Invocavit - the First Sunday in Lent

Hymns: 34, 148, 306, 47

Matthew 4:1-11 — “Led up into the Wilderness under the Spirit”

      Grace, mercy, and peace to you all from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

      Today is Invocavit, the First Sunday in Lent, and the appointed Gospel reading is Matthew 4:1-11:

     Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

      In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Introduction

      Today is Invocavit, named from the first line of the Introit, from Psalm 91, “He shall call upon Me, and I will answer Him; I will deliver him and honor him.” Truly this is the theme of the day. Invocavit, or “He shall call upon Me.” Is this not the theme of Lent? Is this not the call of the Lord to repent and believe the Gospel? Is this not the very essence of the Christian life?

      In today’s Gospel reading Matthew shares something truly amazing. Having been baptized, the Lord “Jesus was led up into the wilderness under the Spirit to be tempted under the devil.” Having been baptized into the office of the Son of Man, having been declared by the Father to be the beloved Son and having been shown as the Messiah or Christ or Anointed One by the Holy Spirit resting upon Him, having been shown to be the one in whom the fullness of the Triune God dwells, now Jesus is led up into the wilderness under the Spirit to face a trinity of temptations under the devil. Both Matthew and Luke record this event, but Matthew shares the order of these temptations in the same order as the articles of faith are presented in the Creed. The trinity of temptations are tests concerning the true confession of the faith of the Holy Trinity. The test of the Trinity is in the order of Providence or Creation, Salvation or Redemption, and Worship or Sanctification. Through these temptations the Lord Jesus was tested regarding the true faith that is concerning Him and His ministry. His very purpose or mission for coming to the world is being put on trial right at the very beginning of His ministry. The Lord Jesus faced these temptations by the will of God under the Holy Spirit. These are the temptations that the devil uses to mislead and destroy the Church. Jesus faced these for us to show that the true faith stands against the tests, holds up under all trials and temptations, and cannot be overthrown even by the gates of hell. The true faith, as it has been handed down to us by the apostles throughout the many generations, when embraced in its fullness without compromise, will never leave us standing alone and unprotected.

I.      Providence

     Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

      This is the first of the temptations that the devil presents. The three temptations that the Lord Jesus faced for us have a close parallel in the parable of the sower that is recorded in Chapter 13. The parable of the sower includes three causes for the blessings and life of the Word of God to be lost to the believer. In this setting, however, the Lord Jesus is specifically facing the temptations that are directed more to the Church than to individuals. For if the devil can undermine the pure administration of the means of grace, the deception of individuals is already accomplished. If the Creed of the Church is compromised, the true faith is no longer preached and the Sacraments are no longer administered effectively and the people are not living under the protection of God’s grace.

      This is why the devil vainly attempted to lead the Lord Jesus from the right understanding of the purpose for which He had been born into the world. These three temptations were an attempt to undermine the ministry of the Lord Jesus.

      This first temptation is a test concerning the first article of the Christian faith, the article of God as our Father and Creator and Provider. Does God really mean for us to walk in the confidence of not seeking to provide for ourselves? Does God really mean that our daily bread is sufficient? Is it really contrary to the faith to look beyond our daily bread? Is it really destructive to look to have more than God has provided us?

      What was this first temptation, really? What would have been wrong with turning the stones into bread? After all, Jesus had the power. Later in His ministry, did Jesus not turn five loaves and two fishes into enough food to satisfy the hunger of the five thousand and then again seven loaves and a few fishes into enough for four thousand? Did the Lord Jesus not produce a coin in the mouth of a fish to pay for the temple tax? What was the issue with turning stones into bread?

      There was absolutely nothing wrong with this in itself. Jesus certainly could have done this without sin. However, this was not what the devil presented. The devil is very devious. He takes what is innocent in itself and applies a seemingly tiny twist that changes the very nature of the thing. He does the same with us today.

      Consider the way that is observed in the many churches. Is it not fitting and proper for the churches to receive offerings from the people who gather? Is it not meet, right, and salutary that the congregations have genuine concern for the proper provision of food and shelter for those who serve in the various areas of ministry in the congregations? Is it not good that collections should be taken to help take care of the poor? Is it not proper that pastors even address these issues from the pulpit?

      But the devil comes to the preachers and to the leaders of the congregations and to good-hearted members who have good intentions, and the devil gives a little twist to the matter. What the Lord has worked through His love that is poured out with the Holy Spirit in Baptism is twisted into a good work that must be done to prove the goodness of the congregation and its members. The shift is so subtle that hardly anyone ever even notices it when it occurs. Yet it entirely changes the life of the congregation and its members. Suddenly their focus becomes upon what they must do to provide for themselves, for the life of the congregation, for the church workers, and for the poor and needy. Suddenly their attention is upon their acts of mercy and compassion. Unity becomes something to make happen through a new hymnal or through fellowship events. Being loving and tolerant replaces unity through doctrine. The Word of God becomes viewed as a tool rather than as the life that God gives. The Scriptures become a compilation of proof texts rather than the utterances of God. Thus, whereas once the concern was to hear and learn what God declares, the concern becomes one of proving what is taught and practiced through various proof texts.

      The Lord Jesus had every right as the Son of God to command the stones to become bread and to be a source of relief from hunger. But if He had done so He would have chosen to ignore the reason for which He was led into the wilderness under the Holy Spirit. Matthew makes this point very clear when He says that Jesus was led up into the wilderness under the Spirit. We are inclined to translate this as “by the Spirit,” but this misses the point. Jesus was being led as one who was under the Spirit. He was going forth as the Son of Man, the suffering servant, the one who had been born into the world to be made subject to the Law of God on our behalf. He was living among us as our brother. He was living as one who depended upon the providence of the Lord God. He was the second Adam. He was living proof that the first Adam, who was created in the very image of God, could have lived everlastingly through the faith that was his from the very beginning. Jesus was living proof that the just out of faith shall live (Rom. 1:17).

      This is what Jesus means when He quotes Moses, saying, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

      This, too, is a factor that the devil has twisted in the understanding of those claiming to be the Church. Do the churches today still understand and believe that the life of Man depends upon EVERY utterance of God, and not just certain ones that various self-appointed experts have determined to be basic or fundamental? Is it any wonder that there are so many factions among those who claim to believe the basic or fundamental doctrines of the Bible? The Lord Jesus defeated the devil with EVERY utterance of God being counted as necessary for Life. When we hear this and believe it, does it not change the very essence of our life? Does it not eliminate all self-reliance and direct us solely to the faith that God has declared to be our life? Does it not cause us to fear, love, and trust in God above all things? Does it not cause us to realize that the pure Gospel is the one thing that we absolutely need?

II.      Salvation

Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

      Boy, oh boy, is this devious! Is there anyplace that one would be more inclined to think that one should be free to trust in God’s salvation than in the place that has been built as a place devoted to His name? Here the devil takes Jesus to the very temple of God. It has been built with human hands, but by God’s utterance and command. This is the one place where God commanded His people to gather and to receive forgiveness and salvation. To this holy place the devil takes Jesus and raises Him up to the very pinnacle. This is the place where God promises to give salvation. Is there any better place for Jesus to show the power of God to save? Is there any better place to hold God’s promises before the world? And this Scripture that the devil quotes is indeed written concerning Jesus in particular. And since He is the one who is born to be the Savior of the world, how powerfully He could make the point to those who would see Him jump off in faith, trusting in the protection and salvation of God!

      The same temptation has been the fall of many churches and church bodies. Through how many ways are the Scriptures that promise God’s salvation misapplied in the churches? Even such texts as Mark 16:16, such straightforward words as, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned,” even these are twisted and misapplied to make salvation something that depends upon the action of the believer rather than upon the grace of God. How sad that these clear words of promise are turned into a commandment and requirement! How sad that these words of pure mercy and grace are turned into an act of believing rather than the gift of faith!

      Such is the temptation of the devil. He took Jesus, set Him above the temple, and tempted Him to present salvation as something other than what God has declared. Did God send His Son into the world to prove God’s goodness by doing stupid and careless things? Is the promise of Psalm 91 intended to mean that those who walk in faith will do foolish and stupid things with the notion that God will not allow our defiant actions to bring consequences upon us, or that we should cast aside the good sense that God has given us in order to prove the goodness and faithfulness of God?

      The worst part of this temptation is what the devil put into Simon Peter’s mind when he audaciously rebuked his Lord regarding His doctrine of the cross. In Matthew 16 the Lord Jesus told the way of salvation and Peter rebuked the Lord for teaching this. How many ways today do the churches say concerning the way of the cross that this is not the way? How may ways is the preaching of Jesus Christ and Him crucified set aside and even spurned in favor of tolerance and fellowship. Do coffee and donuts and friendship Sundays take the place of the Lord’s Supper? Do Bible and fellowship time replace the divine Liturgy? Do evangelism programs and witnessing and personal testimonies press the Creed and Confession and Absolution from the divine service?

      What does the Lord declare to be His way by which all men must be saved? To what does the Lord say that He gathers His saints? How does the Lord define fellowship or communion? Through what means does He say that He brings us into His salvation? Notice that the devil did not bring Jesus into the temple but set Him above the temple. Inside the temple they would have encountered the means of salvation through which God promises to work for all of the people. Inside the temple the design is such that all attention is upon God and what He works through the ordained means of grace. All attention upon any individual is removed and replaced with the holy activity of the Lord through His ordained means of grace. According to His way, all attention is upon forgiveness and renewal in His righteousness.

III.      Sanctification

Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

      In the first temptation the devil tempted the Lord Jesus to usurp the office of Father. Even though the Son and the Father are one, the Son was not sent to the world to present Himself as the Creator and Provider. He truly is Creator and Provider, but this was not His alone. The same is true regarding the redemption and salvation of the world. This was not His plan alone. It was the divine plan of the Triune God. Salvation was to be accomplished through the way of cross. The glory of the Lord was to be displayed through the suffering and death and resurrection of the Son. In all things the Lord Jesus remained faithful to this purpose.

      Now comes the devil with his last attempt to defeat God’s plan of salvation. Why did God send His Son into the world? Why was this necessary? It was necessary in order to restore man to the image of God. God’s holiness had been lost in the world. True communion with God was destroyed. Mankind had lost the ability to worship God in spirit and in truth. All of the kingdoms of the world had been cut off from God and the life for which He had created them. Thus God sent His Son into the world to redeem the world and to purchase them back with His own lifeblood.

      The devil knows full well that this is the mission. Making disciples of all nations is truly the mission God has established for His Church on earth. Bringing sinners back into a holy relationship of worship towards God is the mission.

      So the devil takes Jesus and sets Him upon a high mountain and by miraculous power shows Jesus all of the kingdoms that He had been sent to redeem and restore as members of God’s kingdom. The devil tells Jesus that all of these he will give to Jesus if only this once He will ignore the Holy Spirit’s work in the Church and do things on His own, worshiping according to another way. If only Jesus will allow a one time alteration to the way of worship, all of the kingdoms will be His again and none of the people will be lost. It would be the greatest Church Growth movement of all time.

      The only problem with this was that this is not true worship of God. This is not what defines the Church of God. This is the way of the false churches.

      Today the same temptation is changing the churches and their understanding of worship. Sadly, rather than holding fast to the means of grace through which the Holy Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Church on earth, rather the churches are seeking ways that they imagine will be more effective in reaching the kingdoms of the world. The devil shows them the glory of the kingdoms and persuades the churches to make changes that will appeal to the peoples of the world. This is the path to gain the whole world but to lose one’s soul. The churches do bring in more people this way, but whose churches do they become?

      No, the Holy Spirit works through the same means as He has always worked. The worship that the Holy Spirit creates is not of this world. It does not appeal to the world. He works through conversion. He drowns the Old Man and raises up the New Man. He preaches the same message without change. He sets the table with the same food. He offers the same gifts. Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, millennium after millennium, He works through the same Gospel and the same Sacraments until the Lord Jesus comes again. The Church that the Holy Spirit calls and gathers looks the same in every part of the world and worships in accord with the same doctrine and practice. In all things, God is worshiped and served. To God alone the knee is bent. God alone is served, that is, God alone is administered and received.

Conclusion

      Every lenten season begins with this account of the temptation of the Lord Jesus on our behalf. He who is very God of very God, was led under the Spirit. He subjected Himself to that which is our life. Even though Jesus Himself sends the Spirit to the world, for our sake He subjected Himself to be led up into the wilderness under the Spirit. He subjected Himself to be tempted under the devil. He actually allowed the devil to be placed above Himself so as to be tempted under the devil! This He did for our sake. This He did to leave no doubt remaining concerning the efficacious nature of the Word and the true Faith. The Word of God is almighty. The devil cannot defeat the Word. The devil cannot defeat the true Faith. For the true Faith is God’s work, not ours. The true Faith is what God creates in us through the power of the Gospel. The true faith is salvation itself. We do not have to believe to be saved. Quite the reverse is what the temptation of Jesus teaches us. Because we are saved, we are empowered to believe. We believe what God does. God works faith in us and we therefore believe the faith that He gives. When we understand this and acknowledge it, faith is no longer a struggle. Rather, we simply hear what the Spirit says to the churches and we gather to the means that He has provided and we receive freely what He bestows upon us. We gather as God’s beloved little children and eat and drink what He sets before us. This is the focus of the season of Lent. This is the repentance that God works by grace through faith. This is the life to which God calls us. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

      The peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus forever. Amen.

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Invocavit - the First Sunday in Lent

Hymns: 34, 148, 306, 47

     ( omit Gloria, responses before & after the Gospel reading, and other ascriptions of praise during Lent. )

The Introit      (Ps. 91:15,16,1)

P:     He shall call upon Me, and I will answer Him;
C:     I will deliver him and honor him.
P:     With long life will I satisfy him;
C:     and show him My salvation.
P:     He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High;
C:     shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

     (The “Gloria in Excelsis” is omitted during the Penitential Season of Lent)

The Collect     

O Lord, mercifully hear our prayer and stretch forth the right hand of Thy majesty to defend us from them that rise up against us; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.

The First Lesson      Genesis 3:1-24

      Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
      And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
      And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
      And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
      And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
      And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
      And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
      And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
      And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
      And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
      And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
      And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
      Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
      And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
      And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

The Gradual     (Ps. 91:1-2,4,11-12)

P:     For He shall give His angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways.
C:     They shall bear thee up in their hands lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
P:     He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
C:     I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress; my God, in Him will I trust. He shall cover thee with His feathers and under His wings shalt thou trust.

The Epistle     2 Corinthians 6:1-10

      We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed: But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

The SENTENCE for the Season     (Philippians 2:8)

P:     Christ has humbled himself, and become obedient unto death:
C:     even the death of the cross.

The Holy Gospel       St. Matthew 4:1-11

      Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
      But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
      Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
      Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
      Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
      Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
      Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

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Matthew 4:1-11 — “Led up into the Wilderness under the Spirit”

Introduction

I.      Providence

II.      Salvation

III.      Sanctification

Conclusion