Thoughts for the Day

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ But he answered, ‘It is written,

“One does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”’

Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,

“He will command his angels concerning you”,
and “On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.”’

Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”’

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour; and he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! for it is written,

“Worship the Lord your God,
and serve only him.”’

Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Terry Pratchett the writer said of temptation: "People couldn't become truly holy, unless they also had the opportunity to be definitively wicked.” Now we are all tempted occasionally, and each of us has our own temptations, some more serious than others. One of mine used to be chocolate (before becoming diabetic)! Many give up chocolate for Lent, but scientists have worked out that it takes six weeks before we no longer desire it, and of course at Easter we have Easter eggs. So one egg and the desire is back again.

We tend to call today's reading from Matthew's Gospel 'The temptations of Christ,' but in fact the Greek word for 'temptation' is peirazein, which usually means 'to test'. The word 'temptation' often has negative connotations, but 'test' can mean we are ready to move on to the next stage. Jesus has just been baptised by John, and he has been affirmed by God with the words: "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased." But, the question was, how would Jesus carry out his ministry? What kind of Messiah would he be? Would he carry out miraculous and earth shattering events as described by the devil? The answer was to be a resounding "No!" He would obey God in all things. He would become the suffering servant for our sake to enable us to re-unite us with his Heavenly Father.

Lord Jesus Christ,,
do not bring us into a time of testing
until we are strong enough to cope.
Keep us close when we struggle with our faith
and when decisions have to be made.
May we learn to follow Your example
of praying to the Father
whenever we find things difficult,
and may we learn to grow stronger
through adversity.
Amen.