Coyote in a Trap

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Coyotes are known for being tenacious and relatively fearless creatures. They are also obsessively stubborn in the pursuit of something they want. One peculiar characteristic of the coyote is how he will react to being caught in a trap. It has long been known that if a coyote is caught in a trap, he will do anything to escape, even down to gnawing off his own foot or leg in order to get free. Of course, that more than likely means that he will die of blood loss, infection, or starvation. But he will die free! A friend told me that he has never caught a coyote minus a foot, but he has often found severed feet in a trap.

Between last week and today, a line has been crossed. We have entered from the blissful season of Epiphany into the penitential season of Lent. And another line has been crossed in today's Gospel lesson. Jesus, fresh out of the waters of the Jordan where He was baptized by John, is immediately driven out into the wilderness to fast and to be tempted by the devil.

Notice that there is no lolly-gagging about at the Jordan. No party, no cake, no massive to-do or society debut. Right upon the heels of Baptism, Jesus begins to suffer and to be tempted by the devil. The trap has snapped shut. There is no turning back, if there ever was anyhow.

Thus it is with Baptism. Baptism is a blessed and joyous thing, washing away sins, drowning the old Adam and raising the new man to life in Christ. But it is no light and casual thing. Baptism is as serious and deadly as a steel trap. And it creates just as strong a boundary.

For your Baptism has made you an enemy of the devil. Martin Luther once said that “it is no joke to take sides against the devil and not only to drive him away from the little child, but to burden the child with such a mighty and life-long enemy” (AE 53:102). In this life, sometimes it appears as though the wicked and the unbelievers have the easier road, because they appear to prosper while the godly suffer. That is because they are already under the power of sin, death, and the devil; he does not need to work hard to keep them.

But those who are sundered from the number of the unbelieving and joined to the Body of Christ are forever made enemies of the devil and opponents of his rule on earth. Therefore, he fights against them with all his might, roaring at them like a ravening lion, seeking to devour them. He cannot harm the Lord of Hosts, for that battle has been won. But he can seek to devour as many of the faithful as he can, dragging them down to hell with him into his misery. Luther teaches us:

The life of a Christian is as hard as if he were walking on a narrow path, in fact, on nothing but razors. Beneath us in the world is the devil, who is continually snapping at us with his jaws in order to bring on impatience, despair, and murmuring against God. In addition, the world is advancing on us, and it refuses either to yield to us or to let us pass. And around our neck lies our own flesh. Thus we are hemmed in on every side…. So if you want to be a Christian, then be one. It will never be any different. (AE 21:245).

Baptism springs closed upon a person as a steel trap upon the foot of a coyote. And our Lord will not let you go. You are now no longer the prisoner of sin, death, and the devil. But your life, your will, and your spirit are held captive to Christ Jesus our Lord. For it is no longer you who live, but Christ lives in you. It is in Him, by the power of His death and resurrection for you, that you live and move and have your being. Baptism holds you fast in the hand of God, whence nothing and no one can snatch you. But the devil will certainly try, just as he tried our Lord.

Immediately after Baptism the trials begin. Our Lord is driven out into the wilderness to fast, and to be tempted by the devil. And He faces them head-on. Some of the Church Fathers assert that Jesus went out to be tempted by the devil in order that He might draw Satan's fire away from the faithful. He went out into a desolate place, in order that the devil might focus all his energies on Jesus, rather than the godly people around Him. It is for this same reason that many hermits of the early Church took up residence in the wilderness – to do battle with the demons and draw them away from the godly in the cities and villages.

Our Lord goes out into the wilderness willingly. Matthew says that He was led, but not that our Lord was forced or compelled. Christ faces temptation knowing full well what lies ahead. In this way, our Lord is utterly and completely unlike you.

For how often have you sought to avoid facing temptation by squirming out of a perceived trap? If someone asks you a difficult question, give an evasive or vague answer. If you have to make a difficult decision, kick the can down the road to someone else. If you see someone in need, refer him to Social Services or to some other charity. You are like the coyote stuck in the trap.

You have stepped into the trap and are now caught fast. There is no escaping your Baptism. It is who you are. The evidence of it is engraved on your forehead, as indelibly as the trap hangs on the foot of that poor canine. But you would do just about anything to escape the consequences of that act.

You do not want to fear, love, and trust in God above all things. You do not want to love your neighbor as yourself, and certainly you do not want to lay down your life for a friend, not even for your wife. You do not want to face temptation and say no to the things the devil parades before you. You do not want to shun evil and choose good. You want it all, and right now.

The devil tempts Jesus, saying, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” He tempts Jesus to take what God has created and turn it into something totally foreign. Stones are not bread; bread is not stone. You eat bread, but not stones. God has created bread for eating, and He has created stones for their various purposes. The two are not interchangeable.

But you would like to take creation into your own hands and do with it as you like. Take human flesh and mold it into your own image. Whether that means taking the flesh of your neighbor, in the form of his wife, into your own hands. Or taking the good and blessed gift of sexual intimacy and misdirecting it according to your own desires. Or taking the body which He has given you and using it to hurt or harm your neighbor, even the unborn one, in his body.

Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

The devil tempted Jesus to test the will of God. He wanted to see if Jesus would throw Himself off the temple, and whether God would be true to His Word or not. And, of course our Lord had no need to test God. God is true to His Word; He cannot lie. He does not lie in Baptism, nor any other time or place. What He says, He does. When He commands His angels concerning you, they will indeed bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.

But there is more to the temptation than simply whether you are going to trust the Word of the Lord. Are you going to trust not only that the Word of the Lord is true, but trust that He is truly working for your good, even when you see no miracles or angels swooping through the sky to bear you up?

The Lord indeed has surrounded you with His holy angels. That is what we commemorate on the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, and what we pray for whenever we pray Luther's morning or evening prayers: “Let Thy holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me.”

But the temptation is, as I said, to look for the miraculous. To trust in the hidden things. To seek out the new, the unknown, the mysterious. And in the meantime, you see your pastor dispensing the Means of Grace, and you think “What good is that going to do me?” You hear him preach the Word of God, and you think “Ya, ya – another morality tale. Jesus, cross, grace. Blah blah blah.” You see him visiting the sick and think “Why doesn't he do that more often?” or “Why does he bother with all that mess? Couldn't someone else do that?”

You see the poor and needy around you, the widows and orphans, and you look the other way. Until you are the needy one. Until you are the widow in need of a kinsman-redeemer. Until you are the orphan in need of a father. Then you wonder where the angels are who will bear you up so that you do not dash your foot against a stone. You wonder where the miracle is that will save you from ruin. And do you look to the Church? To the places the Lord promises to give you help and strength and comfort?

The Lord sends His angels to bear you up, but not necessarily in the form of swooping, multi-winged beings in white robes racing down out of heaven. “For some have entertained angels unawares.” The Lord does what He says, but not always in the way you think He should. A great deal of the time He works through the Church, through His appointed means and instruments in the world. Do not fall prey to the devil's temptation to look beyond, or around, or away from the Church to find the working of God. He works just as He says, in the place and through the means He says He will use.

The Lord bears you up when you are falling by sending His messengers to proclaim to you the forgiveness of your sins, the comfort of the Lord's gracious presence with you, the joy of Jesus' resurrection. He bears you up by sending you brothers and sisters in Christ who put their shoulders under your burden to carry it with you, to share in your suffering so that we may all share together in joy.

Your will is imprisoned to Christ. But your sinful nature would do just about anything to escape the obligations of the Law. You would say or do or think whatever was needed to get the devil to leave you alone, even just for a little while. And what happens? Like that coyote, you may seem to escape the trap, but you are left lame, bleeding, infected, and dying. Just like that coyote, the soul that sins shall die.

However, the Lord does not abandon your soul to death, even though you deserve it. Instead, He has sent His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, into your flesh to bear your sin and be your savior. For Jesus has come to your rescue, and He has staked His claim to you, declaring to the devil, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.'” He has driven out Satan from you, not by the power of His angels, but by the power of His blood.

For our Lord Christ did not shun the suffering and temptation of the wilderness. Moreover, He did not shun the shame and the affliction of the Cross. He took the full weight of what the devil had to dish out. The Lamb of God allowed Himself to be devoured by the ravening lion.

And then He burst forth. He split the belly of that lion and rose victorious over sin, death, and the devil. He rose to proclaim healing to the nations, to lead the captives free, to shine the light of the world over those living in darkness and the shadow of death.

“Then the devil left [Jesus], and behold, angels came and were ministering to Him.” The devil leaves Jesus alone, because that battle has already been lost. He can harm you none, because he has done his worst to Jesus, and has lost everything. Scowl fierce as he will, the deed is done. Our Lord Christ has died upon the cross – the sinless become sin to save sinners. He has been swallowed up in death, buried into the earth, and descended into hell. And He has broken forth in glorious splendor so that you may not be imprisoned in hell because of your sins, but captive in the grace of God.

Thanks be to God that our Lord Christ did not succumb to the devil's temptations, but remained firm, repelling Satan's attacks with the strong and sure Word of the Lord which defeats any and all enemies of God. Beware the devil's tricks and snares. But let yourself be stuck fast in the grip of God's mighty right hand. Allow yourself to be bound to Christ, whose name you bear upon your forehead and your heart. Baptism has drawn a line in the sand, but thanks be to God that you stand on the side of Christ.

Though devils all the world should fill,
All eager to devour us,
We tremble not, we fear no ill;
They shall not overpow'r us.
This world's prince may still
Scowl fierce as he will,
He can harm us none.
He's judged; the deed is done;
One little word can fell him (LSB 656.3).

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.