Where's the Undo Button?
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Luke 4:1-13/Lent 1C
Luke 4:1-13/Lent 1C
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
According to the history books, Roman Emperor Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River in January of the year 49BC, saying, “The die is cast.” But this was no ordinary river crossing. The Roman Senate had made a law that prevented a military commander like Caesar from leading an army from the outlying areas across the boundary of the Rubicon River near Rome. When Caesar led his army across the river, he incited the Roman senate to a civil war. And according to the history books, he used the phrase “the die is cast” from a Greek play on that day. What was done was done, and Caesar crossed the point of no return.
You know that feeling of doing something that cannot be undone. Hurtful words left your mouth, and there’s no apology good enough to undo the harm you’ve caused. You were driving the car and it left the road, and the damage done can’t be simply buffed out. Perhaps you accidently caused someone an injury, and they will bear a scar or a limp forever. You can’t get in a time machine and undo the harm you’ve caused. I’m reminded of one of my favorite computer commands - the undo button. When I’ve typed something that doesn’t makes sense or accidently deleted something I was really proud of, I can press the “undo” button and things go back to the way they were. Sadly, there is no “undo” button for much of what happens in our life.
This is especially true when we consider sin. There is no “undo” button to go back on our sin. Suddenly, those hurtful words and actions come back to mind. There’s also the things that you’ve done that you feel ashamed of. You know what I’m talking about - that secret sin, the icky parts of your worst habit that you work hard to cover up and never reveal to anyone. You might tell yourself that no one else was hurt, but every time “that thing” comes to mind, you shudder with horror. Why did you do that? Why do you keep doing hurtful things? Why can’t you control your thoughts and actions better? Why can’t you just live as a good person?
The simple answer is “because I’m a sinner” or “my sinful nature has corrupted me so badly that I can’t help myself.” There is no “undo” button for you to erase your sin and your sinfulness. Your conscience screams at you and your sense of right and wrong is horrified at your thoughts and actions and you charge ahead in the wickedness of your sin. Yet, there’s a reality here that your sinfulness is a continuation of sinfulness that isn’t new in this world. Are you a worse sinner than those who have come before you? No, because Scripture speaks of the sins of those who have come before us. Look at the people of Israel - the Lord brought them out of Egypt, and even as Moses was receiving the Ten Commandments from God, they made a golden calf to worship. They complained that they would starve to death in the wilderness. They tested the Lord their God at Massah and Meribah because they thought they would die of thirst, doubting the faithfulness of the Lord. Again and again, the people of Israel continued on in sin, even refusing to enter the Promised Land because they were afraid of the people who lived there and the Lord sent them into forty years of desert wandering. There was no undoing their idolatry, their pride, and their doubts, so they were banished to the wilderness.
That’s a new version of an even older story. The Lord God created the heavens and the earth, and created Adam and Eve to live in the Garden of Eden. Everything was very good. The Lord commanded them not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the middle of the garden. That worked, until the Serpent, the Devil himself, spoke to Eve. He tempted her to eat, he asked her to see that the fruit was good and would help her to see the difference of good and evil and make her like God, and he asked her to doubt that God was looking out for her best interest. When we hear the reading of Genesis 3 and Eve’s temptation, we want to should, “No! Don’t do it!” and when she gives some of the fruit to her husband Adam, we want to yell at him too to keep him from eating this fruit.
But the fruit was eaten. The Lord was disobeyed. The Law was broken. The sin was committed. The die was cast. There was no going back. No apology would be good enough. No amount of trying hard or doing better would undo the fall into sin. Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden. The image of God was lost. They were no longer perfect and righteous. Instead, they were fallen sinners. Through the sin of the first Adam, all humanity fell into sin and was condemned. This is more than a flesh wound. Sin will not simply buff out, and it cannot be ignored. Your sinfulness has eternal consequences. So, what can be done about sin? Adam and Eve couldn’t undo their disobedience. The Israelites couldn’t undo their sinfulness. Samson, David, Ahaz, and all the other sinners in the Bible couldn’t undo their sin either.
Enter Jesus, who the Holy Spirit leads from the Jordan River into the wilderness after His baptism. Immediately, we are reminded of the 40 years Isreal spent in the wilderness, as well as when Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden. Jesus was in the wilderness, and the Devil himself met Jesus there. After 40 days of fasting, Jesus was hungry, so the Devil invited Him to eat - echoing the temptation of Eve and the grumbles of the hungry people of Israel. The Devil tempted Jesus to bow down and worship the devil in order to receive authority over all the nations of the world. The Devil even tempted Jesus to allay any doubts of God by throwing Himself from the roof of the temple so that the angels would catch Him. These temptations are echoes of the temptations of Adam and Eve, and the failures of the the children of Israel. But Jesus didn’t turn the stone into bread and eat, and He didn’t worship the Devil, and He didn’t throw Himself from the temple.
By Jesus’ righteousness, He undid the sin of Adam and Eve and the people of Israel. He did what they couldn’t do. He pressed the “undo” button. He went back on the boundaries they crossed, and He undid sinful nature. But He didn’t stop by refusing the Devil’s temptations. The perfect Son of God left the wilderness and continued His ministry by teaching, healing, curing, dying, and rising again. And there, in the empty tomb, Jesus has undone death, the wages of sin. You “dust and ashes” sinners are forgiven, and your sins are atoned for. Jesus has undone your sin and death and shown that the devil has no authority over you. Jesus, your perfect Savior, has undone your sin, not by pressing buttons on a computer keyboard, but by His own death. A perfect death was required for your sin, and Jesus has undone your sin and your death by His own.
Now, when the Devil tempts you to doubt God, to do your own thing, to pridefully establish your own version of right and wrong, or to take power into your own hands, tell him that your Lord Jesus has forgiven your sin. The devil has no more power over you. Jesus has undone your sin, and you are free from sin and death. After all, you live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. You have no reason to test the Lord your God, and you worship the Lord alone. Jesus has covered you in His righteousness. There is no reason for you to listen to the devil’s lies or do what the devil has tempted you to do. When the devil comes with his temptations, pray like Jesus taught you, “Lead me not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Trust the the Lord hears your prayers. Live in the righteous perfection that Jesus has placed on you as children of God, and rejoice that the devil, sin, death, and hell have no claim on you. You are free from sin by the perfect righteousness and the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Amen.
