Superman was born on Krypton if you believe the masses of information about him. When he was very small, Krypton was in danger of destruction and his father sent him to earth to be brought up by a Kansas farmer. As he grew, he discovered that he could do many thinks that other children couldn’t and he resolves as a young adult, to use these powers for the good of humanity. All good stuff – but it was all the creation of a man in an office, trying to earn his living.
Jesus, on the other hand, was born in Bethlehem, in Judaea. Admittedly, the story of the virgin birth has challenged many people over the centuries, but in the light of the miracles which Jesus performed, witnessed by his disciples and recorded for posterity, surely it is no less credible than walking on water, five thousand people, healing many sick people, and most amazing of all, rising from the dead! The reality is that Jesus wasn’t a superhero, he was fully human. But he was a human being, who in baptism, had received the power of the Holy Spirit. Luke noted that in his account of Jesus sojourn in the wilderness..
When you think about it, it is strange that this record of the temptations has a place in the New Testament. Jesus was on his own in the wilderness. He didn’t have anyone else with him – that was what made it the ideal opportunity for Satan. Jesus had been in the desert for forty days and nights, alone with nature and struggling with his calling. He had fasted, so he would have been weak and vulnerable. But he was alone, so how do we know this happened? Every other piece of the story of Jesus had a witness, someone who was there and saw what happened and recalled it. But when Jesus was in the wilderness, he was alone. So the only way that Luke and the other gospel writers could have become aware of it, was if Jesus himself had told of his experience.
Imagine Jesus allowing his followers close enough to understand how vulnerable he was to temptation, and catch a glimpse of his potential weaknesses. The temptations presented in the desert were real, as we have explored before. They would have fed the hungry, given him the world and caused such a sensation that people would have had to believe he was who he said he was. But that wasn’t Jesus way. His calling was to serve and love and do only those things which would lead others to a lifetime commitment to God, not a childhood dalliance, prancing around in a super hero costume!
The key to this passages this morning is to recognise that the story of the temptations should have reverberations in our own lives. Wasn’t that the whole point of what the Israelites were being taught in the wilderness? That everything they received to improve their life was direct from God. That was why they were instructed fairly early on that they were to be thankful for what they had, because it wasn’t their right, it was a gift; and because it was a gift, it was their responsibility to use it well and to share it with those who had little or nothing. Yet, how many times were the people of Israel tempted to put themselves first and forget their responsibilities?
In the desert, Jesus picked up a smooth round stone. It looked like bread and he could have made it so, but he didn’t, because it wouldn’t have been right. Yet some time later he took some bread and fish and provided enough for five thousand people to eat and be satisfied. He refused to bow down and worship Satan and gain the world, vulnerable as he was to such suggestion. He could, because he had been brought low in the water of the Jordan and emerged to the Word of God, “You are my beloved Son. In you, I am well pleased!” He declines to throw himself from the pinnacle of the temple – of course God would have saved him, because he had work for him to do, but the time and the circumstances were wrong. Years later, he sat at the tombs entrance and spoke to the Marys; he allowed a doubting disciple to touch his wounds; he accompanied and taught and fed the sad travellers leaving Jerusalem with the news of his death and the theft of his body. All this he did after he had died, and overcome death by rising again. The temptations were not beyond Jesus, but they were temptations, and that is why he rejected them. And they were private. We only know about them because Jesus told his disciples about intensely private things. He could have done them, and life would have been different, and no-one would ever have known it should have been any other way. But Jesus knew that the only way in which human beings could set aside their frail, sinful nature was if they faced temptation and over came it.
We can all overcome temptation, can’t we? The cake on the plate, or the chocolate biscuit. But what if there is something we really want? When I was about seven, I went out one Saturday evening with my parents to visit some friends. They had two little girls about the same age and my sister and I and we were good friends and played happily together with all their toys. They had some lovely toys, and I spotted something that really drew my attention. It was a tiny dolly, made of beads, just a cheap knickknack. They had many better toys, but I really coveted that dolly. I knew I couldn’t ask for it, but I wanted it. When we went home that night, the dolly was in my coat pocket, because it was small enough to hold in my hand and put in my pocket without anyone knowing. I suspect the other family never noticed it had gone. But do you know, I never played with that toy, because it gave me no pleasure because I had taken what I wanted, I was a thief. It is still that vivid after all those years.
Sometimes we thing that the sins we commit don’t count if no-one knows about them, but they do. Sometimes we think that it is OK to do things which are less than legitimate if they bring about positive results. Robin Hood was no less a thief for passing on his ill-gotten gains to those who needed them. Hitler’s desire to make the world a place in which only perfect people lived, made him no less an evil dictator whose desire for supremacy cost millions their lives.
You and I in our day, are no less accountable to God for the way we live and the things we do than the Israelites were. They failed miserably time and again. But God sent his Son to show how possible it was to follow the right path, and he gave his Spirit to lead and direct us in our own time. We have no excuses, yet still we are vulnerable and still we fail.
As I look out today, I don’t see anyone dressed as Superman or Wonder woman, thank goodness, and we all know that we are not super heroes. But I also look out on men and women who have publicly committed their lives to serving God and witnessing to the love and power of Jesus Christ.
The very first time the Spiderman cartoon was printed in a comic, the last box carried the words, “with power comes great responsibility”. You may not be a superhero, but you are a child of God and you are offered the power of God’s spirit. That gives you a great responsibility. In Luke chapter 12, Jesus said, “If God has been generous with you, he will expect you to serve him well. But if he has been more than generous, he will expect you to serve him even better.”
Listen to these words:
Lent makes me so uncomfortable.
i prefer to remain in my 'zone,' lounging in my chair; glued to my plasma screen; relaxing after a long day; but you would lead me into the wilderness;
into those uncomfortable places of tempting, of power, of testing.
i would like to hear words about success, and praise, and feel pats on my back,
but you talk about self-denial; you mention the cost of following God;
you invite me (!) to shoulder a cross.
couldn't you have sent a more comfortable Saviour, O God?
What has God done for you? Nothing less than to send His Son to show you the way, and sacrificed him for your sake. You and I, therefore, are called to live lived which are pure and holy, and for which, one day, we will be called to account.
