The First Three Temptations of Christ
Click here to read the story we’re about to talk about.
Before Jesus begins his ministry, the Spirit leads him into the wilderness where we’re told Jesus will be tested. Even though he is, quite literally, God in the flesh, the Spirit still sees fit to test Jesus’ bona fides.
Jesus fasts for 40 days and nights in preparation. So we know he is not at his best. And, yet, he manages to pass the test.
Story over…right? I mean the moral is, if Jesus, who is starving to death, can withstand temptation, can’t you withstand it as well?
Or...is it? It’s not clear. In fact, to my reading, this story isn’t particularly about morals at all. Nor is it necessarily about temptation. It’s about Jesus’ ability to recognize his mission and to be able to stay on task even though there are obstacles (hunger and temptations of various sorts).
Now, we could (if we’re not careful), moralize that. Something like: it’s important to stay singularly focused on your call. But that’s obvious and we already know that focus is (generally speaking) quite a good thing and we don’t even need to say such things at this point!
So…what else could we say? I don’t want to settle.
Well, for me, this is one of the most relatable stories of Jesus. He is tired and hungry. He resists, yes, but it’s not difficult to imagine resistance being difficult, under the circumstances. It’s not a “fake” test, they are not “fake” temptations. Likely, Jesus had to fight his exhaustion and hunger in order to find his responses. We see, at the end, angels needed to care for him. He couldn’t care for himself. God in the flesh could not care for himself. That is…striking.
A few other thoughts to add to the mix. It is a common experience in life to be presented with alternatives to how we want to live. This is what the devil is offering in this story, an alternative path. Another way to “be.” We tend to call this temptation. It’s tempting because it would feel good- but maybe not be in our best long-term interests. It is just the same for Jesus- he could do something in his own short-term interests, but if he does that he does not fulfill his mission (that mission being, to live a human life as God would live it, and then to unleash God’s spirit into the world through overcoming death).
This is rich territory to explore for a recovery community. The difference between living in our short-term best interests as opposed to our long-term best interests is stark. It can be the difference between life and death. It can be the difference in restored relationships vs. fractured ones. We could go on. You can even fill in the blanks for yourself (i.e., when are short-term best interests, or temptations, a problem for you? Or, how do you stay true to best long-term interests). Here’s a few extra lines.
Let me give you one last thought, and expand on it a bit. Jesus is, quite literally, God in the flesh. God can resist things we cannot. This is no surprise. However- it seems to be difficult for him to do it. At the very least, it takes a lot out of him. As we said early, angels needed to care for him once it’s all been said and done. That might be a surprise.
At the end of the Gospel, Peter denies Christ 3 times. This is a form of temptation. We tell this story as if it's a failure on Peter’s part. (Couldn’t he be a bit more Christ-like, and overcome temptation?) The reality is, Peter is needed. If he does not deny Christ, he is killed with Christ. The glorious story of a martyr, but a tragedy for the early church. And, even if he weren’t needed, overcoming temptation is hard. Even for Christ himself.
What then shall we say?
We could say, as they would in Sunday school, resist temptation like Jesus does and all will be well. But then we miss something important- Jesus resists temptation and fulfills his mission- but all does not go well for him. Peter does not resist temptation and this allows him to fulfill his mission.
So, temptation is a bit complicated. Of course we’d all agree that some self-discipline is good for us and will help us live out whatever we believe our mission to be. But let’s also not worship at the altar of self-discipline, as our culture has taught us to do. The disciples were a great many things but models of self-discipline were not it.
No, we need not master self-discipline. We need instead to remember our place in the universe. God is the creator and we are the created. As creatures we will always be faced with temptation. Sometimes we will resist, sometimes we will not. In either case, it’s our mission to rely on God to carry us through, regardless of whether we succeed or fail.
