For Sunday
Lent 1A
Collect
Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
Reading
Reflection
We call this the Temptation in the Wilderness. Probably because the text says that’s what’s happening here. That the Tempter is tempting Jesus.
But is Jesus really tempted? I’m not sure. And it certainly doesn’t say he actually was.
In one sense, this doesn’t matter. This is a story about the Tempter doing the tempting. Whether it works or not doesn’t deny that tempting is going on.
And yet, that’s not how we usually talk about temptation.
We live in a “Buyer Beware” culture in which temptation is expected, so it is up to the individual to resist. In other words, the emphasis of the action is on resisting temptation, rather than the one tempting another person.
Jesus doesn’t seem all that tempted, however. He rebuffs every advance. He makes it clear that he doesn’t see things the way the Tempter does. And shortcuts to power don’t really sound like something he’d be interested in taking.
In the context of the story, the Temptation in the Wilderness reflects, not Jesus’s power to resist the desire for power, but his faith in God making such personal power undesirable. Jesus doesn’t put God to the test, not just because there’s a rule against it, but because his faith tells him that it doesn’t work that way.
Taking power, exerting it over other people, making them do things they don’t want to do: that isn’t faith.
We aren’t tempted by power because we’re weak. We’re tempted because we think it makes sense (We could do so much good!). To Jesus, however, it is a rejection of the entire project.