First Sunday in Lent (1885)

Matthew 4:1-11 Christians must be tempted here in the world.1 "Every Christian, as soon as he is baptized, is marshaled into an army in confrontation with the devil, and from his baptism onward is saddled with the devil who harasses him as long as he lives."2 In this temptation it is, for the devil, entirely serious.3 Only those who persist in temptation attain salvation.4 How are we able to persist victoriously in the temptation with which the devil challenges us? When we recognize, 1. where the attack of the devil primarily targets, namely, to rip God's Word from hearts. The entire Christian life of the Christian is ruled by the Word of God. If the devil succeeds to move the Word from the eyes of Christians, then their sun has set. See the discussion of Luther as the devil derailed Eve in this way, that he took the Word from her heart.5 That the devil there precisely took aim in the temptation of Christ is evident from the oft-repeated answer of Christ: "It is written." The temptations are of the same type with which the devil himself makes to all Christians. He puts the distress under eyes, but conceals the Word that God has given for this distress. He shows the riches and glories of this world, but hides what God's Word says about the glories of this world and about the inclination of men's hearts to it. Indeed the devil quotes God's Word in temptation for arrogance, and therefore covers the right and, in the case in question, suitable Word; 2. with what weapon the attack of the devil could be repulsed, namely, by grabbing and handling the Word of God in faith. Christ shows us how we must struggle; because He struggles in our place as man, not with His omnipotence. However, Christ says in His temptation: "It is written." We carry the same weapon, when we a. pull out the hidden Word before the devil. [A Christian often means he does not have faith to grab the Word. Luther's counsel is well-known here, initially to bring the Word into practice only externally. Many acquire it when the Word is initially only externally read or is placed externally on the lips; confidence is then found soon.] b. set the right Word against the wrong word of the devil [we had to do this, e.g., in the last doctrinal controversy.6 One perhaps invoked God's Word against us, but not the right Word]. "Whoever thus arms himself properly will be able to withstand the devil; but whoever fails to do so will certainly be helpless against this deadly adversary."7

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Revelation 3:10. Luther, House Postil for Lent 1. 3 1 Peter 5:8. 4 Matthew 24:13. 5 Erlangen Edition 18:123. 6 The Election Controversy, aka Gnadenwahlstreit. 7 Luther, op. cit.