He Was Hungry

A friend of mine called one day to commiserate. She felt as though she had failed as a parent. Her child, in early elementary school, had asked her what “sin” was. She had heard the word on the playground at school. My friend works in a church of a different denomination, and they do not follow the liturgy we do with a weekly confession of sin and assurance of pardon. So, perhaps our children would pick up on what “sin” is from worship. But, the reality is that our culture encourages NOT talking about sin. I have even had conversations with church people who shared with me that they didn’t believe in the devil. And when I responded that I don’t believe the devil wears red, has horns and a pitchfork, and a long tail, said “No, I don’t believe in the concept of the devil. I don’t believe in evil.”

There is nothing more power-granting for evil than to believe it doesn’t exist. For us not to talk to our children about it. For us not to talk to each other about it. For us not to study and understand so that we can resist temptation is foolishness, reckless folly.

The only reason we know about Jesus’ temptations is because he talked about them. Eve called it a serpent. Jesus called it the devil. We most often experience it as that hissing whisper of permission to give in to temptation. Name it what you will, that nagging suggestion that “it really is ok”, that negotiating with your thoughts, that justification of lowering of your standard… is real and powerful. And when we yield to it, we sin. We fall short of God’s ideal for us, and we fail to glorify God with our action or inaction.

When Jesus is baptized, he is filled with the Holy Spirit and God declares, “You are my Son, with you I am well pleased.” And the Spirit leads him into the wilderness for a time of preparation (the number 40 in the Bible indicates a time of preparation), and the whole time he was in the wilderness he was tempted. He ate nothing, and by the end, he was hungry. Hungry for food, hungry for power, hungry for a sign from God.

Surely, his whole body seemed to reverberate as the question echoed throughout his empty stomach, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” The first temptation is personal. Satisfy yourself. God loves you; go ahead. Will he choose the power of God, or the power of selfishness? Physical satisfaction. We all face it. “Just one won’t hurt,” we tell ourselves. “I deserve it,” we rationalize. The whisper is selfishness. “It’s just a little pleasure for you.” I labeled the temptations with three P’s for which we get hungry – this one is “Pleasure.”

The second one is “Prominence.” The region where Jesus was in the wilderness is mountainous. As you look out, you can see for miles and miles, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory; for it has been delivered to me, and I will give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it shall all be yours.” The second temptation is political. I mean, after all, he was meant to rule the world, so if he took a shortcut…surely, it is ok to accept support from any source as long as in the end he was the one in power, right? The whisper is ambition. “It’s just a little promotion, deserved, going to happen anyway, or should…to prominence.”

And the third temptation I labeled Proof. “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here (the pinnacle of the temple) for it is written, ‘He will give his angels charge of you, to guard you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” Notice that we can even be tempted by allowing Scripture to be used out of context. The whisper is pride. God loves you so much that God will bail you out. You can take the risk. God saving you could even be a sign to others that will help their faith…the third temptation is religious.

Jesus responded to each temptation with Scripture, and Jesus shared these experiences so that we could have the same response when we face these same temptations. They are part of the human condition. Every temptation was something that Jesus had the power to do! Our temptations are things that we CAN do. And it is not that God doesn’t want us to have food or political office or a testimony to God’s power in our lives…the temptation is to allow our desire for those things to take precedence over our desire for God.

When faced with the temptation of Pleasure, which comes from our selfishness and is a personal temptation, Jesus’s example teaches us to respond with “I do not live by bread alone.” That desire you may have for just one drink or just one high or one more game on my phone or just a little piece of chocolate or what can it hurt just to look at the pictures on the internet (no one knows, no one is hurt, is the way the whisper entices) or buy a new purse I can’t afford or a new car that is going to break the budget or a bigger, fancier house, or just one more brownie or just one more, and a little more, more, more… that desire will never be satisfied. The cure? Knowing the truth that physical pleasure is fleeting. The things of earth are not our source of life. Stuff cannot satisfy.

When faced with the temptation of Prominence, which comes from our ambition and is a political temptation, Jesus’s example teaches us to respond with “I shall worship the Lord my God, and God only shall I serve.” In politics, in business, there is always the opportunity for you scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours. Under the table bargains, sometimes covert, often overt. “Aren’t you going for that promotion, I’d love to put in a good word for you” as you are deciding whether or not to look the other way or deciding your position on an issue. The cure? Knowing the truth that earthly power is fleeting. Human leadership is not our source of direction. Power cannot satisfy.

When faced with the temptation of Proof, which comes from our pride and is a religious temptation, Jesus’ example teaches us to respond with “I shall not test the Lord my God.” I shall not think I am so special that if I put myself in a tenuous situation and I can expect God to bail me out. I shall not eat whatever I want to eat, go to the doctor and learn that my habits have wreaked havoc, and pray for God to heal me. I shall not live a sedentary life, go to the doctor and learn that my lack of exercise has led to disease, and pray for God to erase the impact of my decision. I shall not drive like a racecar driver down the highway and expect God to protect me. I shall not make a bad decision, and expect God to intervene. The cure? Knowing the truth that earthly decisions have consequences. Humans do not have the power to control God. We cannot require “a sign” of God. There is no prayer that always works except, “God, Thy will be done.”

“I do not live by bread alone. I will worship the Lord my God, and God only shall I serve. I shall not test the Lord my God.” These words were given to the Israelites as they were freed from the dominion of Egypt and their identity and calling as God’s people was made clearer to them through 40 years in the wilderness. Jesus drew on these words as he was baptized by John and was led out into the wilderness for 40 days as his identity and calling as God’s own Son was made clearer to him. These words are given to us, as well. As we seek our identity and calling as God’s children, adopted as brothers and sisters through Christ. I encourage you to learn these words. Maybe you struggle with one of the three temptations right now more than the others, so that might be the first response you memorize. Or you might write it down where you can see it in the place you are tempted.

“I do not live by bread alone,” might be on your refrigerator or your credit card or your computer screen or your iPhone. Where are you seeking that instant gratification?
“I will worship the Lord my God, and God only shall I serve,” might be on your desk in your office. It might be beside your television where you watch the news.
“I shall not test the Lord my God” needs to be wherever you are tempted to engage in risky or unhealthy behaviors.
And then share with someone what you are struggling with and how you have responded. We all sin. We all fall short of the glory of God. We need to acknowledge the power of evil and learn to respond to it with the words of God. We need to talk about our temptations. Jesus did.