Preparing for Worship - March 9, 2025

The Old Testament lesson for this Sunday, Deuteronomy 26:1-11, reminds the LORD’s people that the land into which they were going was really an inheritance from Him, where His Name would dwell and be honored. The people were to bring an offering in a basket to the LORD of the first fruits from their harvest. They were to give the basket to the priest as they rejoiced in God’s good gifts to them. They were also to worship and speak words about their “father,” Jacob, a wandering Aramean, and all the troubles they had been through in Egypt until the LORD brought them out with His might and His goodness to a land flowing with milk and honey, by His grace and mercy.

The psalm, Psalm 91, continues the words of praise to God Almighty, who is the Refuge and Fortress for His people as they trust in Him. He delivers them from all kinds of trouble and danger as they dwell in the shelter of His presence and hold fast to Him in His love for them. This psalm also pictures, in a prophetic way, the battles that Jesus would have with the devil when He came into the world to be our Savior. That devil, the evil angel Satan, quotes from this psalm, out of context, in trying to get Jesus to do wrong and foolish things. If Jesus really is the Son of God, surely the angels would protect Him no matter what, the devil says. Jesus battles Him with the true Word of God, as we will see.

The Gospel lesson is from Luke 4:1-12. Jesus is dwelling in His Father’s Word and will and has just been baptized, blessed, and full of the Holy Spirit’s power, fulfilling all righteousness for us and all people. While we, as weak people, pray, “Lead us not into temptation,” Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted very directly in order to defeat Satan for us. He faced some of the same temptations that the children of Israel had on the way to the Promised Land. For 40 days, He ate nothing and was much hungrier than the Israelites ever were. They grumbled and complained against God, but Jesus resisted the temptation to do what the devil wished - to make some bread for Himself. Jesus simply quoted God’s Word, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” (He was quoting from Deuteronomy 8:2-3, which adds, “Man lives by every Word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” Jesus did that!) The devil also showed Jesus great Kingdoms of the world and promised to give Him authority over them all if Jesus would just worship him. Again, Jesus knew that His Heavenly Father had all authority, not Satan, and He again quoted Scripture: “It is written: ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.’” (Jesus was quoting from Deuteronomy 6:5-6, 13-14, while the Israelites were soon worshiping a golden calf, a false god.) The devil did not give up but took Jesus to Jerusalem to the pinnacle of the temple, the magnificent house of God, and said, “If you really are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here.” Surely God would want to help and protect His own Son if that was what you really were, Jesus. The devil then even quotes Scripture itself, out of context, from the psalm we just looked at. “Angels would surely guard you, Jesus, and lift you up so that you will not even strike your foot against a stone.” That’s what God promises! And what a spectacular miracle you could show people! (See Psalm 91:11-12. Again, Jesus knew the whole context of Psalm 91 and that it was talking about people dwelling close to the Lord, trusting Him, and listening to His Word and not Satan’s word. Jesus also knew that people should not do foolish and dangerous things just to see if God would take care of them. Jumping off the temple would be tempting God just to see if He really would help.) Jesus again quotes Scripture. “It is said, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test’” (Deuteronomy 6:16). These temptations are likely only a sample of how the devil worked on Jesus and tried to get Him to do wrong. “For forty days,” Jesus was “being tempted by the devil.” The devil also only stopped tempting to wait for another “opportune time” to work on Jesus again. He would also work on Jesus through other people, like Peter (Mark 8:31-33) and crowds of people (John 6:14-15) and Judas (John 13:2, 27-30). Satan would also attack Him when he was in great agony about what was coming for Him in the Garden of Gethsemane. (See Matthew 26:38ff. and Luke 22:40-46. Even then, Jesus always did His Father’s will. He did it for us, who so often fail to do what God wants, substituting His perfect life for our sins and failures, and earning forgiveness for us by His death for us, on the cross, and then His victory in His resurrection.)

That forgiveness comes personally to us as a gift from God through being brought to faith in Jesus. Paul talks about what Christians proclaim in our Epistle lesson, Romans 10:8-13. He had earlier in this letter said, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes… For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith” (Romans 1:16-17). This is the Gospel (Good News) that centers on Jesus as Lord and believing that he is our Savior, and after He died in payment for our sins, “God raised Him from the dead.” For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame.” And, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord (the Lord Jesus Christ) will be saved.” And this believing and faith are a gift from God. (Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” And Paul had written earlier in Romans 9:16: “It depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.” As the Lutheran scholar Martin Franzmann wrote, regarding Romans 1:16-17, “The Gospel is power because in it a revelation takes place; by it God makes Himself known and makes Himself count among men. The Gospel is news of God’s action through His Son (Romans 1:3-4,) a saving action which gives men the gift of the righteousness of God. Gift it is, for it asks of the hearer only the receptive yes of faith and it creates that faith in the hearer; it is revealed for faith... Habakkuk had uttered the great Word which pronounced the unbreakable connection between faith, righteousness, and life: ‘He who through faith is righteous shall live’” (Habakkuk 2:4, 3:17-18) (Concordia Bible with Notes; The New Testament, p.261, CPH, 1971). Of course, in other passages, the Scriptures also affirm the connection with baptism as a channel of God’s grace, bringing faith, connected with the Word of God, being “born of the water and the Spirit” (John 3:5-7). See also Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:16, Titus 3:4-7, 1 Peter 3:21, etc. May the Lord keep us firmly in this confidence in Christ and His Word, along with the gift of our baptism and the Lord’s Supper.