Luke 4:1-13 After his baptism, Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread." Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.’"
Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, "To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours." Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’"
Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’" Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.
Reflection If ever we needed to pause and ponder who we are and how we want to be in the midst of the current geopolitical crisis, now is the time. Now is the time to be brutally honest with ourselves and with each other, to hold ourselves to account for the ways we have individually and collectively succumbed to the devilish temptation to revere power as our principle motive for life. For as long as power is our passion and persuasion there will be no lasting peace.
Mahatma Gandhi writes, “The day the power of love overrules the love of power the world will know peace.” For far too long, far too many of us have been seduced by the devil’s temptations to chase, accumulate and misuse power. Today we see the consequence erupting around the globe. What are we to do?
Immediately following his baptism, Jesus was praying, and “the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’ (Luke 3.22) Jesus is praying when he experiences the Spirit coming upon him and a voice assuring him he is the beloved of God, he is chosen. This sets the stage for Jesus’ temptations.
This is an experience that could make some one like me be full of my self, feel powerful and chosen. I can imagine myself saying, “You will not believe what just happened. I heard God tell me, ’You are my beloved daughter. With you I am pleased!’” I must be very special.” There is little doubt that I would be tempted to think rather highly of myself, to fancy myself in some elevated position of power, prestige or spirit and if not that, then to second guess the experience. “Alright God, if that is really you would you please give me a sign to prove it?”
Thankfully this story is not about me. It is about how Jesus’ dazzling religious experience is made concrete and unyielding as he handily foils the devil’s temptations.
The first temptation. “Jesus, if you are the son of God, prove it. Use your power for personal gain.” That is what the emperors Tiberius and Augustus did. That is what we see graphically happening today in Ukraine and a bit more like a snake in the grass happening in these United States today. Turning to scripture to be guided by wisdom greater than himself. Jesus recalls the story of his hungry ancestors, wandering in the desert for forty years, complaining about their grievous situation and mysteriously fed manna. With God life trumps exceeds power used for personal gain.
The second temptation. “Jesus, if you sell your soul to the devil you can have power over the kingdoms of the world.” Jesus is neither duped nor seduced because he understands real power is with God and not executed over people. Again referring to wisdom revealed in scripture, Jesus silences the devil declaring, God is the only One to be worshipped. Humility trumps ill begotten power.
The third temptation is an interesting twist. This time the devil uses scripture, cherry picking verses to cajole Jesus into testing God which has an ironic effect. Instead of confounding the devil with scripture this time Jesus claims his own authority, “It is said, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’" Jesus stands firmly in his authority grounded in his unshakable faith in God. Faith in God’s faithfulness trumps barbarian power.
All three temptations address the issue of power; misusing power for personal gain, selling our souls for access to power over others and failing to put our faith in the incontrovertible power of God. Jesus shows us the way to foil the devil’s temptations and do our part to change our culture from a politics of power to a politics of love so that we may look forward to “The day the power of love overrules the love of power…. and we will know peace.”
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