Here we begin looking at the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness.
First of all we hear that he returned from the Jordan, full of the Holy Spirit.
For most of us there is often a period of high feelings after a spiritual experience. Of course, emotion and spirituality are not necesarilly the same thing. There have been a few evangelists who mistakenly attempted to create an emotional high and thought of it as spirituality and there is sometimes even an implication that this euphoria is a necessary part of faith. The difficulty with this is that it is unrealistic. Human emotions vary for many reasons, some of them are biological. For the same reason, depression, though regarded by some as a failure of faith, is generally unrelated to the strength of our belief. Thus, although the mountain-top spiritual experiences are wonderful, it is rare for the euphoria that comes with it to last. If an individual equates that with faith, when he/she comes down off their “high,” they may assume that their faith has somehow failed. (Take a look at Elijah in the wilderness to see an example of someone whose faith was great, but whose emotions pitched from high to low.)
It is interesting that Jesus, coming from his spiritual experience at baptism was immediately led into a much more difficult time in the wilderness. We don’t know exactly what the emotions of Jesus were after his baptism. The comment that he was full of the Holy Spirit seems to reflect what would have been a deeply moving mountain-top experience with all of the high emotions that can come with it. But then the spirit leads him immediately into the wilderness for a time of fasting. It is as if he was not allowed to bask in the joy of the experience, but had to face the realities of life and humanity.
The scriptures make it clear that Jesus was as fully human as the rest of us, including the experience of temptation to be less than we should. Here, Jesus is hungry from a prolonged time of fasting, and he’s offered food. In effect, he’s told, if you’re really God’s beloved, if you’re really what you heard God say when you were baptized, then it must come with special powers. Use those powers to turn stones into bread.
The temptation almost sounds innocuous. After all, there’s nothing wrong or sinful about food. As Luke relates the story, it was his own choice to fast, so eating wouldn’t be wrong. Yet Jesus, weak and hungry, his human body craving the physical sustenance of life, recognized something. The real temptation wasn’t simply to eat or not to eat. It was to use his power, his unique identity, for himself. It would be to choose the route of earthly kings who thought much of themselves and less of the needs of their people.
In the years past, the Israelites had had no king, but they wanted one. They wanted a traditional king to rule their country just like all other kingdoms around them. The prophet warned them that they’d be sorry, but they insisted anyway. They received a king and were indeed sorry. Even David and Solomon, the kings of golden memory, taxed hard and impressed people into service, and much of it was to support their own pleasures and ambitions.
Now, here is Jesus, who is reminded of his power and the ability to use it for his own benefit. His response? That it is written that we do not live by bread alone. His “no” was more subtle and thoughtful than some human rejections of temptation. His answer was grounded in the wisdom of tradition and the thoughts shared and written by others. This might be good advice for many of us in facing temptation—not to depend solely upon how we feel or what we want in the present moment, but to seek the wider wisdom available to us.
Since this was a private experience, and yet is known to us, Jesus must have shared the story with his disciples.
In what way was the temptation of Jesus symbolic of other kinds of human temptations?
What forms of wisdom and support can you seek in the face of temptation?
Why do you think Jesus shared the story of his wilderness experience with his disciples?
How does knowing that Jesus was tempted also help you?
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