Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.' But he answered, 'It is written, "One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."' Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, '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."' Jesus said to him, 'Again it is written, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test."' Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour; and he said to him, 'All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.' 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 upon him. (From: Matthew 4:1-11, NRSV)
This passage was the subject of my Masters dissertation in Applied Theology, during the 1990s. The theme of the work was Social Auditing and I found the claim that these temptations are unique to Jesus as somewhat misleading. These are temptations for managers as much as they are for Messiahs.
The devil is trying to tie Jesus to the standards of Scripture. He presents each option to Jesus; they are indeed what all reasonable people would expect of a Messiah. Jesus rejects them all, using scripture in his own way. He departs from the wilderness with no plans and no powers, just open to where God might lead and willing to deal with whatever happens.
Comments