As we move into that period known as Lent, not something to be borrowed, but a time when we recall the suffering which can lead to a better life. Lent is that journey we undertake to explore the passion – suffering – of Jesus on the way to the Cross.
For some Christinas today, we may hear of the cries of persecution. And I’m sure that some believers that is entirely true: their ability to, importantly, live their faith is denied. We may also wish to consider how those of other faiths may also feel where we live. Are our laws understanding of how the faith of others is expressed? If we deny all others that ability to worship then that is also persecution; but are we denied that? or are we seeking to provoke others to believe what we believe, to gain a reaction, a response, to demonstrate our point that we are ‘persecuted’?
In all 3 synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) the temptation of Jesus is portrayed. Jesus is led by God’s Spirit into the wilderness for forty days, to be tempted by the Devil/Satan, amidst the wild beasts. And that’s where Mark finishes. Nothing more than that about the temptations, not even a mention of a fast. So, if Matthew and Luke found inspiration mainly from Mark’s Gospel, where was this material found? (Farrar hypothesis or Quelle)
Jesus is invited to turn stones into loaves of bread; is taken to the very pinnacle of the Temple, and invited to throw himself down to be caught by the angels; and transported to the high mountain to be shown all of the kingdoms of the world [then] and promised control of them all if and only if Jesus would worship the tempter. Jesus refused all three, and is left alone.
Where does that leave us?
Notice that firstly it is God that leads Jesus into the Wilderness – wherever that is. It is on the ‘way back’ from the Jordan, but we know nothing more than that. Furthermore, Jesus us then taken to the top of the Temple, and then to a high mountain, or was this a metaphorical journey, one where the reader is taken so they can contemplate what they may have to do to walk with Jesus?
Satan
Please let us not be tainted by imagery of this Satan, all in red with wee little horns. We ‘Danteify’ this, if we do. The word in the Gospels to describe this opposition to Jesus is either ‘the tempter’ in Matthew, ‘Satan’ in mark, or ‘devil’ in Luke. In the Greek, it respectively: diabolos, satana, and again diabolos. All three translate to ‘adversary’, or possibly slanderer, accuser if we focus upon diabolos. The word ‘satan’ occurs 9 times int eh Old Testament, and could be seen as if occurring in a political or military sense, it means adversary, but whenever it occurs in a legal context, it means an accuser. The one who brought charges to Job was a son of God, known as Ha’Satan. a sort of God’s Attorney General. So the ‘readers’ of the Old Testament would have been aware of such a character. It could also lead from the Leviathan, a creature from the deep and dark chaos of the underworld. Later, we might see connections drawn between the Beast. As one commentator writes: “Seems like all the texts were inherently linked. They are not. They are written by different people in very different times when people believed different things and later interpreted them in different ways. There is no good way to harmonise them so that everything makes neatly sense.” A quick guide to ‘satan’ is here; and Dan McClellan has produced a good short video about the word Satan. Please don’t continue to think about red creatures that are physically in existence.
Matthew
In this Gospel, Jesus is portrayed as the new Moses. The time in the wilderness is akin to Moses, echoing the 40 years Moses and the Israelites wandered the desert. Jesus cites three references from Deuteronomy to deny the advances from Satan. Jesus speaks of hunger (“man cannot live by bread alone”), testing God (at Massah), and idol worship (golden calf, the devil offering Jesus the chance to worship him) which resonates strongly with Moses experiences.
Luke
Oddly, Luke decides to recall the three temptations in a different order (bread, then kingdoms, then back to the Temple). It is Sanders, in his tome “The Historical Figures of Jesus’ who writes that the stories in both Matthew and Luke are ” ‘mythological’ elaborations based on fact.” So, Jesus probably did fast but these stories were created to emphasise key points. Oddly in the Gospel of the Hebrews, not the Epistle to the Hebrews, there is a story of Jesus being plucked by the hair to the top of a mountain (Tabor).
What might we take from this?
Trying desperately not to look across the Atlantic at this time – and who knows what he/they have done by the time you read this – what does power look like? Is it to gain control over another, to provide prosperity, to reinforce and emphasise the hierarchy within that society? Jesus denied those opportunities when offered them.
Jesus focussed upon on seeking to look people eye-to-eye and offered hope to the marginalised, those who had exactly no power, who were overlooked for decades. If that is what we seek, in this period of Lent after reading the passage from Luke 4: 1-13,
then when might we actively seek this in our lives?
Why might we vote for a political party that might make us richer, giving us more influence? Or would we consider voting for one that gave power to the powerless, encouraged the downtrodden, and free the (mentally or physically) trapped?
Note: Jesus never said that he wanted power over a nation, such as a Christian religion
might wish to dictate how all others should live.
Go well on this Lenten journey.