Message: Centre Line / Luke 4:1-13

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’ ” 

Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, 

    ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’ ” 

Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written, 

    ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ” 

Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time. 


One day, when I was little, my family was driving to my grandmother’s house. Then, out of nowhere, a thick fog began to cover the road, making it hard to see ahead. I started to feel scared and said, "I’m afraid we might go to heaven before we even get to Grandma’s house!" My father was driving, and he answered me with a smile: “Not today, son. Don’t worry.” So I asked him, “It’s so hard to see. Are you okay?” He replied, “I am a little anxious. But I know that if I follow the centre line and drive carefully, we will get there safely.”

Sometimes, it feels like a thick fog appears and we don’t know what to do. In those moments, fear and worry take over. But God gives us something like the centre line on the road: the Bible. In today’s Gospel reading, we see how the word of God enabled Jesus to overcome the devil’s temptations.

After Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, he was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then the Spirit led him into the wilderness, where he spent forty days fasting. Jesus was hungry and tired, and that was when the devil came to tempt him.

The devil tested Jesus three times: “If you are the son of God order this stone to turn into bread,” “If you worship me, I will give you all the power and wealth in the world,” and “If you are the son of God, throw yourself down from the highest point of the Temple to see if God protects you.” The core of these temptations was for Jesus to prove who he was. Satan challenged Jesus to show his power by performing miracles or to follow the path of evil for worldly authority.

Even today, we face the same temptations. The devil whispers that God’s glory is only seen when we do something big and impressive. Sadly, some Christians fall for this trap. Some try to prove God’s glory by building grand churches. Some try to show God’s hope by turning their nation into a powerful empire. Some try to demonstrate God’s power by mistreating people of other religions. The devil knows that people often use God’s name to serve their own desires.

But Jesus knew the truth that God’s grace is not something we have to earn. God loves us just as we are, not because of what we achieve. God is not a god who loves us only if we accomplish something great. The glory of God shines when we love, not when we succeed. God wants us to accept ourselves as we are, to firmly believe that we are created in God's image, and to be grateful and satisfied with God's creation.

Because Jesus was sure of God’s love, he did not need to prove himself. He did not turn the stone into bread because he knew that God created the stone for a purpose. He refused to worship and serve the devil for power and wealth because he knew that God is not a God of oppression but a God of liberation. He did not throw himself down from the temple to prove he was God’s Son because he knew he did not need to prove his identity to anyone.

According to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus never performed a miracle to prove who he was. Every miracle he performed came from his deep compassion for the poor, the sick, the suffering, and the oppressed. In the same way, our actions should come from our response to God’s love. When we truly believe that we are God’s beloved children and that God loves everyone without conditions, we become compassionate toward those in need and act with grateful hearts.

One of the most important lessons in today’s passage is that Jesus overcame all three temptations by relying on the word of God in Scripture. The Bible was like a centre line for him. Even in the wilderness, facing unpredictable challenges, Jesus stayed on the right path by holding on to Scripture. He quoted three verses: “One does not live by bread alone,” “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him,” and “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” All of these come from Deuteronomy (8:3, 6:13, 16), a book that tells the story of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness for forty years after the Exodus. Just like a centre line in the fog, this record of God’s grace to the ancient Hebrews was a crucial guide for Jesus in times of uncertainty.

However, we must not overlook that the devil also used Scripture when testing Jesus. He tried to manipulate Jesus by twisting the meaning of the Bible. Tragically, many throughout Christian history have fallen into this same temptation. They misused the Bible to justify the Crusades. They misused it to execute scientists who claimed the Earth moves around the Sun. They misused it to oppress women, commit genocide against Indigenous peoples, and justify slavery. Even today, some misuse Scripture to discriminate against and marginalize LGBTQ people.

These examples show that the Bible can be twisted into a tool for harm, turning it into the devil’s whisper rather than God’s truth. That is why A Song of Faith, one of the faith statements of the United Church, declares: “The Spirit judges us critically when we abuse scripture by interpreting it narrow-mindedly, using it as a tool of oppression, exclusion, or hatred.”

One of the important ways to avoid being deceived by the devil's whisper is to engage deeply with the Bible. In 1992, the United Church published a book titled The Authority and Interpretation of Scripture. In this book, the United Church confirmed six convictions: (1) “God calls us to engage the Bible as foundational authority as we seek to live the Christian life, (2) God calls us to engage the Bible as a church seeking God’s community with all people, living creatures, and the earth, (3) God calls us to engage the Bible to experience the liberating and transforming Word of God, (4) “God calls us to engage the Bible with an awareness of our theological, social, and cultural assumptions, (5) God calls us to engage the Bible with a sense of sacred mystery and in dynamic interaction with human experience, understanding, and heritage, and (6) God calls us to engage the Bible trusting God’s Spirit to enliven our understanding and to empower our acting.”

When life feels uncertain, the Bible is like the centre line on the road, guiding us forward. This Lenten season, our congregation has the chance to grow in faith through Bible study every Thursday. Together, we will explore the Gospel of Luke, learn from Jesus, and deepen our relationship with God.

If you are not able to join the group study, I encourage you to set aside time each day to read the Gospel of Luke on your own. Step away from distractions, turn off the noise of the world, and spend quiet moments with God’s voice. Like Jesus in the wilderness, we will become stronger by grounding ourselves in Scripture.

May this season of Lent be a time for us to overcome the devil’s whisper and draw closer to what truly matters. May we walk forward in faith, trusting that we are never alone on this journey.

Thanks be to God. Amen.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Message: Like Mom's Food / Luke 6:17-26

He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.  Then he looked up at his disciples and said:      “Blessed are you who are poor,      for yours is the kingdom of God.      “Blessed are you who are hungry now,      for you will be filled.      “Blessed are you who weep now,      for you will laugh.  “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the...
Read more

Message: Fragrance of Love / John 12:1-8

Have you ever smelled something and, all of a sudden, it reminded you of a special memory? Maybe it was the smell of cookies baking, and it made you think of your grandmother’s kitchen. Or maybe the smell of grass after it was cut reminded you of summertime when you played outside as a child. Or perhaps the smell of fresh coffee made you feel calm, like a slow and peaceful morning. Smell is powerful. It does not just enter our nose; it reaches into our heart. This happens because, unlike our other senses, smells go directly to the part of the brain that stores emotions and important memories. In this way, a scent can take us back to moments we have experienced before. This is known as the Proust Phenomenon. The term comes from the French writer Marcel Proust and his novel In Search of Lost Time. In one scene, the main character, Marcel, dips a small madeleine cookie into warm tea and takes a bite. At that moment, a vivid memory of his childhood at his grandmother’s house suddenly retur...
Read more

Message: Dance of the Wind / Acts 2:1-21

Today is Pentecost Sunday. This is the day we remember when the earliest followers of Jesus were filled with the Holy Spirit and the Church came into being. It is the day when a new community of faith was born through the breath of God. It is a day full of mystery, courage, and hope. According to the book of Acts, on the 40th day after the resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven. Before he left, he told his followers not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of God. He said, “This is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:4–5). So they stayed. About 120 people remained in Jerusalem. They waited and prayed. They did not know what would happen, but they trusted what Jesus had told them. Several days later, it was the day of Pentecost. This was a Jewish festival when people from many different places came together in Jerusalem to worship and celebrate. The city was filled wit...
Read more