In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

 In the readings for today we hear of two of the most important battles that humanity has ever been engaged in.  They are two spiritual conflicts which more than anything else define the human condition and determine human destiny.  In both cases the enemy that man is fighting the devil.  In the first instance man suffers a terrible defeat.  The enemy's crafty and deceptive tactics win the day.  But in the second instance, man wins a great victory.  Satan's onslaughts are fought off, and in the end he is routed.  We will see today that although in Adam mankind lost the battle, in Jesus, who is the new Adam, the war has been won.  Though we are scarred by the powers of darkness, we are eternally triumphant over them through Christ our Lord.  In Him we have the victory.

 The first battle takes place in the Garden of Eden, where the Lord had placed the man and the woman whom He had created.  Satan attacks man by trying to cause him to seek independence from God, just as he did.  The devil wants man to see himself free from any divine authority, a sovereign, self-governing individual.  The devil is doing more here than trying to entice Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit.  He is trying to lure them into being something other than what they were created by God to be.  Listen to what the tempter says, "You will not surely die.  For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God . . ."  "Don't let God limit you!  You can have the same power and insight as God Himself.  Do what I say and you'll be much wiser and more aware.  Be your own lord!"  The sin of Adam and Eve, then, is one of rebellion.  They are trying to become something more than human, the creatures trying to put themselves on a level with the Creator.  However, in forsaking what God made them to be, in turning away from the perfect joy of life He gave them to live, they end up becoming less than human.

 Satan uses the same strategy and tactics on you, the fallen children of Adam and Eve.  In place of God's words and God's gifts he offers something that is supposedly better.  He cunningly lures you into thinking you can be independent from God and self-sufficient.  The devil says, "Be your own master!  Do your own thing!"  The devil tries to get you to bow down to the idol of the Self, of your own thinking and desires.  "You belong to nobody else but you," he says.  "You make up your own rules.  You determine what's good and right and true for you.  You're in charge of your own life."  Satan's goal for you is self-help, self-importance, and self-fulfillment.  His promise is that you have unlimited potential within yourself, that you can be like God.

 The devil's promises, however, are empty.  He is the father of lies.  He doesn't give; he only takes away from you.  He's like a drug dealer trying to tell you how good crack is.  Through Satan's successful deception of the first Adam and you his children, man has been plundered and left desolate.  In striving to be like God, mankind has lost its humanity.  In attempting to become divine, man has become mortal; he has lost the life God created him to have and to live.  By causing you to rebel against God, Satan has won this battle.  As the hymn said, "On earth is not his equal."  It is written, ‘Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned."  You are one with Adam.  "Dust you are, and to dust you shall return."

 However, the war is not yet over.  The hymn goes on:

 "With might of ours can naught be done,
 Soon were our loss effected;
 But for us fights the valiant One
 Whom God himself elected.
 Ask ye, Who is this? Jesus Christ it is,
 Of sabaoth Lord, and there's none other God;
 He holds the field forever."

 A battle with the devil may have been lost.  But now through Christ, the war has been won.  For the Scriptures say, "As in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive."  Christ is the second Adam, who came to undo the first Adam's fall into sin and to overcome death and the power of the devil.  Jesus is the new Adam, who came to stand in for us and fight off all the onslaughts of the devil in our place and conquer him decisively.

 This is what we see going on in today's Gospel, a decisive second battle between man and the devil, the turning point in the war.  The first Adam wants to be like God.  But the second Adam, Jesus, who is true God, makes Himself true man.  He submits fully and freely to His heavenly Father's will.  He doesn't exalt Himself to a higher position; He lowers Himself in order to serve and save mankind.  The first Adam was in a rich garden.  But Christ, the new Adam, places Himself into a barren wasteland in order to restore man to paradise.  He's there in the wilderness as our substitute and representative, engaging the enemy on our behalf.  Though Jesus is without sin, He subjects Himself to all of the effects of sin–hunger and thirst, weakness and distress–in order that He might truly be one of us in His battle against Satan.  Our destiny here is entirely in Christ's hands.

 It's very much like the fight between David and Goliath.  We were just beginning to discuss this great story once again in junior catechesis and how it teaches us of Christ.  The children of Israel lived in fear of the Philistine army because the Philistines had a soldier more than nine feet tall on their side, who wore armor heavier than most men could even manage.  For 40 days this Goliath came out and taunted the Israelite soldiers, challenging them, "Send someone out to fight me.  If he defeats me, we will be your slaves.  But if I defeat him, then you will be our slaves."  No Israelite soldier could be found willing to fight Goliath.

 But then a young man named David heard this giant who blasphemed God and mocked God's people.  And with the permission of King Saul, David went out to fight Goliath, bringing with him only a slingshot and five smooth stones.  The giant man laughed when he saw David, who was little more than half his size, and yelled intimidating remarks, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks? . . . Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!"  But David relied not on his own strength, but on the strength of God.  He said, "I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts . . .  The battle is the Lord's, and He will give you into our hands."  As the Philistine moved towards David, David ran towards the giant, putting a stone into his sling.  And he slung it and struck Goliath between the eyes, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and the Philistine fell on his face to the ground.

 You are like the army of Israel, intimidated by the powers of darkness, unable to find anyone who is worthy to fight the Goliath Satan.  But then the Son of David steps forth, Christ Jesus, to do battle with the blasphemous giant.  He appears to be no match for the devil, for He is there in weak human flesh with no weapons but the five smooth stones of the books of Moses.  Christ fights not with human power but with the power of the living God.  When the devil rushes in to attack, with each onslaught Jesus slings back the smooth stone of God's Word. Satan says, "Forget this silly self-denial that your Father has placed upon you.  Command that these stones become bread."  But Jesus responds, "It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"  Satan says, "Come on!  Let's see if the Scriptures are really true.  Put on a little display to prove it.  Throw yourself down from this temple."  Jesus answers, "It is written, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'"  Again, Satan says, "You can skip the suffering and get right to being the glorious ruler of the world if you just fall down and worship me."  But Jesus gives the final rebuttal, "Away with you Satan!  For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.'"  And the stone sinks into the forehead, and the Goliath Satan falls with his face to the ground, defeated.

 When the Philistine had fallen to the earth, David ran and took the giant's own sword and used it to cut off his head.  So also, Jesus, the Son of David, uses the devil's own devices to bring about his eternal defeat.  Satan's greatest instrument is death.  He thinks that by crucifying Christ, he will be victorious over Him.  But in fact, it is precisely through death that Jesus brings about Satan's downfall.  For through the cross the Lord takes away the sin that gives Satan his deathly power over you.  Then Jesus rises to life again to break sin's curse.  It's no longer "dust to dust" but "dust to life" for those who trust in Christ.  He comes forth from the grave eternally triumphant over death and the devil for you.  Satan falls into His own death trap.  Jesus, by His death and resurrection, has fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy and crushed Satan's head.  No longer can the devil cause you any eternal harm.  For you have been baptized into Christ the conqueror.  The serpent may still hiss and squirm and convulse.  But ultimately he can't touch you; you have the victory in Christ.

 Finally, when the Philistines saw that Goliath was dead, they fled in fear.  And the Israelites pursued them and routed them.  So also, in Christ you now have the power to send the hordes of hell into retreat in the battles that must yet be fought.  You have the means to master and vanquish the foe.  For the Lord says, "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."  "Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you."  "Put on the whole armor of God . . .  Take up the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God."  When you are tested and tempted, you have at your disposal the very same things that Christ did in the wilderness.  He gives you His righteousness and His salvation as a shield and armor to protect you from the blows of the evil one.  You have the saber of the Word, with which you can run the devil through.  For the Word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword.  And when you call upon Christ in prayer and faith, you are calling upon one who can sympathize with your weaknesses, one who was in all points tempted as you are, yet without sin.  Christ has carried your human flesh into temptation, and He has triumphed. He has prevailed over sin, over the devil, over death, all for you.  Where Adam was defeated, Jesus is victorious.  And He gives you His victory as a gift through faith in His name.  In Him, the words of the Psalm come true, "You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra; the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot."

 Truly then, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."  And today you receive not just bread alone, but bread which is Christ, the Word made flesh.  In His preaching and His supper, He Himself comes to dwell within you and strengthen you.  Fellow Christians, in the midst of your testings and temptations and battles, never forget what the Word says, "Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world."

   In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit