Temptation

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone.” ’

Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And 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. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is written,

“Worship the Lord your God,

and serve only him.” ’

Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written,

“He will command his angels concerning you,

to protect you”,

and

“On their hands they will bear you up,

so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” ’

Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” ’ When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

- Luke 4:1-13

I find it interesting that, in this gospel, Jesus' first act after his baptism in the Jordan, and the revelation of the Trinity (including Jesus' Sonship), is to go to the wilderness. In one commentary I read, this act of going to the wilderness is seen as a reflection of the Jewish Exodus into the wilderness following "baptism" in the Red Sea. So this Christian beginning of a "new people" starts after baptism and time spent in the wilderness (forty years for Exodus, forty days for Jesus). One presumes this is a time to be alone with God, and to face himself, to gather himself to the task at hand and the beginning of his public ministry, this birth of a new vine. What will that be like?

Luke's gospel says that it is at the end of this forty days in the wilderness that the devil brings these temptations. Interestingly, the temptations parallel three important aspects of Jesus' ministry. First there is the temptation for food (after forty days of fasting). Jesus' reply, One does not live by bread alone, causes me to remember the miracle of the distribution of loaves and fishes to a hungry crowd.

The devil tempts Jesus with power and earthly authority - and I remember that Jesus escaped to the mountaintop from that crowd that wanted to force him to become king after he'd fed them. Jesus will in fact be hailed as a public figure and offered great authority (as when the crowd wished to make him king and also when he was greeted and hailed at Passover Week with palm branches).

Finally, Jesus is taken to the pinnacle of the temple at Jerusalem, and told to prove himself by having the angels save him (and Satan quotes the scriptures in that temptation in order to sow doubt). This prefigures what will happen in Jerusalem, just outside its walls at Golgotha, when Jesus will also be taunted to save himself. In each answer to temptation, Jesus responds with service to God, to truth. He has a job to do, and the temptations - and the attempt to sow self-doubt - are obstacles that are attempted to be thrown in the way of doing what he is here to do, of throwing him off his mission. I remember that the meaning for Satan is "accuser."

I think it's important to understand that when we choose or are willing to follow the truth in our hearts, or are willing to do the right thing, we may also be beseiged by doubts. One can pray for guidance, and seek to know or to feel the right way to choose to go forward within a situation. Getting away alone and praying, one may come to realize a "right way." But often the doubts and fears will go to work on us at just that time: the "shoulds" and the "musts," for example; the world's expectations. You have to eat. You're crazy not to want a position of authority if you want to teach people the right thing. Don't you want to prove to people who you are by some great feat (or miracle)? How do we discern what is the right thing to choose? How do we know when self-doubt is self-delusion?