They were secret tests that I gave to anyone with whom I had a date. They were not quizzes or tasks that needed completion. Rather, both tests required only observation.
The first test consisted of this: when my date and I were in a restaurant, I would simply take note if my date would smile at children or not. Would they smile at the baby trying to make faces, or would they ignore them as background noise?
The second test was similar: when eating, I would take note if my date smiled at the wait staff or not.
Of course, I knew that my date would be focused on me. That was a given. (I do not intend that to be as incredibly self-absorbed as it sounds.) What I did not know is if my date was self-absorbed. Were they selfish? Did they notice or care about others?
Caring about others was important to me as I considered the people that I wanted to spend a great deal of time around; therefore, I implemented the child and wait staff test. It was a test that got right to the question of the person’s identity. Just who do they think they are? Are they compassionate and empathetic.
Just so you know, my wife, Randele, passed with flying colors.
So too, the tests from Satan are tests of Jesus’ identity. Does he care about God or himself? What values might he be willing to abandon to get what he wants? How will he use his divine power? Did God choose well in sending Jesus?
And so, during Jesus’ 40 days of fasting, when he was filled with the Spirit yet was at his weakest and most vulnerable physically, Satan approached Jesus with some temptations. It was a test.
"Since you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread," Satan tempts.
Will Jesus trust in God’s provision, or will he provide for himself?
I want you to note just how insidious this temptation is. Jesus is tempted with a value that many people hold very high: self-accomplishment. "Help yourself." "You want it to happen? Make it happen!" He could do it after-all; make the stone a loaf of bread. And, if you throw in a little of the “but you actually need this to survive” into the temptation, it is a very compelling temptation indeed.
But, Jesus knows that it is God who provides. It is God who gives life. Bread feeds for a few hours, God provides for life, and beyond. “One does not live by bread alone,” Jesus answers. Jesus knows who he is and whose he is. He will not be so easily shaken.
But, what if you could shape the world? What if you had been given the power to feed all the hungry, seek justice for those who have been trampled, and heal all the wounded? What would you trade in life so that those things might be accomplished in the world? How about just accomplished your own town? What if a mob boss said that you could control the entire town and do all the good that you wanted with unlimited funds as long as you trusted him to provide your protection. Is it a deal?
When Jesus is presented with power over the world, Jesus answers Satan, "Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”
Again, Jesus identity is rooted in God. He puts his treasure and trust in heaven…in God. Therefore, that is where his heart remains. Jesus will not be swayed.
But, what if everyone could see what Jesus knew to be true? He is God’s Son. Would not his mission to bring good news to the poor and to free the captive be that much easier?
So, Satan brings Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem and tempts Jesus to jump off. After-all, God promises in Psalm 91 that God’s people will be protected and that God’s angels will “guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.”
What a spectacular sight that would be to the people gathered there: Jesus jumping in faith and angels coming to his rescue. What an incredible sign of divine favor upon Jesus, especially in the eyes of the temple elite, if God’s angels swooped in to save him from his fall.
But, that dream of an easy ministry and an easy life without pain and strife does not come to pass. Instead, when Jesus is raised up high, it is on a cross. Those same leaders that might have been impressed by such a temple feat, scoff at Jesus saying, “He saved others, let him save himself if he is God’s Son.” Jesus does not succumb to this last minute temptation of saving himself from the cross either, because he knows who he is and whose he is.
Jesus will not let anyone tempt him away from who he is and what he cares about. Jesus is true to God, Jesus is true to God’s plan for him, and Jesus is true to us. Though he could have, though he was tempted to, Jesus does not escape his death on the cross. His love of us was greater than his love for himself. His desire that we have hope that sin and death can be overcome was greater than anything else. Jesus would have passed my restaurant test with flying colors.
Satan did not have to use these temptations, of course: bread, power, and public recognition mingled with safety. Satan could have tempted with beauty, wealth, and security. Satan could have deluged Jesus with ads on television that tried to convince that him was not good enough, secure enough, smart enough, or handsome enough…that he needs to be more than God created him to be…that he needs to trust in skin cream rather than God, or that he needs to trust in a politician rather than the almighty.
But, Jesus is good enough, and smart enough, and looks just as God created him to look; handsome or not. Jesus does not fall for it and Satan walks away. Jesus knows who he is and whose he is. Jesus is God’s Son, the beloved. He does not forget that fact.
Sometimes we do. Sometimes we forget that we are good enough. God did create us and call us good after-all, we just forget. That is why we keep coming to church, I think, because, we need to be reminded every week that we are God’s people. We are the people who Jesus chose to redeem. We are the people who are loved by God no matter what. We are the people who have been saved by Grace, oh “how sweet the sound.” We are the people who have been given a mission of love and healing and freeing those who are bound up. We are a people who have a purpose given to us by God. We are God’s people.
As God's people, we come to church so that we do not forget under the barrage of messages that tempt us away from God and tempt us to trust something or someone else.
We come to be reminded of the waters splashed on our bodies…the waters of baptism that claim us and hold us in God’s love forever. We come so that we might remind each other to put our trust in the one who saved us, Jesus Christ our Lord.
You are enough. You are a child of God. Trust that. Temptation need not make you think otherwise. Trust in God.
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