Even Jesus Was Tempted
2019년 3월 9일Jesus did not go into the desert to fast and pray for 40 days to make a private retreat in peace and silence. He went to do battle with the devil. Luke’s gospel paints a dramatic picture of that conflict. It starts with the understatement that “Jesus was hungry.” (Ya think?) The devil taunts him by starting out with “If you are the Son of God, command these stones be changed into bread.” It is precisely because Jesus had that power, and he was hungry, that he was tempted. But Jesus responds by quoting scripture: “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” By this Jesus teaches that life is more than just filling our bellies. Only the word of God can fill our deeper, spiritual longing for life’s meaning.
Mindful that Jesus came to establish the kingdom of God, the devil shows him all the kingdoms of the world —because the devil controls these! Here the temptation was to grab power without having to fulfill his mission to overthrow the kingdom of Satan which is built on death. But the devil’s offer comes with a price: worship him. (Remember this the next time you admire someone’s political power.) Jesus reminds the devil that God alone deserves our worship.
The third temptation is remarkable because here the devil himself quotes scripture. (Remember this the next time someone tries to impress you with their knowledge of the Bible.) Yet once again, Jesus defeats Satan by refusing to put God to the test. But this ends on an ominous note: the devil goes away—for a time. This means that Jesus was always tempted to use his divine power for himself, to make his life more comfortable or even to save his life. The thief on the cross tempted Jesus just like the devil did: “If you are the son of God, save yourself and us.” But Jesus realized he did not come to save himself, but to save sinners. And the only way to do that was to attack the very source of Satan’s power: death. May we follow Jesus this Lent by also finding meaning in scripture, worshipping God alone, and using our time and talents to help others.