Matthew 4: 1-11
The question that faced Jesus in his temptations was how
would he lead people to God?
Would he be a mighty conqueror?
As
mighty conqueror, he could force people to serve him – or lure them into
service with impressive acts or with force.
Would he adopt the method of patient, sacrificial love?
As a patient teacher, he would
speak to others and answer their questions and address their needs. As one who
loved sacrificially, he would give of himself – his power for healing, his
energy and time, and ultimately his life.
Read 4:1-11
About the text :
œ
The Greek word used is peirazein
means to TEST. The scriptures we
read uses the word TEMPT, which has somewhat of a negative connotation –
temptation is associated with an option to entice people into sin or to do
wrong.
For
example, think about when Abraham took Isaac to the altar to sacrifice him.
Abraham was not TEMPTED to sacrifice his son. God was testing Abraham, so peirazein meaning makes a
difference.
Let’s look at the events in the
dessert as a TEST of Jesus rather than a TEMPTATION. How does that change things? I don’t know if it changes things, except that it might
change how we know and understand Jesus.
As I consider this as a temptation, I realize that it must really be a
temptation for Jesus – in other words: Jesus could actually consider making the other choice. He was truly tempted to change the
stones into bread. If it wasn’t a
possibility, then it wouldn’t have been a temptation. It is not a temptation for me to decline mangos. I don’t like mangos, so I can’t be
tempted with them.
When
I think of the events in the dessert as TESTS, then I realize that Jesus could
succeed or fail in response to the questions. Again, it wouldn’t have been a test if there wasn’t the
potential for him to choose either option.
œ
This test occurred in the wilderness.
Jesus was totally alone. Interesting to note, Christ himself must have been the source of information to
others about this event in the desert he was completely alone. So the disciples that wrote about it in
the gospels had heard Jesus share his experiences. A primary source to be sure! Christ had to be the one to
tell anyone about his struggle in the wilderness.
Please consider your tendencies in
relating to others and in how you spend your time. Do we ever resist being alone and facing our thoughts or
tests? Why would we do that? What does being alone look like in our
world today? What are our
temptations and tests today? Maybe you have a child that just does not like to
be alone. Or maybe you know someone who admits that he/she does not like to
ever be alone. One of my former students was talking to me
one time about her mission trip to India, and how the toughest part of the
whole project was overcoming her fear of being alone. Not fear for her safety, but just fear at having to stay
alone in a missionary house, fear of not being able to communicate and being so
alone with herself.
œ
Christ was tempted through his strengths.
He had miraculous powers, he controlled life and he was a ruler.
·
We will be tempted through our strengths. For
example - grace, charm, generosity, work ethic. So how can these positive qualities be twisted into
something that could be negative… a temptation? When I am teaching literature,
and we are studying characters, we talk about the virtue/vice paradox. The very thing that is your virtue
(your strength) can also be your vice (your temptation.) For example, to have a positive work
ethic is considered a very good thing, but what if your drive to work hard
overtakes you and you become a workaholic and you neglect God and your
family? Or what if you are a very
generous person, but after others comment on your generosity you begin to act a
bit smug or condescending to others whom you gift or whom you want to impress?
1st temptation. The devil appears to a tired
Jesus after 40 days of fasting.
And he suggests to Jesus that he should change the nearby stones to
bread. This would gratify Christ’s
need for food to end his fast. And… think about this. Christ could then also use bread to draw hungry people to
him, and they would worship him and thank him for the gift of bread. However, this doesn’t work because then
people would be bribed to Christianity. And Christianity should be about giving
and not getting.When Christ responds to Satan and says that ‘Man shall not live
by bread alone,’ he not only resisted the temptation and passed the test, but
he was explaining that others should be attracted to him for the spiritual life
that he had to offer them.
Now, as we discussed in our time together on Wednesday
night, I am not sure how this shakes out with the feeding of the 5000 on the
shores of Galilee. Jesus basically
‘invented’ bread for all of those hungry people. But as Barbara pointed out, when he left and then came back
across the lake, he did not multiply bread for the people again when they
asked. The two differences that I thought about are (1) the stones to bread was
in a solitary situation and (2) the devil was the one asking him to change the
stones to bread. The feeding of
the 5000 was in response to a physical need the people had and he multiplied
bread from bread.
2nd temptation: Satan suggests that Jesus could
throw himself down from the pinnacle of the temple but then save himself from
death. This would have been
impressive for people to see – very sensational. However, sensationalism does not last, and people would just
want more and more to continue their belief in Jesus. So Jesus cites another scripture (Duet 6:16) and reminds
Satan that we should not put God to the test on our behalf.
3rd temptation: Satan offers that if Jesus will
fall down and workshop him, that he would give Jesus all the kingdoms of the
world. Jesus wanted followers. He wanted everyone in the world to see
The Truth and to accept him as the Son of God and to inherit eternal life. So, it must have been a temptation for
Jesus to decline this offer of compromise from Satan. As I think about the temptation, it seems audacious that the
devil would suppose to offer Jesus a throne! Jesus is THE one with the power
and omnipotence, but Satan was trying to confuse him in his weakness and get
him to compromise his deity by worshipping Satan instead of God the Father.
[This makes me wonder what we compromise in our lives/world
today…]
No comments:
Post a Comment