Text: Matt 4:1-11 (Gen 3:1-21, Heb 4:14-16)
In the name of + Jesus. Amen.
“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, when the author of Hebrews implores us to draw near to the throne of grace “with confidence,” he means boldly, openly, and plainly. He means that we can walk to the King’s throne as if we are the crown prince, without hesitation and without worry that we don’t belong there. He doesn’t mean that we should be flippant or take this great privilege for granted. But He does mean that we should not be cowardly when we poor, miserable, and yet forgiven, sinners draw near to God.
What a great contrast to what we deserve as Moses has laid before us in the third chapter of Genesis! Adam and Eve were anything but bold and confident, frank and open, when they broke the Lord’s law, when they sinned against the Lord’s commandment, and when they betrayed the Lord’s trust.
In fact, in their shame, they “hid themselves from the presence of the Lord.” They knew what they had done and they understood the justice they deserved. When God sought them, they were the very opposite of bold and confident, frank and open.
And when the Lord confronted them, bidding them to confess, they were anything but bold and confident, frank and open in their confession. Instead, Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the Serpent. And indeed, it was the Serpent who sowed the seeds of doubt: “Did God actually say…?”
But, dear friends, this seed of doubt was not to be the last seed to be sewn. In fact, the Lord Himself promised to the devil: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring” – literally: “her Seed.” “He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”
And so the great conflict – in fact the Greatest Conflict in History – began with a human act of sin, and with the promise of a human act of redemption! For it was to be not a seed of doubt planted by the devil, but the Seed of Faith planted by the Father – that would secure eternity and bring forth victory – even in the shadow of that most dark and horrid of days.
For our Lord Jesus is the Seed of the woman, the Offspring not only of Eve, but also the Son of the virgin Mary, conceived without the seed of a man. He is the Warrior who has come to avenge mankind from the lies of the father of lies and his loathsome “did God actually say…?” seed of doubt. And Jesus, our Seed-Warrior is also our King-Priest. He is the Son of David, the One whose reign never ends, the One through whom we, the fallen seeds of Adam and Eve, conceived in sin and disobedience and death – can approach the divine throne of grace with confidence: bold and confident, frank and open. And what’s more, He is our Priest, the one who offers Himself as the Lamb: the sacrifice and priestly work of His own nail-scarred hands, even as the malicious and mendacious devil bruised His heel at the cross.
This Priest atones for us with blood, His own blood, His own perfect blood, He who “has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God,” our very own “great High Priest” whose death gives us life, whose blood gives us confidence to “draw near” to the God whom we have offended with our sins, whose Word sustains us in ways that bread alone cannot. For as Jesus – the Seed of the woman, the High Priest, the Lamb of God pure and holy, the Redeemer, the Savior, the Word Made Flesh, the Crucified One – teaches us anew this holy day: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
Dear friends, our Lamb dies so that we might live! Our Priest offers sacrifice so that we might draw near to the throne of grace”! Our promised Seed crushes the head of the lying serpent, and the Word made flesh sends forth His Word to us in order that we might wield it as a double-edged sword to beat back the temptations and assaults of the devil, crushing his head under our feet.
For the Serpent continues in his lie: “Did God actually say…?” to this very day.
Did God actually say that we are sinners? Yes indeed. “Let us hold fast our confession.” Did God actually say that the Lord Jesus is our High Priest through whom we can “with confidence draw near to the throne of grace”? Yes indeed, “Let us hold fast our confession.” Did God actually say that “man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God”? Yes, indeed. “Let us hold fast our confession.”
And we hold fast our confession as our Lord held fast His confession, even during His own temptation. For our High Priest is indeed able to “sympathize with our weaknesses” as He is truly “One who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
And what a blessing that we do not simply have a Priest who preaches at us and tells us what to do, but one who leads the way, marching into battle ahead of us, slaying the enemy with the sword that is His very Word!
What a blessing that we have a Savior who has the power and the authority to command: “Be gone, Satan!” as well as passing that authority on to His ministers who speak in His name: “It is written!”
And thanks be to God that by Christ’s power, through Christ’s authority, by means of Christ’s Word, and in Christ’s name, “the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to Him.”
Though we are sinners and deserve death, we are given life in the Word. Though in our shame, we have no right to approach the throne, we are given confidence by means of the Word. And though in our separation from God, we have no power to fight against the old evil foe, we are empowered to make use of the Word by the Word of God in the flesh, the promised Seed, our High Priest!
“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Amen.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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