Temptation

Robert Hall
Tarrytown United Methodist Church

February 25, 2007

Text: Luke 4: 1-13

I am always a little startled when I read the questions we ask of those to be baptized or confirmed, or of parents of babies presented for baptism.
We ask:
Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world, and repent of your sin?
Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves?

Members are asked to say a resolute “NO,” before they say a faithful “YES.” You have to turn down options if you are going to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

Where did we get these noes? We got those noes from Jesus’ encounter with the Devil in the wilderness.

JESUS’ IDENTITY

We remember that, at Jesus’ baptism, God identified him as Chosen, the one in whom God takes delight. But what does this mean? How will he fulfill this role? Who is he, really?
His calling bears great similarity to a prophet: he will speak the truth to power; he will call people to repentance; he envisions a new future for his people. But prophet does not adequately describe him.

His calling was to be a priest, the Book of Hebrews tells us. He intercedes for us; he represents our condition to God, and God to us. He is the mediator. But priest does not do him full justice.

He was like a king. We remember the controversy with Pontius Pilate; and, even at his birth, with King Herod. Jesus exerted power, but not like other monarchs. The appellation of King does not cover his calling.

He was a healer, this we know. But more than a healer of sick bodies. We can put M.D. after his name, but it seems insufficient.

Ph.D Professor of Wisdom studies? He was certainly a master teacher, a representative of the wisdom of  his Jewish forbears, and this comes close, but not enough.

 Preacher? Well, he certainly preached. Yes, but he was not ordained! It was the content of his message that won hearts, not his oratory or credentials.

LED INTO WILDERNESS

One can only suppose that Jesus, after his baptism, was pondering what this all means for his life. What does it mean to be God’s anointed?

When I was nine years old, we had tryouts in the Spring for Little League baseball. In the tryouts, I made second base for the Little League Yankees team. I would be playing on a team with boys 3 and 4 years older than I was. When I got my uniform, the smallest they had, I looked like the Tom Hanks child character at the end of the movie: dressed in clothes much too big for me. I remember having these contradictory feeling. I was proud to have been chosen, but I was worried that I wouldn’t measure up. I wanted to do well, but I had doubts about my abilities. I was a Yankee, but I had yet to prove myself.

This is a trivial way of relating to the deep struggle which Jesus must have had. He was God’s Chosen, but what would be required of him? He will have power, but what kind of power, and how will he exercise it.? He will minister to people, but toward what end? He will be in God’s care and keeping, but how will God take care of him? If God’s will is to reconcile all people to himself, what will be God’s strategy? And what strategies simply will not do? It is in this context that we may gain insights into Jesus’ temptations. (Note that the Devil starts off by saying to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God…,” immediately calling into questions Jesus’ identity!)

Jesus’ time in the wilderness, fasting for 40 days, led to his encounter with the Devil, Satan. Now if devil-talk puts you off, drop the letter “d.” This leaves you with the word “evil.” Put aside all of the mythological personifications of Satan. The fact of evil is what we are after here---that there is a power of evil at work in our world. And when we are most vulnerable, we are most subject to its power.

Jesus is tempted to by being taunted with the possibility of turning rocks into bread. In a world of hungry people, he can feed himself and others by turning stones into bread. No one who has ever been with the abjectly poor can deny that this would be tempting. If you could feed them with a miracle, you would be tempted to do so. If Jesus does this, he will be heralded as a Savior. (Henri Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus, for his description of each of these temptations)

But Jesus, quoting from Deuteronomy, says that mortals do not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.  “He will not use his powers to secure his own survival” or that of others. (Campbell) There is a hunger that cannot be assuaged by bread, or money, or any material good thing.

Does this mean that we should not care about the hungry and work for them to be fed? No. Jesus did feed the thousands, as we know. He taught us to pray for our daily bread.  He did care for the whole person, body and soul. The church ever since has also had this passion. But Jesus says no to Satan. Jesus clings to his primary calling mission to proclaim the good news of a new day, God’s gracious rule on the earth.

I think of it this way. Loving the neighbor in their concrete needs is commanded. Who will do this work, especially when the work of doing this requires sacrifice, stick-to-it-tiveness? Who will do this when the neighbor is not loveable? Who will do this even for their enemies? Who will hold all the people of the earth in their hearts as God does? Who will proclaim the message of such universal, sacrificial love-----if not Jesus and those who embody his message? William Temple wrote that, “when we give bread, we bear witness that [neither we nor] they live by bread alone.”

Jesus says NO to the temptation to be relevant in the way Satan offered.

Then Jesus is tempted to be powerful as the world respects power. “I will give you all the kingdoms of the world; all you have to do is worship me.” Jesus says “NO.” (You have to ask the Great Deceiver is he really has this power.) But think what Jesus could do if he could force people and nations to be good? Who could resist this? So much suffering is caused by people who will just not behave themselves! If Jesus had the power to change this situation, shouldn’t he do it? Reasonable people could think so. Jesus could have used his power to establish a political empire! But, the only sword he will take up is the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” “Jesus says NO to the path of domination and violence.” (Charles Campbell, Lectionary Commentary)

But we know, too, that one of the greatest ironies of the Christian church is our temptation through the centuries to “consider [worldly trappings of] power as an apt instrument for the proclamation of the gospel.” Crusades, inquisitions, the enslavement of Indians, splendid cathedrals: all speak of worldly power.  Henri Nouwen has written that our problem seems to be that “it seems easier to be God than to love God, easier to control people than to love people, easier to own life than to love life.”

The power of this temptation is strong! There is the reformer in all of us. But the temptation is for Jesus to worship evil, to pay Satan homage, to be beholden to him---and along with this power, Satan’s agenda, which is the destruction and corruption of the world. We know how much power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.  Because of our fallen nature---our propensity to self-centeredness and pride--- the use of power is fraught with traps.  Christian involvement in secular power---whether through government, business, education, finances, trade or whatever----begs for hearts that are in love with God, first and foremost.

Jesus says NO. The use of coercive power as a means to God’s end will destroy God’s end, God’s objective. 

The final temptation is superman popularity. Jump off the temple and God will rescue you. That will be a sight to see, and people will follow you wherever you want to lead them. “But Jesus refused to be a stunt man. He did not come to prove himself. He did not come to walk on hot coals, swallow fire, or put his hand in the lion’s mouth to demonstrate that he had something worthwhile to say. (Nouwen) “Don’t put the Lord God to the test,” Jesus says. Jesus will not be a super-person of any kind. He will be vulnerable to suffering and the rejection. Jesus says NO.

AND WE WHO FOLLOW THIS MESSIAH?

Now it is worth noting that Jesus doesn’t say what kind of Messiah he is going to be. But we know that, had he not said NO to these temptations, he would not have ended up on the cross. We learn here at the beginning what Jesus will not do, the means he will not take, the ends he will not pursue. He will resist the powers of this world, the usual ways of influencing and changing people and the world.

The nub of the temptations is idolatry: to worship something or someone other than God, to depend on some temporal powers to accomplish God’s will. Jesus will exercise his calling by trusting God alone.  “Jesus chose to rely on his Father’s care, to surrender himself as servant to the will and plan of his Father, and to follow God’s will in Jerusalem, even if that meant terrible suffering and shameful death on a cross.” (liturgy.stu.edu, Fr. Gerald Darring, SJ) Jesus will resist the spiritual forces of wickedness; he will reject the evil powers of this world, in their many guises. For this, he is crucified. “The crucifixion is not accident and no magical transaction isolated from the life and ministry of Jesus. The cross is the direct consequence of Jesus’ resistance to the powers of death in the world.” (Campbell)

At the Jordan River, he and the disciples heard the designation: He is the Chosen One, God’s beloved (or Son) on whom God’s favor rests.  It describes Jesus’ intimate relation with God, his closeness to the heart of God. He was set aside to be God’s very being in a mortal, a man, to carry out God’s mission of loving the world. It would be an identity that would lead him to die rather than forsake it--- rather than turn aside from God’ redemption of the world. His love for Abba and for neighbor was complete, mature, perfect. 

What does it mean for us to follow such a Messiah as this? Will we each, and as a body, learn to trust in God’s power and be the body of Christ the way Jesus was the Messiah?

Are we willing to be armed only with God’s Word, Jesus Christ, the word of God’s pure, unbounded love, which is the best and most lasting gift we have to offer the world?

Will we carry out our mission by bgelieving in the power of servant love to advance God’s reign, and strive to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves?”

Are we willing to be vulnerable as Jesus was to rejection, suffering, and even death, in order to reveal God’s love for the world?
Will we be able to say no to the ways of the world in order to say yes to Jesus’ way of showing and sharing God’s love?

We know the calling of Jesus, who became the Suffering Servant. “He revealed the love of God by trusting it.” (Albert Outler) Can we who call ourselves by his name live and carry out our callings with such trust?