Sunday 10 February 2008
"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." (v. 1)
Background
To be tempted is to be human. For Jesus to be fully human he hadto face temptation. It was the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, who tookhim to the place of testing. The tempting of Jesus, or the testingof Jesus, came when he was most vulnerable.
He had not eaten for a long time - 40 days is a short hand way ofsaying a long time. Jesus was tempted with things which he wouldreally want:
- He was hungry after fasting
- He desired to free the world
- He wanted to reveal himself as God's son
He was tempted with things he could actually do, otherwiseit would not be a temptation.
Jesus faced the temptations and resisted them at a cost. Heremained hungry, he was still fuelled by the same desires to savethe world and to reveal himself as God's son.
He was able to resist because he drew on spiritual strengththrough his knowledge of the Bible, through his relationship withGod and a deep awareness that the way in which a goal is achievedmatters as much as the goal itself. To do the right thing is to doit in the right way.
To Ponder
When are your most vulnerable moments?
Where do you draw spiritual strength from?
Is there always a price to pay for choosing to dothe right thing?