Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After he fasted forty days and forty nights he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread.” But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:1-4 NET)
No sooner did the Spirit of God descend on Jesus at His baptism, then that same Spirit led Him into the desert to be tested. If you've never noticed that before, it's a stunning idea -- the Spirit led Jesus to the testing. In fact, even if you have noticed it before, it's still one of those thoughts that can stop you cold.
Reading on, the word famished really jumps off the page. Jesus is really, really hungry. It's only at that point that the tempter shows up. To me that means that the temptation, whatever it is exactly, is a very real as it relates to hunger. Jesus was so hungry He could turn stones into bread.
What I typically see next is what I'll call "The Big Lesson for Facing Temptation". It's the lesson I've heard preached a lot. Probably you too. It's the lesson I've even taught. Jesus foils the tempter using Scripture, so it's important that we know the Bible. (Hear those last three words in an ominous voice-over -- know the Bible.) Well, okay, that's true, but really, what if I don't have a perfect Scripture handy? Am I going down to defeat? And why did that particular verse foil Satan? And what was the actual temptation Jesus was facing?
For years, the power of the big lesson overwhelmed those questions. I didn't even think to ask them, let alone answer them. This was the message I heard (not necessarily the one spoken): Jesus was tempted; even though He was tempted, He didn't give in; His knowledge of God's Word rescued Him from the temptation. And we can overcome temptation too, by knowing what God wants us to know, to be, and to do, which means we need to "be in the Word". (That's another one of those funny language things.)
And all of the big lesson is absolutely true. But what was the temptation for Jesus? He was the Son of God, right? Was the temptation that even though He could do it and could really use the bread, that He shouldn't do it because the devil suggested it to Him? That sounds right, but somehow incomplete. If it is incomplete, how would you fully answer the question of the exact temptation Jesus faced? And what the significance of His answer was? And what about the other two temptations? Same questions.
What do you think? No, really, I'm asking, what do you think? Instead of my answers I want yours, so add your comments to this post.
2 comments:
This isn't original with me. It shows up in The Brothers Karamazov in the famous section called The Grand Inquisitor. The setting was the middle ages during the Inquisition, and it so happened that Jesus came back. Of course he was was captured as a heretic and brought before the Pope. The Pope had to condemn Jesus, because, as he explained it, Jesus' message failed. The basic idea was that Jesus was supposed to use bread to build his kingdom, i.e. win the crowds over by giving them bread. It's a popular message, as we see in the feeding of the 5,000. The Pope explained that Jesus' message was too hard for the average person; it just wasn't right to preach a gospel that most were incapable of following. And, as the Pope noted, history has borne out his point; the true followers of Jesus were few, whereas the established church was sometimes able to adapt and win a crowd.
Being written in Russia in the 1870's from an Orthodox Church perspective, it seems the looming shadow of communism was partially behind the story. But nevertheless, in every age it seems you will find a verson of the "cheap gospel". Satan is still at work.
I had to think about this for a while to see the connection to the temptations Jesus faced. If I understand what you're saying, Robb, it's that Satan's temptations for Jesus were to shortcut both the gospel He presented, and the road He had to travel, leading ultimately to the cross. In the case of turning stones to bread, the temptation for Jesus was to use His power to satisfy His own hunger, and not use His faith that God would satisfy it. Similarly, He could have used His powers as a shortcut, even as a way of showing His Messiah-ship, bypassing the cross. And in so doing, bypassing the part of discipleship that involves taking up our cross.
Well, maybe that's not what Dostoevsky meant, but I think that is what this temptation was all about.
A side note on stones and bread. Jesus talks about a father not handing his child a stone when he asked for bread. This comparison between bread and stones was probably common because of the similarity of the limestone rocks in the wilderness to the look of little loaves of bread. I've seen a picture of this, but can't put my hands on one right now.
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