Invocavit
If part of today’s Gospel sounded a bit familiar, it’s because the first few verses are a repeat from a little over a month ago—the account of Jesus’ baptism by St. John the Baptizer. At that time we heard that Jesus was baptized not because He in and of Himself was a sinner but that by entering the water He, the holy God Himself, might cleanse and sanctify all water for Baptism. And, as Luther points out, Jesus comes to John bearing the sin of the world: For [Jesus] here takes my place and your place and stands in our stead who are sinners, and since all, especially the arrogant saints, do not want to be sinners, He must become a sinner for all. And in another place: For the sake of sinners [Jesus says] I have become a sinner. I must therefore do what God has charged the sinners to do, in order that they may become just through Me.
That context is important, because what happens at Jesus’ baptism? He saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are My Son, whom I love. I am well pleased with You.” Here the Holy Spirit clearly identifies and marks Jesus; here God the Father clearly declares who Jesus is. Jesus’ baptism declared Him to be the One bearing the sins of the world; at His Baptism the Holy Spirit equipped Him and the voice of the Father confirmed that Jesus is the long awaited/ promised Messiah. A true scene of glory! But what is the next thing that happens, the result of that? The Spirit immediately sent Jesus out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by Satan. Jesus’ baptism and the declaration of the Father and the Holy Spirit revealing Him did not result in all sorts of glory and pomp. Instead, Jesus goes out into the wilderness to be tempted—also part of His saving work for us.
For centuries the Church has read the account of Jesus’ temptation on this first Sunday of Lent. No doubt Lent’s 40 days receive some of their significance from Jesus being in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by Satan. Hearing this account is a marvelous way to begin the holy and penitential season of Lent because it sets the tone for all of Lent and for our lives of repentance. It reminds us that Jesus, for us, went out into the battle against the devil and his temptations here and throughout His earthly ministry and fought and won that battle—that Jesus was tempted and yet did not sin once. And therefore since Jesus perfectly obeyed the Law for us, He is also then that one perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. And now through His word and sacrament Jesus proclaims and gives us the fruit of His work. His victory is ours through faith in Him!
What a huge contrast between the scene of Jesus’ baptism and what happens next! Jesus goes from the lush banks of the Jordan River to a dry inhospitable wilderness; He goes from heaven being opened and the voice of the Father to the attacks and assaults of the devil trying to lead Jesus into doubt and despair over what had just happened, saying to Jesus: “If You are the Son of God…” [Mt. 4.3, 6]
Here too we are reminded for us personally: conversion brings trouble. When we are baptized and become Christians—yes, the heavens open to us and we taste and experience the goodness, grace and mercy of the Lord; we hear the Father declare us His dear child in Christ—but we become the object of the devil’s wrath and attack. We will experience temptations, trials and spiritual dryness. That’s why we need to keep looking to Jesus for strength at those times and for comfort that He has already fought the battle for us and won it! And His victory is ours through faith in Him! For us the words of our text are glorious: The Spirit immediately sent Jesus out into the wilderness.
Part of Jesus’ saving work, part of the reason of His coming was precisely for this—to be subjected to the temptation of the devil. Jesus did not shirk or run away from this tremendously difficult part of His saving work. He is the obedient servant. He did not rashly enter into this fierce struggle but He waited for divine directive and willingly went. The strong urge of the Spirit met Jesus’ willing consent. The Spirit immediately sent Jesus out into the wilderness. And then what? He was in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by Satan. Those temptations were the unceasing attacks of the devil of trying to get Jesus to sin, of trying to get Him off His path leading to the cross. Here was a period of profound continual attack. And look at our text: and angels were serving Him. Another time the angels came to serve Jesus like this was after the intense agony in Gethsemane before His betrayal and arrest,
Although Jesus is true God and unable to sin, this did not mean that these attacks were not real temptations. As true man Jesus could be tempted. He endured real and severe temptations but as true God He would/ could not sin. This did not stop the devil during these 40 days of intense temptation and later throughout all of Jesus’ earthly ministry. But again remember—Jesus endured these temptations for us! He obeyed for us—in our place—the very laws of God that God demands that we keep but we don’t/ can’t when we are tempted. Jesus kept them and is our righteousness. God’s demand of holy righteousness is fulfilled.
And here, with Jesus’ victory over the devil and all the worst that he threw at Him, is a foreshadow of Jesus’ complete victory over the devil on the cross. Jesus would live that holy, sinless life and offer Himself up on the cross as the one perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world—and the Father would accept that sacrifice and raise Jesus from the dead on Easter declaring the world—including you and me—forgiven its/ our sin. So here this first Sunday in Lent, let us take great comfort. Here is the “down payment”/ assurance that Jesus would successfully do what He came to do—for us and our salvation.
Actually, St. Mark gives a surprising detail about the certainty of Jesus’ victory. And that detail is this: He was with the wild animals. It could sound rather ominous—that Jesus was in an uninhabited region and these wild animals could be threatening Him; that Jesus was separated from human society. But if we look at this detail in light of the OT/ in light of prophecy, it could give us a wonderful insight about who Jesus is and what He is doing.
We read in the OT prophet St. Isaiah [11.6 ff.]: The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like an ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den.
Here with these words, the holy prophet is describing life in the Church. It is a life of perfect peace. It is described in terms of the animals that are usually prey and those that hunt as being together peacefully. That life of perfect peace that we have in the Church that is here poetically depicted by peace in the animal kingdom is that peace that Jesus brought about by His holy life and His innocent suffering and death: we now have peace with God—our sins are forgiven us and we sinners are reconciled to Him—and living in that forgiveness we then forgive those who sin against us. Peace! That peace is only possible because of Jesus and His victory over the devil and his temptations. And maybe it’s precisely this that St. Mark highlights and points out when He says that Jesus was with the wild animals.
And there is another OT prophecy, also from St. Isaiah [43.16-20], that sheds light on the phrase He was with the wild animals. It too points us to Jesus and His work and victory over the devil for us. Here, through the prophet, the Lord is speaking about how He lead the Israelites out of slavery from Egypt, through the Red Sea; but then the Lord says that He will bring about an even better and greater exodus—this one as He leads all people out of slavery to sin, death and devil. He describes it this way: Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. And here comes the interesting part! The beast of the field will honor Me... Is perhaps St. Mark including this detail, He was with the wild animals, to turn our attention to this prophecy? The wild animals recognizing and honoring Jesus as the true God and the One bringing about this new and greater exodus for all people from that slavery to devil, sin and death! In any case, we hear this first Sunday in Lent that Jesus fought and won the battle for us against devil, temptation and sin! Here is our great joy as we now, in Lent especially, examine heart and life in light of God’s holy Law recognizing and sorrowing over our sins. As we do so, we turn to our gracious Lord and Savior and His work seeking His forgiveness.
And when we do that, Jesus doesn’t leave us in doubt and uncertainty. He wants us to be certain of our forgiveness in Him. In fact He proclaims and gives us His victory. Our text: After John was put in prison, Jesus went to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. What is it that Jesus proclaimed then and still proclaims through His Church? The Gospel! That’s how we come into God’s kingdom because through His Word/ teaching He works faith, faith that believes and receives Jesus and His saving work. And what did Jesus say, “The time is fulfilled.” The critical time has come. Now is the crucial moment. He, the long promised Savior has come. He has overcome the devil and that victory is made clear on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Also for us, the crucial moment has come. We have heard that Jesus has come and carried out His saving work; He has come and defeated the devil, enduring the worst he could throw at Him; and now—also this Lent Jesus comes to us again in His word and proclaims and gives us the victory. Let us not waste this opportunity! Let us make use of the holy season of Lent which lies almost completely before us as a time to reflect on Jesus and His saving work, a time to reflect on our sin that caused Jesus to come and suffer, a time to reflect on His mercy and love toward us sinners.
“The kingdom of God has come near! Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” This was a gracious announcement/ invitation to the people of Jesus’ day and it is still resounding in our ears today: The kingdom of God has come near! That is, see what God is doing in and through Jesus! Or, for us today: See what God has done in and through Jesus! Spend time this Lent especially pondering Jesus’ holy passion. To help you, we have Lenten services each Wednesday when we will spend some time reflecting on a small portion of Jesus’ work. The thing is, Jesus has come into the world with His transforming power. We will not/ cannot be the same after we spend time pondering Jesus and His saving work for us. Through His word, the Holy Spirit is calling us, bringing us to faith, strengthening us in faith. And He is actively gathering people in His kingdom where we can live under His grace and righteousness.
Repent, and believe in the Gospel. This is the call of Lent—to sorrow over our sins and to trust in Jesus, receiving the forgiveness He gives us in His word, the absolution and the sacraments. To repent is to truly acknowledge our sin, to be heartily sorry for them, and to stop doing them—and this by the working and power of the Holy Spirit as in faith we believe the Gospel, the gracious promise of the forgiveness of sins for Jesus’ sake.
This Lent, let us once again hear and take to heart that Jesus fought and won the battle for us; may we hear Him as He comes to us in His word and sacrament proclaiming and giving us His victory. “The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God has come near! Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” INJ