed the young man’s life.* Bored, he went to a bar and started drinking and flirting with a good looking woman. He was unmarried. She was divorced. “Let’s go to Las Vegas,” the woman suggested.

The young man immediately put his glass down, paid the bartender, took the woman’s arm, and headed for her car. She told him to drive and snuggled closely to him as they roared through the night.

But then, maybe remembering what he had been taught as a child, the thought crossed the young man’s mind that this was a pretty cheap thing for him to do. He caught sight of himself in the rearview mirror and remembered that he was, as the Bible puts it, “fearfully and wonderfully made,” a child of God with incredible potential for good. He began to feel disgust and self-loathing for what he was about to do, something he had done with other women many times before. He couldn’t do this.

He pulled the car off to the side of the road. "What are you doing?" she asked. “I’m getting out,” he told the woman. “It’s your car. Go on to Vegas if you want to…I’ll thumb a ride back.” He shut the car door and watched the woman speed away angrily. “Suddenly,” the young man told the preacher, “I felt ten feet tall! I never felt so good in my life!”

Folks: God wants to help you have moments of triumph like that, moments when you opt for the dignity that goes with being a citizen of God’s kingdom instead of just another hopeless sinner looking out for number one on the highway to hell.

Jesus Christ went to a cross for you. He rose from the dead for you. He did this so that you can share in His victory over sin and death. He gives those who believe in Him the same power to resist temptation that He had in the wilderness, the power of the Word of God.

He also promises to those of us who, unlike Him, aren’t perfect, the opportunity for second chances for godly living like that young man took when climbed out of that car and walked away from sin. (I've been taking Jesus up on second chances for over thirty years now!)

But Jesus offers even more to those who, through the power of God’s Word, face down temptations and evil. Please pull out a pew Bible and turn to page 557. Look at a single verse there, Matthew 10:22. Jesus says:

And you will be hated by all for My Name’s sake. But [the one] who endures to the end will be saved.

Persevere in trusting in Jesus. 

Read His Word and be ready to face all that life throws at you. 

Read His Word and walk more intimately with the God Who wants to save you from all that would destroy you, Who wants to give you life as God designed it to be lived. 

Hold onto Christ and His Word and you’ll hold onto life. Amen

*Retold here.