Temptation #1:
"If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."
There are very few things that I “need right now” in order to make my life better. But, if you know me at all you can probably guess one of them: chocolate. I “need” chocolate. I need its silky smoothness to make my day perfect. I need it so much that eating just one is not good enough. Not only do I need a peanut butter cup, but I also need the smoothness of a plain chocolate bar, along with a handful of M&Ms, and of course half a package of Oreos. If I am honest with myself, all this “needed” chocolate has never made my life perfect. Perhaps, it has made my minute of eating it better, but my problems still persist the minute after I swallow those empty calories.
The problem with all of my “needed” things is that none of them have ever come close to healing my soul. None of them filled me with the true bread of life. Jesus was not fooled. Could his famished body have used some bread after fasting for 40 days? Of course! Did he need it more than he needed his Heavenly Father? No. Jesus said, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Only there will we find the nourishment for which our soul hungers.
Temptation #2:
"If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up,so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'"
We are encouraged to trust God for everything in life, but can we really know for a fact that God will save us? Perhaps, we are just fooling ourselves and hurting ourselves in the end by trusting that which may not exist? That is the doubt lingering behind this temptation, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. Does not God love you enough to save you from all danger and harm? Make your Heavenly Father prove his devotion.” Wouldn’t it be nice to have the love of our God, our parents, our spouses, even our friends, proven beyond a shadow of a doubt? Wouldn’t it be nice to set up a test of that love by seeing how far they will go to keep us safe? “Well, would God really send angels to catch me before I am dashed upon the rocks? Let me jump and see.” “If I make my husband a little jealous, does he love me enough to win me back? Let me jump and see.” If I get sick enough, will my parents abandon everything and everyone else in their lives to get me better? Let me jump and see.” “If I stop calling my best friend, does she love me enough to keep calling me until I answer again? Let me jump and see.” That sort of proof would make a relationship so much less confusing and painful – until the test fails of course and you find yourself crushed on the hard rock below! If Jesus had succumbed to the devil’s challenge and jumped, he would not have been proving his trust in God’s promises, he would have been proving a lack of trust in God. I have learned that the fastest way to push someone away, is to constantly be testing their love and concern for you whenever you feel a slight doubt. You test it enough, and one day they just may quit caring in order to save themselves the emotional pain you continually cause them.
Instead of testing his Heavenly Father’s faithfulness, Jesus proves that he can trust God’s promises. Jesus answered the Devil, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test." And, he chose not to jump.
Temptation #3:
"All these kingdoms I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me."
“Fall down and worship me and you can have all this! You won’t have to work for it. You won’t have to hang around those stupid disciples, all those nasty sick people, or those filthy poor people! You can be King of Kings and Lord of Lords with one small bow!” Who doesn’t want things to be a little easier? Winning the lottery would be wonderful; debt-free in an instant! Or how about dropping the extra 60 pounds we have put on over the years in just a month or two, or even faster if we go under the knife! Wouldn’t it be great to start making thousands of dollars every week working from your own home all while sitting on a lawn chair drinking a martini on your perfectly manicured lawn? If we have a baby, our marriage will be so much happier! I can just take more vitamins to counter-act the stress in my life!
I think we all learn the hard way that hardly anything in life comes easy. The Israelites thought that leaving Egypt would solve all their problems; but Egyptian domination was only part of their problem. The real problem of worshipping the wrong God followed them into their life of freedom, and it bound them up tighter than the Egyptians ever could. We’ve seen this happen time and again with lottery winners. The money doesn’t free them, it only magnifies their real problem, the problem that probably caused them to buy the ticket in the first place: trusting in the wrong thing to save their life.
Jesus chose to continue to worship the only one who gives life and gives it abundantly: his Heavenly Father. “Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'’ Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.”
The most amazing thing about God just happened in those last words, “Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.” God did provide angels to care for Jesus without being put to the test. God does care. God can be trusted. We just didn’t see it until the very end of the story.
I think that Jesus lives his life backwards. He lives his life knowing the end of the story, and it makes all of the difference. He knows that in the end God will provide, so he doesn’t need his life to be run by his wants, or by his insecurity, or by trusting some quick-fix or get rich notions. He knows the end of the story and it makes a huge difference in how he lives his life. With the security of knowing the end, he does trust that God will provide, he does risk his life and tell the truth to those who could harm him, he does serve others rather than himself, and he does give up his life to save the world. He knows the end of the story, and so do we. We know that in the end God provides and that God saves us through the cross. And, knowing this does make a difference.
All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment