a lawless bloggle

At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.”
He said in reply, “It is written: One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.”

Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you and with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.”
Jesus answered him, “Again it is written, You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”

Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and he said to him, "All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.”
At this, Jesus said to him, “Get away, Satan! It is written: The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.”

Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.

You can’t fault the gospels for dynamic presentation. Images of a stony desert, hunger, a
challenge from unseen evil, dramatic choices - to be a miracle worker, a hero, or a despot; and the language: “Jump, and the angels will catch you”, “Fall down and worship me”. Even seen as literature this is inspired stuff. And it is very compelling, provided we can immerse ourselves in that milieu and culture. Trouble is we haven’t the time. When film makers try to bring the dramatic impact of the gospel to our screens, it turns out to be shallow, and of passing interest.  So my approach at the moment is to by-pass the dramatic, the histrionic, and look for a human experience in the narrative.

“Temptation” of “testing”? I prefer the latter. After being commissioned by John, Jesus had to work out a few things, and the first was about his strategy, the way of going about his mission. That he went off to have some time alone is not unusual. That he lived very simply during that time shows that he understood the need for focus. No distractions, not even time with your mates. Focus.

Three ways of proceeding presented themselves:

1. The welfare/comsumerist way. Give the people what they need, and even better, what they want, and they will follow you.
2. The way of fame, wonder-worker, hero. The dazzling display.
3. The way of power, the way of the despot, the benevolent dictator.

Through Lent it is becoming obvious that the journey is not one to make alone.  It is primarily a community review, a time to see how our immediate community is going, and to see how we contribute to the world-wide community. If our review has any teeth we will come up with some criticisms at all levels. We will see that we too share in the spirit that is manifest at higher levels, and vice versa.

Here at the start, even the context, Jesus at the outset of his mission choosing his strategy, requires us to look to the community on the world-wide scale because the spirit that permeates that level is going to be inspiring every other level, right down to the individual.

Just a sample:

A. In spite of loudly condemning consumerism, does the the institution fall into the trap of
promising to supply for our needs, to fulfill our desires, to give us comfort?

B. Does the institution use fame, glamour, hero-worship as part of its ordinary toolkit?

C. Are there indications that the institution sees itself as benevolent dictator, imposing a certain way of life, even with detailed observances? The modern world from Napoleon to
the present day, has seen a succession of despots who thought they could make their people
great by telling them how to think, forcing them to observe their rules and follow their way.

Jesus rejected each of these, excluding them from his strategy. At this poinit we hve to look at something truly remarkable. The question is hanging in the air. What strategy did he adopt? None of these. He just went out and spoke to the people. He talked about God’s new initiative, and gave the lead with his own purity of heart, singleness of motive, his honesty, his integrity, his  respect and love for every one he met.

Some make a lot of the idea that this gospel episode shows Jesus as obedient. In other places he is very explicit about doing his Father’s will, but not here. Actually you don’t have to have a revelation from God to show that the three ways or strategies that Jesus rejected are wrong. They are very tempting, for sure, and very many of us fall into their lure. Also there are people who proclaim that greed is good, that god promises well-being and wealth to those who believe in him, or supernatural life to those who follow pious rituals. However, any honest person with an ounce of common sense can see they are empty and fake.