Sermon for Invocavit, 2025

If Satan were as easy to defeat as reciting a few Bible verses and then telling him to go away, then we wouldn’t need Jesus dying for us. No, it’s not as easy as it seems, after all. That’s the problem with hearing this Gospel and thinking, “What a great example Jesus is,” concluding that you only need to be more like Him and so resolve to do as He does. Jesus goes to the Cross to conquer Satan. Even if we could do that, it wouldn’t do us any good. We’re sinners. Satan would just laugh at us and say, “You, up there, don’t you remember the Bible verse, ‘the wages of sin is death.’? Look at you: getting what you deserve!”

O, thanks be to God, Jesus is more than just an example. Of course, He is the perfect example. Even so, looking at Him, the sinless Son of God, in this Gospel and then saying to ourselves, “Let’s just do what Jesus did: let’s just memorize a bunch of Bible verses so we can respond to Satan’s attacks; let’s just tell him to leave us alone. If we follow His example, it’s bound to work. Right?” Wrong. That won’t work because, again, we’re sinners. Yes, it’s good to know the Bible; it’s good to commit it to memory. Indeed, the word of God is the sword of the Spirit, as the Apostle says, and we should take it up, along with the whole armor of God, that we may be able to resist the devil. And Jesus Himself tells us to take up our cross and follow Him, which, of course, means following Him: now, into Lent, and throughout our days, onto the battlefield of this life, where we strive against the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh. Even so, those enemies are too much for us, on our own, sinners that we are. No amount of Bible verses can save us. Sinners need a Saviour, and let’s face it, we’re not that. Saving requires selflessness, the giving of self for others. Sinning is selfish; it’s turned inward, focused on what’s best for the self. And that’s what we, by nature, are. We’re sinners. And although that means we are concerned primarily and practically exclusively with ourselves, even so, it also means we cannot save ourselves.

Jesus has done that for us. He is the Saviour of—and for—sinners. Recall when Jesus came to John to be baptized, and John tried to prevent Him. Why? Because baptism is for the remission of sins. Nevertheless, Jesus was baptized as if He was a sinner; indeed, to take the place of sinners. Therefore, when we are baptized, Jesus gives us His righteousness because, in His baptism, He took on our uncleanness. So also, when Jesus went into the wilderness to be tempted, He went to be tempted for us, to overcome them for us. And when He went to the Cross, suffered, and died, He did that also for us, even as He arose from the grave the Third Day, for us—for you.

Readings:

• Old Testament: Genesis 3:1-21

• Epistle: 2 Corinthians 6:1-10

• Holy Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon: