An enchanting story is told of an elderly woman who lived her life by the motto, “if you can’t say something nice about someone don’t say anything at all.” (I imagine we have each encountered someone like this, maybe we are someone like this.) Somehow this kind woman could always find something nice to say about anyone, no matter who they were or what they were known for! Now this proved to be a creative challenge for her grandchildren, and they would test her often saying “what about so and so?”, and she would come up with something nice. Then one day, they thought they really had her. “Grandma”, one child asked with a wicked grin, “what about the devil?, what do you have to say about him?” She thought for a moment, the children waited and then she replied, “well, you have to say.. he’s always on the job- isn’t he!”
If there is any biblical word that needs virtually no explanation for us today, it is “temptation”. We know of it from biblical stories of Adam and Eve, King David, and others. We know of it from books like the “Scarlet Letter” and from just about any “block buster” movie we may rent. And too much so, we know of it from newspaper headlines. Almost by instinct we come to learn that “temptation” is a negative word, meaning a desire to “be bad” or disobedient.
Temptation today it is often thought of as an alcoholic reaching for one more drink, a teenager doing something stupid in order to fit in, someone pursuing an affair. Often these are things that other people can clearly see would be bad for them, yet somehow they can not see it for themselves. To those who are tempted, it can be very difficult to see the downside of what is so appealingly set before them.
Jesus, however, could clearly see the shortfalls in what was being offered him by the devil. His eyes were open to the reality of the consequences of his choices. As we consider the temptations before Jesus, it may seem like what he faced in no way reflects temptations we may face. Yet every temptation has the same underlying tension. To treat God as less than God, and treat ourselves as something more than human. It was real for Jesus and it is real for us.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes “the Bible is not like a book of edification, telling us many stories of temptations and their overcoming. To be precise, the Bible tells only two temptation stories, the temptation of the first man and the temptation of Christ, that is the temptation which led to man’s fall, and the temptation which led to Satan’s fall. All other temptations in human history have to do with the two stories of temptation. Either the Adam in me is tempted-in which case we fall. Or the Christ in us is tempted – in which case Satan is bound to fall.”
A good friend of mine defines temptation as a choice between “freedom and oppression.”
We speak of temptations as a desire to be disobedient, yet at the heart of temptation is something greater, to treat God as something less than God and to treat ourselves as something more than human. In temptations we choose between God’s will, which leads us to live in the freedom that is intended for each of us, or choosing to live in oppression of our own design, and a distortion of the truth.
As we consider the temptations that Jesus faced, it may be difficult for us to believe that he was truly tempted, because he never did give in. The Christ in him responded always. The part of him that knew his essential identity so he always put God’s will above all else. He chose to live in the freedom of the bounds of belonging to God.
As we face temptation, the Adam within us sometimes prevails and we find ourselves living in a form of oppression that results from our choice. Sometimes that which looks so appealing and perhaps even freeing at first can in fact narrow our world and close in things around us.
While we may not be tempted to turn stones to bread, are we not tempted to question whether God will give us what we need for our daily journey? While we may not be tempted to test God and gravity by jumping off a building, don’t we at times question or doubt God’s helpfulness in times of difficulty? Asking where was God during that last crisis?, Do we forget God’s promise my grace is sufficient for you.
It will always be tempting to give in to the ways of the world, in an effort to achieve whatever goals we may have set for ourselves for our personal or professional lives. There are appealing shortcuts that will present themselves. It is hard to worship and serve God only. That is our calling.
We pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “lead me not into temptation”. For good cause. It is most difficult to be in times of temptation and choice. Many times we are going to make the wrong decision. Jesus was led by the holy spirit to temptation for him to gain a greater sense of his identity. He came away knowing more fully who he was and what he was called to be and do in his ministry. He was not going to have power and possessions and prestige, he was going to have servant hood, poverty, and humility.
In his time of greatest temptation he was alone and hungry in the desert, standing at the edge of his ministry. The rest of his life was before him, a book filled with only blank pages. What will be its nature and shape? How will he relate to God and rely on God? Temptations will come to us with the same challenging questions that will shape our identities, no matter where we are in life. Let us not shun temptations, but acknowledge how real and trying they are, and enter these times with a trust and confidence that the Holy Spirit is among us and within us actively showing us that which is of God. Amen.