The temptations Jesus faced, the temptations we face.
We are currently in a series of sermons looking at Matthew’s gospel. You can listen back to the sermons by clicking here.
Probably the most helpful quote I came across when reading books about Matthew’s gospel is from Stanley Hauerwas, who says.
Our task is not to understand the story Matthew tells in the light of our understanding of the world. Rather, Matthew would have our understanding of the world fully transformed as the result of reading his gospel. Matthew writes so that we might become followers, be disciples, of Jesus. To be a Christian does not mean that we are to change the world, but rather that we must live as witnesses to the world that God has changed.
Matthew wants us to become followers of Jesus rather than just admirers of him.
As with so much in Matthew’s gospel I find the temptations Jesus faced a challenge to my understanding of the world.
Firstly, I’m certain the temptation came to Christ in the same way it comes to all of us—in the form of dark thoughts that somehow enter our mind, thoughts that we don’t always immediately recognize as originating with the powers of darkness.
However, the temptations are not what we expect. What is the biggest temptation you face? We too easily assume temptations are about the temptation to steal, fiddle expenses, indulge lust, tell lies to make ourselves look better than we are………..Jesus was not tempted into a moral lapse. His temptation was to be distracted from the path of servanthood, the humility he and we have been called to, to be distracted from the calling God had given him. Temptations to use his sonship in a way inconsistent with his God-ordained mission.
Tom Wright in his discussion on the temptations compares it to a young Christian politician who to her surprise gets elected to Parliament. She has such high ideals to make things better, to turn things around. However, she found that alongside the ideals of service and changing the world there were other voices. Now she had the chance to make some real money. Lots of business will want you on their board, to lobby for them. This is just the first run on the ladder, if you play your cards well, don’t make too much of a fuss, get to know the right people, then you could become a cabinet minister, achieve fame and TV appearances. Also, now you have power you can get rid of the party activist you don’t like. The world is your chessboard. Play the game your way.
That is the type of temptation Jesus faced.
Wright gives the example of an MP, but you can apply the principle to whatever role you are in. We are tempted to do things in the way of the world rather in the way of Christ, in the way of servanthood and humility. That is a far more real and dangerous temptation than those we consider to be our biggest temptations.
Written by Tony Thompson
Rob Lampard
Excellent article – apart from Stanley Hauerwas’s final sentence, which, as my good friend Tony is aware, I strongly disagree with. Now that would be a fine statement as well if it were amended to read ‘To be a Christian means not only that we are to change the world, but also that we must live as witnesses to the world that God has changed.’ The point is that both are true and it’s grossly unhelpful of Hauerwas to suggest otherwise. Of course Christians are to live as witnesses. And of course Christians are called to change the world; the latter not by taking up arms, nor simply by political action and persuasion (tho as Wilberforce showed, that can have it’s place), but primarily by prayer. How do we come to this conclusion? A full answer would occupy far more space than is appropriate on this site. But here’s the bookends.
We start with God’s purpose in the creation of mankind in Genesis 1: “Fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over …” (v28). Is that purpose thwarted by man’s fall in Genesis 3? Far be it that God’s purpose ever be thwarted. Rather he works through the atonement to restore all things to his original intention. “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:9-10). Amen to that.