Pious Lutheran

The Temptation of Christ, Titian, 1525 ( This painting presents one of the temptations, when Jesus is being offered a stone by a young demon in order that He might turn it into a loaf of bread. Titian's representation of the devil as a young boy helps to emphasize that the devil's temptations are often sly and appear innocent at first glance.) The Devil’s Sly Temptations The Devil’s temptations appear innocent Jesus is the Scapegoat, who bears all our sins in the wilderness Angels minister to us amidst our weaknesses News that the Devil and his demonic minions are at work in our world among us is entirely unsurprising. Of course we see that the devil is actively promoting unrest and violence in our communities, seeking to murder the unborn and the elderly, driving people to murder themselves, giving easy access to lewd materials, breaking apart marriages, sexually confusing especially the young, and leading countless Christians to renounce the faith. But one of the things the t...

Christ Tempted by the Devil,  John Ritto Penniman, 1818 The Battle against Satan Temptation is the weapon of assault God’s Word is the weapon of victory Adam and Eve fell, and we needed to be rescued Jesus is the Victor and our foe is vanquished Christianity in America is often quite tame. It’s seen as gentle and nice, homey, and perhaps a bit kitschy. Going to church is kind of like going to grandma’s house, it’s warm, comfortable, and cozy. Those are good qualities for grandma’s house, but Christianity isn’t soft and gentle. Christianity is warfare; Christianity is the battle against Satan. Don’t be fooled, the devil and his demons are real. There is a real battle against the devil that we are truly fighting. Sometimes we speak as if demons were just metaphorical beings and not actual literal beings. So this needs to be emphasized that demons are real creatures, albeit spiritual and not physical, but real nonetheless. Certain behaviors therefore make people prone to demonic assau...

David and Goliath , Guillaume Courtois, between 1650-1660 Battling Temptations Jesus’ triumph against temptation is our victory. Jesus’ battle against Satan is an example for us. How the devil tempts us. These temptations are all ultimately idolatry. We combat temptations with God’s Word. We combat temptations with physical actions. We live in a highly individualized age in which individuals define right and wrong, good and evil, for themselves. I’ve heard it said many times “you can’t legislate morality.” Except, that’s exactly what God’s law is and how God desires His law to be used among us: the law must legislate morality, define right and wrong. But, our world doesn’t like objective truth, it prefers to operate based upon individual feelings.  One of the consequences of this is that there are very few preventative measures in our society, very few things that hinder us from falling into vices and evil behaviors. Afterall, if morality is left exclusively for the individual to d...

Baptism and Temptation of Christ, Paolo Veronese, 1580-1582 Temptation, what’s temptation? A temptation is something enticing and alluring. It’s not always a bad thing, for instance it’s tempting to sit next to the fireplace when it’s cold or it’s tempting to cuddle your cute little kids or grandkids. But temptation can also be enticement to sin, such as when Eve saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and a delight to the eyes. That’s really what we’re talking about today: temptations toward sin. Jesus said “ It is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! ” By whom do temptations come? The adversary, Satan, the Devil, the slanderer and liar. In Genesis he came disguised as a snake, cunning and sweet talking, quickly tempting Adam and Eve with the one fruit that they must not eat. Later in the wilderness, after Jesus was baptized and fasted forty days, he came as the tempter to tempt Jesus with his sweet-talking lies. It seems almost ri...

“Facing” or “overcoming” or “fighting your demons,” is an idiom we use with some frequency. Generally by this idiom we simply mean dealing with the issues we face personally on a daily basis. It could mean dealing with repressed emotions or figuring out how to deal with your spouse or your boss. Thus when we commonly use this phrase, we don’t actually mean it literally as if there are demons to fight, it’s more figurative than anything. However, in all actuality, there are literal demons that we must face on a daily basis! The devil is real. Demons exist. They all really and truly fight against us in our real lives every day. The demons we face aren’t just repressed emotions or our projects we’re working on or other people in our lives. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” We are fighting against real demons and ...

A week ago, we heard how the Lord called the youthful shepherd boy, David, to be the king over Israel. Today, we heard the well known exciting story of David, who was “ but a youth, ruddy and handsome ” who went against the giant of Gath. You see, the Israelites and the Philistines were about to go to war with one another. As the battle was about to commence, a nine foot tall giant, named Goliath of Gath stepped forth from the camp of the Philistines. He put forth an offer of a duel with an Israelite soldier; if the Israelite should win, then the Philistines would be their servants. If on the other hand Goliath won, then the Israelites would be forced to serve the Philistines.  For forty days the giant repeated his challenge, but no one was brave enough to do battle with him. When finally, the shepherd boy, David, son of Jesse stepped forward, he said of this Philistine champion: “ Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?... Let no ...