Sunday, September 16, 2012

The temptation of Jesus (Matthew 4; Mark 1; Luke 4)


Jesus is led by the spirit to go into the wilderness and fast for 40 days.  The Bible says he fasted from food, but not water.  So, I think Jesus is hungry, not thirsty.  At the end of this time, the devil tempts Jesus.  

The first tempting is about food (not water) and targets the identity of Jesus.  The devils says, "if you are the Son of God, then turn these stones into bread".  

Jesus' response quotes Deuteronomy in that the man should not live by bread alone, but by every word from God.

The devil takes Jesus to a high place where he tempts Jesus with power.  He shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and says that these would all belong to Jesus if he would worship the devil.  Jesus' responds by affirming his identity, which the devil did not explicitly ask about this time - "do not put your God to the test."

The devil takes Jesus up to the top of the temple.  The devil quotes the Bible, specifically Psalm 91, and tells Jesus to step off because if he is the Son of God, the angels will come and protect him.  The quoted Psalm also discusses fears and this could also be an attempt to see if Jesus was afraid of heights.

Again, Jesus Jesus responds that only the Lord should be worshipped and to "get behind me Satan".

Then, the devil left.  Angels then came and ministered to Jesus.

The accounts of Matthew and Luke invert the order of the second and third temptations.  Matthew uses the word "then" in between the temptations which suggests that this chronological order of events was the correct one.  Luke by contrast does not seem to have a textual requirement of which happened second or third.  Regardless, one gets the impression that the devil abandoned Jesus on top of a mountain or on top of the temple, leaving one to wonder how Jesus got down.  That seems to be the role of the angels, which would be exactly what the temple temptation was about.

The devil's questions follow several patterns in themes.  They focus on Jesus' hunger and identity as the Son of God.  The devil also tempts Jesus with power, twists Scripture, and may even try to capitalize on a possible fear of heights by Jesus.

But Jesus resists and the devil went away.

Finally, I think the story also marks another transition in the fulfillment of John the Baptist as the prequel to Jesus.  John was famous for living and preaching in the desert.  There, John ate locusts and wild honey.  Here, Jesus takes on the same challenge, but ups it by completely fasting from food for 40 days.

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