"Wrestling With Demons" March 5, 2017

Genesis 2: 15-17, 3: 1-7 Matthew 4: 1-11 As much as we each believe we are unique, in control of our lives, decisions, our destiny, that we are special, “Nobody knows the troubles we’ve seen,” the truth is that the human condition has encounters with Demons and God, which we call Tests of Faith, Temptations, Faith Struggles, Power Struggles, that we each face. One of my favorite stories is of Prophet Elijah on Mount Carm-el with 500 Prophets of Baal, which ends with Elijah in the cave of a mountain confronted with Fire, Flood, Wind, Quake, and a Still Small Voice, asking “What are you doing here Elijah?” The first Sunday after Christmas, churches were directed to read the story of Jesus’ Baptism, the climax of which was that a voice came from Heaven declaring “You are my beloved, with whom I Am well pleased” and he was driven to Temptation. For 6 weeks we heard Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, with Blessings on our struggles, on life circumstance. Last week, Larry preached Jesus’ Transfiguration atop Mount Tabor, wrestling with all The Law and The Prophets, and when he came down he set his face toward Jerusalem, toward the Cross, and would not be swerved. What I had not perceived until witnessing it, is that Israel and Palestine have 4 parts, there is the desert of Sinai, and to the north is Jerusalem built atop Mount Moriah where Abram sacrificed his son, and also where Jesus was sacrificed on the cross, and to the north is Galilee surrounding the Sea of Galilee, and to the north is the Mountainous region of: the Beatitudes, the Multiplication, the Temptation, the Transfiguration, Carmel, and the Valley which in Revelation is named Armageddon. Blessing and Temptation are the mountains and valleys which define each other. The 40 Days and Nights of Lent, literally the Church Season of Spring, begins with the Temptation, because this event is pivotal to Christian faith. Because of the number 40, we routinely transpose Noah and the Flood, Moses and the time in the Desert, the Exile in Babylon, Jesus’ Temptation, as being 40, which was a symbol for temptation by Demons / a long time a season of purification, redemption, testing. The first thing to note, is that the Devil never says “IF YOU ARE the Son of God,” but rather “SINCE you are…” The temptation is not to prove that Jesus is the Messiah, that Jesus is the Anointed One, the Devil knows Jesus is; but instead, Being Created in the image of God, being blessed by God, what are you going to do about it? Will you act as if you are God? Will you use your gifts and abilities to change the world, so that there is no need, no hunger or starvation? Faith confronting the powers of the world is struggling with the complex immensity of problems. “No one wants war, but everyone wants to win, and bodies pile up.” “No one desires homelessness, but we always have the poor with us.” “No child, especially in the richest Nation in history need die of hunger, but they do.” “We are not really living, simply being driven along by powers beyond our control.” Oddly, the temptations do not begin right away but 40 nights &days after Baptism when Jesus had fasted. The first Test, reminds us of Moses’ Nation in the Wilderness crying out for food and God provided Manna for them to eat. How often we eat by routine and not from need or hunger, or even from want of desire. Jesus was surrounded by rocks / unwilling to give up his body and soul to the desires of flesh, the wants of false security and satiation. In a consumer-driven emotionally “Self”- indulgent society, surrounded by all the things that could satisfy, providing for his survival, Jesus says “No” and this sets up his willingness to go to the Cross for us. The Temptation of Adam and Eve was one of Free Will. God gave them opportunity to live together as Help-mates equal to one another, and able to walk with God, that they possess everything they need, they could consume anything except from that one tree. When confronted with the talking serpent, their trust in God was Tested. Will you be faithful, or will you use what you have been given for your desires, as if there were no God except you? And seeing that it was beautiful, and to be desired because it made one wise, they took and ate. The problem in the Garden of Eden, is that everything the serpent said, was a Truth. The Fruit was to be desired. Choosing your own desires instead of being faithful to the Covenant with God is an option, but one which exiles you to a world outside where you witness your nakedness shame. That does not mean God ceases to exist, only that what you thought would open your eyes actually blinds you to everything good, satisfaction is not salvation. From Isolation of the Wilderness, Jesus is transported to the Pinnacle of the Temple at Jerusalem. It is hard to imagine just how congested is Jerusalem. On a cliff on the side of a mountain, was a Jebusite Walled City of the Canaanites, built within concentric walls all around, that David conquered not by knocking down barriers but by coming up inside. As the City of David, unable to grow beyond the perimeters, new generations built one story atop another of their ancestral family home. In the time of King Solomon, the Temple at Jerusalem was constructed taller and more beautiful than anything anyone had ever seen. Generations later, after the Greeks, and Medes, when the Roman Empire ruled with King Herod the Great, the Herod who had killed all the baby boys at the time of Jesus’ birth, Herod chose to expand Jerusalem by cutting off and moving the top of the mountain, after 16 years of work creating a great plateau, which Jerusalem quickly worked to fill. The Second Temptation, throwing yourself off the Pinnacle of the Temple so all would witness God rescuing you, is claiming God is on your side against everyone & everything else. Seeing truth only as you see it, using position and authority for your ends, there have been preachers, leaders throughout history, who have claimed “God spoke to me, God told me God’s will for you!” That is twisting the role of the servant of God to be the master of the universe. Jesus’ 3rd Temptation was the Dominance of Power, Jesus could have it all, be King of Kings and Ruler of the Empire, but just as God refused to create humanity without a Freedom of Will, Jesus refused to Conquer the World through domination and violence, yielding to the desire to Control, yielding to the Devil. Painfully, Jesus’ denial of the Temptations is what led him to the cross. By saying “no” to power to satisfy his needs; by refusing to use power to force others to worship him; by refusing to use power to dominate and destroy, Jesus was set against the Self-indulgent powers of this world who would use power for their desire, for their being followed and worshipped, for their being able to dominate and control, as if God.