Luke 4:1-13 (NRSV)
Going deeper on Luke 4:1-13
Luke 4:1-13 is a story about the temptation of Jesus in the dessert. The passage is from Q. Most scholars recognize this story about Jesus as one created by the tradition, foreshadowing the life and destiny of Jesus. It is a unified composition based upon theological and Christological reflection.
Umberto Eco famously claimed that humans are drawn to lists because we are afraid to die. Many studies show that lists do several things extremely well from a cognitive standpoint, including helping us “face infinity and attempt to grasp the incomprehensible.” In a sea of words, a list uses numbers that will stand out from the rest. Numbers help quantify length and the amount of attention it might require. A list organizes information in a spatial way, which is consistent with the hard-wiring of our brains. Lists will also downplay the paradox of choice, presenting us with the illusion of certainty.
The story of the temptation of Jesus contains three temptations presented to Jesus. The story has provided occasion for many in the history of interpretation to condense the complexity of temptation into three categories. I want to suggest that this story has a quite different focus.
The Spirit came upon Jesus at the baptism, and a voice from heaven said Jesus is the Son, the Beloved, in whom the Father is pleased. Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and the Spirit led him into the wilderness. Luke and Matthew envision a cooperative relationship between Jesus and the Spirit, while Mark says the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness. Jesus was in the wilderness 2 for forty days. As Moses spent 40 days at the top of Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments (Exodus 34:28) and Elijah spent a 40-day journey to Mount Horeb in I Kings 19:4-8, and as Israel spent a 40-year journey in the wilderness in Deuteronomy 8:2-6. Luke ties the temptation to the long history of Israel. He gives an account of the 40-day experience of Jesus in exile. Luke ties Jesus to the great leaders of Israel. In the wilderness, the devil (διαβόλου, "the one who separates" you from your purpose, who distracts you, who singles you out, either for failing in faithfulness or to tempt you into failure.) tempted Jesus. Matthew has a similar story, reversing the second and third temptation, largely because Luke wants to have the dramatic scene occur in Jerusalem. Mark refers to the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness but does not offer the substance of it. Hebrews 4:15 also testifies to Jesus' temptation episode. The author of Hebrews used the temptation narrative to show that Jesus, like us, faced threats to his own fragile humanity. The background for this role of the devil is Job 1-2, whereby the one testing Job is part of the heavenly court. In the Old Testament, "satan" is more often a job description rather than a proper name (Numbers 22:22-35; Zechariah 3:1-7; Job 1-2; I Chronicles 21:1-22:1). He worked for God. He was the adversary or accuser, calling humanity to account for its failure to uphold the covenant. He is the prosecuting attorney. His job is to read the charges and to hold humanity accountable for them.[1] We see here a similar relationship between the Spirit and the devil. The Spirit, in a sense, sends Jesus to Satan, confident (as God is of Job), that he will resist the temptations offered him and be proved worthy of his calling. It is as if the ancients felt that without the test of temptation, loyalty was cheap and not to be trusted. What was required was steadfastness of purpose, which can only be demonstrated in the face of testing. If temptation is a road, it has forks in it in which one need to make decisions. What Luke will show is that while Israel proved a disobedient son in the wilderness, Jesus will prove to be a loyal and obedient Son. Such a Christological interpretation suggests Jesus is no magician or zealot. He is also a true representative of the true people of God, succeeding where Israel failed. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. A traditional interpretation is that the devil appeared in bodily form and each of the following temptations are the devil physically taking Jesus to these places. However, if one is looking for an experience in the life of Jesus to which these temptations point, the condition of fasting for this long in the wilderness could lead to a visionary experience by Jesus that he later shared with the disciples.
3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, indicating the Christological focus of this story, demonstrating that Jesus is the Son of God, a title coming out of a Hellenistic interpretation of Jesus as a miracle-worker. In the view of the devil, if Jesus is the Son of God, he should now command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” encourages Jesus to be like God (Genesis 3:5) when the Israelites were in the wilderness providing them with manna. If Jesus is a prophetic figure comparable to Moses, then surely he, too, can perform such a basic feat. People believed that God would feed God’s people in the messianic era. The basis of the test is in his life. However, in this case, the temptation is to provide manna for his personal consumption. The Devil hits at gut level with the first temptation. Not surprisingly, Jesus' truly human nature experienced truly ravenous hunger after his 40-day fast. However, Jesus was not actually starving. This was a self-imposed hunger, willingly endured for religious purposes. Long fasts have always been popular means of bringing oneself closer to God. Thus, the Devil's taunt was not to a man whose suffering was the result of a famine or poverty or cruelty. Eating at this point was not a matter of life or death for Jesus. It was more like the temptation an unguarded cupcake represents to a struggling dieter. The issue is not survival. The issue is willpower and a sense of purpose. 4 Jesus answered him, “It is written in Deuteronomy 8:3, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’ ” Based upon the analogy with Deuteronomy, where Israel failed, Jesus succeeded, showing the path to victory. The story reflects the testing Jesus experienced in his ministry. The primary test, however, was whether Jesus would consistently obey God. Human life is not dependent on satisfying physical needs alone. What is more important than mere food, Jesus states, is remaining obedient to the word of God. The temptation Adam and Eve faced was to “take and eat” of the fruit of a divinely forbidden tree, thereby becoming like God. They were not even hungry. Jesus will resist the one tempting him where Adam and Eve failed. Jesus will later teach his disciples to pray for their daily bread, trusting that their heavenly Father will provide such needs (Matthew 6:11). He will teach them not to be anxious for their daily needs, for their heavenly Father knows they have such needs, so they should seek first the rule of God, for each day has enough troubles of its own (Matthew 6:25-34). The point is, the temptation Jesus faces here has nothing to do with filling his stomach and everything to do with fulfilling his call to obedience and fidelity before God. Clearly, as later "bread miracles" will reveal, Jesus could do as the Devil asks. Neither is the issue here that this request is for Jesus simply to provide for his own needs. The problem, the temptation offered here, is that God's Spirit had taken Jesus into the wilderness for a period of divinely ordained fasting. If he would override God's will by creating bread in this wilderness, Jesus would participate in an act of willful disobedience against God. Such behavior, even about such a small act, would undercut Jesus' identity as the obedient, loyal Son of God.
5 Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 The devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” Luke presents the greatest elaboration of the devil's words. The claim made here by the devil--of glory and authority -- reflects that which God would give to the Messiah (Psalm 2:8) and to the Son of Man (Daniel 7:14). The devil claims full authority over the kingdoms of the world and the power to "give it to anyone I please.” Jesus faces the dual temptation of personal power and denying God in this second trial. Here the tempter offers a seductive gift to Jesus, but only if he will give up his identity and acknowledge the Devil's pre-eminence. The temptation to political power must have surely been enticing to one who possessed such a clear sense of righteousness and justice, as did Jesus. We imagine Jesus using this power compassionately and wisely. This temptation would be to have a shortsighted vision, rather than view the world from God’s perspective. Interestingly, this offer by the devil is not consistent with Old Testament theology, which clearly keeps the authority of God intact in both heaven and earth. It may well be that one should not trust this word of the devil. Of course, what the devil wants in return is what only God ought to receive, worship. 8 Jesus answered him, “It is written Deuteronomy 6:13, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’ ” The Shema occurs just before this statement in its Old Testament context. The retort has nothing to do with the power the devil offered him. It deals only with the high price the Devil seeks to extract. The powers of this world would not seduce him. He was faithful to God’s will. Jesus will succeed in the wilderness where Israel failed.
9 Then the devil took him to Jerusalem Luke wants the climax of the temptations to occur in Jerusalem and at the temple. The devil placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, which is the high point, the little wing or colonnade on the soaring temple top, which apparently overlooked a high ravine. This was a dizzying and dangerous viewpoint. The devil was saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written in Psalm 91:11-12, God ‘will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ 11 and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ” Temptation can come in the form of a twisted use of the Word of God. The devil uses the trust of psalmist in the continuous and protective presence of God to justify the extremity of his challenge. The devil dares Jesus to deny his humanity, with its accompanying mortality, and to allow his divine nature full rein. However, of course, the whole point of the Incarnation would have been lost. Jesus' full participation in human life, including living with the uniquely human agony of a consciousness that knows it will someday die, is what ultimately becomes our salvation. Only by willingly accepting the finality of death does Jesus overcome it and create the reality of resurrection. 12 Jesus answered him, “It is said in Deuteronomy 6:16, another wilderness wandering text, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” “Test” is both when God tests people (Abraham in Genesis 22:1-19) and when people test God (Exodus 17:2). The point is to demonstrate the obedience of Jesus to God and his refusal to usurp authority in the Father-Son relationship. As the representative of humanity, it was fitting for Jesus to have moments of testing, trial, or temptation in his life. Jesus teaches us to pray that God would not lead us into such temptation (Matthew 6:13). Jesus uses a proper reading of the word of God to combat an improper one. He also taught them that properly hearing and doing what he teaches will lead to a life that can withstand the trials of life (Matthew 7:24-27). It was not fitting for him to test God.
13 When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time. Luke’s closing remark supports the notion that there could have been more than the three recorded temptations. Here is the purpose of the story, as Luke sees the ministry of Jesus as a period of victory over Satan, demonstrated in his faithfulness to the word of God. In contrast to Matthew and Mark, Luke has the ominous phrase, “until an opportune time.” In 22:3, Satan returns to enter Judas Iscariot and begin the cycle of passion events. We do not get to make just one big correct choice and the battle is won. Read in isolation, this account of Jesus in the wilderness can seem that way: Jesus refused to yield and that settled it. But if we read on in Luke, we find that, when Peter tried to get Jesus to stop saying he was headed for suffering and death, Jesus replied, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me" (), revealing that the temptation to turn off the road on which God wanted him to walk. Temptation would face Jesus particular on the night he was betrayed, and it would face the disciples.
The story is typical of the ancient world stories of the hero that undergoes a test. The community needed to explain to their Jewish contemporaries why Jesus did not become the expected Jewish national Messiah. In the 60's, the zealot revolutionaries believed the Messiah would repeat the miracles of the Mosaic period and manna would rain from heaven. Thus, it is a response to a political environment. The temptation narrative is primarily a story of who Christ is, and not primarily story about resisting temptation to gluttony, power, and pride, or possessions, as often occurred in the early church and in contemporary preaching. Would he exploit his status for material goods or political power, or would he remain humbly obedient to God’s mission for his life? Matthew indicates without question in the temptation scene that Jesus is fiercely devoted to following God’s will. This temptation narrative foreshadows the whole of Jesus' ministry by indicating that in order to remain obedient, this Messiah must claim the way of humility, service and suffering. An interesting parallel to the story of the temptation is the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1-23). In both stories, a believer is faced with three threats to faithfulness. In the parable, the three threats are Satan (the bird that comes to snatch the Word away); trouble and persecution, like Jesus' hunger (the rocks that cause the Word's roots to fail); and the cares of the world, including the lure of wealth (the thorns that choke the Word as it begins to grow). By resisting this same sort of temptation in the wilderness, Jesus models for disciples the will to resist those things that destroy a growing faith.
On the heels of his public baptism, Jesus endures an exceedingly difficult trial far from the public eye. It becomes a key moment in the definition and shape of Jesus’ divine sonship.
One critical issue of interpretation is whether the temptations are to be understood as universally human or as specifically "messianic." First, from the first possibility there emerges what we might call the parenetic interpretation. A variant would be the psychological interpretation. The point is to show how Jesus withstood human temptations or how he showed us how to become a true human being through overcoming temptations. Second, the Christological interpretation arises. The text is against the view of Jesus as a magician or as a zealot. Third, Jesus is a true representative of the true people of God, succeeding where the Hebrew people failed. Fourth, the text gives a representation of the three basic dimensions of the messiahship of Jesus, prophetic, priestly, kingly.
One must begin with the Christological interpretation. Jesus affirms his sonship with God that came at baptism, in obedience to the word of God, and thus overcomes Satan. The three sections are not connected by a polemic against a certain misunderstanding of Jesus' sonship with God but the obedience of Jesus to the word of God. It is interesting that in the early history of the church, the human features created a problem. That is, how could the divine Son of God be tempted. Today, the supernatural elements create the problem. However, it is the myth that gives it more than a mundane concern.
The question is who has power in the world, the devil whom Jesus does not serve and who has to quit the field, or God who sends angels. Through its mythical dimensions, it becomes a ray of hope and an expression of confidence in the Son of God who through his obedience has overcome the devil and in God whose angels assisted the obedient one. Our story is meaningful at the beginning of a Gospel that unfolds what obedience to God means.
The great significance of this temptation narrative is not that Jesus withstood these trials, but that in them Jesus' true nature and identity as the "Son of God" are celebrated. His fidelity to God and unshakable commitment to carrying out God's plans are what reveal Jesus' genuine "Son of God" identity to the believing reader. As the Devil tries to sabotage the unique quality of this relationship between God and his son Jesus, he begins with a seemingly small, even innocuous test of Jesus' power.
The best-known modern literary treatment of the temptation of Christ passage is "The Grand Inquisitor's Speech" from Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. The author imagines Jesus returning to 16th century Seville during the Spanish Inquisition and accused of being a slacker. The Grand Inquisitor, acting for the church, marches him off to prison. The Inquisition accuses Jesus of missing his chance in the wilderness. He could have acted to change all human history (feeding the hungry, forcing people to choose the good and taking control of the world as was supposedly intended); but instead, he resists Satan, does nothing and allows hunger and sin to continue. He charges Christ with having placed upon humankind the unbearable burden of freedom. By resisting the Tempter in the wilderness, Christ made people miserable rather than happy. By refusing to make visible his power, Christ laid upon people the necessity of choosing for or against God, not based on some handy empirical data, but in faith alone. People were sorely oppressed by this freedom, and the church was correcting Jesus' work. The church was assuming the burden of freedom and exercising in its place its own severe authority, relieving people of their responsibility to choose for or against God. Dostoyevsky concluded his parable with frightening words: "And the people rejoiced that they were again led like sheep and that the terrible gift that brought them such suffering (freedom) was at last lifted from their hearts.” For this, says the Inquisitor, he deserves execution, because if sin and the continued existence of evil are the prices of freedom, then freedom is overrated.
None of these reflections should deter us from recognizing the value of the temptation narrative in dealing with the temptations of a human life.
Some scholars and preachers have sought to interpret Jesus’ temptations in light of 1 John 2:16. Employing this interpretive tool, the “desire of the flesh” equates with the devil’s test to turn a stone into bread (v. 3); the “desire of the eyes” aligns with the temptation to rule over all the kingdoms of the world (vv. 5-6); and the “pride in riches” [or “pride of life”] purportedly agrees with the devil’s taunt that Jesus will suffer no harm irrespective of whatever suicidal choice he might entertain (vv. 9-11). To be sure, the last correspondence is less obvious in the NRSV, but restating it clarifies the parallel between 1 John and the last temptation. Specifically, the devil hopes Jesus will challenge God, to test God and the limits of God’s protection (i.e., the devil attempts to entice Jesus with the claim that God’s “riches” are owed to him).
If we follow this rubric, we could say that the devil attacked on three levels: the flesh, money and power. For our purposes, it is easier (and more relevant to our times), to say that the three most common temptations we face today are sex, money and power. Sex: it is virtually impossible for anyone using a computer these days not to see images they wish they had not seen, and many people, women included, become addicted to this habit. Moreover, marriages face enormous challenges from the sex-crazed culture in which we live. Money and the making of it are also huge temptations. The love of money can lure us away from our families, so that when our children graduate from high school we scarcely know who they are. Power, likewise, is a driving force in our lives, for who would not like a promotion and would not work harder and longer hours to get it? The sermon, then, is a survey of the temptations that we face, and it concludes with the gospel, the good news, that there is a remedy: the word of God. “I treasure your word in my heart so that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11).
The 15th century German devotional writer Thomas à Kempis wrote about these detours when he said, "For first there cometh to the mind a bare thought of evil, then a strong imagination thereof, afterwards delight, an evil motion and then consent. And so little by little our wicked enemy getteth complete entrance because he is not resisted in the beginning."[2] The sin for Adam and Eve was not in seeing in the forbidden fruit, but in the desire, the taking of it, and the eating it. David did not sin in seeing Bathsheba, but he did in the plot he conspired to lay with her.
This story makes it clear that whereas the first parents in the garden and the people of God in the wilderness succumbed to temptation, Jesus did not. We see that solitude has its temptations. Just because we are alone does not mean temptation ceases. It fact, precisely in our solitude we may experience the worst temptations. Jesus entered the public phase of his vocation wrestling with profound temptation, even if they are unique to him. It may well be that he serves as an example to us all that as we emerge into young adult life and hear our calling in life, we can expect profound temptations unique to us as well that would amount to abandoning our call. Temptation came to Jesus in his moment of physical need and in a sense his poverty. He was famished. Times of physical need in our lives provide the temptation to do that which we know is wrong to satisfy our need. Necessity may actually be a temptation away from genuine trust in what God is doing with us. At the same time, holy places are not prote3ction from temptation. Wealth and power may entice many of us. this story reminds us that a wrong use of scripture can be source of temptation. It reminds us that scripture, properly understood, interpreted, and applied, will be a primary way to adopt the path of Jesus and resist temptation. Of course, any victory we may enjoy in the tests of life is temporary. The one tempting us departs, we may feel divine comfort, but temptation will return as new circumstances arise.[3] So we, like Jesus, must keep deciding afresh, albeit in different circumstances, whether we will be who God calls us to be or something less. It can be hard to see it when we're standing at a fork, but we're actually more fulfilled when we make the choices that demand our best.
We need to recover moral vocabulary. People achieve character through self-combat. Moral realism recognizes that we are sinners made of crooked timber, capable of great good but deeply flawed. The inner struggle against our own weaknesses is the central human drama. Our acceptance of a form of moral romanticism suggests we can achieve the good life without such self-combat. We can achieve the good life through self-liberation and self-expression. Our emphasis is upon personal feelings as a guide to right and wrong. We no longer have the intellectual framework for how to build character. Augustine deeply desired fame and status but found that these things did not make him happy. Nothing he was accomplishing as a philosopher was giving him the contentment he desired. Left to ourselves, we often desire the wrong things. At some level, we know we should choose one thing but end up choosing another We understand our long-term interest but end up pursuing short-term pleasures. Even good things such as friendship will leave us unsatisfied if something higher does not attach itself the friendship. In the end, Augustine turned to God and said, "Our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee." Nothing in this world will give us the rest and the peace that only God can give.[4] This is why Jesus said no to authority over all the kingdoms of the world, and yes to worshiping and serving God alone.
This story exposes us to the important spiritual practice of forgoing what suits us to focus more faithfully on what serves God. This sort of discipline nurtures our capacity to subordinate confidently our wills to God’s will. This story has the further concern of strengthening our wills to withstand forces that would weaken our commitment to the sacred. Temptation suggests the possibility of something luring us away from our goal, from what is best for us, and from what God wants for us. I suppose that if such dangers showed up and said to us, “I am dangerous,” life would be much simpler. Such is not the case. In fact, temptation often comes in quite ordinary forms.
We know what it is like to be tempted. We know what it is like to have a hunger for something we want — something that others might say we need — but that we know will serve only to distract or derail us. Click on that questionable Web site. Spend that extra dollar. Talk trash behind the back of this coworker. Sleep in on Sunday. Eat the doughnut. Ignore the kids. The list is endless. Temptation is everywhere. Moreover, like the smell of great street food when your stomach is empty, its pull is strong. The truth is that Jesus is not the only one who has Satan whispering in his ear, as we read in Luke 4.
So, what do we do about temptation? How do we fight temptation and stay on track?
First, it begins with understanding what temptation truly is. Some people see temptation as evil. Many Christians would answer that being tempted is a sin. Moreover, the result of that idea is followers of Jesus worrying about the strength of their faith or the fullness of God’s Spirit in their lives because they feel the pull toward selling out to sin. However, when we look at the Scriptures, we see that this is not true at all.
Temptation was a part of life on God’s planet even before everything fell apart and sin entered the picture through the disobedience of Adam and Eve in Genesis chapter 3. Likewise, we read of Jesus being tempted, and yet the Scriptures tell us he committed no wrong, that he “knew no sin” (II Corinthians 5:21). Thus, we must not think terribly of ourselves just because something tempts us. It simply means you are human.
This is not to say that we should not take temptation seriously. It may not be a sin, but it is a tool of the devil who, Scripture tells us, is “prowling around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour” (I Peter 5:8, ESV). In addition, if Satan can lure you in through subtle temptation or an overt call to crazy sin, he will do it. Again, just look at Jesus. If the devil is bold enough to try to fool the Son of God, you and I will surely not intimidate him.
Satan’s goal is always the same: to pull us away from a life that gives glory to God in exchange for a life of gratifying ourselves.
A father told his son not to go swimming. It was not long until the father caught him swimming. “I didn’t mean to go swimming,” pleaded the boy. “So why did you bring your bathing suit?” the father asked. “Oh,” replied the boy, “I brought it along just in case I was tempted.”[5]
One man admits: while my wife and I were shopping at a mall kiosk, a shapely young woman in a short, form-fitting dress strolled by. My eyes followed her. Without looking up from the item, she was examining, my wife asked, “Was it worth the trouble you’re in?”
At morning worship, a pastor announced to the congregation that the bishop had just appointed him to another church. After the service, a woman came up to him and expressed her dismay at his leaving. "Oh, I'm sure the bishop will send you someone who's a far better preacher and pastor than I am." "No," the woman replied, "that won't happen and that can't happen." The pastor's instincts should have told him, "Don't go there." Instead, he asked, "Why not?" "Because I've been here for five pastors now, and each one was worse than the next."
Temptation can come in many forms. Here is what others have said about temptation:
· I never resist temptation, because I have found that things that are bad for me do not tempt me. - George Bernard Shaw
· Temptation is the fire that brings up the scum of the heart. -William Shakespeare
· I generally avoid temptation unless I cannot resist it. -Mae West
· Yield to temptation. It may not pass your way again. -Robert A. Heinlein
· The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little. -Thomas Merton
· Lead me not into temptation; I can find the way myself. -Rita Mae Brown
· No temptation can ever be measured by the value of its object. -Colette
· What makes resisting temptation difficult for many people is they do not want to discourage it completely. -Franklin P. Jones
· Lead us not into temptation. Just tell us where it is; we will find it. -Sam Levenson
· Those who flee temptation generally leave a forwarding address. -Lane Olinghouse
You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it. -Margaret Thatcher
There are several good protections against temptation, but the surest is cowardice. -Mark Twain
Scrawled on a wall were the words: “Life is one contradiction after another.” Written in another hand underneath was, “No, it’s not.”
The story of the temptation invites us to become better acquainted with ourselves. What are the things that tempt us to become less than what God intended us to be. C.S. Lewis once said, “Most Christians don’t know temptation because we only give in to it. It is in fighting temptation that we learn what it is.” Louis Pasteur said, “When the time to perform arrives, the time to prepare is past. Chance favors only the mind that is prepared.” One of the best ways to overcome temptation, then, is to prepare ahead of time. If we can identify the things that tempt us, we can avoid the places where we may find them. In the case when temptation surprises us, we can have an exit plan in place. Only one who flings oneself upward when the pull comes to drag one down can hope to break the force of temptation. Temptation may seek to pull us down to hell, but temptation is also an opportunity to move upward toward heaven. In the moment of temptation, sin and righteousness are both very near.[6]
In the gospel story of Jesus, we know Jesus first by what he refuses to do. This is the very beginning. These are the first words we hear from Jesus as an adult. In addition, this first word is "no." Sometimes, “no” is a good, beautiful, and even courageous word. No is an exceedingly small word, while at the same time a revealing one. It shows us our limits. We may say yes to many things, but yes does not show where the limit is. When will we stop? Refusal, saying no, is our way of saying, “I am not going that far. I will not cross that line.”
We live in a culture willing to say yes to almost everything. We live in a political environment in which the federal government can say “yes” to anything. Do we as Christians have any limits? Will we say no to anything?
I think a part of us recognizes that we cannot always say yes. We value those who say No at the right time. I think of persons like Mother Teresa and Gandhi. Sometimes we are attracted to such people and their ability to renounce the things for which we so desperately seek.
Satan is now waiting for a more "opportune time" to assault Jesus with more temptation. We wonder when our "more opportune time" will come.
I have a suggestion about that time. This story suggests that Satan's "opportune time" is that time when life when offers us something that seems so right, so self-evidently good, that there is no need even to question its value. It will be something that nine out of ten persons think is good. Satan may even quote Scripture to us! In addition, the temptation to say yes, to affirm all that is brightest and best within us. In that moment, we may not have the personal resources to say anything but yes. On the other hand, we might remember this story. We may not have the Bible verses memorized or the theology straight, but we will be able to say one little word. That little world will be No. It will be enough.
The goal of temptation, just like with Jesus, is to pull you off the mission of living a life that is obedient to God and gives glory to God. Instead, Satan wants you to walk through life scratching every sinful itch and ultimately just gratifying yourself. The hope is that if he can get you to do it enough, he can get you off God’s team altogether.
For example, we are physical creatures, and thus require food and drink to live. The temptation that confronts us is whether we have concern only for our own physical needs, or where we also have concern for the needs of others.
Everyone has some power or influence over others. The power we have means that we have responsibility for how we live our lives. The temptation that confronts us is whether we will use the power we have for God. Power tempts us toward accumulating it for ourselves, instead of learning to give it away to others. The Jewish expectation was that the Messiah would come in power. Yet, he came as a servant.
This world is full of quite common, ordinary things. Our temptation is to expect that God will disrupt the ordinary course of life with the extraordinary, especially when to do so might lead to our popularity, wealth, or relief from suffering. The Jewish expectation was that the Messiah would intervene in the history of Israel in a dramatic way. Yet, he came fully human. The Messiah would live as a servant, and then die like anyone else.
Much of a well-lived human life is discerning when to say “No.” So much of our society wants us to say “Yes” to everything we want. It will take some discernment to see the temptation.
Considering Luke 4:1-13, perhaps the key to our giving up and girding up is to make and renew our commitment to giving over — giving over ourselves to the priority of trusting God and serving God’s purposes. Because in doing so, we connect ourselves to holiness that equips us with the spiritual wherewithal to better focus both on what suits God and on how to withstand any assault designed to weaken that focus. The devil is a worthy adversary but no match for the advocacy of Jesus. Jesus connected himself to the one from whom all blessings flow. In the end, all the devil can offer is nothing worth having in the first place, no matter how tempting. To whom and to what is our sense of worth most faithfully connected?
[1] (For more on the Old Testament view of Satan, see Peggy Day, An Adversary in Heaven: Satan in the Hebrew Bible [Harvard Semitic Monographs 43; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1988] and Elaine Pagels, The Origin of Satan [New York: Random House, 1995]).
[2] à Kempis, Thomas. "On resisting temptations." The Imitation of Christ.
[3] George Whitefield, Sermon 17, "The Temptation of Christ."
[4] The Road to Character, David Brooks. --David Lapp, "Why the road to character matters for middle America," Family Studies, May 27, 2015, family-studies.org.
[5] ―Anonymous.
[6] Only he who flings himself upward when the pull comes to drag him down, can hope to break the force of temptation. Temptation may be an invitation to hell, but much more is it an opportunity to reach heaven. At the moment of temptation, sin and righteousness are both very near the Christian; but, of the two, the latter is the nearer. —Charles Brent (1862-1929).
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