Tempted?

After Jesus was baptised by John, the Spirit descended upon him, and a voice from heaven proclaimed him God’s beloved Son … following which he is led straight into the wilderness. (see Matthew 3:13 – 4:11). We know that he fasted for forty days and nights, and Matthew records that after this he was hungry. This might seem obvious, why exactly would Matthew note this? I think it is crucial for what follows. The tempter uses that hunger to try to persuade him to turn stones into bread, starting with the words ‘if you are the Son of God …’, going straight in, with a suggestion that what happened at the Baptism may not be true. Is Jesus really God’s son? Here’s a way you can check … only the Son of God can turn stones into bread. It is a tactic that has a long history of success, beginning in the Garden of Eden, when the serpent tempts Eve to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree, with the suggestion that it will be good for her. But Jesus is ready to respond. Yes, he is hungry, and yes, he could have turned stones into bread for himself. But he knows well that people do not live on bread only, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Here the tempter shows himself capable of adjusting tactics; he takes Jesus to the top of the temple and suggests he throws himself off, quoting Scripture to show that God will save him. Again, the element of doubt is brought in with the words if you are the Son of God. Again, Jesus shows he knows Scripture better than the tempter, quoting a piece that says you shall not put God to the test. Now, the tempter seems to have given up on that element of doubt; taking Jesus to a high mountain, the tempter shows him all the kingdoms of the world, stating that Jesus will be given all of them if he will worship the tempter. Again, Jesus resists, banishing the tempter by quoting from Scripture that we should only worship the Lord our God.

Now I am assuming that these were real temptations for Jesus. It suggests that Jesus was exploring what it meant to be the Son of God, and that the tempter knew this by introducing that moment of doubt. How tempting was that vision of the world for Jesus? What ‘good’ might he thought he could do if he had accepted the tempter’s offer? But he does not. Moreover, that offer was not a real one; whatever the tempter might have thought, the world belongs to God, so the whole of the last temptation is built on a lie.

Actually, all three temptations are false, and twist the truth. We would do well to examine this passage, not so much with Jesus’ temptations in mind, as with ourselves and what we can learn from them. Let us start with the tempter’s tactics. The first temptation uses Jesus’ hunger, a basic physical need, to try to turn Jesus away from his true path. Then there is that moment of doubt, twisting the truth that we know: is this true? Are you really a Christian? does God actually love you? Here’s a way you can make certain… There is also that use of Scripture; just because the bible is quoted at us, it does not mean that it is a way we should follow. It is very easy to take verses out of context, and distort them to say what we want them to. What is the passage, the book actually telling us? Do we know the historical background? Some of this may take more study than we have time for, although there are many good resources out there to help, but it also highlights the need to talk to other people. Finally, we need to remember that the tempter will lie to us, will twist the truth. The tempter does not want our good, and does not want us to follow Jesus, and will do all possible to ensure we stop, that we turn aside or, if those are not possible, to erode and twist our faith and our commitment. These temptations are serious, and are something we should all be aware of. Talking to a pastor, spiritual director and/or a wise friend can help us recognise these moments.

How did Jesus resist the tempter? Every time, he quoted from Scripture; specifically, he used the book of Deuteronomy. The first quote is from Deuteronomy 8:3; the second from Deuteronomy 6:16 and the last from Deuteronomy 6: 13. Reading through Deuteronomy 6-8 highlights something of what is happening here. It is a passage that talks of the need for the early Israelites to worship only the Lord their God, and not follow after false Gods. I think there are two things we can learn from this. Firstly, to increase our knowledge of the bible as a whole, rather than just popular passages, to enhance our ability to see the tempter’s lies, and to keep following Jesus as we are called to. Secondly, the focus of the passage; I do not think it irrelevant that Matthew finishes this passage with the quote about worshipping only God. (Luke has the last two temptations reversed). We are called to worship and serve only the Lord our God. That should be the increasing focus of our lives, and it is that the tempter tries to disrupt. We can use those times when we are tempted to deepen our understanding of what leads us astray, and to deepen our following of our Lord. Even if we fall into temptation, and we will, we can come back to God in sorrow, and learn from our experience, so that increasingly our priorities are in line with those of Jesus: to worship only the Lord our God.