Second Temptation – To Be Spectacular

Matthew 4:5–7

He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.

Psalm 91: 11–12

For forty days and forty nights Jesus sleeps under the stars,
waking morning by morning to the colours of sunrise.
It is a dangerous place with wild animals roaming around, including lions in the time of Jesus.
There are occasional streams of water bur no food to speak of and there are no distractions –
no cars zooming through or planes overhead as there are today.
It is a barren place of solitude.
The silence seeps into him and his Father’s loving words reverberate within him.
Their bond is proven indestructible.

The three temptations which Jesus experienced in the wilderness
most probably would have been an inner struggle –
a struggle engaging body, mind, heart and soul.
In his imagination, Jesus sees himself standing on the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem,
the holy city, with a sheer drop of about 400 feet below.
The devil puts the thought into his mind that if he will throw himself down to the temple courtyard,
God will surely send angels to protect him, and then Satan quotes from Psalm 91, as above.
This testing is about the manner in which Jesus will go about his mission.
Would he create a sensation, make a big impact,
and win people’s admiration and allegiance that way?
It would be a short cut to fame.
Word would spread quickly and many would come flocking to hear him.
Jesus counters it with words from Deuteronomy 6: 16 Do not put the Lord your God to the test.

The effect the temptation has on his future ministry is that he shuns popularity and sensationalism.
After he has preached in the synagogue in his home town of Nazareth,
the people are furious and drive him out of the town to throw him over the cliff.
He has the opportunity to prove God’s divine intervention,
but instead he simply slips away through the crowd and disappears.
After some of his miracles of healing,
he told the people who had been healed not to tell anyone about it.
His fame still grew but he never courted it or used it to his own advantage.
After feeding the five thousand, when the crowd wanted to make him king by force,
Jesus withdrew to a mountain by himself.
He permitted the crowds to acknowledge him publicly only when, to fulfil scripture,
he rode into Jerusalem on a colt and those around him shouted,
‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.’ (Luke 19: 38).
God’s way for his Son did not lie in the spectacular,
and in his wilderness experience he gave Jesus the opportunity to learn this lesson.

For Reflection:

• How important to you is popularity? Does it ever lead you to compromise your faith?
• In an age when the cult of the spectacular and celebrity status have assumed huge importance,
  how are we, as followers of Christ, asked to live our lives?
• When success, productivity and achievement come to count for too much,
  what attitude are we asked to adopt, especially when we are caught up in any or all of these?

Time for Reflection by Ann Persson

Let us pray:
Father God, there are many times when we are blind and do not see,
when we see and do not believe, when we are deaf and do not hear,
when we hear and do not respond.
We permit doubts to cloud our vision, and fear to block our ears;
we are too ready to let the cares and concerns of the world
come between us and your will for our lives, your peace in our hearts.
Help us during Lent to turn to you more earnestly, through reading your Holy Word,
praying, listening to you; and seeking repentance and forgiveness of our sins.
Father, please help us that the strength of your Word will enable us
to resist temptation and the pull of the world; and so draw closer to you.

Amen

Almighty God; the virus is still with us. However, the coming of the vaccines has brought hope
as more people are being vaccinated daily.
The government has set out a plan for bringing us out of lockdown;
we pray that everyone will stick to the rules and do what is necessary in the interest of us all.
It is not just about our individual concerns;
it is about the good of all, if we are to be lifted out of this pestilence.
Please give the Prime Minister, the government, Members of Parliament, local governments,
and governments across the world the wisdom to make right decisions
during this extremely difficult time.
Father, we pray that with respect to vaccine distribution through the Covax programme,
developed countries will consider it a moral imperative to ‘step up’
and contribute the vaccines required, for less-developed countries.

Father, by your Son’s grace enable us to accept your world and your other children entire, as he did.
In the power of his cross may we take up ours and, reconciled, be reconcilers too, in his name.

Amen

There’s a Time and a Place by Jamie Wallace

Forty days and forty nights
thou wast fasting in the wild;
forty days and forty nights
tempted, and yet undefiled:

Sunbeams scorching all the day;
chilly dew-drops nightly shed;
prowling beasts about thy way;
stones thy pillow, earth thy bed.

G.H. Smytten (1822–1870) and Francis Pott (1832–1909)
CCL31580

Glynne Gordon- Carter