A little boy at church looks over his father's shoulder and asks right out loud, "What's on that lady's nose?"

How embarrassing.  You can't just turn around.  You certainly can't answer because you don't know what it is.  You try the hush method, but the youngster asks again in exaggerated whispers nearly as loud, "What'sss on that lady's nose?"  You pull down the little one's arm as he starts to point.

On the pinnacle of the temple, at the apex of God's holy house, the devil causes a blemish.  He seizes a beautiful, comforting passage of Holy Scripture and stains it.  He intentionally mishandles an exquisite, divine promise meant to cheer and console God's people.  A wonderful passage from the Psalms (91:11-12) is abused and misapplied.

Not like the bungling "Oaf of Office" this week in which President Obama and Chief Justice Roberts stepped on each other's tongues and casting doubt whether the inauguration was truly constitutional, this mess up was entirely Satan's, and it was on purpose.  The devil wanted to pit the written Word of God against the incarnate Word of God.  He wanted to take all the beauty and benefit of God's Word and manipulate it into a dare, into a provocation.

The handsome and heartening word of the Lord which promises angelic guardians and unblinking watchfulness so you and I can never be harmed is used as an ultimatum.  The devil puts a stigma right on the nose of something so truly beautiful.  Right here at the temple, at the zenith of where God promises to be, where His Word is to be declared and His Name hallowed, Satan defaces God's Word more surely than if he'd taken a can of spray paint and vandalized the temple walls.

Here, on the temple peak where God's countenance is concentrated, right between the eyes, the devil schemes to damage Christ and spoil the confidence Jesus has in His Father.

Even worse (if it's possible) than the temptation to turn stone into bread, the devil this time pulls the opposite direction.  Earlier Jesus withstood the temptation, retaining His trust that God would supply bread when the Father knew best.  The devil failed at destabilizing Jesus' faith, but now he wants Jesus to probe whether the object of His faith is worthy of the trust.

It is almost like saying, "Jesus, your faith and determination, loyalty and devotion, your believing and dedication are all exemplary.  You are the consummate believer.  But don't you think it prudent to find out if your amazing and unquestionable faith is banking on the right horse.

If you are the Son of God, move beyond the theoretical.  Faith is cheap unless you test some promise of God and prove His Word isn't just a lot of poppycock.  Here is a beautiful promise from the Psalms.  I dare you to look at it without seeing its flaw right on its nose. 

It hasn't been tested. 

It can only be validated by your independent criteria.

Can you hear the oily, Machiavellian seduction at work?  The righteous beauty of God's Word is labeled "doubtful."  The Word of God is made out to be suspicious.  This is the way the devil wants us to approach the Scriptures, not questioning the strength of our faith or the genuineness of our devotion but the reliability of God's Word.  Satan wants you to rely on your decision for God, your earnestness, your own works, and your own wisdom.

This is why it is of great pain to Lutherans when we hear a preacher who puts a blemish on the Gospel by staining it with particles of Law.  A preacher may be generous with Jesus' name, sing His praises, and salt his sermons with all the great things Jesus has done, but if he ultimately holds in check a delivery of Christ's unconditional grace until it has been sifted through the judgment of the church, the decision of the believer, the verdict of human reason, the sieve of political correctness, the findings of scholars, the opinions of the public, the conclusions of the majority, or the feelings in someone's heart, this "preacher" is not a shepherd.  He's a wolf.

The greatest damage ever done in the church comes by confusing Law and Gospel.  How sweetly the devil lifts the Word of God to Jesus' ear.  How amiably and reasonably he makes the case that your faith is fine but God's untested Word suggests the Christian's life is, at best, experimental.

It is the devil who inhibits and blemishes the Gospel with ingredients of the Law.  Oh, you can put gauze over the nose; you can paint over a blemish with cosmetics and hide it underneath, but along comes a boy, a rookie, a tenderfoot.  He points right at what does not belong on the face of a beautiful woman and calls a spade a spade. 

Jesus does this.

Christ knows the devil means to put a pustule on the very prow of the Gospel, and Christ will have none of it!  He holds up the Word of God, its inerrancy, its authority, its perfection, its power, and its clarity, not from his own conclusion but from the Word itself, "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test."

Jesus doesn't mess around.  When the Law is needed, He uses it, just as He does right here against the devil. 

But when the Good News is declared, as he has done for you in your baptism, for you in unbounded absolution, and in His words "for you for the forgiveness of your sins," it is flawless, unconditional, and utterly beautiful.  It is radiant with pardon and peace.

The Gospel will be declared without stipulation or vacillation: God, your Savior, will bear you up.  He will command His angels concerning you.  And because Jesus Christ lived, died, and triumphed for you over death and the devil, over sin and shame, not the least pebble, not the slightest accusation nor microscopic blemish will mar your face before your Father.  You have Christ in the Word and Sacrament.

Let people point all they want.  On your forehead is the baptismal sign of the cross.