A Trinity of Temptation – Matthew 4:1-11

The temptation of Christ is an account that is present in three of the gospels.  But think about it. The account of the temptation is one of the few events in the life of Jesus that has been preserved in the tradition yet was never actually witnessed by anyone.

We are told that Jesus goes off into the desert after his baptism for a period of 40 days and nights during which he fasts as a means of preparing himself spiritually for the mission he is to undertake.  At the end of these forty days, he is visited by what Matthew calls the Tempter - later referred to as the Devil.

There are three temptations that Jesus faces. Each one represents a natural inclination within our human condition that can cause us to think of our preservation rather than depending on God for our strength and life. It was necessary for Christ to face these three temptations and overcome them in order that he might truly be the eternal Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world and the sin of each and every one who would come to believe.

The first temptation was the need to preserve and maintain the physical body.  Hunger is a strong motivator. Depriving our bodies of food for a significant period of time would no doubt find us willing to do most anything for even a scrap.  The tempter was counting on this and hoped that Jesus’ long fast would cause him to satisfy his physical hunger by turning the stones into bread. In spite of his very human need for sustenance, Jesus resists and makes the declaration that we live not just by bread alone but also by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.  We are more than human for we have a divine spark within us. We are more than flesh and blood and bone. We have within us a spirit given to us by God – an integral part of who we are.

The second temptation was that for Jesus to prove his divinity to the tempter and force God to rescue him. But if Jesus were to cast himself off from the top of the temple to be rescued by the angels – which surely would have happened – it would have been a denial of his humanity, because Jesus’ divinity was not the issue. The issue was his humanity. His humanity could never be in doubt or the sacrifice of the Lamb of God that would overcome all that separated humanity from God would never come to pass. The servant of God, the Son of God, the Lamb of God needed to follow the path laid out by God and see the mission through to the end.

The third temptation was to abandon faith in God and look to the Tempter to satisfy all the desires of his heart.  The Tempter was prepared to give Jesus the whole world, but once again, it would mean denying his divinity and abandoning his humanity. He answers the devil with a paraphrase from the Ten Commandments: You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.

For us this day who come to the table of our Lord, we come as a people who need to be conscious of our humanity, of the need for God in our lives and commit ourselves to resist the temptations that we encounter. And as we do so, let us remember that we are a people who have an Advocate, a Mediator, One who has gone before us, who has suffered all for our sakes and who has triumphed. Praise be to God for the gift of His Son.

AMEN