Part of my Lenten discipline this year is going through The Thoughtful Christian (TTC)“Pausing on the Road to Jerusalem” Bible study and, as part of that, sharing my thoughts with you all based on the Scripture for the week and the study itself. A lot of this is just personal reflection, but I hope that maybe you can gain a little insight into your own faith and how these themes and ideas may apply to you, the larger community, the Christian church, and the world today. Here is Week 1, Part 1 (of 2).
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This week’s study is based on the Luke 4:1-13
1Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. 3The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” 4Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’” 5Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.6And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. 7If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” 9Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ 11and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” 12Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”13When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.
Temptation and testing
One of the first things that caught my attention about this passage actually didn’t involve Jesus directly. While reading in my Lutheran Study Bible (highly recommended), one of the side notes said that in verse 4:2 “tempted” could be translated as “tested”. I also noticed that “the devil” was mentioned, but not with a capital D. The side notes mentioned that this satan was developed out of the satan from the book of Job. Again, it is satan with a lowercase S. The side notes finally mention that it is as if this satan character “examines all of creation to check construction quality”. So this got me thinking immediately about the whole story of Jesus being tempted or tested. When I hear those two words, they hit me differently. “Tempted” sounds evil, conniving, set up so that we will fail; “tested” sounds a bit more neutral- certainly none of my professors would say they gave us final “temptations” at the end of a semester.
This past week my host mom, who is giving me Arabic lessons, taught me a new word, صبر (sabr) which means either “patient” or “cactus”. It is the word used to describe Job in the Old Testament, صبر آيوب, sabr yaoub. Now, Job goes through some pretty tough stuff during his life. It is a test or is it temptation? “Patient” makes me think of one waiting through a test; “cactus” makes me think about pain and maybe being tempted. I don’t know the answer to this (I should probably go back to studying Greek...next Fall, next Fall).
So at this point I can’t articulate exactly what satan with a lowercase S is, or what it means to be tempted, but I think this passage reminded me that it’s not so cut-and-dry. The satan character in the history and literature of the Bible as well as the history of the church is very complex. Sometimes we see the satan as an evil being that is completely opposed to God and all goodness; but sometimes I see the satan as a part of our life- offering us the choice to go closer to God, or to choose our own will over Gods. With this last idea, the satan gives us the choice, but we choose ourselves as the idol--so we’re not really choosing the satan, but rather anything that is not God.
For the sake of the rest of my study, and for these posts from week one, I have gone with the traditional idea of “temptation”.
...and these thoughts were all before I actually started looking through the Bible study for the week! *Phew*
If a disciple cries in the wilderness, will anyone hear her?
TTC study started off looking at Jesus going into the wilderness. They have this great line on how “the desert has always been that place of material privation, free of distraction and austere, where people go to encounter God”. Immediately, I thought of my current year serving with Young Adults in Global Mission here in Palestine and the State of Israel. I first approached this year as an opportunity to to encounter God, with the hope of being free from some of my typical distractions back in the States. I’ve been striving to hear God’s voice for my life, for the world, and for how those two can breathe life into each other. Of course, even in “the desert” (I laugh at how literal that is in some ways) I have my distractions and temptations.
In the passage Jesus has three temptations: making bread from the stones, having power over all the kingdoms in the world, and being caught by the angels lest Jesus be harmed. Basically, the satan offered Jesus three things: provisions, invincibility, and power. The Bible study said: materialism, power, and manipulation of faith. This immediately got me thinking: what could these three temptations look like for me?
1. Money. Money doesn’t buy happiness, but it can purchase things that often excite me and provide things I find important for life: education, travel, food, clothes, gifts for friends, crafts. I try not to stress about money and I use a budget, but that is often easier said than done. I wouldn’t say I lust after money, but I have serious hobbies and loves that require it. Perhaps it’s not pretty, but it’s honest. Like Jesus, I could be tempted with the satiation of my desires with something material.
2. Knowing the future. You read earlier how part of this year of service is a time for me to try and figure out how I can serve God in a way that meets the needs of the world, fits with my gifts, and excites me, right? You can guess how many times I’ve uttered the words, “If only I knew what the heck God was thinking!” If you answered a number higher than 100, you win. And that’s from the past two years. I would love a nice, clear answer to some of my “big life questions”. Love, love, love an answer (Do you hear me God?!). Like Jesus, I could be tempted with the ability to not have to stumble in the darkness.
3. Certain personal qualities (without the work, of course). Eloquence, quicker wit, quicker reading skills, to not procrastinate, patience. Sure, I could probably cultivate these skills in myself, but it would be so much easier if I just had them. I could try to convince you that I want these qualities because it would help me serve the world better (and, indeed, I need to build on these traits so that I can), but I can’t deny I would like them because they would make me more confident, or make me feel like a more “valuable person”. Like Jesus, I could be tempted to be awesome and above others.
So what are some of your temptations? Leave them in the comment box...(Anonymous if you’d like.) I think the church would be a much more comfortable place if we were honest about our temptations. We all have them and it’s almost always much easier to deal with them in community. Plus, if we’re honest, I think eventually we can break down the barriers that keeps us from really connecting with each other- you know, those “but what will so-and-so think?” barriers.
To continue reading, go to my next post, "Lenten Devotions: Week 1, Part 2 (of 2)"
This Lenten Devotional Series is published by The Thoughtful Christian and was written by Michael A. Lindvall who, at the time of publishing, was a Presbyterian pastor in New York City. All Bible passages and verses are from the New Revised Standard Version unless otherwise noted.
very thought provoking!
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