Matthew 4

Well, the first thing I learned while reading this chapter is this:

Being filled with the spirit doesn't make you immune to temptation!

In fact, it appears that it was just the opposite. I'm guessing that Jesus was attacked more severely than he ever had been in his whole life.

I've been thinking about this experience for the last day or so, because when it comes to temptation I am a total wimp.

Let me try to imagine how I would react in the same situation. Here I am weak with hunger, and tired, and ready to get out of the hot desert and back to something familiar. I would be feeling rather proud of myself for making it this far, and for getting some downright positive feedback from God himself. There's probably nothing in the world like the feeling you get when God tells you point-blank that he is "well pleased" with you, eh?

So anyway there I am, physically exhausted but feeling pretty darn good about everything, and suddenly the thought comes into my head that it has been 40 days and 40 nights and that's quite an accomplishment! So let's celebrate by having some nice warm bread!

Mmmmm, I can smell it now.... God has probably given me this thought about turning a rock into bread because he's so pleased with my latest acheivement, the 40-day thing.

Yeah, time to sit and relax and have a bite. Hey, I did it on my own, didn't I? No one said I had to do exactly forty days, but I did it anyway and now its over and I deserve my just reward. Whaddya think, I'm gonna give up food forever?

...and I would have taken that hint, assumed it was a pat-on-the-back from God, and made me some bread to eat!
Don't they say "God helps those who help themselves"?

:D

but that's me.


So how did Jesus know it was merely the temptor? What alerted him to the fact that it was a spoiler coming to trip him up when he was at his weakest? Maybe because he was being tempted to do something an ordinary person couldn't do? Was that what the true sense of the temptation was? That he knew he was able to change a rock, and someone with an extraordinary ability has to be careful how they use it?

Well, He did many other extraordinary things that I cannot do, but those things were not temptations.

Maybe it is the selfish aspect, either you trust God to take care of things, or you don't and therefore try to look out for yourself. Looking at it from that angle, maybe God DOESN'T help those who help themselves.

You know, I tend to think of this story the way I heard it as a kid. A grinning demon in a red suit with horns and a tail appeared and made the suggestion, and Jesus brushed it off and walked away.

If that's the way it had happened to me I would have instantly seen the truth and resisted it. But that would not have been temptation. To me, temptation means you have the urge to do it. If I don't recognize what is going on and squash it immediately, my mind starts rationalizing reasons why it is really OKAY to do it. And you know what? Once I get to that point, I usually find a way to do what I want to do. I am weak in every way except one, I have a strong ability to think my way around things, to mentally massage them into a most comfortable conclusion that is usually in my own best interest. Not a skill to be proud of, but I admit it.

Oh, and here is the REALLY scary part about it. Jesus is tempted again, and this time, holy scripture is used to try and "make it okay".

Oh no. This is a bad omen. I can just see myself learning a little scripture and using THAT to rationalize my thoughts and actions.

Ok, I'm warning you guys, you can't trust me!

:(