A sermon based on Matthew 4:1-11, Rev. Dr. Jon Diefenthaler, Sr Pastor Emeritus, Our Savior Lutheran Church
“Spiritual warfare” is a subject that many of us would prefer not to recognize or discuss. Each year, however, the First Sunday in Lent serves to warn us that trying to do this is not a good thing.
Today’s Gospel text is Matthew 4:1-11. It is one of three accounts in the New Testament of the epic battle between Jesus and Satan during his forty-day sojourn in the wilderness.
The battle is one in which we can likewise find ourselves as Jesus’ followers. Coincidentally, the Sunday morning Bible study is featuring a discussion of C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters. It opens up some of the subtle and insidious ways in which Satan and his minions seek to put us on the road to spiritual destruction.
The good news in our Gospel text is that Jesus fully understands any and every one of the spiritual battles in which are engaged. His Easter Sunday resurrection from the grave also assures us that he has achieved the victory over not only sin and death, but Satan. And as we see in this same text from Matthew 4, Jesus has given us the weapons we need to prevail in our own ongoing battles.
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