Temptation

Sunday Reflection – Lent I, February 26, 2023

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Jesus is tempted

4  The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert, so that the devil could test him. 2 After Jesus had gone without eating for 40 days and nights, he was very hungry. 3 Then the devil came to him and said, “If you are God’s Son, tell these stones to turn into bread.”

4  Jesus answered, “The Scriptures say:

‘No one can live only on food.
People need every word
    that God has spoken.’ ”

5 Next, the devil took Jesus into the holy city to the highest part of the temple. 6  The devil said, “If you are God’s Son, jump off. The Scriptures say:

‘God will give his angels
    orders about you.
They will catch you
    in their arms,
and you won’t hurt
    your feet on the stones.’ ”

7  Jesus answered, “The Scriptures also say, ‘Don’t try to test the Lord your God!’ ”

8 Finally, the devil took Jesus up on a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms on earth and their power. 9 The devil said to him, “I will give all this to you, if you will bow down and worship me.”

10  Jesus answered, “Go away Satan! The Scriptures say:

‘Worship the Lord your God
    and serve only him.’ ”

11 Then the devil left Jesus, and angels came to help him.

Performed by Margaret Whisselle

Kids Korner: Temptation of Jesus (Lent I, February 26th)

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Read Matthew 4:1-11 with your family.

Every year we begin Lent with the story of Jesus being tempted in the desert. This story has a lot of symbolism in it, and the early Christian church would have recognized the connections between Jesus and Moses, and the other stories in the Hebrew Scriptures. The forty days, for instance, was the same length of time Noah was in the ark, that Moses was in the mountains, that Goliath challenged David, and that Elijah walked before reaching Mount Hebron. We also have he Hebrews in the desert for 40 years.

Lent is 40 days. (We take Sundays off because Sundays are holy days and we should be able to praise on those days.)

This is where we encounter the character ‘Satan’ for the first time. In Hebrew this word was “ha-satan”, meaning the satan. It wasn’t a real name, it was a description. Ha in Hebrew means ‘the’, and satan meant the tempter or challenger. It was the job of ha-satan to test Jesus to make sure Jesus remained focus on what God wanted him to do and didn’t get distracted by an easier life.

Ha-satan tempted Jesus in three ways. 1. Get what you want by changing stones into bread. 2. Force God to save you by making unsafe choices. 3. Worship me and I’ll give you all the money and power you want.

Jesus said no each time. He told ha-satan, and reminded himself, that we are to trust God’s word, not challenge God for proof of God’s power, and find our value in God’s teachings, not in money and power.

Sunday Reflection, Lent I – March 6, 2022

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Temptation in the Wilderness

Luke 4 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the Temptation (ha satan). He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.

3 Ha satan said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”

5 Then Temptation led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.”

8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”

9 Then ha satan led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you carefully;
11 they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

12 Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

13 When ha satan had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

Performed by Margaret Whisselle

Kids Korner: Jesus is Tempted (March 6th)

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Read Luke 4:1-13 with your family.

The scripture today talks about Jesus being tempted in the wilderness after his baptism, and having to deal with “Satan” or “the Devil”. Those are scary words and sadly the church has made them scary throughout history. But the original Hebrews did not think of a scary figure dressed in red and carrying a pitchfork – that was something artists created centuries later.

The Hebrews understood a character not called “Satan” by name, but “ha satan” as a description. This character was the tempter. That little voice that tells us to make poor decisions, that it doesn’t matter if we lie or steal. We know it is wrong but we really want to do it anyway – that is Temptation, ha satan.

In our story Jesus is tempted by that little voice in three ways: have everything you want, have all the power you want, and live forever. Jesus knew that he had a job to do and that job was not going to be popular. This was Jesus opportunity to work out his biggest fears and temptations, so he could feel strong enough to do the job of God in human form living on earth.